Med Health News

Author: Med Health News

  • Here’s Some Hope for Lazy Dieters – Research Shows You Don’t Need to Be Fully Committed to Lose Weight

    Here’s Some Hope for Lazy Dieters – Research Shows You Don’t Need to Be Fully Committed to Lose Weight

    New research finds that fasting regularly on some days, then going back to your normal diet on other days works just as well as the normal weight loss method of being on a calorie-restricted daily diet.

    Have you been putting off losing weight because you feel it’s too hard to stay on a strict diet for weeks or months? The idea certainly is daunting – it’s easy to go on a diet for a whole day, but if you had to do it every single day for over a month, it just feels like tremendous work and sacrifice. But now researchers say going on these one-day diets can help you lose just as much weight as diligently dieting everyday.

    The Comprehensive Weight Loss Study Followed Dieters for Four Years – Not Just Months

    Researchers wanted to see if regularly fasting on alternate days can help you lose weight in the long run. They took 100 adults suffering from obesity and gave them one of three eating regimens: an alternate-day fasting diet, a mainstream calorie-restricted daily diet, and no diet at all. The no diet group served as the control group for researchers to compare both diet regimen results to.

    The group with the calorie-restricted daily diet could only eat up to 2,000 calories everyday, which is 75 percent of the average calories people eat daily.

    The group with the alternate-day fasting diet enjoyed a lot of freedom. They only dieted three to four days out of the week, and during their non-diet days they could eat up to 2,500 calories, which is about 125 percent of the recommended daily calorie intake. But during their diet days, they could only eat 25 percent of the normal daily calorie intake — which is only 500 calories.

    All three groups followed their diet regimens for 365 days. Surprisingly, the alternate-day fasting diet group lost more weight than the group diligently following the everyday calorie-restricted diet! They lost 6 percent of their original weight relative to the control group who didn’t change their eating habits. The daily calorie-restricted diet group only lost 5.3 percent.

    What makes this even more amazing is that the alternate-day fasting diet group also ate more calories than they were supposed to during their fasting days, but less than they were allowed to on their off days. Whereas the daily calorie-restricted diet group mostly kept within their prescribed calories.

    Despite the alternate-day fasting diet group eating almost whatever they wanted during their off days, they had almost the same blood pressure, heart rate, and blood levels of fat, sugar, insulin, and other relevant metabolic blood factors. But during the sixth month, the alternate-day fasting diet group experienced higher cholesterol levels than the calorie-restricted daily diet group. But by the 12th month, both groups had almost identical metabolic parameters again.

    The researchers went on to study the participants and run more trials for four more years.




    A Great Option for People Who Can’t Stick to a Diet

    The alternate-day fasting diet group lost almost 12 percent more weight than the calorie-restricted daily diet group. But researchers say the difference in negligible and both groups should be treated as losing almost the same amount of weight.

    What does this mean for you? If it’s too hard to diet everyday, you can go on a more stringent, calorie-limited diet for a couple of days, then switch back to your normal diet. If you keep doing this, you’ll end up losing as much weight long-term as if you had been following a less stringent diet everyday. Doing so has also been found to be just as safe as dieting everyday.

    Think of it this way – let’s say you were planning on dieting for a month. That means you just need to fast for a cumulative of 30 days. Every day that you fast is one day completed of your 30-day diet. Even if it takes you 90 days to complete 30 days of fasting, you’ll lose the same weight as though you dieted for a month!

  • Can Doctors Finally Perform a Head Transplant?

    Can Doctors Finally Perform a Head Transplant?

    It’s been talked about endlessly in science fiction and horror novels. But now those plots are finding their way into reality as the world is getting ready to see the very first surgical head transplant. If the procedure succeeds, it could open the doors for permanent cures to virtually every disease that doesn’t affect the head.

    The first two neurosurgeons who’ll perform a head transplant says the procedure will be scheduled for within 10 months from now. Drs. Sergio Canavero and Xiaoping Ren are the two leading neurosurgeons who’ve developed the novel procedure and will be leading the surgical team in China. They picked China as the location for the controversial procedure because there are more accessible body donors.

