Natural Standard Blog

Milk Immunotherapy: A Possible Treatment for Milk Allergies?

In a recent study published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, children with milk allergies who received low doses of milk that were gradually increase over time, experienced decreased symptoms.

Having a milk allergy is not the same as being lactose intolerant. Unlike a milk allergy, lactose intolerance does not involve the immune system. People who are lactose intolerant experience abdominal pain and cramping after consuming milk products because they do not have the enzymes needed to break down milk sugar for digestion.

Exposing a person to a low dose of a known allergen, a technique called immunotherapy, is not a new concept. The goal of immunotherapy is to desensitize the patient so that the body builds up a tolerance to the allergen. For example, immunotherapy has been used to treat seasonal allergies and vaccine allergies.

This study, led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Duke University, included 19 children (6-17 years old) with severe and persistent milk allergies. At the beginning of the study, the children were able to tolerate an average of 40 milligrams of milk. One group received increasing doses of milk powder, and a second group received an identical placebo for four months. The study was double-blinded, meaning that neither the children nor the researchers knew which participant received the milk or placebo.

At the end of the study, both groups were given milk powder as a "challenge" to see what dose would cause a reaction after the treatment. The children who had been receiving increasingly higher doses of milk protein over a few months were able to tolerate an average of 5,140-milligrams of milk without having any allergic reaction or with mild symptoms, such as mouth itching and minor abdominal discomfort. Those in the placebo group could still only tolerate 40 milligrams of milk powder without having an allergic reaction. However, lab tests show that children in the milk group had more antibodies in their blood.

The researchers caution that it is unclear if the children would maintain their tolerance once they stop consuming milk regularly.

"Our findings suggest that oral immunotherapy gradually retrains the immune system to completely disregard or to better tolerate the allergens in milk that previously caused allergic reactions," says Robert Wood, M.D., senior investigator on the study and director of Allergy & Immunology at Hopkins Children's. "Albeit preliminary and requiring further study, these results suggest that oral immunotherapy may be the closest thing yet to a 'true' treatment for food allergy."

The Hopkins group has since started a second milk immunotherapy study. They are also currently conducting a similar immunotherapy study in children with egg allergies.

Because food allergies can be potentially life threatening, this therapy is not recommended for general use. Until the safety of milk immunotherapy is tested in a larger population, people with allergies should avoid foods that trigger their allergies.

For more information about food allergies, please visit Natural Standard’s Foods, Herbs & Supplements Database.

Many Doctors Prescribe Placebos

A new survey found that about half of internists and rheumatologists offer fake prescriptions, or placebos, to help their patients feel better. A placebo is any substance that is believed to have no pharmacological effect on the condition being treated.

 

Researchers surveyed 679 internists and rheumatologists. These specialty doctors often see patients who have long-term illnesses that are difficult to treat or cure. Sometimes a placebo has heath benefits, and when this happens, it’s called the placebo effect. The placebo effect is often attributed to the patient’s expectation or hope that the therapy will work. 

 

Of those who prescribe placebos, 68 percent said they usually tell their patients that it is "a medicine not typically used for your condition, but it might benefit you.” According to the study, the most commonly prescribed placebos are vitamins and over-the-counter pain relievers. Most doctors, 62 percent, said it was “ethically permissible” to prescribe placebos.   

 

According to the American Medical Association (AMA), prescribing a placebo without the patient’s knowledge may compromise the patient-physician relationship, possibly resulting in harm to the patient. Therefore, they recommend that placebos only be prescribed if the patient is aware of and agrees to its use.

“A physician should enlist the patient’s cooperation by explaining that a better understanding of the medical condition could be achieved by evaluating the effects of different medications, including the placebo," the AMA states. If the patient agrees, the doctor does not need to identify which medicine is the placebo and does not need to ask for specific consent before prescribing the placebo. “In this way, the physician respects the patient’s autonomy and fosters a trusting relationship, while the patient still may benefit from the placebo effect,” according to the AMA guidelines.

The AMA also states that placebos should not be prescribed to pacify a difficult patient.

Obesity Linked to Less Satisfaction while Eating

A new study found that some people may be predisposed to obesity because the rewards centers in their brains do not respond as well as the average person. In order to boost their satisfaction from eating, they may overindulge or choose high-calorie foods, causing them to gain more weight.

When a person eats, the brain releases a brain chemical called dopamine, which is involved in the brain’s reward pathways. Dopamine causes pleasurable feelings during eating.

In the study, 43 women (aged 18-22 and 33) and 33 teenage girls (aged 14-18) consumed a chocolate milkshake and then a tasteless solution. While they drank each beverage, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine the activity in the dorsal striatum, part of the brain that expresses dopamine receptors.

The authors also tested the participants to determine which people had the TaqIA gene. People with this gene often have fewer dopamine receptors than average.

Then the researchers followed the participants for 12 months and recorded changes in their body mass indexes (BMIs).

The authors found that having less active striata was linked to an increased risk of becoming overweight, especially if they had the TaqIA gene.

For more information about obesity, please visit Natural Standard’s Medical Conditions database.

