Parasitic worms offer hope of cure for multiple sclerosis

Parasitic worms offer hope of cure for multiple sclerosis - Hookworm thought to relieve symptoms - MS sufferers recruited for trial to test theory

Researchers believe that a low dose of the Necator americanus - commonly known as the hookworm - may help relieve symptoms of MS

Parasitic worms could offer hope to millions suffering from multiple sclerosis, say scientists.

Currently there is no cure for the neurological condition, but now researchers believe that a low dose of the Necator americanus - commonly known as the hookworm - may help relieve symptoms.

MS sufferers often experience blurred vision, muscle weakness and problems with mobility as the disease attacks the central nervous system.

To test the theory, doctors have started recruiting patients for a trial that will see them infected with a harmless dose of the hookworm.

It is thought the presence of the parasite in the body can stop the immune system from becoming overactive - the main cause of MS - reducing both the severity of symptoms and the number of relapses.

Lead researcher professor David Pritchard, from Nottingham University, first noted the health benefits of parasitic worms while in Papua New Guinea during the late 1980s.

He observed that patients infected with the hookworm were rarely subject to a range of autoimmune-related illnesses, including hay fever and asthma.

Commenting on the latest study, he said: 'This study appears counter-intuitive - we are introducing a parasite which is by definition harmful, to act as a stimulus to moderate disease.

'As a safeguard the hookworms are being used in carefully controlled and monitored conditions, and if successful could herald a much-needed therapy for MS patients.

'Currently, there are many MS patients for whom conventional medicines are ineffective or are associated with unwanted side effects.

'Hookworms have an innate ability to moderate the immune system to allow them to survive in the body for years. This moderation may have a bystander effect on the progression of MS.'

During the trial patients will receive a low dose of the hookworms on a plaster applied to the arm

Prof Pritchard is in the process of recruiting more than 70 patients from the Nottingham and Derby areas who suffer from relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) - the most common type in which vision problems, dizziness and fatigue appear and disappear - and secondary progressive MS.

Half of the patients on the trial will receive a low dose of the hookworms - 25 of the microscopic larvae - on a plaster applied to the arm while the others will receive a placebo.

Once the larvae come into contact with the skin they work their way through into the blood stream until they reach the lungs where they are coughed up and swallowed to get to their final destination, the gut, where they survive by latching on to the gut lining and feeding on the host’s blood.

They can grow up to one centimeter in length as they burrow into blood vessels.

The worms do not multiply in the host but reproduce by producing fertile eggs, which are expelled in human faeces. These hatch into infective larvae outside the body, which go on to infect other patients.

At the end of the trial, the results of the two patient groups will be compared to establish whether the hookworms have been successful in damping down the immune system of the patients, keeping their symptoms in check and preventing relapses.

Multiple sclerosis is the most common neurological condition in young adults in the UK, affecting around 100,000 people.

It can occur at any age, but symptoms are mostly first seen between the ages of 20 and 40. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Parasitic worms offer hope of cure for multiple sclerosis

Dreaming about a good night's

Dreaming about a good night's sleep? - Not getting enough quality sleep because you snore? You could be suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) - Depending on who you talk to, snoring can either be comic or tragic. For those who suffer it silently, it is a menace.

For those who use examples of snorers to tell funny stories, it’s priceless comic relief. And for those who snore, it’s an alarming health problem. This sleep interruption is not taken as seriously as it should be in society. From little snorts and grunts to roaring, thundering bellows, snoring moves through various decibel levels but no matter where it’s at, it is a sign of an underlying health problem.

Two of the most common symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are loud and chronic snoring and fighting sleepiness during the day.

Two of the most common symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are loud and chronic snoring and fighting sleepiness during the day. OSA not only robs an individual of deep, restful sleep, in its extreme form, it can lead to asphyxiation.

Take the case of W.A., a 35-year-old expatriate, who kept dozing off at work due to lack of proper sleep thanks to OSA. When he went out for lunch with his colleagues, he would often doze off in the back seat of his colleague’s car. Many a time his sleep would be accompanied by loud snores. In his own car, he would doze off at the wheel while waiting for the lights to turn green. His wife found her sleep repeatedly disrupted by his snoring cycles. His married life was fraught with tension and his work life a matter of ridicule.

