HILTON HEAD SCHOOL PRESCHOOL SERVES UP THE SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET
Monday, June 22, 2009
In response to the requests of a parent with autistic twins, the program director of a Hilton Head Island preschool added Specific Carbohydrate Diet dishes to the school's daily menu. The May 26th article in the Beaufort Gazette goes into more detail:
"Their rocking and beating their heads against the wall ended," Rous said of Emily and Cole. "They were head-bangers."
Rous asked the school's program director Sandy Bass if they could incorporate the diet into the preschool menu for all the children. Bass said she was immediately on board and the menu now includes natural foods that the children enjoy such as pizza, fruit smoothies, fresh fruit and sugar-free fruit juices.
"Now I'm sold," said Bass of the diet. "I told her I'd try the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and initially it was a struggle. But now the children enjoy it, they desire it."
UNINSURED HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE
Friday, April 17, 2009
In December 2008, the journal Inflammatory Bowel Diseases published an article titled, "Hospitalizations for inflammatory bowel disease: Profile of the uninsured in the United States."
The introduction of the article includes several sobering points:
- More than 70% of CD patients and a third of UC patients may require IBD-related surgery over a lifetime.
- These hospitalizations account for at least half of direct costs attributable to IBD, which does not account for the indirect costs associated with disability and time away from work.
- IBD patients are more than twice as likely to be out of the labor force compared to the general population, which may leave them vulnerable to loss of health coverage.
- Uninsured IBD patients may be vulnerable to a vicious cycle of increased hospitalizations, chronic disability, and financial debt from health care costs.
Time period: 1999 - 2005
IBD hospitalization rate for uninsured: 64% increase
IBD hospitalization rate for the insured: 21% increase
*General medical hospitalization rate for the uninsured: 5% net increase
(*Note: "Rates of uninsured and privately insured admissions among general medical patients fluctuated annually by less than 5% and demonstrated no consistent trends over the study period.")
The study found that the disparity is "driven by a higher preponderance of young adults between 21 and 40 years who are relatively more likely to be uninsured in the IBD population compared to the general population." The article points out that the disproportionately high IBD hospitalization rates will continue to increase, citing inability to pay for medical expenses such as expensive drugs. The authors conclude with the following:
Given the impact of being without health coverage, we need to develop measures to allow a safety net for those at greatest risk for being uninsured given the high costs associated with IBD care. It is young adults with IBD who are least likely to have the capital reserve to weather the financial stresses of an undulating and often unpredictable clinical course of their disease.
source: Hospitalizations for inflammatory bowel disease: Profile of the uninsured in the United States
GENE THERAPY OF LIMITED VALUE
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Today the New York Times published an article titled Genes Show Limited Value in Predicting Diseases.For over six years, technology has allowed researchers to examine the genomes of healthy people and compare them to the DNA sequences of patients. These comparisons should have help researchers identify DNA that is associated with particular diseases. Unfortunately, it has not worked out so easily, as the article explains:
. . . it has been disappointing in that the kind of genetic variation it detects has turned out to explain surprisingly little of the genetic links to most diseases.
. . .
This would be bleak news for those who argue that the common variants detected so far, even if they explain only a small percentage of the risk, will nonetheless identify the biological pathways through which a disease emerges, and hence point to drugs that may correct the errant pathways. If hundreds of rare variants are involved in a disease, they may implicate too much of the body’s biochemistry to be useful. [boldface added]
Research into IBD, specifically Crohn's disease, appears to fit this pattern. In June 2008, scientists announced a "big haul of Crohn's Genes"--32 genetic variations to Crohn's disease had been found, tripling the number of genes previously associated with the disease. At the time of the announcement, the lead researcher, Jeffrey Barrett from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, went on to say:
"These explain only about a fifth of the genetic risk [of Crohn's disease], which implies that there may be hundreds of genes implicated in the disease, each increasing susceptibility by a small amount"
With so many genes involved with a disease, the prospects of developing drugs based on this knowledge dims.
“In pointing at everything,” Dr. Goldstein writes in the [New England] journal [of Medicine], “genetics would point at nothing.”
source: New York Times: Genes Show Limited Value in Predicting Diseases
Bottom line: The development of drug treatments based on genetic research into inflammatory bowel disease appears to be many years in the future--much slower than initially thought.
NALTREXONE: FEEL BETTER AND STOP YOUR GAMBLING
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
In 2007, the American Journal of Gastroenterology published a study showing that low doses of naltrexone, marketed as Revia, significantly improved the health of Crohn's disease patients.On his Eating SCD blog, Paul Stocker noted some of naltrexone's other effects . . . (read on)
In addition, naltrexone is used to treat pathological gambling and heroin addiction.
Note: The FDA has given Naltrexone a black box warning for potential liver toxicity.
"IBS FOR DUMMIES" ASKING FOR SCD RECIPES
Monday, April 6, 2009
Dr. Carolyn Dean, the author of IBS for Dummies, is working on a new book titled The IBS Cookbook for Dummies.