    But the procedure has been widely criticized by experts in their field whose main concern is that Canavero and Ren haven’t revealed any specific convincing evidence showing they can actually successfully perform a head transplant. But that’s because their detailed research is currently being reviewed by various journals, and they aren’t planning on revealing anything until their works are published in these journals.




    Dr. Michael Sarr, editor of the journal Surgery, is one of the few experts reviewing their research papers. He states that from the evidence he’s reviewed, he believes their head transplant procedure has a 98 percent chance of success.

    In China, they’re legally allowed to perform the procedure. The only thing holding it up is the peer review of their research. Once their papers are published in recognized scientific journals, they can move forward and schedule the very first head transplant surgery.

    A Potential Cure-all

    If a head transplant becomes possible, almost every disease becomes 100 percent curable. Any cancer that hasn’t spread to the head area can be cured if you replace everything under your head. War veterans and victims of flesh-eating bacteria can get new bodies without amputated arms. Heart disease, liver and kidney failure, and any other organ system problem can be 100 percent treated when you’re given a new body.

    Any incurable viral, bacterial, and fungal infection that stays isolated within a certain area in the body can also be completely treated.

    It also opens the door for real sex change surgeries. If a male receives the body of a female, he’ll be able to bear children and have natural female processes. The same holds true if a female receives a male body.

    Hopefully these two revolutionary surgeons and their talented surgical team can pull off this highly anticipated head transplant surgical procedure. It’s definitely worth rooting for!

  • Cellphones Have Been Officially Recognized as Causing Brain Cancer: Here Are Some Ways to Keep Yourself Safe

    Cellphones Have Been Officially Recognized as Causing Brain Cancer: Here Are Some Ways to Keep Yourself Safe

    In Italy, a court made a decision that might prove medically noteworthy. They found that a man’s brain tumor was caused by cellphone usage. It’s difficult not to use a cellphone in this modern era, so here are ways to help lower your risks for developing cancer.

    Cellphone Use Legally Linked With Causing Brain Cancer

    Robert Romero was required to use his cellphone for three hours daily for 15 years while working for Telecom Italia. He developed a brain tumor and the court found that it was caused by his cellphone usage.

    He was awarded about $7,500 per year in damages for the rest of his life. It’s a weird monetary award from an American perspective because it could be on the low end of the spectrum or on the very high end, depending on whether he dies of old age or gets hit by a car the very next day.

    The legal decision is a silent opening of a floodgate. One consumer welfare group has already started the flood by initiating a class action suit to force all cellphone companies to add a warning label about the risks of brain cancer and cellphone usage.

    But Does Using Your Cellphone Cause Brain Cancer?

    Everyone uses a cellphone, especially now that smartphones are becoming more common and accessible to all ages. Smartphones are becoming a necessity because of their internet capabilities. Many stores have QR codes placed on their wares, which gives shoppers with smartphones a price advantage over those who don’t. But is all this cellphone usage putting everyone at risk for brain cancer?

    The National Institutes of Health conclude that cellphones don’t cause brain cancer, in general. They say that cellphones emit radiofrequency energy that doesn’t damage or change DNA, but does cause nearby living tissue to heat up. After reviewing numerous studies, they found no statistically significant increased risk of brain cancer with normal cellphone usage.

    But they did mention that in more than one study, brain cancer was more prevalent in heavy cellphone users, like Robert Romero. But they haven’t cited any studies that focused on heavy cellphone usage only.

    In a more recent study with rats, heavy radiofrequency energy exposure has been found to cause higher rates of brain and heart tumors. But the study is small, and further research must be done for experts to make a definite conclusion.




    Cellphones Lower Male Fertility

    What researchers are sure of is that being near cellphones or talking on a cellphone lowers male fertility. They found that men who talked for longer than an hour a day on their cellphone or had their cellphones close to their groins for a significant period of time experienced lower sperm counts and lower semen quality.

    What’s the Takeaway?

