A Unified Theory of Health

NephroPal: Nutrigenomics and Hypertension

2010-02-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

NephroPal: Nutrigenomics and Hypertension

Celiac Disease: Eating Away at You?

2010-02-09T15:00:00.001-08:00

The immune system learns to recognize the antigens from the body’s own cells as “self” and also to tolerate the many “nonself” tags on beneficial intestinal microbes and food particles. But in some people, the immune cells misread the antigens attached to HLA, mistaking, say, pollen for a cold virus or gluten for a toxin. Then they send out a faulty danger signal that makes their body’s own cells look suspicious, summoning other immune cells to attack the body’s tissue.

Continue reading "Eating Away at You"...

Dear Richard Dawkins

2010-02-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

During the early part of my adult life, I was convinced that there was meaning to life, a higher power whose existence would reveal the meaning of life. Like most Americans, my search for meaning began with Christianity. Others were finding meaning at church, why not me? It soon became apparent that while some had found the meaning to life within the secure tenants of faith, it seemed I would not be one of those. Next in line was Nature. A few trips to the backcountry and I was convinced that finding the meaning to life was achieved by worshipping Nature! Well, that ended with too many bowls of granola and too many hippie festivals. Although I did learn that many of the hippies I met were studying Eastern Religions. Well, those religions had no more answers than the first religion, they were just different wrappings on the same old empty box!

Other attempts have included: extreme exercise, transcendental meditation, academic aspirations, cult worship, mathematical theorems, invocations of magick, etc. etc. Yet, not of these lived up to it's reputation, and I was always left feeling exactly the same as when I had started my journey.

Life continued along as it does, and I soon found myself taking a biology course at the local community college, never dreaming that this one little decision, would ultimately lead me right into the meaning of life! As a matter of study, we covered the usual introductory topics such as cell structure, genetics, heredity, etc. I discovered that I really liked biology, and began to read as much as possible. One of the books I read along the way was "The Selfish Gene".

Your book changed my view of everything: life, biology, the universe, science, religion, even parental love of a child. I began to see the truth for the very first time: that the answer to the age old question as to the meaning of life was not to be found. Humans are looking for something that is not there. By reading your book, I came to realize that there is no "Meaning of Life". No "Higher Purpose". No "Almighty Creator". We humans are quite simply the end product of millions of years of evolution. Nothing more than small ripple in an endless stream of genetic undercurrents. One skirmish in a timeless battle of molecular tug-of-war! To think that there is any more to life than that is simply mental fidgeting.

I was free of the burden of meaning for the first time. I could see the world clearly for what it was. My search was over, but another was beginning. I realized that without a so-called "Purpose In Life", I was free to choose whatever I wanted that purpose to be. Being the simple assemblage of reproducing genetic molecules that I am, it was now clear that I could choose any 'purpose' I wanted.

With all this in mind, it seems that the only way for living beings to achieve immortality, is to focus all our efforts on dispersing our DNA into the universe like willows seeds being released into the wind. Perhaps the Christians are somewhat correct about "The Rapture'... that "souls" will be lifted up into heaven! We need to immediately concentrate our collective intelligence on determining how to preserve the immortal DNA molecule on a trip across the solar system: encased in steel and glass? How would the DNA be released once a suitable environment was found? Rust via water? Whose DNA would be selected to make the journey? Maybe DNA is simply trying to reach the far ends of the universe... and we are simply the 'survival machines' destined to help them achieve this goal!

Would viral DNA/RNA be included in these 'space capsules'? By our current understanding of the definition of life, viruses don't make the cut. In other words, they do not meet the criteria that we use to define a living organism. Yet, their actions seem rather "life-like", and they rely on living things to multiply and thrive. In fact, research has shown that endogenous retro-viral DNA is directly responsible for the creation of the human placenta... which, as we know, is the key to helping humans develop large thinking brains!!

So, in closing, I would just like to say thanks you for shedding light on so many of my questions, and for inspiring many more.

Neurons prove we are all one...

2010-01-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

Early effects of gliadin on enterocyte intracellular signalling involved in intestinal barrier function

2009-12-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

"Despite the progress made in understanding the immunological aspects of the pathogenesis of coeliac disease (CD), the early steps that allow gliadin to cross the intestinal barrier are still largely unknown. The aim of this study was to establish whether gliadin activates a zonulin dependent enterocyte intracellular signalling pathway(s) leading to increased intestinal permeability."

