heumatology — the study of immune-system-driven diseases of the bones, joints, muscles, and in-betweens — has inherited plenty of hand-me-downs from cancer research. For example, there are ways of squelching an immune system in order to shrink certain kinds of cancerous tumors. And scientists have found that, when retrofitted, those strategies can also alleviate some symptoms of autoimmune conditions.advertisementadvertisementThis article was supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning...…heumatology — the study of immune-system-driven diseases of the bones, joints, muscles, and in-betweens — has inherited plenty of hand-me-downs from cancer research. For example, there are ways of squelching an immune system in order to shrink certain kinds of cancerous tumors. And scientists have found that, when retrofitted, those strategies can also alleviate some symptoms of autoimmune conditions.advertisementadvertisementThis article was supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning...WW…

OS ANGELES — Near the corner of busy Santa Monica Boulevard and Corinth Avenue, underneath lines of skinny palm trees and against an almost perpetually bright-blue sky, a hot pink billboard declared: Hot girls have IBS.That statement, hovering last month above smoke shops, animal clinics, and pharmacies in West LA, is a reflection of a broader cultural moment, happening largely on social media, wherein people are talking about their gastrointestinal problems, without shame, and with vigor.Irritable bowel syndrome has become, half-jokingly, a membership card for a club of online it-girls,...…OS ANGELES — Near the corner of busy Santa Monica Boulevard and Corinth Avenue, underneath lines of skinny palm trees and against an almost perpetually bright-blue sky, a hot pink billboard declared: Hot girls have IBS.That statement, hovering last month above smoke shops, animal clinics, and pharmacies in West LA, is a reflection of a broader cultural moment, happening largely on social media, wherein people are talking about their gastrointestinal problems, without shame, and with vigor.Irritable bowel syndrome has become, half-jokingly, a membership card for a club of online it-girls,...WW…