    It seems like the human and rat studies point to one unofficial conclusion: Using your cellphone for longer than normal can lead to brain cancer and a decrease in male fertility. The Italian courts state that an hour a day is normal cellphone usage.

    To be safe and lower your risk for cancer and decreased fertility, don’t use or be near your cellphone for longer than an hour a day. If you need to talk on your cellphone for longer than that, use a headset and keep your cellphone a safe distance away, like on the table or a seat next to you.

    To lower your exposure to your cellphone’s radiofrequency energy, don’t keep your cellphone in your pockets, but store them in a carry-on bag. Also never sleep with your cellphone close to your body – keep it on a nearby table.

    How to Naturally Lower Your Risk for Developing Cancer

    It’s highly unpractical for you to avoid your cellphone on a daily basis, especially if you’re a corporate person. But there are healthy ways you can help protect yourself from developing cancer:

    Try to avoid red meat. Harvard finds that one additional serving of unprocessed red meat increases your risk for total mortality, including cancer, by 13 percent. If it’s processed meat, the increased risk is 20 percent!

    Eat vegetables with every meal. Vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, are high in antioxidants. These protective compounds circulate through your body once absorbed and neutralize toxins, free radicals, and other cancer-causing pollutants in your system. As a bonus, they also help slow signs of aging.

    Exercise more. Researchers found that exercising more than 150 minutes every week lowers your risk for 17 different types of cancer, including lung, breast, and brain cancer, by at least 20 percent. But you need to be exercising at a moderate intensity level – leisurely walks won’t do, but leisurely jogs fit the bill.

    Incorporating these cancer-protective things into your regular regimen can help offset the increased cancer risk from using your cellphone daily.

  • Can This Blood Test Detect Cancer a Year Earlier Than Normal Tests?

    Can This Blood Test Detect Cancer a Year Earlier Than Normal Tests?

    Scientists invented a new blood test that can detect whether a cancer is recurring a whole year before any current mainstream tests can detect. In general, blood tests are non-invasive, cheaper, and easier to get done. This new method could prove to be an ideal first line of defense for cancer patients.

    If you’ve survived a form of cancer, this new research is great news for you! Researchers have invented a new blood test that can detect your cancer from recurring 365 days before X-rays, CT scans, and other current mainstream diagnostics.

    Depending on your form of cancer, recurrence can be a little or a significant worry. These researchers originally developed this new recurrence detection method especially for lung cancer patients in remission because lung cancer has about a 50 percent chance of recurring.

    They took samples from tumors removed from surgery and created a genetic profile from the cancer cells’ mutated DNA. They then drew the patient’s blood each month post-surgery and tested it for any traces of the cancer cells’ genetic profile. They found that if the cancer starts recurring, its genetic profile is present and detectable in the blood one year before the recurring cancer can be detected using current methods.

    If first caught early via this new blood test, the recurring cancer cluster is still tiny at 0.3 cubic millimeters.

    The great news is that they found this new blood test works for all recurring cancers, not just lung cancer – the key is that doctors need a sample of your cancer cells to make a genetic profile they can keep checking your blood for. But the blood test is not error-free – in the study, 13 out of 14 patients’ recurrence were detected with the blood test. That means one patient didn’t luck out and the blood test didn’t catch his starting recurrence.

    It also doesn’t work on people who’ve never had cancer. Its current usage is limited to detecting cancer recurrence in patients in remission.

    Sampling for the Blood Test Also Gives Hints on Risk of Recurrence

    While creating genetic profiles from tumors from many patients, the researchers happened upon another good find. They found that the patients who ended up with a recurrence usually also have cancer cells with more genetic instability. They concluded that recurrence is more likely if a cancer cells’ chromosomes are more favorable toward shuffling or translocating their genes.

    The researchers hope to use this supplementary finding to create drugs that stabilize cancer cells’ genetics in hopes of slowing tumor growth and overall cancer progression.

    In the meantime, patients in remission whose cancer cells’ genetic profiles exhibit genetic instability are more closely monitored for the possibility of recurrence.

