|
April 24, 2000 Research Update |
**Still think dairy products are so wonderful?? Not only are they VERY allergenic, not only may they INCREASE the risk of osteoporosis, now only may they cause Type I diabetes in suseptable infants, but now...
High Intake of Dairy Foods May Increase Risk of Prostate Cancer
These findings support the hypothesis that calcium may lower levels of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, which is thought to protect against prostate cancer, Dr. June M. Chan, of the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, Massachusetts, told attendees of the 91st annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer research on Tuesday. "There were about 1,000 cases of prostate cancer confirmed among these men during that 11-year period," Dr. Chan said. "We observed a small-to-moderate increased risk of prostate cancer associated with higher intakes of dairy products and dairy calcium." The increased risk was approximately 30%.
**Antibiotics are severly overused in pediatric practices. This summary shows that, for most respiratory tract infections, antibiotics are not needed...
Pediatrics -- Abstracts: Pichichero et al. 105 (4): 753
**Asthma rates increasing...could it be related to the increased antibiotic use described above? The evidence strongly suggests it may be a factor. In addition, many doctors say that the readmission rate to the hospital is dropping. Yes, it is, but that doesn't mean that the child's health is improving...they are just on more drugs to keep the symptoms under control...
Childhood Asthma Hospitalization Rate Rising in Norway
Hospital admission rates for asthma increased significantly in young children between 1980 and 1995, but readmission rates appear to be declining, Norwegian researchers report in the March issue of Allergy. The researchers, who point out that their findings on rising admission rates are in line with those of other investigators, speculate that the decline in the readmission rate "may be the result of the increasing use of anti-inflammatory treatment."
Allergy 2000;55:232-239.
**The Western lifestyle is a major contributing factor to many chronic, degenerative diseases.
Africa Proposed as 'Laboratory' for Study of Prevalence of Childhood Asthma
The experience in Africa seems to support the hypothesis that the trend toward urbanization is an important factor in the increasing prevalence of childhood asthma in the developed world, according to a commentary in the February issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Early studies showed, he notes that asthma prevalence was "very low" among children who followed a traditional rural way of life, and that asthma was not uncommon in "urbanized African children."
J Allergy Clin Immunol 2000;105:224-231.
**Excellent summary article on genetically modified foods (GMF). Many countries in Europe have banned GMF, and yet most people in the US have no clue they even exist, let alone may possess serious have risks.