Central core disease: new findings in an old disease

Central core disease

Central core disease (CCD) is an inherited neuromuscular disorder characterised by central cores on muscle biopsy and clinical features of a congenital myopathy. Prevalence is unknown but the condition is probably more common than other congenital myopathies. CCD typically presents in infancy with hypotonia and motor developmental delay and is characterized by predominantly proximal weakness pr...

Shigellosis: An Old Disease in New Clothes?

A new study published in PLoS Medicine by von Seidlein and colleagues is a landmark in research on shigellosis [1]. von Seidlein and colleagues conducted a prospective, population-based, multi-centre study of Shigella diarrhoea in six Asian countries, producing data on disease burden, clinical manifestations, and microbiology. The study provides, at the scale of a continent, critical epidemiolo...

Asthma: new ideas about an old disease.

Asthma is a common and important disease, characterized by widespread bronchial obstruction that is reversible either spontaneously or with therapy. Its principal causes seem to be allergy, infections, irritants, and psychophysiologic reactions, usually in combinations. Induction of asthma by allergens is related to the presence of IgE antibodies fixed to mast cells and basophils. When these an...

Gout: new insights into an old disease.

Gout is an autoinflammatory disorder associated with deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in joints and periarticular tissues. Recent advances suggest that the innate immune system may drive the gouty inflammatory response to MSU. These findings prompt questions concerning how the innate immune system recognizes MSU and the identities of the receptors involved. In this issue of the JCI...

New tools for an old disease.