When A Body Turns On Itself | Radiolab Podcast

From the Radiolab podcast: Three scientists dive down into our genome to tackle one question: why do women tend to get autoimmune disease more than men?
Multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, even psoriasis - these are diseases in which the body begins to attack itself, and they all have one thing in common: they affect women more than men. Most autoimmune disorders do. And not just by a little bit, often by a lot; in some cases, as much as sixteen times more. But why? On today’s episode, we talk to scientists trying to answer that question. We go back 100 million years, to when our placenta first evolved and consider how it might have shaped our immune system. We dive deep into the genome, to stare at one of the most famous chromosomes: the X. And we also try to unravel a mystery - why is it that for some females, autoimmune disorders seemingly disappear during pregnancy?
This episode was reported by Molly Webster, and produced by Sindhu Gnanasambandan and Molly Webster. The Gonads theme song was written, performed, and produced by Majel Connery and Alex Overington.
Looking for something else to listen to? We suggest listening to this episode about an unknown super-organ that nobody on the planet would be here without - the placenta: • Meet the Placenta | Ra...
Want to learn more? You can …
...check out a Montserrat Anguera XX study: www.ncbi.nlm.n...
...read Melissa Wilson’s placental, pregnancy hypothesis: www.cell.com/t...
…and get a primer on Rhonda Voskuhl’s estriol & Multiple Sclerosis work: newsroom.ucla....
Illustration by Hallye Webb.
Video produced by Kim Nowacki & Sahar Baharloo.
This episode of Radiolab was originally published on podcast platforms with the title "The Unsilencing."
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[@ashleyzipp2465]

As someone who has MS, found out late in 30s, and became pregnant after diagnosed can confirm that my MS completely went dormant during pregnancy and was such a huge relief to feel normal and be able to live again as I did before my first flare up.

[@JGAN]

Wild! Yall talking about my undergrad project! The lncRNA yall are talking about is Xist right? Just wanted to clarify: It actually is not a cloud. That's a defect of resolution. When imaged using super resolution microscopy, you see distinct points of the RNA. Also, xist is not required at later stages as epigenetic markers take over. But its so interesting! We are studying the mechanism of silencing and xist and its so cool to see how that could relate to real life medicine and how that could be used to save lives! Anyways nice talk!

[@wendybrenner2614]

I had a hysterectomy, and have R.A. , what happens with the ectra x then? Does it it go into overdrive?I just turned 50 and I am experiencing more flares and fatigue. Whom do I go to to get relief ? Its very hard for most people to understand that you have a disease when you're not showing many outward symptoms? Please help. Sincerely, Hopelessly frustrated in N.J. (Wendy Brenner)

[@gretamurphy3704]

No benefits for me, either.

[@yuppers1]

There are doctors that focus on solving the core issues behind chronic diseases. They're called functional doctors. Please look into this. In the meantime, please look into reducing inflammation in your body by lowering meat and dairy intake, upping vegetables, and taking pro resolving mediators (concentrated supplement extracted from omega 3 fatty acids from fish oils) like SPM Supreme.

[@cosmicclowncrew]

I had arthritis since 7. I got rid of inflammation following certain protocols. I recommend Sandie Gascon

[@tubeofnoob4683]

But we are ready to fight irl lol.

[@rebeccaaldrich3396]

Hashimotos here! Terrible stuff....

[@hundun5604]

So, when a man get autoimmune he's very unlucky? 🤔

[@agrace16]

I was pretty into this, until “evolutionary”. SMH 🤦🏼‍♀️