Besides acupuncture one of the big components of my practice is food hypersensitivities which can cause a myriad of symptoms that then drive up our health care costs because doctors are treating the symptoms with medication rather than the identifying the cause. Food hypersensitivities are caused by immune system dysregulation where there is an inappropriate response to foods we eat that then in turn cause an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response is the root of almost all modern diseases and ‘syndromes’.
There is unequivocal evidence that the genetically modified foods that are in our food supply are contributing to the increase in inflammatory diseases we see today. This is especially true of intestinal diseases, asthma, allergies, and likely contributes in some way to the autism spectrum of diseases. I will go out on a stretch and say I wouldn’t be surprised that in 10 or 15 years we find that all these new tick vector diseases and widespread insect diseases are in part because of the GMO crops that lay out in fields for animals,birds and insects to eat causing mutant genes to be expressed.
Jeffrey Smith the direction of the Institute for Responsible Technology has made a stellar film about GMOs. It is available free for the next week. Please take an hour to view it. GMOs in our food supply must be stopped.
Yesterday I watched a phenomenal webinar on the effects of food chemicals and child behavior. It was entitled “Driven to Distraction: Food, chemicals and child behavior” and hosted by an organization that is worth knowing, Healthy Food Action. The webinar was recorded and they promise to have it up soon, once they do I’ll post a link.
Today a video with a similar theme was posted on a Functional Medicine listserv I am on. If you want to see digestion of wholesome foods vs. processed foods you need to check out this video. Amazing how long long those Ramen noodles are intact in the stomach. I guess we can also just use a compost bin to compare processed vs. whole instead of expensive technology.
The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving closer to creating a gluten-free safety zone for consumers of gluten-free products. Until October 2, 2011, the FDA is soliciting comments from consumers about its proposed safety level of not more than 20 parts per million (ppm) or more gluten in foods labeled as “gluten-free.” Read the rest of this entry
Acid reflux is a disorder often dealt with symptomatically by giving acid blocking medication. However they do not always relieve the issue and long term use of these drugs (more than 6 months) can have deleterious effects on our health. They can cause mineral deficiencies leading to osteoporosis and decreased digestion of proteins thereby causing a vitamin B12 deficiency. They can also cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the gut. Sometimes what is diagnosed as GERD is actually a histamine intolerance. Read the rest of this entry
There is a saying ‘that it is only skin deep’. But really the skin is very often a reflection of digestive health. In Chinese Medicine the skin is a reflection of the Lungs organ system and the Lungs are paired with the Large Intestine organ system. For example asthmatic reactions are often precipitated by ingestion of food allergens. When dealing with something like psoriasis it can often be helped by using nutraceuticals (i.e. adding fish oils to reduce inflammation or taking Vitamin D to support immune/inflammatory response) or changes in diet (such as a gluten free diet). The etiology of psoriasis is different for every body, however addressing nutritional imbalances thereby improving gut function, or changing diet and improving gut function can help reduce the itchy flaky skin. Read the rest of this entry
In a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial involving 1,062 children under the age of 5 years, supplementation with Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus (200 million colony forming units/d) was found to control bacterial, viral (18% reduction), and respiratory infections (17% reduction), a probiotic containing multiple species (12 bacterial strains, including 7 species of Lactobacillus, 3 types of bifidobacteria, 1 type of Streptococcus, 1 type of Enterococcus) significantly reduced gastrointestinal disease (42% decrease in short-term and 44% decrease in long-term), and long-term consumption of L.rhamnosus T cell-1 (10 billion cfu) decreased the incidence of bacterial infection.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) seems to be an all too common complaint of so many people. The three typical ways IBS presents itself is: constipation dominant (IBS-C), diarrhea dominant (IBS-D) or alternating diarrhea and constipation (IBS). I’m going to generalize here, but Read the rest of this entry
Center for Celiac Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 22 S Greene St, N5W70, PO Box 140, Baltimore, MD 21201-1595, USA. afasano@umaryland.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathic condition triggered in genetically susceptible individuals by the ingestion of gluten. Although common in Europe, CD is thought to be rare in the United States, where there are no large epidemiologic studies of its prevalence. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of CD in at-risk and not-at-risk groups in the United States.
METHODS:
Serum antigliadin antibodies and anti-endomysial antibodies (EMA) were measured. In EMA-positive subjects, human tissue transglutaminase IgA antibodies and CD-associated human leukocyte antigen DQ2/DQ8 haplotypes were determined. Intestinal biopsy was recommended and performed whenever possible for all EMA-positive subjects. A total of 13 145 subjects were screened: 4508 first-degree and 1275 second-degree relatives of patients with biopsy-proven CD, 3236 symptomatic patients (with either gastrointestinal symptoms or a disorder associated with CD), and 4126 not-at-risk individuals.
RESULTS:
In at-risk groups, the prevalence of CD was 1:22 in first-degree relatives, 1:39 in second-degree relatives, and 1:56 in symptomatic patients. The overall prevalence of CD in not-at-risk groups was 1:133. All the EMA-positive subjects who underwent intestinal biopsy had lesions consistent with CD.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results suggest that CD occurs frequently not only in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, but also in first- and second-degree relatives and patients with numerous common disorders even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms. The prevalence of CD in symptomatic patients and not-at-risk subjects was similar to that reported in Europe. Celiac disease appears to be a more common but neglected disorder than has generally been recognized in the United States.
Center for Celiac Research, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW:
Celiac disease is a syndrome characterized by damage of the small intestinal mucosa caused by the gluten fraction of wheat proteins and similar alcohol-soluble proteins (prolamines) of barley and rye in genetically susceptible subjects. The presence of gluten in these subjects leads to a self- perpetuating mucosal damage, and the elimination of gluten results in full mucosal recovery. The clinical manifestations of celiac disease are protean in nature and vary markedly with the age of the patient, the duration and extent of disease, and the presence of extraintestinal pathologic changes. In addition to the classic gastrointestinal form, a variety of other clinical manifestations of the disease have been described, including atypical and asymptomatic forms. Although the typical form of celiac disease, characterized by failure to thrive, is still the most frequent presentation in the pediatric age group, severe growth delay is less commonly seen in developed countries.
RECENT FINDINGS:
Recent epidemiologic studies suggest that celiac disease-associated growth retardation is becoming a tangible health problem in developing countries, where the problem has been historically overlooked. Given the protean nature of the clinical presentation of celiac disease, the diagnosis is extremely challenging and relies on a sensitive and specific algorithm that allows the identification of different manifestations of the disease. Serologic tests developed in the past decade provide a noninvasive tool for screening individuals at risk for the disease as well as the general population.
SUMMARY:
The current gold standard for the diagnosis of celiac disease remains histologic confirmation of the intestinal damage in serologically positive individuals. The keystone treatment of celiac disease patients is a lifelong elimination diet in which food products containing gluten are avoided.
Besides acupuncture one of the big components of my practice is food hypersensitivities which can cause a myriad of symptoms that then drive up our health care costs because doctors are treating the symptoms with medication rather than the identifying the cause. Food hypersensitivities are caused by immune system dysregulation where there is an inappropriate response to foods we eat that then in turn cause an inflammatory response. This inflammatory response is the root of almost all modern diseases and ‘syndromes’.