Brazil, Russia, China and India (BRIC) peasant farmers

The emerging markets of Brazil, Russia , India and China ( BRIC) are important elements in the world economy especially agriculture.
Their economies are discussed in an article in the Times by Carl Mortished ( Times Wed July 30th 2008 p 43 ) in the current climate of inflation, slackening growth and the flight of hot money .
There is a world wide struggle for a global trade agreement that would open borders and reduce farming subsidies.
The needs of peasant farmers in these BRIC countries is seen to be a major factor in preventing this economic and global aspirations. These poverty stricken farmers live in communities close to starvation, relying on poor equipment, living on poor land , dogged by ill health and nutrition and need subsidies and high tariffs to keep out imported cheap food .India’s rural; population is 600 million.
Many developing countries would like to export to India and China but politically this is a none starter .
We do not live in a world divided into North and South or rich and poor but in a world of powerful and conflicting interest groups.
As our world economy enters a period of decline protectionism is in the air
The lot of the peasant farmer must be protected.
The cost of food in China absorbs more than a third of income.
All of this will have profound consequences for many poverty stricken families in these countries.

drug - gene interactions and colonic cancer protection

The excitement of the Dietary fibre story often came from the suggestion by Burkitt and Trowell that colonic cancer and dietary fibre intake were related. I have always been sceptical of this claim and would prefer to take aspirin as the evidence seemed to be stronger for this strategy.
Now this is challenged by J T Crosset al 2008 A review of gene-drug interactions for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use in preventing colorectal neoplasia The Pharmacogenomics Journal vol 8, 237–247;
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been shown to be effective chemopreventive agents for colorectal neoplasia. Polymorphisms in NSAID targets or metabolizing enzymes may affect NSAID efficacy or toxicity.
This review examines current evidence of gene–drug interactions between NSAID use and polymorphisms in COX1, COX2, ODC, UGT1A6 and CYP2C9 on risk of colorectal neoplasia.
One study reported a significant interaction between NSAID use and the COX1 Pro17Leu polymorphism (P=0.03) whereby the risk reduction associated with NSAID use among homozygous wild-type genotypes was not observed among NSAID users with variant alleles. Recent pharmacodynamic data support the potential for gene–drug interactions for COX1 Pro17Leu. Statistically significant interactions have also been reported for ODC (315G>A), UGT1A6 (Thr181Ala+Arg184Ser or Arg184Ser alone), and CYP2C9 (*2/*3). No statistically significant interactions have been reported for polymorphisms in COX2; however, an interaction with COX2 -765G>C approached significance (P=0.07) in one study.
Among seven remaining studies, reported interactions were not statistically significant for COX1, COX2 and ODC gene polymorphisms. Most studies were of limited sample size. Definitions of NSAID use differed substantially between studies.
The literature on NSAID–gene interactions to date is limited. Reliable detection of gene–NSAID interactions will require greater sample sizes, consistent definitions of NSAID use and evaluation of clinical trial subjects of chemoprevention studies.