In the case of 43-year-old S.T., snoring also destroyed his marriage. Obese and neglecting his health, he snored throughout the night. His wife’s pleas to seek medical advice fell on deaf ears. Often she would wake up with fear as his breathing grew strangled in his sleep.

Over a period of time, to her horror, she discovered that she too was putting on weight as her lack of sleep began to play havoc with her hormones. This miserable marital situation lasted for almost ten years until she decided to seek a divorce as she realised that living with her husband was damaging her mental and physical health.

“In the case of S.T.” says Dr Anil Chowdhery, ENT Specialist, Jebel Ali Hospital, “snoring turned out to be a very serious problem as it damaged the partner’s psychological and physical well-being. S.T. actually had a severely deviated nasal septum - the bone dividing the two nasal cavities was not straight, thus leading to an imbalanced flow of air through his nose. This led him to suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea [OSA.]

“W.A. too was suffering from OSA. While it is unfortunate that his wife left him, it is a highly probable occurrence in marriages where the husband does not seek medical help for his acute condition.”

What is OSA?

According to Dr Chowdhery, “OSA is a disorder which occurs due to the tongue and the soft palate partially or completely obstructing the pharynx [throat] which sends the air to the larynx. This results in a partial or complete blockage in air flow for a few seconds at a time which leads to recurrent episodes of cessation of ‘apnea’ or breathing.

In the event of either condition, sleep gets interrupted. Typically, the pattern of sleep in such cases is fitful and deep by turns. During the fitful phase, breathing is laboured and insufficient and in the deep phase, it returns to normal. If the cessation or stoppage of breathing lasts for more than ten seconds in adults and six seconds in children, it is classified as ‘apneic episodes’. Individuals with OSA may have such episodes many times during the hours of sleep.”

In OSA, there is a narrowing of the upper respiratory tract during sleep. The muscles of the tract are in a dilated state when awake and upright and therefore, breathing is normal. During sleep, especially in a supine position, the muscles relax thus narrowing the air passage.

“This narrowing leads to an increase in the carbon dioxide levels in the blood causing awakening from sleep,” says Dr Chowdhery.

The primary cause of OSA is obesity. “Obesity,’’ says Dr Chowdhery, “is a leading cause of OSA. Obesity leads to fat deposits in the throat and pharynx which thicken making the airway passages narrower. The fat deposits also render muscles in these areas lax, which means that the tongue and jaw then tend to fall back when an obese person is asleep in a supine position. This also obstructs the already narrow airway passage and leads to snoring.”

The height and the neck size of an individual is a good indicator of the propensity for snoring, says Dr Chowdhery. “Individuals with a short, broad neck with a lot of fat around it and with a circumference of more than 43cm may be more prone to the condition as compared to an individual with the ideal height-weight ratio.”

It has been incontrovertibly established by medical experts that a disruptive sleep pattern can wreak havoc with health. Research has established numerous times that lack of quality sleep on a continual basis could lead to excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), impairment of cognitive functions and a diminished quality of life. What is disturbing also is that our current lifestyles increase the chances of sleep deprivation.

How can one identify OSA?

OSA can be diagnosed after assessing patient history, conducting a physical examination and polysomnography, also known as multi-parametric sleep studies (many parameters such as shallow breathing episodes, apneic episodes and oxygen levels are marked, recorded and analysed).

These studies are carried out while a person is sleeping to measure the apneic episodes. A sensor is used to track the breathing pattern through the night to measure the AHI (a numeric measure used to diagnose OSA and its severity). In this parameter, the ‘apneic’ or no-breathing episodes are measured over a period and an average per hour of such episodes is calculated to assess whether the person has OSA or not. Mild OSA is 5-15 apneic events per hour of sleep, moderate is 15-30 apneic events per hour of sleep and severe is more than 30 apneic events per hour of sleep.

Can one have asthma and not sleep apnea?

“Though OSA is pathologically related to upper airway obstruction,” he says, “and bronchial asthma is related to the lower airway, there is a fair chance that asthmatics are more prone to developing it.”

Says Dr Chowdhery, “Typically, someone suffering from OSA will display all of or some of the following symptoms depending on the severity: during sleep, a loud, cyclic snoring; snorting; choking/gasping; repetitive awakenings; thrashing body movements; reduction in heart beats; and apnea.” The typical apneic episodes occur more when the individual is lying on his back, that is, when he is supine.”

