Toxic pulmonary disease from beryllium exposure first came to light in the 1930s, soon after the emergence of industrial uses of beryllium alloys. An early manufacturing application for beryllium compounds, as phosphors in fluorescent tubes, was the cause of some of the first known cases of chronic beryllium disease (CBD) (first termed “pulmonary granulomatosis of beryllium workers”). However, ...

T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematopoietic malignancy of thymocytes affecting preferentially children and adolescents. The disease is heterogeneous and characterized by a large set of chromosomal and genetic alterations that deregulate the growth of maturing thymocytes. The identification of activating point mutations in NOTCH1 in more then 50% of all T-ALL cases...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with multiple detrimental consequences to the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems. The effects of CKD are even more significant when they begin in childhood as they affect growth and (neuro-) development as well. The division into stages of CKD serves as a guideline for the physician to better anticipate and treat early and later manifestations ...

Existing models of Huntington's disease posit that deficits in BDNF delivery to the striatum contribute to atrophy and motor impairment. In this issue of Neuron, Plotkin et al. (2014) show that BDNF delivery is normal but downstream signaling via TrkB and p75 is impaired, leading to corticostriatal synaptic dysfunction.

Respiratory physicians and neurologists should be cognisant of the respiratory complications of motor neurone disease http://ow.ly/TIxe5.

Almost 40 years ago, a large outbreak of pneumonia caused by a previously unidentified agent occurred at a hotel in Philadelphia (PA, USA), affecting 182 persons and causing the death of 29 [1]. All cases had attended a convention of the American Legion, a US wartime veteran service organisation. Both the causative agent of the outbreak and the disease were named after this event: Legionella sp...

The emerging field of stem cell medicine offers unprecedented opportunities, among which the ability to model genetic diseases in vitro is one of the most exciting. In particular, disease modeling using stem cells promises to deliver a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms and to provide a test bed for novel therapies within a relatively short timeframe. The seminal discovery by Shinya Yam...

Chronic inflammatory arthritis, a hallmark of several inflammatory rheumatic diseases, and inflammatory bowel disease are both life-long conditions, with substantial morbidity and even mortality. These diseases are highly prevalent—for example, chronic arthritis has a frequency of approximately 2%–3% within a given population. Interestingly, the co-existence of gut and joint inflammation was fo...

Background Legume consumption is suggested to have protective effects against cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the general population, but the results have been equivocal. We conducted a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to assess the association between legume consumption and risk of CVD mortality and all-cause mortality. Methods and Results Medline (via Ovid) and EMBASE (...

Minerals, as we know them, are locked in the crust of the earth. As land dwellers, our main link with minerals is through a diet of plants, which are able to extract and assimilate metallic minerals from the soil as they grow. Our secondary link is from meats of animals that eat plants. Minerals are extremely important for our well-being, yet they have always been taken for granted, and few of ...