Webinar Forum: Botanicals and Menopause

On October 14, 2008, Maida Taylor, MD, MPH, FACOG, presented a webinar on botanicals and menopause.

Taylor discussed some of the most popular natural products used to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness. She clearly explained the available evidence for various products, including soy, black cohosh, red clover, ginseng and belladonna. A recording of this webinar is available at www.naturalstandard.com.

Taylor’s webinar is one of many upcoming complimentary webinars on integrative medicine. The next webinar, presented by Natural Standard Chief Editor Catherine Ulbricht, PharmD, on October 28 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, will provide a general overview of the database. Whether you are new to Natural Standard or a recurrent subscriber, Ulbricht will help you understand the functionality of the database, so you can take advantage of all that Natural Standard has to offer. To participate in the next webinar, please click here and call: (616) 883-8055, access code 386-478-732

Natural Standard values the opinions and views of its readers and welcomes feedback and questions about the latest webinar event. Also, if you have any suggestions for future webinar topics, please leave a comment below or send an e-mail to questions@naturalstandard.com.

Learned Safety and Antidepressants

A new animal study, published in Neuron, may provide a good model system for testing cellular and molecular interactions between antidepressants and behavioral treatments for depression.

Organisms have developed mechanisms for both instinctive and learned fear that help them survive. But in humans, sometimes learned fear can lead to anxiety disorders, stress and depression.

In earlier studies conducted by the some of same researchers, mice were taught to associate a specific noise with protection from an adverse event. Over time, the mice were taught to take advantage of sources of safety in their environment. The authors called this conditioned behavior learned safety.

In this latest study, lead authors Eric R. Kandel and Daniela D. Pollak set out to characterize some of the behavioral consequences of learned safety, and aimed to learn more about the phenomenon at the molecular level. The authors used specific sounds to condition mice to feel safe or fearful. To stimulate fear, a sound was paired with a mild shock to the mouse's foot. To stimulate safety, another sound was played without a shock.

Then the authors performed a stress test in all of the mice. They were placed in a pool of water, forcing the mice to swim. This type of test is commonly used to measure the affects of antidepressant medications on mice. The authors found that the mice that were conditioned to feel safe showed less signs of behavioral despair than those trained to feel fearful. Learned safety was shown to reduce anxiety as effectively as antidepressants such as Prozac®.

Next, the researchers tested how learned safety affected the development of newborn cells in the dentate gyrus, a structure located in part of the brain called the hippocampus. The dentate gyrus generates new nerve cells (neurons). The authors found that mice that were trained to feel safe had more newborn cells in the dentate gyrus compared to those that were trained to feel fearful.

The researchers also discovered that using radiation on the dentate gyrus both slowed safety learning and stunted the antidepressant effects of learned safety.

They also noted that safety learning increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the dentate gyrus. BDNF is a growth factor that promotes the growth and differentiation of new neurons and their connections.

Genetic analyses were also performed in the brain's fear center called the amygdale. Learned safety did not influence serotonin, the brain chemical that most antidepressant drugs target. Instead, learned safety was shown to influence levels of dopamine and neuropeptide brain chemicals. Both systems are thought to influence learning, mood, and cognition.

According to the authors, learning more about the cellular and molecular effects of behavioral conditioning may lead to new drugs for depression and anxiety disorders.

For more information about anxiety disorders, please visit Natural Standard’s Medical Conditions database. 

Can Fish Help Prevent Childhood Eczema?

According to a recent study, infants who are fed fish may have a lower risk of developing eczema, an allergic skin disease, in early childhood.

The researchers followed nearly 5,000 children who were participating in a larger ongoing health study in Sweden. When the infants were six months old, the scientists asked the parents about their children's diets and signs of allergic eczema. The parents were interviewed again when the babies were one year old.

By six months of age, 14 percent of the babies developed eczema. This increased to 21 percent by one year of age. On average, symptoms of eczema occurred at four months of age. The researchers noted that the strongest risk factor for developing eczema in early childhood was having a mother or sibling with the condition.

This study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, revealed that compared to babies who did not eat fish before nine months of age, babies who did eat fish were 24 percent less likely to develop eczema by age one. It did not appear to matter if the fish contained large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Although it has been suggested that omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in fish oils, may help prevent allergic diseases, several recent studies have found no such effects.

The authors made several other observations. The age at which dairy products or eggs were introduced into the diet did not appear to affect the risk of developing eczema. Earlier guidelines recommended that parents delay the introduction of potential food allergens, including cow's milk, and eggs. The authors also found that smoking or having cats or dogs in the home did not appear to be risk factors.

Unexpectedly, breastfeeding had no significant impact on eczema risk in the infants. These results stand in contrast to the recent guidelines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommend that babies who are at high-risk for developing asthma and other allergic diseases be exclusively breastfed for the first few months of life.

Allergic diseases, including eczema have becoming increasingly common over the years, but the reason for this remains largely unknown. While researchers know that genetics play a big role, more research is needed to understand the impact of allergic foods, such as dairy, eggs, nuts and seafood.

