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This research finding of lower IQ in children with higher exposure to 2 common phthalates during pregnancy is very troubling. Especially since avoiding all phthalates in the USA is currently impossible. But one can lower levels in the body by reading all ingredients and trying to avoid certain products (e.g. dryer sheets, vinyl shower curtains, personal care products with phthalates, scented products). And don't microwave food in plastic containers. From Science Daily:

Prenatal exposure to common household chemicals linked with substantial drop in child IQ

Children exposed during pregnancy to elevated levels of two common chemicals found in the home -- di-n-butyl phthalate and di-isobutyl phthalate -- had an IQ score, on average, more than six points lower than children exposed at lower levels, according to researchers.

DnBP and DiBP are found in a wide variety of consumer products, from dryer sheets to vinyl fabrics to personal care products like lipstick, hairspray, and nail polish, even some soaps. Since 2009, several phthalates have been banned from children's toys and other childcare articles in the United States. 

Researchers followed 328 New York City women and their children from low-income communities. They assessed the women's exposure to four phthalates--DnBP, DiBP, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, and diethyl phthalate--in the third trimester of pregnancy by measuring levels of the chemicals' metabolites in urine. Children were given IQ tests at age 7.

Children of mothers exposed during pregnancy to the highest 25 percent of concentrations of DnBP and DiBP had IQs 6.6 and 7.6 points lower, respectively, than children of mothers exposed to the lowest 25 percent of concentrations after controlling for factors like maternal IQ, maternal education, and quality of the home environment that are known to influence child IQ scores. The association was also seen for specific aspects of IQ, such as perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. The researchers found no associations between the other two phthalates and child IQ. The range of phthalate metabolite exposures measured in the mothers was not unusual: it was within what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention observed in a national sample.

"A six- or seven-point decline in IQ may have substantial consequences for academic achievement and occupational potential.""While there has been some regulation to ban phthalates from toys of young children," adds Dr. Factor-Litvak, "there is no legislation governing exposure during pregnancy, which is likely the most sensitive period for brain development. Indeed, phthalates are not required to be on product labeling."

While avoiding all phthalates in the United States is for now impossible, the researchers recommend that pregnant women take steps to limit exposure by not microwaving food in plastics, avoiding scented products as much as possible, including air fresheners, and dryer sheets, and not using recyclable plastics labeled as 3, 6, or 7.

The findings build on earlier, similar observations by the researchers of associations between prenatal exposure to DnBP and DiBP and children's cognitive and motor development and behavior at age 3. This September, they reported a link between prenatal exposure to phthalates and risk for childhood asthma. It's not known how phthalates affect child health. However, numerous studies show that they disrupt the actions of hormones, including testosterone and thyroid hormone. Inflammation and oxidative stress may also play a role.

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Interesting research using probiotics (beneficial bacteria) to treat a nickel allergy. What other allergies could be treated with probiotics? From the American Microbiome Institute:

Treating severe nickel allergies with probiotics

Systematic nickel allergy syndrome (SNAS) is a severe reaction to nickel, a metal that is found in nature and most human food sources. An allergic reaction to nickel can manifest cutaneously, causing inflammation and irritation of the skin, or it can be gastrointestinal, causing diarrhea. Studies in which balanced diets are used as a way of reintroducing nickel to SNAS patients have been conducted to find possible treatments of this allergy; however no cure has been found. Research by a group in Italy was  published last month in the Journal of Applied Microbiology that examined the use of probiotics such as Lactobacillus reuteri to treat SNAS patients.

A double blind study was performed using twenty-two adult women who had both systematic and cutaneous reactions to nickel. A control group received a placebo, while an experimental group received the L. reuteri probiotic. Fecal sampling and clinical evaluations were performed at the start of the study, before any pills were taken, as well as after two weeks of supplementation and two weeks after the end of the trial. Throughout the entire evaluation period the patients followed a low-nickel diet.

