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Why getting better is worse than falling sick?
Thursday March 22, 2012 09:49:09 AM,
IANS
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Washington: Ever
wondered why recovering from a debilitating bout of illness makes
it seem worse than the actual condition or infection.
According to researchers, the answer may lie in a component of the
immune system known as the acute-phase response during an invasion
by bugs, viruses or microbes.
This response puts healthy cells and tissue under tremendous
stress, and is actually the cause of many of the symptoms tied
with feeling sick, the journal The Quarterly Review of Biology
reported.
Acute-phase response raises body temperature, causes mild anaemia
and loss of appetite.
Certain vital nutrients, namely, iron, zinc and manganese are
partially sequestered away from the bloodstream.
"The question is why would these harmful components evolve," said
Edmund LeGrand from the University of Tennessee, who co-wrote the
paper with Joe Alcock from the University of New Mexico.
The researchers said the answer becomes clear when the acute-phase
response is viewed in terms of what they called "immune
brinksmanship", according to a Tennessee statement.
LeGrand said the concept was akin to what happens in international
trade disputes.
When one country places trade sanctions on another, both
countries' economies take a hit, but the sanctioning country is
betting that its opponent will be hurt more.
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