One of the book's chapters will be titled "SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) Recipes" and she is asking for recipes to include in the book. More details may be found on her blog.
So if you have a good SCD recipe and would like it to be in a Dummies book, let her know:)
(note: I have agreed to contribute several recipes and there are no royalties involved.)
SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET MEETUP IN BROOKLYN!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
On April 26th, Alex, an SCDer in Brooklyn has organized a picnic in Park Slope.
The is the first meeting of the SCD NYC meetup group:
This is a potluck-style event, so bring an SCD salad, scd burger buns, fruit, veggies on skewers, cookies, soda, ice cream, whatever you can think of! I will provide plates/forks/napkins/cups and some surprise treats.
If you have any questions about getting there or what to bring, don't hesitate to email me!
SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET AND AUTISM IN THE DAILY MAIL
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Today, the UK's Daily Mail printed an article titled "Can diet really improve the symptoms of autism? Read this family's story and decide"
In the article, a two year Sienna's parents struggled together:
'But her behaviour deteriorated as she got older,' Simone says. 'Eventually, she would be awake for seven hours a night. She was very much in her own world, and wasn't interested in other people.
The next step was a 'specific carbohydrate diet' - a regime avoiding complex carbohydrates such as bread, cereal and pasta to rid the gut of harmful bacteria and reduce inflammation. [boldface added]
Her behaviour improved within days of the special diet. [boldface not added]
The article uses a family's story to illustrate the connection between the gut and autistic behaviors. As more articles like this come to light, the mainstream medical community has begun to take more notice--and gain a better idea of the mechanisms at play.
BE MY SCD VALENTINE (AND WHOOPIE PIES)
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Today my partner surprised me with a special Valentine's Day package from SCD Bakery.
Among other treats, the package included Heart-Shaped Cupcakes, Candied Nut Brittle, and SCD Whoopie Pies--which are quickly becoming my favorite.
Items from SCD Bakery are a real weakness for me, it's going to take heroic discipline not to eat everything in the next 2 minutes days:)
Happy Valentine's Day!
MERCURY FOUND IN HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
Friday, February 6, 2009
(Even if you laugh in the face of diabetes and metabolic disorders, there is now another reason to avoid high fructose corn syrup.)Last week the major news wires reported that samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)--an ingredient found in nearly every packaged product in the supermarket--were tainted with mercury. Reports were based on a recent Environmental Health study where researchers found that 9 out of 20 HFCS samples tested contained mercury.
When universty researchers attemped to acquire more samples for testing, the manufacturers refused.
With access to commercial grade HFCS blocked, one of the researchers later went on to conduct a second study: pulling 55 HFCS containing products from the supermarket shelves, ranging from Hershey's Chocolate Syrup and Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars to Coca-Cola Classic and Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt. This second study, titled "Not So Sweet: Missing Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup", found that 1/3 of these 55 products, including the ones mentioned in the last sentence contained mercury. (A complete list of the tainted products is accessible via the USA Today website.)
The peer reviewed study published in Environmental Health notes the following:
For most people in the US, the major source of mercury is fish. In regards to mercury, the quote above implies that soda sweetened with HFCS may be more dangerous to ingest than fish. Think of the pregnancy guidelines regarding fish consumption: "Do not eat swordfish or mackeral", "Don't eat more than 12 ounces a week of low mercury fish", etc. If the results of the mercury study are repeated, Classic Coca-Cola and Pepsi should also be added to the pregnancy warning list.
The positive news: In addition to other environmental factors (pollution, pesticides, antibiotics, blah-blah-blah) this bit of mercury may add a piece to the puzzle in trying to understand the increasing "toxic load" on the modern human body, why 1 of 12 Americans suffer from autoimmune disorders, etc. . .
Side note: "Why is mercury in my (high fructose) corn syrup?"
In general, caustic soda, or sodium hyrdroxide, is used in the manufacturing process of HFCS. One of the methods to produce caustic soda involves the use of mercury. There have been concerns that the production process for sodium hyroxide releases mercury--it turns out that fears were realized. In this case the mercury ended up in the caustic soda and, in turn, tainted the HFCS.
STUDY OF GENES, ENVIRONMENT, AND MICROBES (GEM STUDY)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
(Note: posts have been sparse lately due to new baby:)
In Canada, the GEM project has started. Unlike the "narrow" drug studies which dominate IBD research, the GEM study "aims to define how human genetics, environmental and microbial changes interact and contribute to the development of Crohn's disease."
To study all three factors (genetics, environment, and microbes--intestinal bacteria), 5,000 healthy siblings of Crohn's patients are being recruited. These siblings, who have a higher risk of Crohn's, will be followed for several years. The genetic, environmental, and microbial (GEM) status of these siblings will be assessed as follows:
(1) Genetic analysis - blood samples
(2) Environment - urine samples and questionnaires
(3) Microbial exposure - stool samples
It will be years before the study yields results. However, this type of combined research will provide more insight into Crohn's than attempting to study genetics, environment, or intestinal flora in isolation.
More information may be found on the study's website: http://www.gemproject.ca.