    Although this new research can’t currently help diagnose new cancers, it is a significant advancement in overall cancer research. With this new blood test, patients in remission can be diagnosed and treated if a recurrence starts budding before these patients even experience any symptoms. In the grand scheme, it will certainly save many more lives from cancer.

  • Professor Invents a Method for Artificial Photosynthesis That Could Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions

    Professor Invents a Method for Artificial Photosynthesis That Could Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions

    Trees and other plant life boost the overall oxygen in the environment, while also clearing the air of carbon dioxide pollution. But growing trees can take years, and isn’t feasible in high-population urban areas. But what if your roof was equipped with special materials that could convert carbon dioxide into electricity?

    Cities Are Major Sources of Carbon Dioxide

    Last fall, researchers gloomily declared that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have now surpassed 400 parts per million. They say carbon dioxide levels will only continue to rise as society becomes increasingly industrialized. These record-highs for CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere only echo peak levels from millions of years ago. Since then, these levels have never reached these heights.

    Atmospheric carbon dioxide traps heat like a blanket covering the earth. The more of it in the atmosphere, the more heat is trapped. Whether or not global warming exists (since the current U.S. president denies its existence), the fact is that producing more CO2 without an efficient method to prevent its buildup in the atmosphere will only lead to higher overall temperatures.

    The University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center states that mobile sources of carbon dioxide emissions only account for 26 percent of CO2 emissions from human activity. These include cars, airplanes, and other moving vehicles that emit CO2. They say the bigger percentage of human activity CO2 emissions come from stationary sources, like factories, apartments, houses, businesses, electrical plants, ice fishing houses, and etc., which contribute 65 percent.

    Since cities have a high proportion of mobile sources (think of the traffic-crowded streets) and electricity-consuming buildings and other stationary sources, they are major sources of human activity carbon dioxide emissions.

    Trees and most plant life can help combat carbon dioxide pollution because they take in CO2 and release oxygen as part of photosynthesis. But cities and other urban areas are too cramped with man-made structures for sufficient area to grow a significant amount of plant life. It’s a double jeopardy – not only are cities releasing a major amount of carbon dioxide, but they aren’t capable of cultivating plant life to counter their CO2 emissions.




    How This Artificial Photosynthetic Structure Can Bring Hope for the Battle Against Global Warming

    Chemistry professor Dr. Fernando Uribe-Romo of the University of Florida may have invented a remarkable solution to city carbon dioxide pollution. He and his team fashioned organic compounds onto titanium. The organometallic structure falls within a class called metal-organic frameworks.

    The organic compounds act like antennae that absorb the sun’s most abundant radiation – those in the visible range. In this case, Dr. Uribe-Romo selected for sunlight components within the blue wavelength range. The absorbed radiation catalyzed a reaction that transformed surrounding carbon dioxide into carbon compounds that are used in solar fuel cells.

    In other words, the invention cleans the air of CO2 and converts it into solar power! Professor Uribe-Romo hopes that this technology can be developed and fastened onto urban rooves. These would act like solar panels that can power buildings by eating carbon dioxide pollution. Unlike plant life, they can be installed virtually everywhere in a city.

    He says his team is working on adjusting the organic components such that they’ll be able to absorb other visible wavelength components of sunlight.

    Hopefully this new artificial photosynthetic structure can be the answer to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Since they require nothing but solar power and carbon dioxide to work, incorporating them into building regulations may significantly cut human activity carbon dioxide emissions before the greenhouse gas can reach the atmosphere.

  • Can a Caterpillar Help Solve Environmental Recycling Problems?

    Can a Caterpillar Help Solve Environmental Recycling Problems?

    A hobby beekeeper in Spain mistakenly stumbled upon a big win for environmentalists. Scientists are now eagerly studying her find and its wonderful applications for saving the environment.

    In Spain, a hobby beekeeper was tending to her beehives when she saw some loitering caterpillars that were eating the beeswax, some cocoons, and shed bee skins. You may be more familiar with their common name – waxworms – which are known to infest beehives. These particular ones are Galleria mellonella, the greater wax moth.