Additional studies are needed before fish can be recommended as part of an infant's diet to prevent eczema.

For more information about fish and fish oil, please visit Natural Standard's Foods, Herbs & Supplements database.

Sweet Smells May Promote Sweet Dreams

The scent of flowers may lead to pleasant dreams, a new study reports.

The study, presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation annual meeting in Chicago, found that the smell of rotten eggs during sleep caused dreams to become negative, while the smell of roses had a positive effect.

German researchers, led by Boris Stuck, a professor of otorhinolaryngology at Heidelberg University, studied 15 healthy females. When the women entered rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep (the stage when most dreaming occurs), they were exposed to a non-odorous control, the smell of roses or the smell of rotten eggs for 10 seconds. One minute later, the participants were woken up. Each woman was exposed to each substance once.

When the women woke up, they were asked to describe their dreams and how they felt during the dreams. Dreams were reported in 40 out of the 45 awakenings. All of the participants reported positive dreams when they were exposed to the scent of roses, while most reported negative dreams when they were exposed to the scent of rotten eggs.

Aromatherapy has been used for many years to reduce stress and anxiety and improve sleep. During aromatherapy essential oils from plants are diluted and then sprayed in the air, inhaled or applied to the skin. Massage is often used to deliver oils into the body, and is considered the most effective method.

Lavender aromatherapy is commonly used for relaxation and has been shown to relieve anxiety. Early research suggests that lavender may help improve sleep quality, particularly in people with insomnia.

Previous studies have found that other types of stimulation during sleep, such as pressure, sound or vibration, may also affect dreams.

For more information about integrative therapies for sleep disturbances, please visit Natural Standard's Comparative Effectiveness database.

Safety of Tanning Beds Questioned

Although tanning beds have been marketed as a possible safe alternative to outdoor sun, evidence shows that ultraviolet (UV) rays are harmful, regardless of where they come from.

 

Three recent papers published in the journal Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research suggest that the UV rays in tanning beds increase the risk of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer. According to the authors, UV rays harm the skin by causing DNA damage, photo-aging and skin cancer.

 

A review article by Marianne Berwick, an epidemiologist at the University of New Mexico, suggests that tanning beds are not safer than sun exposure. In fact, Berwick concluded that tanning beds may be associated with an even higher risk of melanoma. She calls for future studies and states "because of this uncertainty, the data do not support a claim that sun beds are safe, and such claims should be should be considered misleading."

 

These papers come just months after the Indoor Tanning Association launched a nationwide campaign questioning the link between UV exposure and melanoma. They claimed that tanning actually improved health since UV exposure helps the body produce vitamin D.

 

David Fisher, president of the Society of Melanoma Research and lead author of one of the studies, claims that these purported health benefits are overstated, and the potential risks outweigh any possible benefit. Fisher argues that people can maintain healthy levels of vitamin D by eating a healthy diet and possibly taking supplements.

 

"Whereas genetic and other factors undoubtedly contribute importantly to skin cancer risk, the role of UV is incontrovertible, and efforts to confuse the public, particularly for the purposes of economic gain by the indoor tanning industry, should be vigorously combated for the public health," David Fisher and his colleagues wrote.

For more information about tanning, please visit Natural Standard's Health & Wellness database. 

FDA Proposes Guidelines For Genetically Engineered Animals

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released proposed guidelines for how it would regulate genetically engineered (GE) animals to ensure that they are safe for humans and the environment.

 

Scientists produce GE animals by combining genes from different organisms to enhance their traits. Although GE animals have been produced and studied in laboratories for many years, meat from GE animals is not available for consumption in the United States. The FDA's proposed guidelines focus on animals that would be used as foods or whose blood or milk would be used to make medications.

The FDA plans to work with agencies in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other federal departments and agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the industry and develop coherent policies.

 

According to the guidelines, producers of GE animals that are intended for food use will need to prove to that their products are safe to eat. The FDA also plans to assess any potential environmental impacts of GE animals.

 

The FDA does not plan to require GE animal products to bear labels indicating that they are genetically modified. Similarly, foods from GE plants dos not have to be labeled. However, labeling may be required if the GE animal if different from its non-engineered counterpart, for instance, if there was a change in its nutritional profile.

 

Although GE animal products are not on the market yet, GE produce has been sold for many years. According to the FDA and USDA, there are more than 40 genetically modified plants that have completed all of the federal requirements to be sold in the United States. Genetic engineering is commonly used in agriculture to improve resistance to diseases, pests and herbicides. It has also been used to improve taste and quality, reduce maturation time, increase nutrition and increase tolerance to extreme temperatures.

The public has the opportunity to comment on the proposed guidelines, entitled "The Regulation of Genetically Engineered Animals Containing Heritable rDNA Constructs," until November 18, 2008.

"This is a cutting-edge technology that has significant implications, including real benefits, not just for human health, but also for animal health, such as developing disease-resistant animals," said Center for Veterinary Medicine Director Bernadette Dunham. "We look forward to the public comments to help refine our thinking and approach."

 

For more information about genetically modified foods, please visit Natural Standard's Genomics & Proteomics database.