Reader\'s Digest Canada - 04.2020

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News from the

WORLD OF

MEDICINE

CAN’T STAND BITTER

VEGGIES? IT MIGHT

BE GENETIC

Compounds found in certain vegetables taste

exceptionally harsh to people with particular gene

variants. The same people, an estimated 15 to 25

per cent of humanity, also sometimes dislike coffee

or dark chocolate. In a study conducted by Jennifer

L. Smith of the University of Kentucky, participants

with the identified variants were likely to consume

fewer veggies. “The problem vegetables tend to be

in the cruciferous family, which includes cabbage,

broccoli and Brussels sprouts, among others,” she

says. Instead of giving up on produce altogether,

and missing the health benefits, be adventurous.

Try other, sweeter veggies like carrots and beets.

BY Samantha Rideout

Taken Together,

“Rare” Diseases

Not So Rare

Chances are you’ve

never heard of Marfan

syndrome or eosino-

philic fasciitis. They’re

among the diseases that

are considered “rare”

because they affect no

more than five in 10,000

people. Such ailments

are often hard to diag-

nose and treat, partly

because they haven’t

received much scien-

tific attention. But when

you combine them,

they actually affect

around 300 million

people worldwide (not

including rare cancers

or infections). This new

estimate is based on

Orphanet, an online

database that gathers

knowledge of rare

diseases. “It can be

searched by disease to

find patient organiza-

tions, expert centres,

research projects and

registries in Europe,

Japan and Canada,”

says Charlotte Rodwell,

a Paris-based spokes-

person for the project.

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