Other signs of OSA include EDS, systemic or pulmonary hypertension, lethargy, morning headaches and nocturia (frequent nocturnal urination). Children with OSA may be hyperactive and exhibit poor school performance.

Consequences if OSA is left untreated

As explained above, due to less oxygen in the blood as a result of improper breathing, various complications can arise in OSA. “Recurrent deficiency in oxygen in body tissue resulting from OSA may lead to changes in blood circulation, neurological conditions, metabolic and inflammatory changes,” says Dr Chowdhery.

“Various studies have also indicated that irregularities in heart beats called cardiac arrhythmias may lead to low blood-oxygen pressure, high blood-carbon dioxide pressure or pulmonary arteries constriction in patients with OSA. This in turn exerts pressure or stress on the heart and its pumping capacity, leading to a further risk of cardio-vascular diseases and stroke.”

Who is likely to have OSA?

“Studies have indicated that people over the age of 40 are more likely to suffer from OSA,” says Dr Chowdhery.

“The risk increases with age and the disorder occurs more often in men than in women [2:1 ratio]. Other risk factors for OSA include smoking, hypothyroidism, hypertension, and the consumption of alcohol or the use of sedatives before bedtime.”

Treatment

The current best form of treatment for OSA is through the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) contraption the patient wears on his face during sleep. “The CPAP machine is recognised as the gold standard for treatment of moderate-to-severe OSA in adults.

It is a mask which covers the nose and has a set of tubes which are attached to a pressure monitor. The machine automatically detects sleep apnea and immediately blows the appropriate volume of air into the respiratory tract through a ‘pneumatic splint’ that sits on the nose. The downside is that a patient has to wear it for six to eight hours each night during sleep and on a long-term basis.”

Apart from CPAP, there are other supportive treatments like the use of a nasal splint to dilate the nose, or wearing supporters on the jaws to prevent them from falling back during sleep.

By the way …

• A primary cause of OSA is obesity.
• All snorers do not suffer from OSA.
• Those with OSA are at risk of other health complications.
• OSA could lead to a heart attack/stroke.

Inside info

There is plenty of evidence that shorter attention span, lethargy, sleepiness and irritability can lead to road mishaps. ( gulfnews.com)

READ MORE - Dreaming about a good night's

How stress can ruin your skin

How stress can ruin your skin. Is stress ruining your skin?. Most of us suffer from stress at some time in our lives. But while its effect on our health are well known, feeling stressed can also cause problems for our skin.

According to Peter Goodwin, chairman of the Association Of Stress Management, 80 per cent of patients who visit the doctor's surgery are suffering from stress and related illnesses.

Most of us are aware of how stress can affect our health - from an increased risk of heart disease, depression and insomnia to loss of sex drive, phobias and even the possibility of triggering breast cancer - but few of us realise how it can affect our skin.

Dr Nicholas Lowe, consultant dermatologist at the Cranley Clinic in London, explains: 'If you have a genetic tendency to suffer from skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis and eczema, stress will definitely make them worse.

'It's important to recognise the part stress plays, and to be aware of the benefits of relaxation and psychotherapy, especially in problems like adult eczema.'

Dr Lowe often refers patients with skin conditions that are being exacerbated by stress for psychotherapy. This involves a clinical psychologist evaluating what is triggering the stress, and working out how the patient can cope more readily.

'These types of complementary treatments can actually help conventional medicine,' says Dr Lowe. 'In fact, in the United States there is a new sub-speciality division in dermatology called psycho-dermatology, where dermatologists focus on the role that stress, worry and anxiety can have on skin disorders.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - How stress can ruin your skin

Whatever Happened to Acid Rain?

Whatever Happened to Acid Rain?. Why do we never hear about acid rain anymore? Did it just go away?. Back in the 1980s, when the Lantern herself was just a little penlight, acid rain was the environmental scourge of the day.

Canada's environmental minister proclaimed it an "insidious malaria of the biosphere"; it menaced the Transformers; it turned Kimberly's hair bright green in an episode of Diff'rent Strokes. Toxic precipitation fell off the radar in 1990, when Congress passed an amendment to the Clean Air Act calling for major reductions in the types of emissions that lead to acid rain. Emissions have dropped significantly since then, but the problem is far from gone.

