Are young Americans getting sicker?

"I thought this would be the time when we’d be preparing for the rest of our lives: earning money, going on fun vacations, having families, building our careers. And we are, but at the same time, we’re doing it while we’re trying to manage pain symptoms, chase down prescriptions, and secure stable health insurance. When I was in college, I remember being prepared to survive in the workforce, but I don’t remember a class that told me how to do that if half of your household is in so much pain on some days that they can’t get to work. I’m barely over 30. I thought I had so much more time before I had to think about this stuff."

"I wondered if this was normal. Do we know so many people who are dealing with pain because people are just getting sicker in general?"

Living Sick and Dying Young in Rich America

An Apple a Day: Polymeal vs. Polypill

Image: Abhijit TembhekarScience Daily reports on a new study published in The BMJ: 

"Prescribing an apple a day to all adults aged 50 and over would prevent or delay around 8,500 vascular deaths such as heart attacks and strokes every year in the UK -- similar to giving statins to everyone over 50 years who is not already taking them -- according to a study in the Christmas edition of The BMJ.

The researchers conclude that the 150 year old public health message: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is able to match more widespread use of modern medicine, and is likely to have fewer side effects. The research takes into account people who are already appropriately taking statins to reduce their risk of vascular disease and therefore the authors stress that no-one currently taking statins should stop, although by all means eat more apples."

The study's conclusions:

"The comparison of a medicalised approach to chronic disease prevention with that of a lifestyle one has been previously estimated (polypill versus polymeal), although, in our view, not with any realistic hope of changing population behaviour, despite the suggestion to employ out of work cardiologists as chefs. We offer a simplified version of this: our study suggests that both nutritional and pharmaceutical population approaches to primary prevention of vascular disease have the potential to have a significant effect on population mortality. We find that a 150 year old proverb is able to match modern medicine and is likely to have fewer side effects."

Sweden's butter consumption goes up, risk of myocardial infarction goes down

"The outdated fear-mongering propaganda claiming that a dramatically increased butter consumption in Sweden has also increased the incidence of heart disease is once again crushed by reality.

New statistics from The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare show the exact opposite. The incidence of heart attacks in Sweden keeps plummeting, for both men and women, just as they have done since 2005. We are becoming healthier, despite eating more and more butter."

The Real Association Between Butter and Heart Disease in Sweden

Does a gluten-free diet protect mice from Type I diabetes?

Image: Madeleine Price BallA study recently published in PLOS ONE provides evidence that type I diabetes is more frequent and occurs earlier in mice on a gluten-containing diet.  

Key terms:
T1D – Type I diabetes
NOD mice - non-obese diabetic mice
microbiota, microbiome – symbiotic microbes, in this case, the ones in our gut

The key statements from the study's conclusions are highlighted:

"Based on this observation and our findings, we could propose that gluten could contribute to the pathogenesis of T1D in the NOD mouse by decreasing Akkermansia, a genus of GIT microbiota that protects against T1D."

"Alternatively, gluten-containing diets may promote 'pathogenic or diabetogenic' bacteria."

"Further experiments are needed to prove these possibilities."

"In conclusion, we have shown that gluten-free diets significantly delay the onset as well as reduce the overall incidence of spontaneous T1D in NOD mice."

"Gut microbiomes from mice fed gluten-free diets was distinct from those of mice fed diabetogenic, gluten-containing diets. Therefore, gluten could contribute to the pathogenesis of T1D by modulating the gut microflora."

Source

Low Incidence of Spontaneous Type 1 Diabetes in Non-Obese Diabetic Mice Raised on Gluten-Free Diets Is Associated with Changes in the Intestinal Microbiome

The study was performed by a team of researchers from:

• Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota,
• Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, 
• Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, 
• Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 
• Department of Animal & Range Sciences, College of Agriculture, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana
• Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, & Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

Dr. Amy Myers on Signs of a Leaky Gut

How do you suspect you may have leaky gut? According to Functional Medicine specialist Dr. Amy Myers, the there are 9 top signs of a leaky gut. These are the top five: 

1. Digestive issues such as gas, bloating, diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
2. Seasonal allergies or asthma.
3. Hormonal imbalances such as PMS or PCOS.
4. Diagnosis of an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, psoriasis, or celiac disease.
5. Diagnosis of chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia.

Learn more at PrimalDocs: 9 Signs You Have A Leaky Gut

“No healthy pattern of increased weight”

It has previously been suggested that some obese people can be healthy. Certainly, many enjoy and active life and appear healthy. But, does overweight and obesity increase the risk of cardiovascular events and death? To study this further, researchers at University of Toronto evaluated 8 studies with a total of 61,386 participants and grouped them into 6 BMI/metabolic status categories: "BMI (normal weight/overweight/obesity) and metabolic status (healthy/unhealthy)." Healthy vs. unhealthy was "defined by the presence or absence of components of the metabolic syndrome by Adult Treatment Panel III or International Diabetes Federation criteria."

