FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 01 | AUG/SEP 2019 | WDDTY 17
UPFRONTMultiple sclerosis linked
to food allergies
There’s a strong link between multiple sclerosis (MS) and food allergy.
It’s not yet known whether an allergy can cause the MS in the first
place, but researchers do know that sufferers often experience a
relapse soon after a reaction to food.
The common factor seems to be inflammation in the gut that is
triggered by an allergic reaction, say researchers at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital in Boston.
They discovered the connection when they surveyed
1,349 MS sufferers. Although repondents were asked
to reveal any allergic reaction to food, environmental
factors or drugs, only those with a food allergy
suffered more frequent relapses and had more
severe pathological changes related to MS.
This suggests that MS isn’t just an immune
reaction but is more closely associated with
the gut and inflammatory responses to foods.
The discovery ties in with earlier
observations that people with MS seem
to suffer relapses after an allergic
reaction—but nobody had been sure it
was a reaction only to food.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 2018 Dec 18. pii:
jnnp-2018-Fish
oils could
prevent
30% of
miscarriages
Omega-3 fish oils could
reduce the rate of preterm
babies and miscarriages
by up to 30 percent.
They have anti-
inflammatory properties,
and they also block
bacterial growth that is
associated with between
10 and 30 percent of
preterm births. The bacteria,
Fusobacterium nucleatum,
travels from the mouth to
the uterus, where it causes
infection in the placenta.
By suppressing
inflammation in the placenta,
the oils fight the infection,
which is also responsible for
miscarriage and stillbirths,
say researchers at Columbia
University Irving Medical
Center.
Everyone has the bacteria
in their mouths, but
hormonal changes in
women who are pregnant
can cause gums to bleed, which
allows it to spread through the
body.
The oils are already
recommended for
pregnant women, but the
researchers estimate
the amount should be
higher than the daily
recommended dose
to protect against
infection.
JCI Insight,
2019; 4. pii:
125436INTENSIVE EXERCISE
AS EFFECTIVE AS
CHEMO
Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are
standard approaches to slow the growth of colon cancer—but
high-intensity exercise can have the same positive effect, a new
study has found.
Even a short session of high-intensity interval training (HIIT)
can induce changes in blood cells that slow the growth of colon
cancer cells or even kill them off completely.
These positive effects were seen after just one exercise
session, although the colon cancer patients went on to
complete 12 HIIT sessions over a month.
Even after the first session, blood samples
showed an increase in markers of
inflammation, and when cancer cells in
the lab were exposed to these samples,
they started dying, researchers at the
University of Queensland in Australia
have discovered.
Although earlier studies have shown that intensive
exercise can slow the growth of cancer cells, the researchers
were surprised to see it was also reducing the number of cancer
cells, suggesting they were being killed off.
J Physiol, 2019; 597: 2177–