Missing link found between brain, immune system -- with major disease implications

EXCERPTS:

• Vessels directly connecting brain, lymphatic system exist despite decades of doctrine that they don't
• Finding may have substantial implications for major neurological diseases
• Game-changing discovery opens new areas of research, transforms existing ones
• Major gap in understanding of the human body revealed
• 'They'll have to change the textbooks'

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 1, 2015 - In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. That such vessels could have escaped detection when the lymphatic system has been so thoroughly mapped throughout the body is surprising on its own, but the true significance of the discovery lies in the effects it could have on the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer's disease to multiple sclerosis. READ MORE ->