A new study by researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, working with colleagues at Columbia University in New York, documents how the immune system functions differently in patients with amytrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, skewing the balance of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory chemicals in the brain.

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These findings, researchers say, suggest a possible new direction for the treatment of a deadly condition that is predicted to affect 32,000 Americans by 2030 — and a possible reason why some patients live much longer than others after diagnosis.

Published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the study documents how T cells — key actors in the immune system’s ability to hunt down and eliminate threats — behave differently in patient

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