Acid rain occurs when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides—gases released by the burning of fossil fuel—form acidic compounds in the atmosphere. These fall back to earth in rain, snow, or sleet or as dry particles or gases. (At high altitudes and along coastlines, bits of acid suspended in clouds or fog pose an additional threat.)

Back in acid rain's heyday as a public menace, scientists focused on how it wrecked lakes and streams, making the water toxic to fish and other organisms and threatening sensitive tree populations like the red spruce in the Northeast mountains. In later years, they began to understand how acidification can also cause imbalances in soil chemistry, exacerbating problems for watersheds and plant life.

To prevent all this, the Clean Air Act amendments required that power plants make significant cuts on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions, which they did by installing "scrubbers" in their smokestacks and switching to low-sulfur coal. Cap-and-trade programs—like the ones that we may soon institute for carbon—came online in 1995 for sulfur dioxide and 2003 for nitrogen oxides. Vehicles, which emit large amounts of nitrogen oxides, were also becoming cleaner thanks to the introduction of catalytic convertors in the mid-1970s.

The results of these efforts were dramatic: According to the National Emissions Inventory, sulfur dioxide emissions from all sources fell from nearly 26 million tons in 1980 to 11.4 million tons in 2008. Nitrogen oxides decreased from 27 million tons to 16.3 million tons in the same time frame.

Problem solved, right? Not so fast. Rain in the eastern United States is still relatively acidic. As you can see on this map from 2007, most rainwater in the region has a pH level between 4.3 and 4.8. (In the late 1970s and early 1980s, annual averages in the East were closer to 4.0.) According to Gary Lovett of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the natural pH level for rainwater in the region would be around 5.2. That might not seem like a big difference, but remember that pH is a logarithmic scale, not a linear one, so something with a pH level of 4 is 10 times more acidic than something with a pH level of 5. In short, much of the rainwater in the East is between 2.5 and eight times more acidic than it should be.

Meanwhile, surface waters are showing slow signs of recovery, but not in all areas. In the Adirondacks and Northern Appalachians, one-third of the bodies of water deemed acidic in the early 1990s can now be taken off that list, according to a 2004 EPA-funded report (PDF). There are now 70 percent fewer acidic lakes and streams in Wisconsin and Michigan than there were 1984. However, the report found no changes in New England or the Valley and Ridge and Blue Ridge provinces of Virginia, two other areas with a history of acid-rain damage.

Decades of industrial pollution have also compromised the soil in some areas—which might under other circumstances buffer local trees, lakes, and streams from the harmful effects of acid rain. (Healthy soil provides alkaline components, primarily calcium, that neutralize the acid.)

Interest in acid rain seems to be experiencing an uptick in the last few years. The EPA issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule in 2005, which set even lower emissions caps for power plants in the eastern United States. (The rule was tossed out by a federal appeals court last summer but has been temporarily reinstated until the EPA can draft a replacement.) The EPA is also currently reviewing its secondary air-quality standards for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides—i.e., those that address "public welfare," including ecological damage, as opposed the ones pertaining directly to human health. And in Congress, Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., have teamed up to present a bill that would call for even further reductions of SO₂ and NOx—as well as mercury—from coal-fired power plants.

A recent joint report (PDF) from the Nature Conservancy and the Cary Institute also stressed the importance of setting and implementing critical loads for SO₂ and NOx, as well as establishing more comprehensive, integrated air pollution monitoring systems.

Still, efforts to reduce emissions of acid rain precursors in the United States don't do much to solve the problem in countries on the other side of the globe. In 2005, China was the biggest emitter of sulfur dioxide in the world, sending up about 25.5 million tons. Beijing did recently announce that, by next year, the country would reduce SO₂ emissions by 10 percent from those 2005 levels. Two-and-a-half million tons is more than an acid raindrop in the bucket, so at least that's a step in the right direction. ( slate.com )

READ MORE - Whatever Happened to Acid Rain?

The people profiting from food allergies

Nuts to That. The people profiting from food allergies. In a recent Wall Street Journal article titled "Save the Children (and Make Money)," fund manager James Altucher suggests investing in an "autoimmune index," a mix of stocks that have "good, lower multiples and that will supply the arms in our ongoing war against autoimmune diseases." I thought the article was a joke—until Altucher recommended buying stock in Novartis AG because its allergy drug Xolair was going into Phase II trials to see whether it could be useful in suppressing peanut allergies.

