November 2, 2000 Research Update

James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiropractic.com
www.lifecarechiropractic.com

Bacterium Linked to Crohn's Disease to Be Removed From Milk in UK

My gosh...how much more evidence do we need???? Cow's milk is NOT good for us. Loaded with hormones and antibiotics, a very common allergen, may actually contribute to fractures instead of protect, linked to Type I diabetes in children, and now this? When are we going to wake up??

(article) British health experts are to look at ways to eliminate a bacterium in milk that has been linked to Crohn's disease from entering the human food chain, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said o Monday. As reported by Reuters Health, some scientists have warned that Mycobacterium paratuberculosis is widespread in the environment, survives pasteurisation, and is likely to be implicated in causing the bowel disorder. In a news release last week, the FSA confirmed that the bacterium can survive normal and even prolonged pasteurisation. Preliminary survey results had found it to be present in 1.9% of raw milk samples and 2.1% of pasteurised milk samples in the UK. The agency said independent experts on the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food had now examined the evidence that M. paratuberculosis might trigger Crohn's disease. Although there was no proof, they were concerned that there might be a link.

Public Citizen Says FDA Fraudulently Approved Food Irradiation

The FDA is under heavy attack these days with accusations of fraud and abuse. Top among these is the revelation that some 52% of FDA panel members had financial ties to the drug companies they were supposed to regulate. Governmental agencies are fraught with abuse and can no longer be considered as reliable information relating to your health.

(article) The Food and Drug Administration should withdraw its approval of food irradiation to kill bacteria, said the advocacy group Public Citizen on Tuesday, claiming that the agency based its acceptance of the technology on faulty studies. Joined by the Cancer Prevention Coalition and several environmental protection organizations, Public Citizen and the other groups said there were numerous public health threats posed by applying ionizing radiation to food. The groups documented their charges in a lengthy report issued at a press briefing. The report, called "A Broken Record—How the FDA Legalized, and Continues to Legalize, Food Irradiation Without Testing it For Safety," shows that "FDA has failed in its mandate to protect consumers," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. Samuel Epstein, an expert on carcinogenicity and chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, said there is overwhelming evidence that radiation cuts the nutritional value of food by a third, and that once cooked, the food has no nutritional value left. Epstein also said that there is a large body of evidence that irradiation poses a threat to human fertility and reproductive viability, and that it appears that many of the chemicals created as byproducts are carcinogenic to humans. For instance, benzene, a known carcinogen, is a byproduct that appears in large quantities in irradiated beef, according to the Public Citizen report.

Coating Doesn't Reduce Risk of Upper GI Bleed From Low-Dose Aspirin

The whole "aspirin a day" for health is becoming more and more controversial. First, there is no evidence that aspirin prevents a FIRST heart attack; only a second. Next, it is rare that a patient has their clotting ability monitored on aspirin therapy to check if it is even needed, and so many patients may be thinning their blood to dangerous levels. This is evidence by an increase in strokes in patients taking long term, low dose aspirin.

Am J Gastroenterol 2000;95:2218-2224 Use of low-dose aspirin increases by threefold the risk of an upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleed requiring hospital admission, according to a population-based cohort study from Denmark. Enteric coating of the aspirin does not reduce this risk. The investigators report that the standardized incidence rate ratio — "calculated as the ratio of the observed to the expected number of upper GI bleeding" — was 3.1 for all users of low-dose aspirin. This ratio increased to 5.6 when low-dose aspirin was combined with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). When aspirin was combined with non-NSAID drugs, the ratio was 4.7. The risk was similar for 100-mg and 150-mg tablets, and for enteric-coated and noncoated tablets. The risk remained elevated, with a standardized incidence rate ratio of 1.8, during the year after treatment with aspirin was discontinued. If confirmed, these findings "will have important public health implications for the assessment of the overall public health benefits of low-dose aspirin," Dr. Sorensen's group concludes.

Survey Shows Patients With Low Back Pain Delay Seeking Help

Consider me biased in this issue, but I would have to agree. Too many times I have patients coming in months later, thinking that "it would go away." The longer a problem is there, the more difficult it becomes to manage.