Fish, cardioprotection and mercury poisoning

Khursheed N Jeejeebhoy is an important thinker in nutrition
He has written an important Viewpoint in Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology (2008) Benefits and risks of a fish diet—should we be eating more or less?) 5, 178-179
There is increasing evidence for the role of omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in preventing coronary artery disease and that fish oils have a cardioprotective effect.
Patients who had had a myocardial infarction had a 29% reduction in mortality over 2 years by eating three fish meals a week. By contrast, patients who were randomized to high-fiber and low-fat diets did not have a significant reduction in mortality. The American Heart Association recommends an increase in the dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
A large randomized trial of 18,000 patients with hypercholesterolemia (observed for 5 years) showed that adding 1800 mg/day of eicosapentaenoic acid to statin treatment resulted in a significant reduction in major coronary events compared with the controls who received statin treatment alone.
This excitement has been tempered by a plethora of papers that warn against eating fish because of the risk of mercury poisoning of the central nervous system.
Mercury enters the atmosphere by combustion of waste and coal. The element then enters the oceans from the atmosphere where it is converted to methyl mercury by microorganisms and then taken up by marine life and concentrated in fish. As methyl mercury is not fat soluble, unlike dioxins, it does not reside in the fatty tissues. Methyl mercury is strongly neurotoxic, and can result in mental retardation, seizures and microcephaly in infants.
The concentration of methyl mercury in fish is increased by fish eating other fish for food. Fish that are not predatory, such as sardines, salmon and shrimp, have very low levels of methyl mercury.Predatory fish such as shark, tuna, swordfish and orange roughy have higher levels of methyl mercury. Farmed fish have the lowest levels of methyl mercury. Whilst methyl mercury is very neurotoxic, in fish methyl mercury is bound to cysteine, and this compound has a tenth of the toxicity of pure methyl mercury.6
A study in the Faroe Islands followed the health of infants over a 14-year period. There was a correlation between high prenatal mercury intake by the mother who ate pilot whale meat daily in their diet and neurological developmental deficits in the infant.
In the Seychelle islands where women eat 12 fish meals a week, no effects on infant neurological development were noted despite the fact that the mean methyl mercury concentration in the hair of Seychelle island inhabitants, including infants, was 10–20 times that seen in US inhabitants. The concentration of methyl mercury in fish caught around the Seychelles, however, was similar to that found around the US—0.05–0.25 ppm. The higher levels of methyl mercury found in the Seychelle islanders were therefore due to the islanders eating more fish rather than eating highly contaminated fish. By contrast, pilot whale meat has 10 times the concentration of methyl mercury that is found in ocean fish (1.6 ppm). The difference between the data from the Faroes and the Seychelles is therefore likely to be largely because individuals in the Faroe Islands had much higher exposures to methyl mercury, because they ate marine mammals and not fish
The degree of methyl mercury contamination in food determines its toxicity. By eating fish with low levels of methyl mercury, such as sardines, salmon and shrimp, and the highly contaminated marine mammals the dietary intake of methyl mercury can be reduced further.
On the basis of the data given in the main body of this article, there is little evidence that 2–3 meals of low-mercury-containing fish per week can cause harm. Wild and farmed salmon would provide an ideal option to reduce the risk of both heart disease and methyl mercury poisoning, as these fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and very low in methyl mercury.

biological cooperativity reviewd

Cooperativity is the basis for a variety of microscopic events, such as the simultaneous chelation of metal ions, the temporal coordination of protein folding and the concerted function of biomolecular assemblies. At the macroscale, cooperation between scientific laboratories, organizations and countries is required to advance research in a timely manner and to coordinate conferences and funding initiatives. The whole process of nutrition to food science to farming to sales in shops to cooking food to eating to metabolising the food is another important Cooperativity process.
Cooperativity is most usually applied to small-molecule properties and enzyme behavior. The cooperative function of hemoglobin was first documented in 1925 by Gilbert Adair. Similarly, the term 'chelate' was first coined in 1920, with subsequent investigations into host molecules such as clathrates and cryptands.
Today Cooperativity encompasses a range of scientific systems and is an umbrella term for processes such as preorganization, avidity, allostery and some types of assembly. Cooperativity can also be more broadly defined as a process for which intermediates are disfavoured (resulting, for example, in a two-state conformational change).
However as knowledge increases on processes it becomes less clear that a particular process is cooperative as compared to simply proceeding along a downward energetic trajectory or occurring at an observed rate. Similarly, according to this broad definition, complicated processes such as cytokinesis can be considered cooperative in that in the absence of perturbants or disruptive mutations, halting at an intermediate state is disfavored. As our mechanistic insight into biological systems grows, scientists must be mindful not to apply the term too loosely to processes that are simply coordinated in space or time (like cell division or signaling cascades), but rather they must look for those systems that are directly energetically linked.
These diverse examples accentuate the importance of looking at cooperativity from new angles, in allowing us to formulate hypotheses about increasingly complex systems and in helping to provide a firm scientific grounding for discussions about larger scale phenomena such as emergent properties
A recent edition of Nature Chemical Biology is a exciting review of processes and concepts which are central to so much in nutrition. Chemical biology itself provides an important reflection of cooperativity, since the field has grown through collaboration and openness to new ideas and approaches. This issue, features pieces exploring molecular, cellular and organismal cooperativity, providing further thought as to how the mechanisms of seemingly divergent systems intersect.
Editorial Nature Chemical Biology 4, 433 (2008
Capturing cooperativity