Altucher is on to something: Anybody who comes up with a new food allergy drug stands to make a boatload of money. The annual cost of allergies is estimated at $7 billion, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, and the School Nutrition Association reports that about 35 percent of schools have some kind of allergy-related food ban in place. Every time I read something about Xolair or food allergies, I am reminded that our fear of children's food allergies is so very disproportionate to the likelihood of serious harm. Many more children die in car accidents on the way to school than from food allergies in the lunchroom; lightning strikes kill more people every year than do food allergies. It raises the question: Are we so afraid of food allergies because they represent a clear and present danger, or have our fears been exaggerated by the vast amounts of money we've thrown at the issue?

Most of what we know about food allergy danger, from the medical literature and in the popular press, comes from a single source: the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, a nonprofit located in Fairfax, Va. It was started in 1991 by Anne Munoz-Furlong, the parent of a formerly food-allergic child and a onetime researcher at Time-Life Books. FAAN has a substantially pedigreed medical advisory board, including Hugh Sampson and Scott Sicherer, both of whom are highly regarded allergists at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai hospital in New York.

Sampson and Sicherer are excellent clinicians and biomedical researchers, and Munoz-Furlong is undoubtedly one of the most influential parent-advocates of the last 20 years. Their statistical work, however, is problematic. Sampson and Sicherer (who are medical doctors, not statisticians or epidemiologists) co-authored a 2004 paper in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology with Munoz-Furlong (who is not a statistician, an epidemiologist, or a medical doctor) on their attempt to determine how many people in the United States are allergic to seafood. They concluded that "physician-diagnosed and/or convincing seafood allergy is reported by 2.3% of the general population, or approximately 6.6 million Americans. … [S]eafood allergy represents a significant health concern."

Consistent with the journal's policy to disclose conflicts of interest, the statement attached to the paper read, "Funding sources paid for administrative costs and use of the company that performed the actual survey. The same funding sources have ties to the authors in other ways, but the authors do not perceive a conflict of interest on these accounts, and the relationships are public knowledge."

The authors may not have perceived a conflict of interest, but a close look suggests that a problem may, in fact, exist.

The funding sources for the paper include FAAN, the organization run until recently by Munoz-Furlong and her husband, and the Food Allergy Initiative, a private foundation that finances Sampson and Sicherer's research and clinical practice. Like many social causes, the food allergy movement depends on the assistance of a few wealthy patrons. Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe, who made their fortune with the Dress Barn women's clothing stores, became concerned about their granddaughter's food allergies in the late 1980s. That concern was magnified by an article that Sampson—himself the anxious parent of a food-allergic child—published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1992. The article sent ripples of alarm through the food allergy community. The Jaffes have helped a wide variety of social causes over the years, so they directed their considerable philanthropic resources toward what they saw as a worthy effort. There wasn't a nationally renowned research center for food allergies, so they established the Elliot & Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai. The family also put $500,000 into the Food Allergy Initiative to help fund the research center at Mount Sinai. Sampson was drafted from Johns Hopkins to run the new Jaffe Food Allergy Institute.

FAI has given millions of dollars to Mount Sinai in the years since. In 2004, the year of the seafood allergy paper, FAI donated $1.6 million, specifically earmarked for salaries and clinical efforts at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute—basically, to pay the salaries of Sampson, Sicherer, and/or their staff. Munoz-Furlong has also received substantial contributions from FAI for her organization's projects. Sampson currently heads the FAI medical research board, a position for which he receives a $10,000 honorarium. (Under Mount Sinai's institutional guidelines on conflicts of interest, any amount over $10,000 constitutes a "significant" conflict of interest: $10,000 is not reportable, but $10,000.01 is.) He also has financial interests in two allergy drug development firms and holds several peanut-allergy-related patents, including one for a Chinese herbal treatment that, as an "herbal supplement," is not subject to conventional FDA regulations.

Asking Sicherer, Sampson, and Munoz-Furlong to perform an objective study about national rates of seafood allergies is like asking a cigarette company to determine national rates of lung cancer.

If you want to influence the answers in a survey, how you ask a question matters as much as what you ask. In the seafood study, pollsters dialed random numbers and asked whether any household members were allergic to seafood. This kind of phrasing yields a far greater number of "yes" responses than the question "has a medical professional diagnosed you with a seafood allergy?" Criteria for "convincing self-report" in the study were highly subjective, bumping up the numbers a bit more.