Both groups prior to experimentation had low diversity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) communities in their gut.  After the trial, they found that the control group had stable LAB communities while the experimental group resulted in greater diversity of LAB than prior to the study. They found that only the experimental group showed the presence of L. reuteri meaning that the bacteria in the probiotic had successfully colonized and survived in the gut, an essential feature if a probiotic is to be used in a clinical setting.

They also found a significant improvement in cutaneous symptoms after two weeks in both the group being given the probiotic with a low-nickel diet, as well as the strictly low-nickel diet patient group, however the improvement was more pronounced in the group getting the probiotic. Only patients receiving the supplementary L. reuteri showed a significant reduction in gastrointestinal symptoms. Eating a diet low in nickel will cause less averse reactions than an uncontrolled diet; however, this study strongly suggests that probiotics can significantly decrease the severity of allergy symptoms in SNAS patients. The study also suggests that a combination of diet and probiotics could increase bacteria’s ability to colonize in the intestines.

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Further reasons to try to consume foods and beverages from glass containers and avoid cans and plastic bottles. Note that the BPA caused changes within 2 hours, and that BPA-free alternatives may be no better than BPA. Some researchers are speculating whether the high incidence of hypertension is linked to the prevalence of BPA in our environment. From Medical Xpress:

Cans lined with Bisphenol A may increase blood pressure

Drinking or eating from cans or bottles lined with Bisphenol A (BPA) could raise your blood pressure, according to new research reported in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension. BPA, a chemical used as an epoxy lining for cans and plastic bottles, is everywhere, and its consumption has been associated with high blood pressure and heart rate variability. Previous studies have shown that BPA can leach into foods and drinks.

"A 5 mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure by drinking two canned beverages may cause clinically significant problems, particularly in patients with heart disease or hypertension," said Yun-Chul Hong, M.D., Ph.D., study author... "A 20 mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease."

In this study, researchers conducted a randomized crossover trial recruiting 60 adults, mostly Korean women, over the age of 60 from a local community center. Each trial member visited the study site three times and was randomly provided with soy milk in either glass bottles or cans. Later urine was collected and tested for BPA concentration, blood pressure and heart rate variability two hours after consumption of each beverage.

Urinary BPA concentration increased by up to 1,600 percent after consuming canned beverages compared to after consuming the glass-bottled beverages.. Soy milk was the ideal beverage for the test because it has no known ingredient that elevates blood pressure, researchers said.

UPDATE: The NY Times has a nice write-up of this research with further details:

BPA in Cans and Plastic Bottles Linked to Quick Rise in Blood Pressure

A single instance of increased blood pressure may not be particularly harmful. But the findings suggest that for people who drink from multiple cans or plastic bottles every day, the repeated exposure over time could contribute to hypertension, said Dr. Karin B. Michels, an expert on BPA who was not involved in the new research.

BPA has been used since the 1960s to make countless everyday products like plastic bottles, food containers, contact lenses, and even sippy cups and baby bottles. The chemical can leach into food, and studies show that the vast majority of Americans who are tested have BPA in their urine.

The chemical is an endocrine disrupter that can mimic estrogen. In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration said BPA could no longer be used in baby bottles and children’s drinking cups. Canadian regulators formally declared BPA a toxic substance in 2010 and banned it from all children’s products.

Because of growing consumer concerns, some bottles and packaged food products now carry “BPA free” claims on their labels. However, these products often contain chemically similar alternatives – like bisphenol S. One study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that plastic products advertised as BPA-free still leached chemicals with estrogenic activity – and some of these chemicals were even more potent than BPA.

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This would be a major shift in advice. Take note: they found the benefits outweighed the cons only in women starting from the age of 65 and above. From Science Daily:

Cons of regular low-dose aspirin to stave off serious illness in women outweigh pros

The pros of giving healthy women regular low-dose aspirin to stave off serious illness, such as cancer and heart disease, are outweighed by the cons, suggests a large study.

But the balance begins to shift with increasing age, and limiting this form of primary prevention to women aged 65 and above, was better than not taking aspirin at all, or treating women from the age of 45 onwards, say the researchers.

