Mysterious esophagus disease is autoimmune after all

(KU Leuven) Achalasia is a rare disease -- it affects one in 100,000 people -- characterized by a loss of nerve cells in the esophageal wall. While its cause remains unknown, a new study by a team of researchers at KU Leuven in Belgium, the University of Bonn in Germany and other European institutions confirms for the first time that achalasia is autoimmune in origin. The study, published on July 6 in Nature Genetics, is an important step towards unraveling the mysterious disease.
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: news