Sicherer and Sampson are both on the editorial board of the journal that published the paper. Also, the journal's editor, Donald Leung, serves with Sampson on the FAI medical advisory board and has been rewarded as much as $10,000 a year for his service. The peer review process breaks down in this kind of situation because of a cognitive error called confirmation bias, where erroneous information goes unnoticed because it seems to validate what the reviewer thinks he already knows. Or, as Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert pointed out in the New York Times several years ago, "doctors, judges, consultants and vice presidents strive for truth more often than we realize, and miss that mark more often than they realize. Because the brain cannot see itself fooling itself, the only reliable method for avoiding bias is to avoid the situations that produce it."

The seafood study wasn't just used to legitimize food allergies inside the medical community. It also became a handy political weapon. In 2004, FAI hired a consulting firm to devise a plan to include specific ingredient information on food labels. Tax forms show that those expenses "included mailings to the public to help support the proposed legislation." Food allergy legislation was soon proposed by Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and passed into law. We experience it now as the Food Allergy Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, the law that requires cream cheese to bear the label "contains milk."

That same year, thousands of producers and journalists received a press release FAAN sent out about the new seafood study, announcing, "Seafood allergies are much more prevalent than once thought. … [F]requent, severe reactions are reported by sufferers. … In all, about 11 million people—roughly 1-in-25 Americans—are now believed to be affected by one or more food allergies, a disease triggered by the ingestion of certain foods that may cause life-threatening reactions, or anaphylaxis."

Had the authors' financial ties been known, these dramatic results may have met with more skepticism. But the media found the story irresistible, in part because of the tantalizing way FAAN packaged the story. The press release was written in a way that practically guarantees a story will get picked up by the media: It required the journalist to do very little work. The release included the news hook, quotes from the authors of the survey, useful statistics, and a link to an unaffiliated group's prior estimate about the prevalence of seafood allergies. The facts and quotes were reproduced (almost verbatim) in an L.A. Times piece (subscription required), which was then syndicated and reproduced in other papers like the Houston Chronicle and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The stats formed the backbone of a terrifying—yet factually wrong—2005 piece in Consumer Reports suggesting that fatal seafood allergies could strike anyone, anytime, without any prior warning.

The final piece stacking the deck in favor of food allergy paranoia came from FAAN's biggest media coup of 2004: a video news release FAAN produced with Dey Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the Epi-Pen. It's common for corporations to send out prepackaged releases that shill for products under the guise of news. The TV station is not required to state where it got the material it runs. FAAN used fake news "reported" by video news release voice-over actor Danielle Addair to promote its commissioned research. FAAN's annual report states that the video news release was extremely successful: "In total, the VNRs aired more than 300 times in approximately 207 US markets. Overall, we reached more than 30 million viewers—the most successful VNR outreach in FAAN history."

A small group of people is manipulating the scientific perspective on food allergies, exaggerating the perception of risk, and profiting from the flood of sympathetic private and government money. It's time to re-examine the statistics and question the media spin on food allergies. This time, we need to be hyperaware of potential bias and exaggeration. Food allergies deserve respect and awareness, sure—but we make unwise decisions when we're guided by fear. We should avoid telling one another horror stories about worst-case scenarios, or devising elaborate food bans. We should stop scaring ourselves based on manufactured evidence and remind ourselves that the vast majority of food-related allergic episodes are treatable. And when we look at proposed legislation like the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2009, we should look at the fine print—which allocates tens of millions of dollars to food allergy education—and wonder exactly whose pockets will be lined with that money. ( slate.com )

READ MORE - The people profiting from food allergies

Poor diet during pregnancy does 'irreversible damage'

Poor diet during pregnancy does 'irreversible damage'. Women who eat a diet of junk food while pregnant could condemn their unborn children to obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes in adult life, scientists have found.

A study found that the damage done by a mother's poor diet during pregnancy or while breastfeeding could be irreversible.

Scientists suggest that the research proves that "you are what your mother ate".

The finding comes from a study involving rats at the Royal Veterinary College in London but scientists believe it also applies to humans.

