Probiotics Affect Brain Activity

Probiotics Affect Brain Activity
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/805012

"A new study provides the first evidence in humans that probiotics in the diet can modulate brain activity.
In a proof-of-concept study using functional MRI (fMRI), researchers found that women who regularly consumed probiotic-containing yogurt showed altered activity of brain regions that control central processing of emotion and sensation. The study was funded by Danone Research."

Read More

Divers say they still suffer ailments from 2010 BP oil spill

Divers say they still suffer ailments from 2010 BP oil spill
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/divers-say-they-still-suffer-ailments-from-2010-oil-spill/212313 4

"During the Deepwater Horizon disaster three years ago, few people got as close to the action as Scott Porter.

Porter, a diver with a degree in marine biology, worked in Louisiana as a contractor for oil companies and had become fascinated with the corals growing on oil rigs. He and some friends volunteered to collect samples of corals near the spill for federal officials. They were also paid to take reporters from CBS News and other outlets into the Gulf of Mexico to view the spreading slick.

Federal officials "kept telling us it was safe," Porter said. So he and the other divers he worked with relied on that advice and kept plunging into the gulf.

At the time, Porter was a fit, healthy guy, just 42, who had performed 6,000 dives. He competed in martial arts tournaments. He didn't expect to get sick. But soon after swimming through murky water full of oil and chemical dispersants, he said, he began suffering from a variety of ailments — a burning sensation in his chest, migraine headaches, skin rashes, nausea."

Read More

Seeking Food Ingredients That Aren't Gene-Altered

Seeking Food Ingredients That Aren't Gene-Altered
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/business/food-companies-seeking-ingredients-that-arent-gene-altered.html?_r=0

"Food companies big and small are struggling to replace genetically modified ingredients with conventional ones.

Pressure is growing to label products made from genetically modified organisms, or "G.M.O." In Connecticut, Vermont and Maine, at least one chamber of the state legislature has approved bills that would require the labeling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, and similar legislation is pending in more than two dozen other states. This weekend, rallies were held around the globe against producers of genetically altered ingredients, and consumers are threatening to boycott products that are not labeled.

And so, for many businesses, the pressing concern is just what it will take to gain certification as non-G.M.O."

Read More

Bipartisan Senate bill would give EPA power to ban dangerous chemicals

Bipartisan Senate bill would give EPA power to ban dangerous chemicals
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/flames/ct-nw-toxic-chemical-bill-20130523,0,3671250.story

 

"In a rare display of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill, a group of key senators unveiled legislation Wednesday that would require chemical companies to provide more health and safety information about their products and give regulators more power to force harmful compounds off the market."

Read More

Electrosmog may cause health problems, group says

Electrosmog may cause health problems, group says
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/05/25/montreal-electrosmog-electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-smart-meters.html

"A relatively new type of air pollution called electrosmog may be the cause of a variety of ailments, said the Quebec a Quebec group dedicated to fighting air pollution.  Known by its French acronym AQLPA, the organization is calling for a moratorium on Hydro Québec's smart meters project."

Read More

Xenobiotic Sensor- And Metabolism-Related Gene Variants in Environmental Sensitivity-Related Illnesses: A Survey on the Italian Population

Xenobiotic Sensor- And Metabolism-Related Gene Variants in Environmental Sensitivity-Related Illnesses: A Survey on the Italian Population

http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/oximed/aip/831969.pdf

 

Daniela Caccamo1, Eleonora Cesareo2, Serena Mariani2, Desanka Raskovic3, Riccardo Ientile1, Monica Currò1, Korkina Liudmila2, DeLuca Chiara2

1Dept. of Biomedical Sciences and Morpho-Functional Imaging, Polyclinic University of Messina, Messina, Italy
2Laboratory of Tissue Engineering and Skin Pathophysiology, Dermatology Institute (IDI IRCCS), Rome, Italy
32nd Dermatology Division, Dermatology Institute (IDI IRCCS), Rome, Italy

Corresponding Author: Dr. Chiara De Luca,PhD, Laboratory of Tissue
Engineering and Skin Pathophysiology, Dermatology Institute (IDI
IRCCS), Via Monti di Creta 104, Rome 00167, Italy,
Tel. +39 06 9112193, fax +39 06 9112192, e.mail c.deluca@idi.it.

Abstract

In the environmental sensitivity-related illnesses (SRI) multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), chronic fatigue syndrome (FCS), fibromyalgia (FM), the search for genetic polymorphisms of phase I/II xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes as suitable diagnostic biomarkers produced so far inconclusive results, due to patient heterogeneity, geographic/ethnic differences in genetic backgrounds, different methodological approaches. Here, we compared the frequency of gene polymorphisms of selected cytochrome P450 (CYP) metabolizing enzymes, and for the first time of the xenobiotic sensor Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), in the three cohorts of 145 diagnosed MCS, 94 suspected MCS, 80 FM/FCS patients, vs. 113 healthy controls. Contrary to our previous results on 110 Italian MCS patients, we showed, after careful evaluation of MCS established diagnostic criteria, exclusion of FM and FCS co-morbidities, and with techniques reaching 100% specificity and sensitivity for heterozygous genotypes, significantly different polymorphism distributions in-between patients' groups, and vs. controls, concerning CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3, CYP2C19*2, CYP2D6*4, CYP2D6*41 allele and heterozygous genotype frequencies, also confirmed
by disease risk Odds Ratios. Results allowed us to propose genotyping for these specific CYP variants, together with the AHR Arg554Lys variant, as reliable, cost-effective genetic parameters to be included in the still undefined biomarkers' panel for laboratory diagnosis of the main types of environmental-borne SRI.

Read More

Fibromyalgia Awareness Month - May 2013

Read More