Disease Versus Disease: How One Disease May Ameliorate Another

    January 2006 in “ Pediatrics ”
    E. Richard Stiehm
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    TLDR Some diseases can improve the outcomes of other diseases, leading to new treatment possibilities.
    The article from 2006 explores the phenomenon where certain diseases can positively influence the outcome of other diseases, leading to potential therapeutic benefits. It highlights historical and contemporary examples, such as cowpox vaccination to prevent smallpox and genetic conditions like thalassemia and sickle cell disease reducing malaria severity. It also notes that carriers of cystic fibrosis may have resistance to tuberculosis and secretory diarrhea, and that undernutrition has led to the development of therapeutic diets for various diseases. The discovery that individuals with 5-alpha-reductase mutations do not develop prostatic hypertrophy led to the development of finasteride. Observations like ABO incompatibility preventing Rh sensitization resulted in the creation of Rh immunoglobulin. Additionally, measles may induce remission of nephrosis due to its immunosuppressive effects, leprosy can prevent psoriasis, certain agammaglobulinemia forms provide resistance to Epstein-Barr virus, and mutations like CCR5-delta32 offer resistance to HIV/AIDS. The article suggests that understanding these interactions could lead to new treatments for diseases such as HIV.
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