Continue reading "Early effects of gliadin on enterocyte intracellular signalling involved in intestinal barrier function"...

Endogenous retroviruses and the placenta

2009-12-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

Heidmann believes that without endogenous retroviruses mammals might never have developed a placenta, which protects the fetus and gives it time to mature, which eventually led to live birth, one of the hallmarks of human evolutionary success over birds, reptiles, and fish. Eggs cannot eliminate waste or draw the maternal nutrients required to develop the large brains that have made mammals so versatile. “These viruses made those changes possible. It is quite possible that, without them, human beings would still be laying eggs.”

Continue reading "Endogenous retroviruses and the placenta"...

One man's meat is another man's poison

2009-12-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

Cf. [Lucretius De Rerum Natura iv. 637] quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum, what is food to one person may be bitter poison to others.

More here...

Meat may be the reason humans outlive apes

2009-12-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

"Genetic changes that apparently allow humans to live longer than any other primate may be rooted in a more carnivorous diet."

Continue reading "Meat may be the reason humans outlive apes"...

The Vegetarian Myth

2009-12-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

"The truth is that agriculture is the most destructive thing humans have done to the planet, and more of the same won’t save us. The truth is that agriculture requires the wholesale destruction of entire ecosystems. The truth is also that life isn’t possible without death, that no matter what you eat, someone has to die to feed you."

Continue reading "The Vegetarian Myth"...

The Dark Side of Wheat

2009-11-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

"Celiac disease reflects back to us how profoundly our diet has diverged from what was until only recently a grain free diet, and even more recently, a wheat free one. We are so profoundly distanced from that dramatic Neolithic transition in cultural time that 'missing is any sense that anything is missing.' The body on the other hand can not help but to remember a time when cereal grains were alien to the diet, because in biological time it was only moments ago."

Continue reading "The dark Side of Wheat"...

Reducing time to diagnosis

2009-11-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

"We are giving back precious minutes to doctors so they can make informed and accurate decisions right at the time they need them most to save lives."

Continue reading "Reducing time to diagnosis"...

Which symbol would you rather be?

2009-11-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a great blog from The Smaltz on how the Food Wheel (trim, active and rolling) became the Food Pyramid (bottom heavy and stationary):

Continue reading "Which symbol would you rather be?"...

Sleeping with the Devil?

2009-11-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

"The American Academy of Family Physicians today announced the Consumer Alliance, a new corporate partnership program, with its first alliance partner, The Coca-Cola Company."

Continue reading 'Sleeping with the Devil?'...

Atheism

2009-11-04T11:36:00.001-08:00

Atheism has been systematically scapegoated and demonized. The idea that anyone can deny the existence of a god and escape a horrible fate is an anathema to most fundamentalists. I predict that in the near future, zealots will use non-believer hysteria as a pretext to set up an nation-wide religious apparatus.

(A hat tip to W.S. Burroughs)

In The Beginning...

2009-11-04T10:34:00.001-08:00

Soon, scientists will be able to mimic the origin of life in the laboratory, as well as modify and possibly improve genetic processes. This will basically refute the theory of intelligent design, and force the creationists to redraft their dogma. In addition, fundamentalists will have to rewrite all their religious texts, replacing the word 'creator' with 'evolutionary biologists'. I don't think they will like that very much.

Darwin's Blunder

2009-11-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

"Darwin may not have had the raw mental processing power of an Einstein or a Newton, but he had 'an almost superhuman ability to see things that other people did not notice.'"

Continue reading "Darwin's Blunder"...

Jesus Venn Diagram

2009-11-02T08:49:00.001-08:00

Zonulin is overexpressed in the intestinal mucosa of subjects with celiac disease

2009-10-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

"Quantitative gene expression revealed that zonulin is overexpressed in the intestinal mucosa of subjects with celiac disease. To our knowledge, this is the initial example of a molecule that exerts a biological activity in its precursor form that is distinct from the function of its mature form. Our results therefore characterize zonulin as a previously undescribed ligand that engages a key signalosome involved in the pathogenesis of human immune-mediated diseases that can be targeted for therapeutic interventions."

Continue reading "Zonulin is overexpressed in the intestinal mucosa of subjects with celiac disease"...