    She promptly extracted the pests into plastic bags. But to her surprise the waxworms rapidly made little holes in the plastic. Fortunately, the hobbyist is an astute researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria who immediately recognized the remarkable implications that these caterpillars could have for the environment.

    She and other researchers found that these waxworms could break down plastic faster than other cutting-edge artificial and natural methods. They wanted to make sure the waxworms were really breaking down the plastic, rather than just rapidly chewing holes into it. To do this, and in the name of science, they then smashed the waxworms up to expose the digestive enzymes in their guts. When they applied the smashed waxworm juice to plastic, they recorded some measurements that confirmed the waxworms’ enzymes were breaking down the plastic.

    The researchers were thrilled because these findings mean that recycling plants and waste management facilities can use waxworms to breakdown plastics naturally without too much additional cost. They’re also exploring the possibility of synthetically producing the waxworms’ enzymes for mass production, which would be more costly and less environmentally friendly, but would also be exponentially more efficient at breaking down plastics.

    The Current Plastic Waste Problem

    Why are these findings newsworthy? Because the waxworms’ enzymes have been found to breakdown polyethylene, which make up a minimum of about 40 percent of plastic packaging. Before these findings, polyethylene was considered not biodegradable – which means it doesn’t naturally breakdown by itself or by nature.

    Data shows that plastic production is increasing exponentially as more products are becoming industrialized and technology is advancing. But only 26 percent of these plastics are recycled, while 38 percent end up in landfills, and the rest are combusted (which causes air pollution).

    The landfills are already becoming backed up with non-biodegradable trash, which may cause plastic waste to make their way into animal habitats. This leads to scenes like fish and dolphins getting their necks stuck around plastic waste and other heartbreaking scenarios.

    These waxworms and their enzymes can realistically rescue the environment from plastic buildup. If they can be used to break down plastics, landfills will have more space and there will be less air pollution from combusting plastics.

    What’s the best part? When they break down plastics, they make ethylene glycol, which is antifreeze! That means using these waxworms and their enzymes to treat plastic waste will actually recycle the plastic into antifreeze. It’s a win-win for the environment and for companies wanting to boost their revenue by treating their plastic wastes with these waxworms to make antifreeze they can reuse or sell.

    Hopefully scientists can discover other hidden solutions within Mother Nature for more of society’s ever-increasing self-inflicted environmental crises.

  • Doctors Now Think Drinking Diet Soda Can Cause Dementia and Stroke

    Doctors Now Think Drinking Diet Soda Can Cause Dementia and Stroke

    Do you think it’s healthier to drink diet soda? Doctors say that may not be the case. They actually found that drinking diet soda can increase your risk for certain diseases that sugar-sweetened drinks don’t!

    The Hidden Dangers of Sugary Drinks

    That commercial-colored, fun label on that can in the vending machine might look appealing and friendly to drink because of the company endorsement. But it’s giving you a false sense of security – that multi-colored can’s contents can be just as deadly as eating a fatty steak.

    New research finds that 184,000 adults around the world die from drinking sugary drinks (excluding 100 percent fruit juice). These are mostly due to diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Most of these deaths are within the younger demographics, where artificial sugary drinks are more popular.

    Switching to Diet Soda Might Not Be Better

    Even if you’re aware of the dangers of sugary sodas and try to be responsible by switching to diet soda, it might not save your health that much. Researchers found a correlation between drinking artificially sweetened drinks (like diet sodas that use lower-calorie sweeteners) and dementia and stroke. But they were surprised they didn’t find a correlation between stroke and dementia and drinking normal soda and sugary commercial drinks, like soda sweetened with natural sugar.

    These researchers found that drinking one diet soda a day increases your risk for developing dementia and an ischemic stroke by 300 percent. But if you only drink between one to six diet sodas in the span of seven days, you don’t have an increased risk for developing dementia, but still are 260 percent more likely to have an ischemic stroke caused by blocked blood vessels.

    The good news is that the researchers only studied people 45 and up. That means that diet soda probably isn’t as harmful to you if you’re below middle age.

