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Celiac Disease and Breastfeeding - The Missing Link

Destiny Stone
World J Gastroenterol
Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:13 UTC
Breastfeeding and Celiac
© Celiac.com
Celiac Disease and Breastfeeding.
Celiac disease is a vastly growing epidemic. 1 in 133 people have celiac disease, and only about 3% of those people are accurately diagnosed with celiac. Celiac can be a silent killer if left undiagnosed, and can present itself in the guise of irritable bowel syndrome, anemia, and colon cancer to name a few. That's why it is of utmost importance to diagnose celiac disease early on. Current studies are being conducted to determine when and why the onset of celiac occurs. In recent years epidemiological studies are indicating that the timing of the introduction of gluten, combined with breastfeeding patterns, may play an important role in the onset and development of celiac disease.

It is very difficult to determine the true prevalence of celiac disease, due to the fact that celiac symptoms can be entirely asymptomatic, or painfully symptomatic, and the reasons for the variations in symptoms are still unknown. Individuals who test positive for the DQ2/8 antibody are genetically predisposed for celiac. However, when exposed to gluten, only about 4% of those predisposed individuals develop celiac. This finding has led researchers to recognize the importance of other genetic factors that must also be playing a role in the development of celiac disease.

In recent years, remarkable scientific advances have been made concerning celiac disease. Seven additional candidate genes have recently been discovered to be possible contributors to celiac disease developments. Additionally, new findings suggest that early introduction of solid foods may also lead to development of gluten intolerance. In England, the incidence of celiac disease showed considerable decline in the 1970's following doctor recommendations to avoid adding cereals to formula diets, and to avoid the introduction of gluten to children before 4 months of age.
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Why You Can't Do 3 Things at Once: Study Shows Multi-Tasking Lets You Use Only Half Your Brain

Rachael Rettner
LiveScience
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:52 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
For those who find it tough to juggle more than a couple things at once, don't despair. The brain is set up to manage two tasks, but not more, a new study suggests.

That's because, when faced with two tasks, a part of the brain known as the medial prefrontal cortex divides so that half of the region focuses on one task and the other half on the other task. This division of labor allows a person to keep track of two tasks pretty readily, but if you throw in a third, things get a bit muddled.

"What really the results show is that we can readily divide tasking. We can cook, and at the same time talk on the phone, and switch back and forth between these two activities," said study researcher Etienne Koechlin of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France. "However, we cannot multitask with more than two tasks."

The results will be published this week in the journal Science.
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Laptop

Study: Brain Games Don't Make You Smarter

Maria Cheng
PhysOrg
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:50 UTC
Image
© Daily Telegraph
Patrick Stewart and Julie Walters use a Nintendo DS for brain-training
People playing computer games to train their brains might as well be playing Super Mario, new research suggests.

In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive skills didn't get any smarter.

Researchers recruited participants from viewers of the BBC's science show Bang Goes the Theory. More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week.

They were compared to more than 2,700 people who didn't play any brain games, but spent a similar amount of time surfing the Internet and answering general knowledge questions. All participants were given a sort of I.Q. test before and after the experiment.
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Family

Children's Cognitive Ability Can Be Affected by Mother's Exposure to Urban Air Pollutants


ScienceDaily
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:00 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
A study by the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) carried out in Krakow, Poland has found that prenatal exposure to pollutants can adversely affect children's cognitive development at age 5, confirming previous findings in a New York City (NYC) study.

Researchers report that children exposed to high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Krakow had a significant reduction in scores on a standardized test of reasoning ability and intelligence at age 5. The study findings are published online in Environmental Health Perspectives.

PAHs are released into the air from the burning of fossil fuels for transportation, heating, energy production, and from other combustion sources.
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Arrow Up

The High Fructose Corn Syrup Monopoly is Finally Cracking


Dr. Mercola
Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:11 UTC
Image
"The back-to-back, double whammy announcements that PepsiCo is ditching high fructose corn syrup in Gatorade along with the results of a scathing new study from researchers at Princeton make it official - allies of the controversial sweetener have lost the war," BNET writes.

For years, the Corn Refiners Association has been arguing that HFCS is a perfectly natural product that is equal to other forms of sugar.

Of course, the Corn Refiners Association is not going to go down easily. Currently, they appear to be pretending the problem simply doesn't exist.

On their Web site, "SweetSurprise.com", they are still trumpeting an episode of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric that ran a report basically parroting the industry line - "high fructose corn syrup is just sugar with an image problem."