Schizophrenia and Gluten

2009-10-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

A drastic reduction, if not full remission, of schizophrenic symptoms after initiation of gluten withdrawal has been noted in a variety of studies.

Keep reading "Schizophrenia and Gluten"...

Type 1 diabetes linked to immune response to wheat

2009-08-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The study is published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Diabetes.Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The study is published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Diabetes.

Continue reading "Type 1 diabetes linked to immune response to wheat"...

Study Finds Diagnosis of Celiac Disease Associated with Lower Health Care Costs

2009-08-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

In a study published in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Insurance Medicine, researchers from Columbia University and CIGNA HealthCare report that diagnosis of celiac disease substantially reduces subsequent health care costs. The research group, led by Peter Green, M.D., at Columbia, looked at medical records for 10.2 million CIGNA managed care members and identified four study cohorts:

patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of celiac disease—that is, patients identified with ICD–9 code 579.0, which includes celiac crisis, gluten enteropathy, nontropical sprue, and a few other conditions associated with malabsorption—made in 2000

patients reporting one primary symptom of celiac disease but not diagnosed with celiac disease during 2000

patients with two celiac disease symptoms but no diagnosis

patients with three or more celiac disease symptoms but no diagnosis

The two main findings over the study period were the following:

The rate of celiac disease diagnosis increased annually during the 4-year study period. Rates of new diagnosis more than doubled over the study period, with rates among women and older adults rising faster than those among men and younger patients.

Compared with undiagnosed patients with symptoms, those patients diagnosed with celiac disease had lower subsequent medical costs and service utilization rates. The researchers compared annual cost of health care utilization over 12-, 24-, and 36-month periods among the four groups. Those diagnosed with celiac disease had substantially lower health care costs during each follow-up period. Relative economies were greatest when comparing diagnosed patients with those having the greatest number of primary symptoms but no diagnosis.

Rock and Roll!

2009-08-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

My buddy Patrick ripping up the powder... Wallowas 2008.

Celiac disease rates increasing?

2009-07-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

"Celiac disease, an immune system reaction to gluten in the diet, is at least four times as common today as it was 50 years ago, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic study published this month in the journal Gastroenterology. Joseph Murray, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologis, describes the study findings and provides background on the disease, its symptoms and treatment."

Following current theories about this condition, I can't help but wonder if the increased incidence of Celiac disease could be related to some type of viral intervention. There is emerging evidence that the IGRM gene, which is directly related to Crohn's/Celiac disease, has recently been resurrected after being inactivated millions of years ago by a human endogenous retrovirus:

"For 25 million years, the IRGM gene was effectively dead. But then, in the common ancestor of humans and the great apes, something unexpected happened. The gene somehow regained its ability to produce a protein, albeit a shortened one. The gene had been resurrected, and ironically enough, its saviour was another genetic hitchhiker that inserted itself in just the right place."

This may very well be the first documented examples of gene death and rebirth. It would seem to follow that there could be a link with HERVs, the IRGM gene, and the recent increase in gluten intolerance and Crohn's disease.

I would be curious to hear people's comments about this theory.

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References:

Death and Resurrection of the Human IRGM Gene

The death and resurrection of IRGM - the "Jesus gene"

Celiac Disease Prevalence and Mortality

Gluten Free Concessions!

2009-07-31T09:51:00.001-07:00

"A new gluten-free food concession stand is opening on July 23, 2009 at Coors Field in Denver. It is thought to be the first of its kind in baseball."

Continue reading "Gluten Free Concessions!"...

Gluten Free Backlash?

2009-07-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

Daniel Engber over at Slate thinks Gluten Intolerance is all in your head. He states "Is it a coincidence that the specter of gluten intolerance only emerged in the midst of the low-carb bonanza?"

But Daniel might be onto something. For example, how about those annoying diabetics and always having to watch what they eat to control their blood sugar? Diabetes is just caused from too many people cutting sugar out of their diets... right?

And people with peanut allergies... always insisting on asking what is in their food to prevent anaphylactic shock. I mean peanut allergies are just a fad anyways... right?

And don't even get me started on the Phenylketonurics... always concerned about phenylalanine in their food! This is probably a result of the Low Carb diet fad as well... might want to tell the hospitals to stop testing the newborns for this genetic condition.

Continue reading: "Are we being too tolerant of gluten-intolerance?"