    Possible Explanations for Diet Soda’s Deleterious Effects

    The researchers only found a link between artificially sweetened drinks and these increased risks. They’re still not sure how diet soda is causing harm to your brain. Neurology professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Ralph Sacco, says that the chemicals in the artificially sweetened drinks may be destroying blood vessels.

    He says that dementia and strokes can be caused by hardening of the blood vessels. He theorizes that artificially sweetened drinks gradually contribute to vascular disease.

    Another possible mechanism is that diet soda makes you eat more. When your body tastes something sweet, it activates a neural pathway in your brain that makes you want to keep eating it. But, when your body digests the carbs from natural sugars, it activates a reward pathway in your brain that sates you and stops the craving.

    But when you drink a diet soda with zero-calorie sweeteners, you’re tasting something sweet but there are no calories to sate the cravings it causes. You end up seeking carbs from other sources to fill in what’s missing – and that may lead to overeating, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and dementia in the long term.

    Even if you can control your carbs and enjoy diet soda, it may still be harming your blood vessels in other ways. It’s best to cut any kind of unhealthy commercial drink from your everyday diet and stick to natural fruit juices, which are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Try refrigerated grape juice with your next meal – you might not notice a difference!

  • A Headset That Fights Brain Cancer? Here’s the Device That Doctors Don’t Want to Admit Works

    A Headset That Fights Brain Cancer? Here’s the Device That Doctors Don’t Want to Admit Works

    Brain cancer is one of the most horrible cancers. Its survival rate is currently one of the lowest out of all the cancers. But it seems like a certain company has developed a futuresque way to treat it – wearing electrodes on your head.

    One of the Worst Cancers

    Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common and most malignant of brain cancers. Sixty percent of diagnosed primary brain tumors are GBM.

    After diagnosis, almost all GBM patients who decide to go untreated die within only three months. But GBM patients who go through conventional therapy, like chemotherapy and surgery, live for an average of only one year.

    In comparison, most terminal cancer patients live for an average of about five years (including lung cancer patients) after diagnosis – but only 10 percent of GBM patients survive for up to five years after diagnosis.

    A Fiction-like Treatment That Offers Hope but Makes Doctors Suspicious

    Then comes the company Novocure with their controversial new invention called Optune. Like a light in the darkness of GBM, Novocure announces that Optune can double the lifespan of GBM patients. Their findings are backed by research that’s convinced the FDA to approve it as a treatment for GBM.

    Optune is a device consisting of electrodes placed on the patient’s shaved scalp. The electrodes are connected by wires to a small generator within a handheld bag. The patient wears the electrodes for a minimum of 18 hours daily. The electrodes supposedly create alternating electromagnetic fields that interrupt mitosis (your cells’ way of multiplying) by disrupting chromosomes from duplicating. This effectively hinders cancer cells from multiplying since they’re the cells that undergo mitosis the most, whereas most of an adult’s brain cells don’t actively undergo mitosis. Physically, the immediate side effect is that the patient feels a warm sensation, but in the long term, the side effects can also include fatigue, weakness, and skin irritation.

    Without any real discernible mechanism by which the device actually works to fight brain cancer, doctors and the FDA were understandably skeptical. One study in 2011 showed that Optune could lessen cancer symptoms after tumors stopped responding to standard treatment – the FDA allowed its usage for these situations. Then a 2014 study showed that patients recently diagnosed with GBM lived a few months longer, on average, with continued use of the Optune device. In response, the FDA expanded permitted usage of the device.

    In another study, the Optune treatment lengthened 100 percent of the participating GBM patients’ lives by over a year – with one patient living for about three years.

    Some very lucky GBM patients even went into complete remission because of the supplementary Optune treatment.

    But the Optune Treatment Requires Outstanding Diligence

    Even patients who are completely in remission of their GBM need to wear the device daily for the rest of their lives if they want to ensure they stay cancer-free. That can be very challenging – imagine having to shave your head everyday and wear electrodes on your head. Not only that, you need to keep the bag carrying the generator close by at all times – for your whole life.