Researchers studied the health patterns of a "junk food generation" of rats whose mothers were fed a diet of doughnuts, muffins, biscuits, crisps and sweets during pregnancy and lactation.

They found that the second generation had unusually high levels of cholesterol an increased risk of heart disease because of fats in the bloodstream.

The animals also had higher than average levels of glucose and insulin, making them susceptible to type two diabetes.

"It seems that a mother's diet whilst pregnant and breastfeeding is very important for the long-term health of her child," Dr Stephanie Bayol, one of the researchers, said.

"We always say 'you are what you eat'. In fact it may also be true that 'you are what your mother ate'.

"This does not mean that obesity and poor health is inevitable and it is important that we take care of ourselves and lead a healthy lifestyle. But it does mean that mothers must eat responsibly whilst pregnant."

In previous research the same team fed pregnant rats a diet rich in fat, sugar and salt and found that many gave birth to offspring which over-ate and had a preference for less healthy food.

The new study, reported in The Journal of Physiology, found that even after the second generation were weaned off junk food, their metabolism remained altered, making them overweight and unhealthy.

Their health problems persisted beyond adolescence even after they switched to healthier diets and they stayed fatter than rats whose mothers had not eaten junk food.

Crucially, much of the extra fat surrounded the kidneys - another diabetes risk factor.

Professor Neil Stickland, a fellow researcher, said: "Humans share a number of fundamental biological systems with rats, so there is good reason to assume that the effects we see in rats may be repeated in humans.

"Our research certainly tallies with epidemiological studies linking children's weight to that of their parents." ( telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - Poor diet during pregnancy does 'irreversible damage'

Sports drinks linked to tooth damage

Sports drinks linked to tooth damage. Sipping on sports drinks can damage your teeth because of the high levels of acid in them, dentists have warned.

Dental experts placed teeth in sports drinks and in water to compare the effects and found the citric acid in the sports drinks caused corrosion and could result in severe tooth damage if left untreated.

The erosion on teeth placed in sports drink were clearly visible as dozens of tiny holes appeared while there was no damage on the teeth immersed in water
Photo: GETTY

The results of the experiment were presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for Dental Research in Miami.

Researchers at the New York University College of Dentistry cut calves' teeth in half and immersed each half in either a sports drink or water and compared the results after 75 to 90 minutes.

"This is the first time that the citric acid in sports drinks has been linked to erosive tooth wear," said Dr Mark Wolff, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care at the college, who led the study.

The erosion on the half placed in the sports drink was clearly visible because dozens of tiny holes had appeared while there was no damage on the half which was immersed in water.

Brushing teeth immediately after the drinks would compound the problem, Dr Wolff said, because the acid in the drink softens tooth enamel leaving it vulnerable to the the abrasive brushing with toothpaste.

In another study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists found cutting out one serving of sugared soft drink led to weight loss of just over one pound after six months and 1lb 4oz after 18 months. Cutting out other drinks did not have the same effect, the researchers said.

A spokesman for the British Soft Drinks Association said: "This study does not replicate real life as the teeth were studied outside of the mouth. A real-life study conducted by Ohio State University, which is the most comprehensive study to date, found that there is no relationship between the consumption of sports drinks and dental erosion. Anyone concerned about this issue should consult their dentist for advice on how to minimise the effects of dietary acids from all sources in the diet." ( telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - Sports drinks linked to tooth damage

Danger of children brushing teeth too much

Danger of children brushing teeth too much. Children should not brush their teeth after every meal because they could be doing more harm than good, according to experts.

More than three-quarters (79%) of dental professionals are seeing more acid erosion on children's teeth on a weekly basis than ever before, according to new research.And more than half (53 per cent) of five year olds have some form of the problem which is caused by acid in food and drink rotting away the enamel of the tooth

Careful: Dentists have warned that children should not brush their teeth after every meal as it may be doing more harm than good Photo: PHILIP HOLLIS

Professor Jimmy Steele of the School of Dental Sciences at The University of Newcastle analysed the results of the study.

He said: "Adult teeth generally start to appear when children are six years-old and need to last a lifetime, so protection from an early age is key.

"Encourage them to drink acid drinks with a straw placed towards the back of the mouth away from teeth.

"And encourage children to avoid brushing their teeth immediately after consuming acidic food or drinks as this is when the enamel is at its softest - it's best to wait as long as possible after an acidic meal or brush beforehand."

