LGG (Culturelle) Its Workings Are Explained
Valio’s Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG®) is the most frequently studied and used probiotic. Under the supervision of researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology, and the Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences at the University of Helsinki, an international research team determined the genome sequences of LGG and a bacterium closely related to it. The results, published in the renowned PNAS journal, shed light on the origin of probiotic mechanisms.
Many research publications have confirmed that bacteria promote health and support immune systems and improve digestion. Some probiotics can also alleviate the symptoms suffered by those with irritable bowel syndrome. As many as every fifth westerner suffers from this pain, also called spastic colon. Studies say that LGG probiotics are also an effective treatment method for reducing children’s atopic symptoms, and the risk of respiratory infections.
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Are Published Trials The Full Picture?
In the Journal Of The American Medical Association (JAMA) last month (sept9th 2009) a rather dull article was published that continues to raise significant questions about the availability of quality data required for optimal clarity in making clinical decisions.
For some time now it has been understood that trials can go missing, that is they are started but not reported on, mainly due to unwanted outcomes, rather than collapse of the trial. The result can be a level of selective publishing practice that highlights benefits rather than failure by excluding unsuccessful studies or may deliver a retrospectively applied outcome score to an allied interventional benefit when the proposed (wished for) outcome does not materialise.
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Whats New in The Understanding Of The Immunology Of Ulcerative Colitis?
IBD’s are characterised by wasting and chronic intestinal inflammation induced by many different cytokine-mediated pathways. It is clearly recognised that medical and surgical interventions do not cure Crohn’s disease because relapse is the rule after remission.
Until a few years ago, IBD was classified into Th1-dependent, that is, Crohn’s disease, and Th2-dependent, that is, ulcerative colitis, phenotypes. However, in recent years, it has been shown that new T-cell subclasses, that is, Th17 and regulatory T cells (TR), exist independently of Th1 and Th2 and that they play a central role in modulating IBD.
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Lifestyle Choices Impact Positively on Second Breast Cancer Risk
Breast cancer survivors might be able to reduce their risk for contralateral breast cancer by making lifestyle modifications. A new study published online September 8 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has found that obesity, alcohol use, and smoking all significantly increase the risk for second primary invasive contralateral breast cancer among breast cancer survivors.
Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, found that obese women had a 50% increased risk for contralateral breast cancer, and those who consumed 7 or more alcoholic drinks per week had a 90% increased risk. Survivors who currently smoked had a 120% increased risk of developing a second breast cancer.
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Treatment of Hypovitaminosis D in Infants and Toddlers
The optimal status for Vitamin D is unlikely to be met without the ingestion of Vit D supplements. This is in part because the minimum levels are being revised upwards and the suitable food sources are inadequate in nutrient density and are erratically consumed. In addition the change in sunbathing practices in the northern hemisphere has led to a widely recognised Vit D deficiency pandemic.
Children are especially vulnerable to the adverse consequences of Vit D deficiency during their growing years. Recognising the need for supplemental intervention a group of clinicians and scientists from Divisions of Adolescent Medicine and Endocrinology, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Biotics Research Corporation explored the effectiveness of differing forms of Vit D3 in the restoration of normal levels of Vit D status in children.
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Food Choice Has Greater Impact on Obesity Than Genes!
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We are not slaves to our genes. Even if we are born with an inherited predisposition to obesity, life style is important and will determine the outcome of weight related problems says this recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
A Novel Approach to Treating Depression – How Probiotics Can Shift Mood by Modulating Cytokines
Michael E. Ash, BSc.(Hons) DO. ND. F.Dip ION has written an overview from a clinical perspective of the emerging science related to the mucosal immune system and the health of the brain in relation to affect. Published by the in house journal from Allergy Research Group it provides a strategic approach to managing individuals using a novel probiotic strategy.
From our early days in utero until we die, the ability of the GI tract to renew and replenish itself and maintain a stable relationship with trillions of bacteria is astounding. On a typical day the innate immune system of our gastrointestinal tract will process more immunological information than the rest of our body in its entire lifetime. It’s an absolute immunological miracle we can consume antigenic particles of food and not drop down dead every time we do so.
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Bonnie Bassler on how bacteria “talk”
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Enzyme Therapy & Cancer – Recent Paper Questioned!
Pancreatic Proteolytic Enzyme Therapy Compared With Gemcitabine-Based Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer.
Dr Gonzalez, a recent expert speaker at one of the NL expert education seminars, has had his therapy heavily criticised in this recent article published in the respected Journal of Clinical Oncology.
At first sight it can seem that the paper roundly demolishes the pancreatic enzyme and lifestyle treatment recommended by Dr Gonzalez, and adds considerable value to the mixed chemotherapy treatment provided as the competing arm of the therapy.
In fact this paper has already been lauded in the arenas frequented by the more committed anti-alternative or non RCT evidenced medicine as a gross failure of the enzyme therapy to show any benefit in the care of pancreatic cancer patients.
Surely this must be considered an experts review, especially as the lead author Dr John Chabot was the appointed independent trial Principal Investigator at Columbia? He would know and report accurately what went on – wouldn’t he?
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H1N1 (Swine Flu) What Does it Mean This Winter?
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recently surveyed H1N1 (Swine Flu) epidemiological 2009 data for 28 countries, finding that 51% of all deaths have been among people aged 20-49 years, and only 12% were among people over 60 years of age.
This is striking, as it is a near-perfect reverse of normal flu trends, and mirrors what was seen, demographically, in 1918. While the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology have tried to factor in such trends, it is extremely difficult to know how influenza dynamics, illnesses and death rates may vary if transmission and illness is primarily among young adults.
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