(article) A majority of physicians (87%) reported that patients with acute lower back pain waited 3 or more days before seeking medical help, according to a recent Internet survey of 378 primary care physicians. Furthermore, physicians indicated that the primary reasons for patients seeking help were that the condition interfered with their ability to work, to conduct daily activities, and because over-the-counter (OTC) treatments were ineffective. The survey was sponsored by www.pain.com, which is developed and maintained by the Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation."Acute lower back pain might be more of a national problem than we originally thought. It was especially surprising to learn that so many people waited for days before getting the help that they needed," commented Larry P. Vervack, Executive Director of Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation. "People need to know that they don't have to delay seeking help for their pain."

YKL-40 a Potential Marker of Joint Inflammation in Osteoarthritis

This is more indication that OA is an inflammatory process and can be managed through natural anti-inflammatory methods. YKL-40 is a substance secreted by the chondrocytes and synovial cells, also indicating that OA may have a nutritional component affecting the health of cells.

Ann Rheum Dis 2000;59:828-831 Study results published this month suggest a correlation between serum YKL-40, a glycoprotein secreted by chondrocytes and synovial cells, and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with osteoarthritis. researchers say that YKL-40 may be a marker of joint inflammation in osteoarthritis. They report that serum YKL-40 levels were 36% higher in osteoarthritis patients than in controls. They also report that "serum levels of YKL-40 and CRP increased with age and were significantly correlated." Dr. Conrozier and colleagues say that while these findings confirm prior studies, "further longitudinal studies are necessary to assess the value of YKL-40 for monitoring patients with osteoarthritis and its possible use in monitoring clinical response to NSAIDs and disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs."

HRT Shouldn't Be Used as Secondary Prevention of Heart Disease

This is always a very sensitive issue with many women. I am ardently opposed to the use of synthetic drugs to "treat" a natural process in women. We have created a disease--menopause. It is a natural state of life, not one to be medicated into eradication. I do support the use of natural HRT if needed, but this constant quest for man to best nature is not good for our health. Not only does the use unquestionably increase your risk of cancer, but with the release of this study (which, ironically, has not been plastered all over the media....???) it blasts another reason many women take HRT--prevention of heart disease.

Pharmacotherapy 20(9):1021-1027, 2000 As described in the pro side of this debate, several CHD benefits are ascribed to estrogen, including positive effects on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and promotion of coronary vasodilatation, specifically through endothelium- dependent mechanisms, reduction of fibrinogen levels, and production of antioxidant activity. Although these are plausible mechanisms by which estrogen might provide benefit to patients with CHD, the proven benefit of hormone replacement for secondary prevention of CHD remained untested until the HERS. Hormone replacement therapy has not been proven to reduce cardiovascular events in postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease. In contrast, it increases the risk of thromboembolism, even in a carefully screened population such as the HERS. Long-term HRT and the age of the targeted population are both associated with increased breast cancer risk.

Fish Oil Lowers Triglycerides W/ Little or No Glycemic Effect in Diabetics

Essential fatty acids have such tremendous health benefits for many chronic diseases, with no appreciable side effects. And considering that our Western diet is severely deficient in Omega-3 acids and very high in Omega-6 acids, we are not receiving these benefits from our diet. I strongly recommend all patients to maintain a daily regimen of some form of essential fatty acids.

Diabetes Care 2000;23:1407-1415 The results of a meta-analysis of 18 trials conducted over a 10-year period show that fish oil supplementation for patients with type 2 diabetes lowers triglycerides but has no statistically significant effect on glycemic control. "This study disproves the long-held belief that fish oil supplementation adversely affects glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes," Dr. Victor M. Montori told Reuters Health. While the pooled data "was not able to elucidate the ideal dose of fish oil needed to achieve large reductions in triglycerides," Dr. Montori said, it suggests that "fish oil may be safe to add to the armamentarium of triglyceride-lowering medication" for people with diabetes.