The main cause of acid erosion is drinks, not only fizzy ones but those containing fruit are high in acid.

According to the research even eating an orange and sucking out the juice from segments is bad for erosion.

The data, compiled by Sensodyne, a toothpaste producer, came from 214 dental professionals and 1,964 parents, of children aged six to 10.

The research found that more than nine in ten (93 per cent) of parents are not aware of which types of food and drink contain acid and almost six in ten parents (58 per cent) say their children smother food in sauces or dressings, most not realising this is a major cause of acid erosion.

Dr Peter Huntley, an orthodontic specialist, said: "It's a huge problem for the future, acidity in drinks is damaging the enamel, but its not well publicised and there should be a warnings issued." ( telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - Danger of children brushing teeth too much

Adding raisins to cereal 'does not damage teeth'

Adding raisins to cereal 'does not damage teeth'. Adding raisins to sweeten children's cereal is not bad for their teeth, research has found.

If no sugar is added to food containg the sweet dried fruit it is rapidly cleared from the surface of teeth, meaning it poses no serious risk of cavities.

Higher dental plaque acid levels contributes to cavities in children - but eating bran flakes with raisins containing no added sugar does not increase acid in dental plaque than just bran flakes alone, according to the study.

Christine Wu, professor and director of cariology research at the University of Illinois at Chicago and lead investigator of the study, said: "Some dentists believe sweet, sticky foods such as raisins cause cavities because they are difficult to clear off the tooth surfaces."

"But studies have shown that raisins are rapidly cleared from the surface of the teeth just like apples, bananas and chocolate."

In the study, published in the journal Pediatric Dentistry, children ages 7 to 11 compared four food groups - raisins, bran flakes, a commercial raisin bran cereal, and a mix of bran flakes with raisins without added sugar.

Children chewed and swallowed the test foods within two minutes. The acid produced by the plaque bacteria on the surface of their teeth was measured at intervals.

Plaque bacteria on tooth surfaces can ferment various sugars such as glucose, fructose or sucrose and produce acids that may promote decay.

But sucrose is also used by bacteria to produce sticky sugar polymers that help the bacteria remain on tooth surfaces, Wu said. Raisins themselves do not contain sucrose.

In a previous study at UIC, researchers identified several natural compounds from raisins that can inhibit the growth of some oral bacteria linked to cavities or gum disease. ( telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - Adding raisins to cereal 'does not damage teeth'

Ancient mummies show signs of heart disease

No fast-food phenom: Ancient mummies show signs of heart disease, scientists say- You can't blame this one on McDonald's: Researchers have found signs of heart disease in 3,500-year-old mummies.

"We think of it as being caused by modern risk factors," such as fast food, smoking and a lack of exercise, but the findings show that these aren't the only reasons arteries clog, said Dr. Randall Thompson, a cardiologist at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

He and several other researchers used CT scans, a type of X-ray, on 22 mummies kept in the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. The subjects were from 1981 B.C. to 334 A.D. Half were thought to be over 45 when they died, and average lifespan was under 50 back then.

Sixteen mummies had heart and blood vessel tissue to analyze. Definite or probable hardening of the arteries was seen in nine.

"We were struck by the similar appearance of vascular calcification in the mummies and our present-day patients," said another researcher, Dr. Michael Miyamoto of the University of California at San Diego. "Perhaps the development of atherosclerosis is a part of being human."

One mummy had evidence of a possible heart attack but scientists don't know if it was fatal. Nor can they tell how much these people weighed - mummification dehydrates the body.

Of those whose identities could be determined, all were of high social status, and many served in the court of the Pharaoh or as priests or priestesses.

"Rich people ate meat, and they did salt meat, so maybe they had hypertension (high blood pressure), but that's speculation," Thompson said.

With modern diets, "we all sort of live in the Pharaoh's court," said another of the researchers, Dr. Samuel Wann of the Wisconsin Heart Hospital in Milwaukee.

The oldest mummy with heart disease signs was Lady Rai, a nursemaid to Queen Ahmose Nefertari who died around 1530 B.C. - 200 years before King Tutankhamun.

German imaging company Siemens AG, the National Bank of Egypt and the Mid-America Heart Institute paid for the work. Results are in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association and were reported Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference.( cbc.ca )

READ MORE - Ancient mummies show signs of heart disease