Not surprisingly the researchers found the group with lowest risk was the nomal weight were metabolically healthy group. The normal weight metabolically unhealthy, and the overweight, or obese had an "elevated risk all-cause mortality and/or cardiovascular events." The authors concluded:

"Compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals, obese persons are at increased risk for adverse long-term outcomes events in the absence of metabolic abnormalities, suggesting that there is no healthy pattern of increased weight."

Source: Are Metabolically Healthy Overweight and Obesity Benign Conditions?: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Not responding to a gluten free diet? Maybe it's contamination.

"A study that measured contamination by gluten tested 22 single-ingredient inherently gluten-free grains, seeds and flours, and found 32% of these products contained >20 ppm gluten and one product contained 2,925 ppm of gluten. The products tested that were positive for gluten included soy, millet, buckwheat, rice and sorghum flour. This is sufficient gluten to cause on-going symptoms in many celiac disease individuals.[1]"

Learm more at Primal Docs: Non Responsive and Refractory Celiac Disease Study: 
A paleo type diet gives 100% remission for most

“Wheat sensitivity” and irritable bowel syndrome

An extensive review of non-celiac gluten sensitivity published in Nutrients found “recent studies raised the possibility that, beside gluten, wheat amylase-trypsin inhibitors and low-fermentable, poorly-absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates” contribute to irritable bowel syndrome. If future investigations confirm these initial finding, non-celiac gluten sensitivity may be more appropriately called “wheat sensitivity.” (emphasis added)

Source: Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity: The New Frontier of Gluten Related Disorders

John Durant: Rickets & "blue blood"

"In 1651 a British physician named Francis Gibson published the world’s first comprehensive treatise on rickets, an “absolutely new disease … never described by any ancient or modern writers.” Now seen the world over, it was dubbed “the British Disease.” Rickets is a childhood condition characterized by skeletal deformities, twisted bones, bone pain, dental problems, and muscle weakness. Left untreated it will disable a child for life. Rickets is caused by a vitamin D deficiency, resulting from a lack of sun and poor diet – two things for which Britain has long been known."

"Though most people associated rickets with the urban industrial poor, holed up in windowless tenements, rickets started out as a disease of the proto-industrial rich. The rich were wealthy enough to avoid the most widely available cure for rickets – sunlight – because they didn’t have to work in the fields. Pale skin even became fashionable. Rickets emerged just decades after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was famously pale; the aspirational merchant class mimicked the high status behaviors of the hereditary elite. The very term “blue blood” is a reference to paleness so extreme that a person’s veins are visible through the translucent skin."

Source: The Paleo Manifesto

Broccoli combats radiation sickness

A compound in broccoli has been found to be effective in preventing death following radiation exposure in rats. According to LiveScience, the compound 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM) in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables shows “promise as a cancer-preventive agent, possibly because it boosts DNA repair.”

To determine the possible benefit of DIM in animals exposed to radiation, investigators “exposed 40 rats to a dose of gamma-ray radiation that would normally be deadly.” All the rats not given DIM following radiation exposure died while 60% of the rats given the broccoli compound were alive 30 days later. LiveScience observes: 

"If follow-up studies show the treatment works in humans, the compound could be given to people before or right after nuclear exposure to mitigate acute radiation sickness.”

Reducing the risk of endometrial cancer

A recent report by the World Cancer Research Fund titled FOOD, NUTRITION, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ENDOMETRIAL CANCER 2013 provides additional support for a Paleo approach to nutrition and fitness:

The evidence that greater body fatness (reflected by BMI, measures of abdominal girth and adult weight gain) is a cause of endometrial cancer is convincing. Glycaemic load is probably a cause of endometrial cancer, and physical activity and coffee both probably protect against this cancer.

Evidence for non-starchy vegetables and red meat was no longer suggestive of an association and was too limited to draw a conclusion.

Toxic metals, inadequate nutrition & autism

Is there a link between toxic metal exposure, the typical modern diet (which is nutritionally deficient), and autism?

This year, toxicologists from Hersbruck, Germany published a research study evaluating hair samples from 44 children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The researchers compared the levels of toxic metals and essential (beneficial) elements such as iron, magnesium and zinc, to levels found children without autism:

By comparing hair concentration of autistic vs nonautistic children, elevated hair concentrations were noted for aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, antimony, nickel, lead, and vanadium. Hair levels of calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, and selenium were considered deficient. There was a significant positive correlation between lead & verbal communication (p = 0.020) and general impression (p = 0.008). In addition, there was a significant negative correlation between zinc & fear and nervousness (p = 0.022). Conclusion: Our data supports the historic evidence that heavy metals play a role in the development of ASD. In combination with an inadequate nutritional status the toxic effect of metals increase along with the severity of symptoms. (emphasis added)

Maedica (Buchar). 2012 Jan;7(1):38-48.
Toxic Metals and Essential Elements in Hair and Severity of Symptoms among Children with Autism.
Blaurock-Busch E, Amin OR, Dessoki HH, Rabah T.
Lecturer and Advisor, International Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology & German Medical Association of Clinical Metal Toxicology, Hersbruck, Germany.