They base their findings on almost 30,000 healthy women, who were at least 45 years old and taking part in the Women's Health Study.Participants were randomly assigned to take either 100 mg of aspirin or a dummy tablet (placebo) every other day, to see whether aspirin curbed their risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Compared with placebo, regular aspirin was linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, bowel cancer, and in some women, other cancers, but only marginally so.And this slight health gain was trumped by the prevalence of internal gastrointestinal bleeding, which affected two thirds of the women  taking the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

The risk of gastrointestinal bleeding rose with age, but so too did the drug's impact on lowering the risk of bowel cancer and cardiovascular disease, with the balance appearing to tip in favour of the drug for women aged 65 and above..The researchers calculated that over 15 years, 29 over-65s would need to be treated with aspirin to prevent one case of cancer or heart disease/stroke...But they conclude that blanket treatment "is ineffective or harmful in the majority of women with regard to the combined risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and major gastrointestinal bleeding."

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Considering all the antibiotics that the typical sinusitis sufferer takes over the years, reading this article was depressing. One wonders, can the gut microbiome (community of microbes) recover from many rounds of antibiotics and how long does it take? Please note: CD is Crohn's disease, UC is ulcerative colitis, and IBD is inflammatory bowel disease. Dysbiosis means that the community of microbes (microbiome) is out-of-whack. From Medscape:

Antibiotics Associated With Increased Risk of New-onset Crohn's Disease but not Ulcerative Colitis

The objective of this study was to perform a meta-analysis investigating antibiotic exposure as a risk factor for developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).A literature search using Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases was performed to identify studies providing data on the association between antibiotic use and newly diagnosed IBD. 

Conclusions: Exposure to antibiotics appears to increase the odds of being newly diagnosed with CD but not UC. This risk is most marked in children diagnosed with CD.

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Environmental factors have a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)...Furthermore, the incidence of IBD has been increasing worldwide over time. Developing countries have seen an increase in IBD incidence as they have Westernized.

Emerging evidence suggests that certain medications are associated with an increased risk of new-onset IBD. In particular, antibiotics have been linked to the development of both Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).Growing research suggests that the microbiome and its interaction with the mucosal immune system are important in the pathogenesis of IBD.Antibiotics can cause alterations to the microbiome that may potentially contribute to the dysbiosis and dysregulated immune response seen in IBD.

Previous studies have investigated the association of antibiotic exposure with newly diagnosed IBD in both adult and pediatric populations. CD has been more consistently associated with antibiotic use, with some studies demonstrating an increased risk of CD but not UC. It also appears that patients who receive more frequent courses of antibiotics have a higher likelihood of developing IBD.

The results of this meta-analysis suggest that exposure to antibiotics increases the risk of new-onset IBD. When stratifying by type of IBD, antibiotic exposure was associated with an increased risk of developing CD but not UC. We found that the magnitude of risk of new CD is greater for children than for adults. All classes of antibiotics studied, with the exception of penicillins, were associated with new diagnoses of IBD. Interestingly, the types of antibiotics showing the strongest association were fluoroquinolones and metronidazole.

Although it is impossible to draw causal links on the basis of these data, there are some possible implications and explanations for our findings. First, our findings may support the importance of disruptions in the microbiome in the pathogenesis of IBD. The link between antibiotic exposure and new IBD seems biologically plausible. It is known that the microbiome likely has an important role in the pathogenesis of IBD. Studies have shown a decrease in the diversity and stability of both mucosa-associated bacteria and fecal bacteria in patients with CD and UC.For example, the largest cohort microbiome study to date recently found that newly diagnosed CD patients have increased Enterobacteriaceae,Pasteurellaceae, Veillonellaceae, and Fusobacteriaceae, and decreased Erysipelotrichales, Bacteroidales, and Clostridiales.

