Theories for the causation of cancer litter the literature. There are so many and Nutrition is on of the prominent contributors, not to the debate but as dogmatic statements.In one respect this is so naïve , and yet there are other examples of success with adding nutrients ; folic acid in preventing neurological birth defects…
Read moreGenome susceptibility to diseases.The Welcome Trust Case Control Consortium has made a large case control comparison of the gene structure of 14000 cases of seven common diseases with 2000 controls.One wonders if the control group size is sufficiently large.NeverthelessThey have identified 24 independent control association signals1 for coronary artery disease9 for Crohns disease3 for rheumatoid…
Read moreOne of the rewards of the avalanche of genome information are the findings that there are associations between diseases, behaviour patterns and genotype, the genotype- phenotype association. The genotype-genotype association .However one should take such findings with a pinch of salt until1. The report has been repeated and hence more likely to be true, ie…
Read moreI know this review is almost a year old but is very important.The science of Epigenetics was in part developed by Waddington and his influence flows through these articles.This is an important area for nutrition and is a rich source of ideas and research projects.Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression that…
Read moreThe activities of our bodies follow cycles of repeated oscillations, examples are the sleep-wake cycle, the feeding rhythm and variations in body temperature and hormonal levels. The anatomical centre of the mammalian circadian clock lies within the suprachiasmatic nucleus region of the brain in the anterior hypothalamus.Many of these cyclic oscillations are circadian (of around…
Read moreGenetic association studies with coronary artery diseases are showing that single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs ) found close together on chromosome 9 are associated with an increase prevalence of common diseases.Individuals with two copies of them have an increased risk of coronary heart disease but less in its impact than diabetes or heavy smoking but…
Read moreStarvation is one of the terrible scourges of our world. In the words of the old song, it’s the rich that get the gravy and the poor……. Humiliating, deadly and unnecessaryMalnutrition is such a complex problem and has so many answers to the insoluble.James Vernon has written a masterly book Hunger a modern History published…
Read moreCholera is epidemic throughout the countries where the water supply is suspect. More than 3 million cases occur each year world wide of whom 100,000 die. The individuals who contact this problem are often malnourished and marginally zinc deficient before they develop this further mishap.The mild cases are treated with oral dehydration with rice water…
Read moreMa and colleagues looked at studies of the effects of isoflavone intake on bone resorption and bone formation with a meta-analysis, of randomized controlled trials using urinary deoxypyridinoline, a bone resorption marker) and serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, a bone formation marker)Nine studies with a total of 432 subjects were selected for meta-analysis. The urinary deoxypyridinoline…
Read moreSmells are almost everywhere. They colour our lives and make for pleasure and repulsion and can influence our appetite and pleasure in eating.The smell of a baby even its faeces and vomit have a soft smell which lacks offensiveness. The smell of a baby’s skin is so lovely.As the child develops, smell depends on whether…
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