Archive Page 1
Interesting Extracts and Books
The Benefits of worm therapy. There is further evidence to suggest that by exposing ourselves to intestinal parasites we could be protecting our bodies against immunological diseases. NACC News has previously explored the effects that exposure to Helminth Worms - an intestinal parasite which until modern times was common in alladults and children - can have on Inflammatory Bowel Disease. In Spring 2000 it was reported that trials on patients with IBD swallowed the eggs pf the worm in a glass of water and found significant improvements in their disease symtoms. Reporting in Gut journalthis year, Joel Weinstock, who has been carrying out futher studies in Iowa, suggests that there is mounting evidence that helminthshelp regulate mucosal inflammation. He points out that these organisms colonise a third of the world population and are most common in children living in warm climate where there is poor sanitation - where IBD is also less common. Scientists are still exploring the theory that excessive levels of hygiene in western society may have played a part in the increase in IBD and other immunological disease such as asthma. Writing in Gut, Joel Weinstock proposes that helminths protect the host from immunological disease and claims that natural expose may reduce the risk of developing IBD.
This has major implications for new therapies to treat Crohn's and UC as well as other immunological diseases. The research in Iowa was given coverage on BBC1's Bodysnatchers in December 2003, which featured a woman with Ulcerative Colitis who had consumed 'whip worm eggs' as a treatment for her UC. The agent used in the Iowa trials may be available in Europe later this year, subject to approval of the manufacturing procedures. Extract taken from NACC NEWS Spring 2004.
A cool theory ? A hypothesis reported in the Lancet suggests that there may be a link between fridges and Crohn's Disease. Dr Jean-Pierre Hugot of Paris believes that the fact that the increase in Crohn's Disease roughly corresponds with the increasing use of domestic fridgesmay be more than just coincidence. His theory is linked to the fact that psychotrophic bacteria such as Yersinia spp and Listeria spp, which have been identified in Crohn's lesions, are able to grow at temperatures between -1°C and 10°C, which correspond with the temperatures in fridges. Dr Hugot's study takes a look at the environmental factors which may cause Crohn's Disease, and which may be related to modern western life styles. He proposes that since factors such as domestic hygiene, diet and infectious agents have been put forward as environmental risk factors for Crohn's, there may also be reason to suppose that refridgeration is a contributory factor to the development of the disease. He is calling for further testing of his hypothesis, which he says takes into account only one genetic risk factor and one environmental componant from several expected factors.
However, he is keen to point out the many benefits to western society of refridgeration, "including the prevention of enteric infections, allowing more people access to a well-balanced diet, and the economic development of agriculture and fishing." Dr Hugot concludes: "These advantages clearly outweigh the putative risks discussed here and, in the absence of experimental evidence, practical conclusions should not be drawn." Extract taken from NACC NEWS Spring 2004.