Antibiotics have been shown to alter the composition of the human gut microbiota by decreasing taxonomic richness and diversity....Although the microbiome may recover to its initial state within days to weeks after antibiotic treatment, some studies have shown a longer-term impact of antibiotics on specific microbial populations that can persist for months to years.

It is unclear as to why antibiotic exposure was associated with new-onset CD and not UC. Studies have suggested a difference in the microbiota between CD and UC patients....Our finding that pediatric populations appear to have an increased association of antibiotic use with new-onset CD compared with adults may reflect the less stable nature of the microbiome earlier in life. During the first 3 years of life, the microbiome appears to undergo marked changes and significant maturation toward an adult-like composition with greater interpersonal variation. It is possible that antibiotics may therefore have a greater impact during childhood when the gut microbiota composition is still developing.

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Basically, this research says that the levels of antioxidants in citrus fruits and juices is about 10 times higher than currently calculated. Currently we just look at what is absorbed from citrus fruits in the small intestine, but neglect what arrives at the large intestine, including the fiber, and what the intestinal microbes extract. Those microbes are amazing! From Science Daily:

Antioxidant capacity of orange juice is multiplied tenfold

The antioxidant activity of citrus juices and other foods is undervalued, experts say. A new technique for measuring this property generates values that are ten times higher than those indicated by current analysis methods. The results suggest that tables on the antioxidant capacities of food products that dieticians and health authorities use must be revised. Orange juice and juices from other citrus fruits are considered healthy due to their high content of antioxidants, which help to reduce harmful free radicals in our body, but a new investigation shows that their benefits are greater than previously thought.

In order to study these compounds in the laboratory, techniques that simulate the digestion of food in the digestive tract are used, which analyse only the antioxidant capacities of those substances that can potentially be absorbed in the small intestine: the liquid fraction of what we eat.

"The problem is that the antioxidant activity of the solid fraction (the fibre) isn't measured, as it's assumed that it isn't beneficial. However, this insoluble fraction arrives at the large intestine and the intestinal microbiota can also ferment it and extract even more antioxidant substances, which we can assess with our new methodology," José Ángel Rufián Henares, professor at the University of Granada, explains.

His team has developed a technique called 'global antioxidant response' (GAR), which includes an in vitro simulation of the gastrointestinal digestion that occurs in our body, whilst taking into account the 'forgotten' antioxidant capacity of the solid fraction.

Upon applying the technique to commercial and natural orange, mandarin, lemon and grapefruit juices, it has been proved that their values greatly increase. For example, in the case of orange juice, the value ranges from 2.3 mmol Trolox/L (units for the antioxidant capacity) registered with a traditional technique to 23 mmol Trolox/L with the new GAR method.

"The antioxidant activity is, on average, ten times higher than that which everyone thought up until now, and not just in juices, but also in any other kind of food analysed with this methodology," highlights Rufián Henares, who notes its possible application: "This technique and the results derived from it could allow dieticians and health authorities to better establish the values of the antioxidant capacity of foods."

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Another popular view bites the dust.

From the NY Times: Why Antioxidants Don’t Belong in Your Workout

Antioxidant vitamins are enormously popular with people who exercise. The supplements are thought to alleviate muscle damage and amplify the effects of exercise. But recent studies have raised questions about whether antioxidants might be counterproductive for runners and other endurance athletes. And now a cautionary new experiment adds to those doubts by finding that antioxidants may also reduce the benefits of weight training.

 Both aerobic exercise and strength training lead to the production of free radicals, molecules that in concentrated amounts can cause tissue damage. Antioxidants sop up and neutralize free radicals. So, the thinking goes, taking antioxidant should lessen some of the damage and soreness after exercise and allow people to train harder.But recent experiments with endurance athletes have found that consuming large doses of vitamins C and E actually results in a slightly smaller training response. 

So for the new study, which was published online this month in The Journal of Physiology, scientists at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences in Oslo and other institutions, some of whom previously had studied aerobic exercise and antioxidants, set out to repeat those experiments in a weight room.