However, a Princeton research team has again demonstrated that all sweeteners are NOT equal when it comes to weight gain -- rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
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Syringe

The FDA Shuts Down Common Infant Vaccine After Startling Discovery

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:21 UTC
Baby getting vaccine
© Getty Images/AFP
About 1 million children in the United States and about 30 million worldwide have gotten Rotarix vaccine, the FDA says.
"U.S. federal health authorities recommended ... that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the U.S. against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus," CNN reports.

The Rotarix vaccine, which is made by GlaxoSmithKline and was approved by the FDA in 2008, has already been given to about 1 million U.S. children along with 30 million worldwide. The vaccine was found to contain DNA from porcine circovirus 1.

"The FDA learned about the contamination after an academic research team using a novel technique to look for viruses in a range of vaccines found the material in GlaxoSmithKline's product and told the company," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told CNN.

Sources: CNN March 22, 2010
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How Olive Oil Helps "Switch Off" Genes Which Lead to Conditions Including Heart Disease and Arthritis

Jenny Hope
The Daily Mail
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:33 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
Spanish researchers have found a whole new use for olive oil, in particular extra virgin olive oil.
Olive oil's health-giving benefits stem from its ability to help 'switch off ' genes that inflame conditions ranging from heart disease to arthritis, claim researchers.

Their discovery shows how the much-praised Mediterranean diet can suppress chronic disorders.

Spanish researchers identified almost 100 genes whose inflammatory activity is dampened by consumption of olive oil, in particular extra virgin olive oil.

Greeks are the biggest consumers of olive oil in the world - eating 20 times more than Britons - while Italians eat ten times as much.

Eating healthy mono-unsaturated fats such as olive oil is known to lower the risk of heart disease.

In Britain, which has one of the highest heart attack rates in the world, much higher levels of animal or saturated fats are eaten.
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Pills

Who Says Drug Companies Are "Too Big to Nail," Even When Charged with Felonies?

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00 UTC
Psychopath
© Unknown
Pfizer was charged with a crime -- but the company's "imaginary friend" took all the blame.

"Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, was caught illegally marketing Bextra, a painkiller that was taken off the market in 2005 because of safety concerns.

When the criminal case was announced last fall, federal officials touted their prosecution as a model for tough, effective enforcement," CNN reported.

In reality, however, a CNN Special Investigation found that Pfizer was actually "too big to nail."

Why? As CNN reported:
"Because any company convicted of a major health care fraud is automatically excluded from Medicare and Medicaid. Convicting Pfizer on Bextra would prevent the company from billing federal health programs for any of its products. It would be a corporate death sentence.

So Pfizer and the feds cut a deal. Instead of charging Pfizer with a crime, prosecutors would charge a Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc. ... [This] subsidiary is nothing more than a shell company whose only function is to plead guilty."
Source: CNN April 2, 2010
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Question

Migraine Gives Woman Foreign Accent


Sky News
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:00 UTC
Migraine foreign accent
A woman from Devon has begun speaking with a Chinese accent after suffering severe migraines.

Thirty-five-year-old Sarah Colwill puts the startling change down to an extremely rare medical condition known as Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS).

"I knew I sounded different but I didn't know how much and people said I sounded a bit Chinese.

"Then I had another attack and when the ambulance crew arrived they said I definitely sounded Chinese."

The rare disorder is thought to be caused by strokes and brain injuries and causes sufferers to lose the ability to talk in their native accent.

There have been an estimated 60 recorded cases of FAS since it was first identified in the 1940s.
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Accutane Acne Drug Dangerous for Your Health?

Ethan A. Huff
NaturalNews
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© Roche
Accutane, an anti-acne drug manufactured by Roche, is in the spotlight once again for causing a New Jersey man to have to get his colon removed. Following a lawsuit filed against Roche, alleging that Accutane gave him a severe inflammatory bowel disorder, the man was awarded a $25 million verdict.

The man is not the first to have had his colon removed because of Accutane. Accutane, also known generically as isotretinoin, can cause a whole host of serious problems that are far worse than having acne. The drug label warns that women should not get pregnant while taking the drug because the baby may develop birth defects or die. Accutane may even kill its users.

A few of the other serious side effects caused by Accutane include miscarriages, psychosis and other serious mental problems, suicidal tendencies, acute pancreatitis, "unknown" cardiovascular consequences, hepatitis, night blindness and sight loss, and increased internal skull pressure, just to name a few.
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