Newton and Nutrition

One thing that still intrigues Melvyn Bragg in his news letter In Our Time BBC 03-084-2008 is the idea that Newton for example can derive the laws of motion without experimental evidence. In this regard there was a lovely quotation from Descartes speaking of Galileo: “he builds without foundations”. Galileo declared that whatever causes gravity isn’t worth worrying about. What matters is getting the measurements right and understanding how it works. As long as you get the measurements right, what happens, happens. Not unlike the American Indian idea of the Great Mystery in the sky.
I think that this encapsulates my dissatisfaction with so much nutrition research, struggling to make more of results than is reasonable. An experiment in a test tube , a result, a phenomenon described and here is the answer to cancer , heart disease and so many other conditions.
Ease over Nutrition Newton, slow down.

Julie Andrews on growing older

To commemorate her birthday , actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at
Manhattan 's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP.
One of the musical numbers she performed was 'My Favorite Things' from the legendary
movie 'Sound Of Music'. Here are the lyrics she used:
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > >
(Sing It!) - If you sing it, its especially hysterical!!!

Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Alzheimers disease aetiology

Two defining features of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain are amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (tau). The plaques contain a protein called amyloid-beta, while the tangles are made of a protein called tau. The current, widely accepted amyloid hypothesis regards Alzheimer’s as being due to plaque deposits, whereas the tau hypothesis links the disease to protein abnormalities.
Various Drug companies are developing drugs which target the build-up of amyloid plaques. They have yet to prove successful but are in fairness still in the early days of trials.
However there is no correlation between a patient’s symptoms and the number of plaques they have in the brain, but there is a strong correlation between symptoms and the number of tau tangles.
There are many tangles around the hippocampus, which is involved in new memory formation.
The emphasis has been heavily on plaques being responsible for the symptoms. This is being challenged by scientists speculating that the tangles are the more important
The underlying process must include both plaque and tangle formation. . It is unlikely that these two processes are independent.
Financial Times report 15th July 2008

protein degradation mechanism,

The proteasome,
The 26S proteasome is one of the principal cellular machines for degrading proteins. Proteins to be destroyed are marked with tags in the form of the small protein ubiquitin, and when the proteasome encounters such polyubiquitinated proteins, it catches, then degrades them. The proteasome has, not one, but at least two hands with which it latches on to its ubiquitinated prey.
The ubiquitin-proteasome system controls almost all cellular processes — such as progres¬sion through the cell-division cycle and signal transduction, by degrading regulatory proteins. The destruction of a protein begins with covalent tagging with a chain consisting of several copies of ubiquitin, through the concerted action of a cascade of enzymes. Principally, polyubiquitin chains that consist of up to four or more ubiquitin molecules , promote degradation by the 26S proteasome. This protein is a multi-catalytic enzyme, with a highly ordered structure that is composed of at least 33 different subunits arranged in two sub-complexes, a 20S core particle and one or two 19S regulatory particles. The protein-degrading sites lie inside the core particle. Substrate proteins must be unfolded to reach the protein degrading sites
Protein substrates are marked for degradation by polyubiquination which occurs with E1 ( activating ), E2 ( conjugating ) and E3 (ligating ) enzymes. The process can be reversed,. If not reversed the ubiquitinated units are recognised by the 26S protein degrading machine by two intrinsic receptors Rpn10 and RPn13.
Saeki and Tanaka 2008, Two hands for degradation Nature vol 453 pp 460-61

drugs in sport

The use of pharmacologically active drugs to enhance sporting prowess is widespread. The usage has increased over the last 40 years
The usage of such drugs is not only cheating but also threatens the long term health of the person so indulging.
Sjoqvist and Rane have reviewed the area in Lancet 2008 vol 371 May 31st.
The drugs currently banned are
Anabolic agents
Anabolic steroids
Exogenous anabolic steroids eg danazol, nandrolone
Endogenous anabolic steroids eg testosterone
Other anabolic steroids eg desbuterol, androgen receptor modulators.