    Some GBM patients couldn’t handle the daily hassle and quit – despite it keeping them alive longer.

    While Optune may significantly improve the quality of life for many GBM patients and lengthen their stay here on earth – it’s not a sure cure for the brain cancer (except for those lucky enough to go into full remission). Hopefully in the future, researchers will make more advancements that will lead to better and more permanent cancer cures.

  • Can a Group of Viruses Cause Celiac Disease?

    Can a Group of Viruses Cause Celiac Disease?

    Celiac disease is a chronic gastrointestinal disease that can significantly lower your quality of life. Doctors don’t really know what truly causes the disease. Weak evidence points to a couple of probable causes. But now a new study reveals that one cause may be a group of harmless stomach viruses.

    What Is Celiac Disease?

    Celiac disease is actually an autoimmune disorder – like asthma or allergies. Here, your immune system overreacts to gluten when present in your small intestine. It starts attacking contact sites, which are usually your villi. Villi are hair-like linings in your intestines that are responsible for absorbing nutrients when you eat food.

    But this intestinal damage is very gradual. It takes years of eating gluten foods before you notice any symptoms. That’s why only 20 percent or less of sufferers are diagnosed. But if you have Celiac disease, you’ll most likely experience nausea, bloating, diarrhea, weight loss, and nutritional deficiencies as you continue to eat gluten daily. That’s because your villi keep getting damaged to the point that your body can’t absorb necessary nutrients – which leads to malnutrition.

    In America, Celiac disease is rather rare – about 1 percent of Americans (3 million) have it. (But that didn’t stop companies and the general public from making “gluten-free” a lasting fad.)

    Known Causes of Celiac Disease

    Doctors do say that Celiac disease can be genetic – but not significantly. They say that if your immediate family (parents or siblings) have Celiac disease, you’re only 10 percent more likely to develop it too. It’s also more prominent among Caucasians than any other race.




    Some diseases also make you a bit more likely to develop Celiac disease, like Down syndrome, type 1 diabetes, Turner syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and Addison’s disease. Traumas can also put you at slight risk for Celiac disease – like surgery, viral infections, emotional trauma, and pregnancy.

    A New Possible Cause of Celiac Disease

    Now new research has discovered that there may be a specific virus that can set Celiac disease into motion when you’re a baby. Researchers infected mice with human intestinal reovirus and found the mice started becoming gluten-intolerant – their immune system started overreacting to gluten when it was present in their intestines.

    Researchers then noted that Celiac disease sufferers have higher levels of antibodies against this reovirus than normal people. Does that mean that anyone who’s infected with the human intestinal reovirus ends up with Celiac disease? No. In fact, almost every adult has antibodies against the reovirus because it’s almost as common as the cold virus. The reovirus itself hasn’t been linked to causing any illness – even though it’s been detected in feces of both normal children and children suffering from diarrhea, enteritis, and other GI diseases.

    They theorize that the reovirus is primarily contracted when children get feces into their mouths.

    But remember that Celiac disease is somewhat genetically inherited – and researchers think that’s how the reovirus can indirectly cause Celiac disease. If you’re not genetically susceptible to Celiac disease, getting infected with the reovirus is unlikely to cause Celiac disease.

    But if you’re genetically predisposed, then the reovirus can cause a domino effect. They say that during your first year on earth your immune system is developing and very influencable. Somehow, if the virus infects your gastrointestinal system and your immune system learns to fend it off, it also confuses it to forever overreact to gluten (if you’re genetically predisposed).

    Because of this, researchers advise getting infants who are genetically predisposed to Celiac disease vaccinated for the human intestinal reovirus during their first year. They say this may curb the possibility of reovirus-induced Celiac disease, but it’s not a 100 percent certainty.

  • Can You Get Hepatitis From Your Food? Another Reason to Stay Away From Fast Food

    Can You Get Hepatitis From Your Food? Another Reason to Stay Away From Fast Food

    You’ve probably heard of hepatitis being a chronic sexually transmitted disease that’s incurable. There are actually many types of hepatitis infections – and at least one of them you can get from eating contaminated food!