They began by recruiting 32 men and women who had at least some experience with weight training. They measured the volunteers’ muscular size and strength.Then they randomly divided them into two groups. Half were asked to start taking two antioxidant vitamin pills each day, one before and one after exercising. The total daily dosage amounted to 1,000 milligrams of Vitamin C and 235 milligrams of Vitamin E, which “is high but not higher than athletes commonly use,” ...The other group did not take any supplements.

All of the volunteers then began the same resistance-training regimen, consisting of four fairly rigorous training sessions each week. As the exercises grew easy, weights were increased, with the aim of pumping up the size and strength of the volunteers’ muscles.The program lasted 10 weeks. 

In general, people’s muscles had increased in size to the same extent, proportionally. The group that had taken the vitamins now had larger muscles. So did the group that had not. But there were subtle but significant differences in their strength gains. Over all, the volunteers who had taken the antioxidants had not added as much strength as the control group. Their muscles were punier, although they had grown in size.

The differences continued beneath the skin, where, as the muscle biopsies showed, the volunteers taking the vitamins had reduced levels of substances known to initiate protein synthesis. Protein synthesis is necessary to repair and strengthen muscles after weight training. So the volunteers taking the vitamins were getting less overall response from their muscles, even though they were following the same exercise program.

Exactly how antioxidant pills change muscles’ reactions to weight training is still unknown. But Dr. Goran and his colleagues speculate that, by reducing the number of free radicals after exercise, the vitamins short-circuit vital physiological processes. In this scenario, free radicals are not harmful molecules but essential messengers that inform cells to start pumping out proteins and other substances needed to improve strength and fitness. Without enough free radicals, you get less overall response to exercise.

The upshot is that whether you lift weights or jog, Dr. Goran would advise “against the use of high-dosages of concentrated antioxidant supplements.”

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From Medical Xpress:

Obesity may shorten life expectancy up to eight years

'Tis the season to indulge. However, restraint may be best according to a new study led by investigators at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and McGill University. The researchers examined the relationship between body weight and life expectancy. Their findings show that overweight and obese individuals have the potential to decrease life expectancy by up to 8 years. The study, published in the current issue of The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, further demonstrates that when one considers that these individuals may also develop diabetes or cardiovascular disease earlier in life, this excess weight can rob them of nearly two decades of healthy life.

Dr. Grover and his colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (from years 2003 to 2010) to develop a model that estimates the annual risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in adults with different body weights. This data from almost 4,000 individuals was also used to analyze the contribution of excess body weight to years of life lost and healthy years of life lost.

Their findings estimated that individuals who were very obese could lose up to 8 years of life, obese individuals could lose up to 6 years, and those who were overweight could lose up to three years. In addition, healthy life-years lost were two to four times higher for overweight and obese individuals compared to those who had a healthy weight, defined as 18.5-25 body mass index (BMI). The age at which the excess weight accumulated was an important factor and the worst outcomes were in those who gained their weight at earlier ages.

"The pattern is clear - the more an individual weighs and the younger their age, the greater the effect on their health," Dr. Grover adds. "In terms of life-expectancy, we feel being overweight is as bad as cigarette smoking."

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The numbers are amazing. Researchers found all these microbes because of state of the art genetic analysis such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing (because most microbes can not be "cultured"). From Science Daily:

Cataloguing 10 million human gut microbial genes: Unparalleled accomplishment

Over the past several years, research on bacteria in the digestive tract (gut microbiome) has confirmed the major role they play in our health. An international consortium has developed the most complete database of microbial genes ever created. The catalogue features nearly ten million genes and will constitute a reference for all research on gut bacteria.

Research on the gut microbiome (all of the bacteria in the digestive tract) has multiplied over the past several years, helped in great part by new sequencing technologies. The gut microbiome, which scientists have labelled a "new organ" that is composed of tens of trillions of bacteria -- ten times as many as the number of cells in the human body -- is directly linked to the immune system and brain. It is a major player in chronic illnesses such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes. However, research in the field depends on access to reference gene databases (or catalogues), which is particularly important when identifying the functions of microbial genes. Few and far between, existing catalogues were created using samples from a limited number of people and geographical origins.