Hormones ands related substance.
Erythopoietin
Growth hormone, insulin like growth factor, mechano growth factors
Gonadotrophins LH, human chorionic gonatrophins
Insulins
Corticotropins

Β-2-agonists
All of them

Hormone antagonists and modulators

Aromatise inhibitors eg anastrozole , letrozole
Selective oestrogen receptor modulators eg tamoxifen
Other anti-oestrogenic substances.
Agents modifying myostatin functions

Diuretic and other masking agents

Diuretics
Epitestosterone
Probenecid
Α-reductase inhibitors

A formidable list to be detected. Factors such as gender and ethnicity may result in minor but significant physiology.

Sjoqvist and Rane 2008, Use of doping agents, particularly anabolic steroids, in sports society. Lancet vol 371 pp 1872-82.

metabolic syndrome

In the Lancet 27th June 2008 the clinical usefulness of the Metabolic Syndrome. is challenged.
The metabolic syndrome is a collection of risks for insulin resistance and vascular disease under two principle headings
Cardiovascular risk.
Global diabetes or cardiovascular risk.
Smoking, physical inactivity , unhealthy eating
Hypertension
Inflammation, hypercoagulation
Age, race, sex, family history
Abnormal lipid metabolism
Overweight and obesity

Insulin resistance syndrome.
Genetics and age
Increased lipids
Hypertension
Increased blood glucose.

The response of the clinical world is
Criteria are ambiguous or incomplete and the rationale for thresholds ill-defined.
Is adding diabetes useful
No clear basis for including or excluding other cardiovascular risk factors.
Cardiovascular risk factors are variable.
Treatment of this syndrome is no different from the sum of its parts.
Most importantly the medical value of diagnosing the syndrome is unclear.
This review clearly reflects the day to day experience of clinicians rather than the needs of nutrition scientists.
Kahn R 2008 Metabolic syndrome – what is the clinical usefulness The Lancet vol 371 pp 1892-3
Sattar et al 2008 Can metabolic syndrome usefully predict cardiovascular disease and diabetes? Outcome data from two prospective studies Lancet vol 371 pp1927-35

drug contamination of drinking water

There is a thought provoking review in BMJ vol 337, 12th July p 80-81 which discusses the pollution of our UK drinking water with drugs which have been excreted in the urine and eventually pass into the domestic water system.
Stringent precautions are taken to remove pesticides and other major pollutants but drugs because of their chemistry may pass through.
The list of such drugs downstream of a major conurbation is likely to be considerable. Other than cytotoxic drugs and antibiotics, albeit in microscopic amounts there will be traces of the oral contraceptive components. Combinations of drugs will be additive in their effects and there is particular concern for the foetus.
On the other hand plant secondary metabolites will also pass into the domestic water and may have beneficial effects when present.
When one drinks cold refreshing water from a country or mountain stream look upstream at the cattle and wild animals who also use the streams.
Watts 2008 How clean is your water ? BMJ vol 337 pp 80-82

muscular strength and mortality

In a report coming from three counties , Sweden, Spain and the USA the association between muscular strength and mortality in men was examined
The cohort was 8762 men. After adjusting for age, physical activity , smoking, alcohol intake they found that an independent factor was muscular strength.
This is a strong protection against cardiovascular and respiratory disease and cancer.
They recommend regular resisting exercise involving the major muscle groups two or three times a week
Ruiz et al 2008, Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study BMJ vol 337 92-96