    The Different Types of Hepatitis

    The World Health Organization (WHO) defines hepatitis as an inflammation of the liver. But the term is usually used synonymously for infections caused by the hepatitis viruses.

    There are five common types of hepatitis viruses:

    • Hepatitis A (HAV)
    • Hepatitis B (HBV)
    • Hepatitis C (HCV)
    • Hepatitis D (HDV)
    • Hepatitis E (HEV)

    HBV, HCV, and HDV are the types that can be transmitted sexually. Like other STDs, these can also be transmitted via mother-child through birth, contaminated needles between drug users, and contaminated blood transfusions.

    Hepatitis D and Hepatitis B are treatable and preventable with vaccines. But Hepatitis C has no current vaccine, but the good news is HCV is the least common sexually transmitted hepatitis virus. HBV is the most common sexually transmitted hepatitis infection.

    Hepatitis infections can be acute or chronic. Most times they’re acute – lasting only for a few weeks without any symptoms. If you do experience symptoms, for most of the types of hepatitis, the symptoms usually include fatigue, loss of appetite, stomach and abdominal pains or discomfort, nausea, jaundice, and fever.

    But Hepatitis C can have more severe symptoms, like the tendency to bleed and bruise, dark-colored urine, edema, confusion, drunken speech, and spider-like blood vessels appearing on your skin.

    The good news is, if your body completely fights off a Hepatitis B infection, or you get vaccinated for Hepatitis B, then it protects you from both future HBV and Hepatitis D infections too! You can only get Hepatitis D if you’re currently infected with HBV. If you clear HBV on your own, your body will forever be immune to the virus because it’s now got antibodies especially crafted to deal with it – and if you can’t get HBV anymore, then you can’t get HDV anymore either.

    But a dual infection of HBV and HDV can be fatal – in fact, millions of people die every year from HBV complications.




    The Types of Hepatitis You Can Get From Contaminated Food

    Recently in the news, some restaurant staff at two Portland cafes may have transmitted HAV between each other. Unlike HBV, HCV, and HDV, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E viruses are present in feces. That means if someone who’s infected doesn’t wash their hands before preparing food, they can contaminate food and drink with HAV or HEV. The good news is that HAV and HEV are usually acute, and most people make a full recovery without any medical intervention.

    The restaurant staff were all vaccinated after the possible hepatitis transmission came to light. The Multnomah County Health Department issued a news announcement that anyone who ate or drank at the two restaurants within the week are urged to see their doctor to get examined for Hepatitis A.

    How to Naturally Fight Hepatitis Infections

    Thankfully, it’s only Hepatitis C that’s currently medically incurable because of the lack of vaccine. Although all hepatitis infections run the risk of chronic infection, they’re all curable.

    If you come down with hepatitis, you can be proactive in helping your body kick the infection and lower its chances of going chronic.

    Here are a few hepatitis-fighting supplements you can take:

    Vitamin C. Researchers found that vitamin C boosts your immune system’s virus-fighting power. Some of the evidence they’ve found includes increased defense against the flu and the Epstein-Barr virus. Vitamin C also protects your liver from damage from the hepatitis infection by boosting your glutathione levels. Your liver needs glutathione for its detoxification processes and your immune system needs it to fight off viruses. Upping your glutathione levels can help protect your liver from a cirrhosis complication arising from the hepatitis infection.

    Methanol extract from the fruit of the Indian gooseberry. Researchers say that the methanol extract from Emblica officinalis has potent antiviral effects. It’s used in Cuban traditional medicine to help treat HBV and HAV.

    Neem leaf extract. Each of the neem tree’s parts has many healing properties. Extracts of its leaves have antiviral properties. These extracts are used in traditional medicine, and studies show that they inhibit viral proliferation.

    Now you know you can get hepatitis from more than just unprotected sex. Thankfully, food-transmittable hepatitis infections aren’t as overall serious as sexually transmitted hepatitis infections. If you’re unfortunate enough to contract hepatitis, try these two remedies to help ensure your infection lasts acutely and doesn’t develop into a chronic infection.