Most of the genes (around six million) are shared by just 1% of the population, making them quite rare. While there is substantial data today regarding the most common genes, future research will focus on determining the importance and role of these rare genes.

Thanks to this catalogue, the most clinically significant genes can be described, most notably those related to illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, cardiovascular diseases and some cancers. It will also provide a more complete picture of imbalances in the gut microbiome (dysbiosis), particularly those caused by medication.

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Much discussion about the link between gut bacteria and liver cancer, as well as the link between inflammation and cancer. Gut microbiome imbalances can cause health harms.

Bottom line: Try to improve your gut microbiome by eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, legumes, and whole grains.

From the Dec.4, 2014 issue of Nature: Microbiome: The bacterial tightrope

Imbalances in gut bacteria have been implicated in the progression from liver disease to cancer. The team's research, published last year, suggests that gut bacteria — which are part of the microbiome of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in and on the body — can play a crucial part in liver-cancer progression.

There are trillions of microorganisms in the human microbiome — they outnumber their host's cells by around ten to one — and their exact role in health and disease is only now starting to be explored. Studies have found that people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease have a different composition of bacteria in their gut from healthy individuals2, 3

 Instead, she sees an emerging picture of liver disease and cancer as a process in which various factors — including a high-fat diet, alcoholism, genetic susceptibility and the microbiome — can each contribute to the progression from minor to severe liver damage, and from severe liver damage to cancer.

Flavell's research suggests that the liver has an important role in immune surveillance and helps to maintain bacterial balance in the gut. Specialized cells in the liver and intestines monitor the microbiome by keeping tabs on bacterial by-products as they pass through. These cells can detect infections and help to fight them.

But they can also pick up on subtler changes in the bacterial populations in the gut. When certain types of bacteria become too numerous — a state called dysbiosis — the immune system becomes activated and triggers inflammation, although at a lower level than it would for an infection... Now, research is emerging that suggests that dysbiosis and the immune reaction it provokes can even contribute to cancer.

He thinks that at least part of this mechanism involves disruption in the balance of the various species of bacteria in the gut. An out-of-balance microbiome promotes a constant state of inflammation, which can contribute to cancer progression, Schwabe says. This aligns with the picture that is emerging of cancer, in general, as an inflammatory process: the same immune reactions that help the body to fight infection and disease can also promote unchecked cell growth.

Some of the earliest research on the human microbiome, published in 2006, demonstrated that the balance of gut bacteria in obese people is different from that in people of healthy weight. In particular, obese people tend to have greater numbers of the bacteria that produce DCA (deoxycholic acid) and other secondary bile acids.

This line of research points to the microbiome as one potential link between obesity and liver-cancer risk . And, much like Schwabe's work, Hara's results indicate that several factors converge to promote cancer: in this case, bacteria, diet and carcinogen exposure. Here, too, the ability to stave off the disease seems to depend on maintaining the appropriate microbial balance. Overweight mice and people have a different composition of gut microbiota from their lighter counterparts, and they have higher levels of DCA, too.

However, not everyone is convinced that individual bacterial species are to blame. Some researchers point out that dysbiosis, and therefore cancer risk, involves multiple strains of bacteria. And the bacterial mix can vary from person to person, meaning it is unlikely that scientists can pin all responsibility on a single species.

Others are looking for ways to promote the growth of healthy bacterial strains rather than target the bad ones....There is also some early clinical evidence that specially formulated probiotics — cocktails of good bacteria — can bump the microbiome back into balance. Hylemon and his colleagues gave people with cirrhosis a probiotic containing Lactobacillus bacteria and found that their blood markers of inflammation decreased along with their cognitive dysfunction (a common symptom of cirrhosis)6. Although the study was not designed to evaluate cancer risk, it does show that delivering bacteria to the gut can have positive therapeutic effects on the liver.