predicting those at risk of exercise induced death

Nutritionists interested in promoting good life styles always mention sporting activities. However from time to time this worthy advice is marred by the death of a fit young person.
Cardiac death in young athletes is caused by a wide range of structural diseases of the heart eg cardiomyopathies and electrical channel defects.
A questionnaire before embarking on heavy sport can help identify those at risk e.g. family history of sudden death in young parents , exertional chest pain, undue breathlessness fainting attacks .
However more than two thirds of sudden deaths occur in previously fit young athletes.
Clearance by a standardised questionnaire, physical examination and an . electrocardiogram reduced sudden death to one tenth of the previous experience
A large study by Sofi and colleagues in the BMJ showed that resting and exercise electrocardiography was a good way to identify those at risk.
Editorial 2008 Sudden cardiac death in young athletes BMJ vol 337 pp 61-62
Sofi et al 208, Cardiovascular evaluation ,including resting and exercise electrocardiography before participating in competitive sport: cross sectional study. BMJ vol 337 88-92

changes in vegetable consumption in Finland over time

Eating fruit and vegetables is important but not universally followed. This is an interesting study on changes in fruit and vegetable consumption in Finland over 23 years.
Studies from different time periods have shown that consumption of vegetables is more common in higher socioeconomic groups and among women. This study by Roos et al looks at changes of socioeconomic differences in vegetable consumption over time. They examined whether socioeconomic differences, measured by educational level and household income, in daily vegetable consumption have increased, decreased or been stable over the last two decades among Finnish men and women.
Daily consumption of fresh vegetables increased during the study period. Daily consumption of fresh vegetables was more common among those with higher education and higher income during the whole study period. Both educational level and household income differences in daily vegetable consumption slightly narrowed since 1979 among men and women.
Women with high socioeconomic position have been initial trend setters, but the prevalence of daily consumers of vegetables in these groups has not increased since the early 1990s. The prevalence of daily consumption of fresh vegetables has increased more in lower educational and income groups during the 1980s and 1990s along with narrowing socioeconomic differences.
Roos et al 2008 Trends of socioeconomic differences in daily vegetable consumption, 1979–2002 European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2008) 62, 823–833;

Primary solutions of global poor health and poverty

This article by Tegegne in Medicine Conflict and Survival 2008 The primary solution of global poor health and poverty vol 24, pp 107-114 is a thoughtful discussion of this massive problem.
There is a huge global burden of disease and mortality. The principal underlying cause is regarded as poverty. This is associated with a global order of fear, over-consumption, over-population and violence, which can interact in a vicious circle. It is proposed that the solution to the problem is not only the relief of poverty, but the institution of a new order in which the individual is sovereign. This in turn requires a trinity of ideals for the individual: self-control to avoid over-consumption, altruism to cope with fear, and peace to manage violence.

Colonic health and bacteria

The incidence of human intestinal inflam¬mation and inflammatory bowel disease has increased steadily in the Western world since the early 1950s.
The human ‘gut flora consists of between 300 and 1,000 microbial species, and some 1014 microorganisms in total (about ten times the number of cells of the human body). They synthesize essential vitamins and amino acids, and also degrade otherwise indigestible plant material, as well as certain drugs and pollutants.
In Nature vol 453 May 29th 2008 pages 602-3 and 620-625 Kullberg and Mazmanian describe how there is a microbial symbiosis factor acting in the intestine. Mazmanian et al report that Bacteroides fragilis, a commmon bacterium of the lower gastrointestinal tract in mammals, can prevent intestinal inflammation in mice. Polysaccharide A (PSA) of B.fragilis prevents gut inflammation induced by another bacterium, Helicobacter hepaticus, or by the chemical compound TNBS (2,4,6-trinitro-benzene sulphonic acid).
This is importance to Nutritionists as it raises the prospect of changing the bowel flora with appropriate nutrients which pass to the colon eg fibre which may be of importance.

Obesity measurement

There is a very simple method of evaluating obesity.
Whether the person needs one two or three seats to sit on
Therefore the average person requires one seat.
The fat two seats
the obsese three seats.
hence a person can be classified as a one, two or three seater .
This evaluation does not measure malnutrition.
In super markets it is interesting to see how the overweight congregate in the aisles selling crisps and sugary drinks