California Gives Coffee cancer Warning!

Recently, you may have heard that California mandated that coffee must have a cancer warning label. This is based on the presence of small amounts of acrylamide, a chemical produced when coffee is roasted. Acrylamide is thought to be carcinogenic, and a non-profit group filed suit in 2010 to have these warning labels.

While it is true that acrylamide is likely toxic, its presence in roasted coffee does not seem to have consequences. There have been numerous studies looking at coffee ingestion that have been associated with living longer (some in this blog).

In some cases we need to look at the results not the components. That is, although this chemical may be potentially toxic, we have good studies that show coffee drinking is not only safe but actually may be beneficial. Tell that to the judge. Once again lawyers becoming scientists?

New York Times Article

Fish and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Fish Oil has been recommended for arthritis, now a new study shows it is beneficial in Rheumatoid arthritis.

In Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2018 Mar, researchers found that patients who ate fish more than twice weekly had significantly lower inflammation scores than those who ate fish less than once monthly. For each additional serving of fish weekly, inflammation score was reduced significantly.

This was a small study, but it certainly wouldn't hurt!

"Liquid" Biopsy - Blood Test for cancer

As cells divide and die, they release some of their DNA into the bloodstream. Only in recent years have we had equipment sensitive enough to detect this - hence we can detect many prenatal diseases in a baby through a blood test from the mother.

Cancer cells grow and turn over quickly, so it makes sense that they would also release DNA. But can we detect this accurately? Since medicine has discovered many of the mutations involved in cancers, specially the common ones, searching the blood for these should predict recurrence or even a new cancer.

Cohen JD et al. in Science 2018 Feb 23 developed a test for both DNA acid and protein remnants shed by early cancers of the ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, colon, lung, and breast. The test was used in 1005 patients already diagnosed with these cancers, The test was 63% accurate, it only missed about 2% (although higher in breast cancer) and had a false positive in less than 1%.

Clearly not ready for prime time, this is a substantial step towards blood tests for recurrence and even screening.

Virus Producing Insulin?

Viruses are tiny DNA containing packages that use our body's metabolism and cells to help produce more. They are sometimes not even considered alive, as they do not have any mobility and cannot reproduce without the host. In some ways they are higher on the evolutionary scale since they had to develop after we did!

But scientists recently discovered some unusual properties of viral proteins that suggest a possible symbiotic relationship. In Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018 Mar 6, researchers discovered that members of a relatively innocuous family of viruses, members of the Iridoviridae family, often present without symptoms in our intestines, have the ability to produce hormones that closely resemble human insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs). These hormones are biologically active!

Perhaps our intestinal microbiotome (bacteria in the intestine) should now include viruses. The more we know, the more complex it gets. We have studied the DNA of less than 2% of known human viruses!

New Hope for MS - Stem Cells

MS, or Multiple Sclerosis, is often a relapsing disease that can lead to severe disability and death. Most current treatments offer some minimal help or delay in progression, but are often poorly effective.

Now researchers, in a preliminary study, http://www.sth.nhs.uk/news/news?action=view&newsID=1035, have published early promising results.

They split a group of 110 patients who were having relapses despite best medical therapy into 2 groups of 55, and gave one group a type of stem cell transplant. The transplant gorup had 1 relapse, versus 39 in the other.

This is probably the most dramatic treatment we have seen in MS, and if the 5 year study shows continued good results may be the new normal treatment for MS!

Gun Laws - "When Will We Ever Learn"

Unfortunately many of the politicians in our current government like to only believe the scientific evidence they like; no matter how clear the studies are.

So for those of us who believe in science and not lobbyists, a recent study was quite clear about gun laws and deaths from those weapons.

In JAMA Intern Med 2018 Mar 5, researchers found that states with the strictest laws had 50% less gun related homicides and suicides. Interestingly, proximity to a state with lax gun laws resulted in only a 25% decrease.

In Australia, which regulated automatic weapons following a massacre in 1996, the evidence is even stronger. Prior to 1996 there were 13 killings of 4 or more people in the 18 years previous. Since the new law - none. And gun related homicides dropped by over 50% to record low rates.

As Bob Dylan once said, "when will we ever learn?"

Simple Treatments for Nausea and Acid Reflux?