Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
FINALLY! FDA seeks less use of antibiotics in animals to keep them effective for humans
Joshua M. Sharfstein, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner, said antibiotics should be used only to protect the health of an animal and not to help it grow or improve the way it digests its feed.
"This is an urgent public health issue," Sharfstein said during a conference call with reporters. "To preserve the effectiveness [of antibiotics], we simply must use them as judiciously as possible."
The FDA issued a draft of its guidance, and the public has 60 days to comment on the draft.
Sharfstein said that the guidance was a first step, and the agency would issue new regulations if the industry does not comply voluntarily.
"We have the regulatory mechanisms, and industry knows that," he said. "We also think things can be done voluntarily. We're not handcuffed to the steering wheel of a particular strategy, but I'm not ruling out anything that we can do to establish these important public-health goals."
The FDA has tried to limit the use of antibiotics in agriculture since 1977, but its efforts have repeatedly collapsed in the face of opposition from the drug industry and farm lobby.
But mounting evidence of a global crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has propelled the government to act, said Brad Spellberg, an infectious-diseases specialist and the author of "Rising Plague," a book about antibiotic resistance.
"The writing is on the wall," said Spellberg, who teaches at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. "We're in an era where antibiotic resistance is out of control, and we're running out of drugs and new drugs are not being developed. We can't continue along the path we're on."
The European Union banned the feeding of antibiotics and related drugs to livestock for growth promotion in 2006.
U.S. farmers routinely give antibiotics to food-producing animals to treat illnesses, prevent infection and encourage growth. The drugs are often added to drinking water and feed. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 70 percent of antibiotics and related drugs used in the United States are given to animals.
Many of the same classes of drugs fed to animals are deemed "critically" important in human medicine by the FDA, including penicillin, tetracyclines and sulfonamides. In recent years, public health experts say there has been an alarming increase in the number of bacteria that have grown resistant to antibiotics, leading to severe, untreatable illnesses in humans.
Posted via email from GF Doctor-a slightly biased view of gluten free life.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Role of Confocal Endomicroscopy in the Diagnosis of Celiac Disease.
Role of Confocal Endomicroscopy in the Diagnosis of Celiac Disease.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2010 Jun 3;
Authors: Venkatesh K, Abou-Taleb A, Cohen M, Evans C, Thomas S, Oliver P, Taylor C, Thomson M
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:: Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is a recent development that enables surface and subsurface imaging of living cells in vivo at 1000x magnification. The aims of the present study were to define confocal features of celiac disease (CD) and to evaluate the usefulness of the CLE in the diagnosis of CD in children in comparison to histology. PATIENTS AND METHODS:: Nine patients (8 girls) with a median age of 8.35 years (range 2-12.66 years) and a median weight of 28.3 kg (range 11-71 kg) were suspected with CD and 10 matched controls underwent oesophagogastroduodenoscopy using the confocal laser endomicroscope (EC3870CILK; Pentax, Tokyo, Japan). Histologic sections were compared with the confocal images of the same site by 2 experienced paediatric histopathologists and endoscopists, all of whom were blinded to the diagnosis. RESULTS:: The median procedure time was 17 minutes (range 8-25 minutes). Confocal features of CD were defined and a score was developed. A total of 1384 confocal images were collected from 9 patients and 10 controls. Five images from each patient and control were selected and compared with the biopsy specimen of the same site. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value for the confocal images in comparison to the histology were 100%, 80%, and 81%. The kappa inter-observer agreement between the 2 endoscopists was 0.769 (P = 0.018) and between the 2 histopathologists was 0.571 (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:: Confocal endomicroscopy offers the prospect of diagnosis of CD during ongoing endoscopy. It also enables targeting biopsies to abnormal mucosa and thereby increasing the diagnostic yield, especially when villous atrophy is patchy in the duodenum.
PMID: 20531027Perhaps soon there will be a new way to diagnose Celiac Disease. This study allows the histologists and endoscopists to actually see the villous atrophy during the endoscopic procedure. When the endoscopists see a patchy area, they can actually target that area for additional screening during the endoscopy. Finally a more certain way to see the damage caused by celiac disease!
Posted via email from GF Doctor-a slightly biased view of gluten free life.
New Study-Dental changes with Celiac disease-
If you or your child have soft teeth, lots of cavities or a smaller lower jaw, perhaps celiac disease is the underlying problem
Posted via email from GF Doctor-a slightly biased view of gluten free life.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Bellingham Herald / Business News / Bellingham Acupuncturist to open HamsterPuncture
Ed Layton, a licensed acupuncturist with nine years of experience, said HamsterPuncture will operate at Layton Health Clinic at 1329 King St., just a half-block from the northbound Lakeway Drive on-ramp to Interstate 5.
HamsterPuncture will utilize a community-style format that enables patients to receive acupuncture treatments frequently, using a sliding payment scale of $15 to $40.
Up to four patients can be in the same room at a time. After the needles are inserted at appropriate acupoints, a patient can relax in a recliner while Layton begins treatment for another patient. Most acupoints are on the extremities, so people can stay in their street clothes.
"This format makes acupuncture more accessible for people," Layton said. "It enables patients to receive treatments regularly. I want treatments to be relaxed and informal. The group format can be reassuring for people as it's very open and convivial."
Layton will continue to offer private and comprehensive hour-long acupuncture appointments to patients through Layton Health Clinic.
For more information, call 734-1659 or visit hamsterpuncture.org.
Posted via web from GF Doctor-a slightly biased view of gluten free life.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
WHO Says Failure to Disclose Conflicts of Pandemic Advisors an "Oversight"
So glad I am following the research, this certainly makes you think.
Posted via web from GF Doctor-a slightly biased view of gluten free life.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
New systems allow shoppers to trace produce
It doesn't seem fathomable that produce powerhouse Chiquita Brands International would worry about competition from neighborhood farmers' markets. But small farmers, the ones who sell their vegetables directly to the consumer, have something Chiquita wants - the allure of transparency.
Shoppers have made it abundantly clear that they want to know where their food is coming from, which means even the largest growers are frantically trying to put a face on their products. In the last couple of months, Chiquita's Salinas subsidiary, Fresh Express, has begun a nationwide program that allows shoppers to track its 60 types of bagged salads to the regions where the lettuces are grown.
The idea started with other growers after a 2006 deadly E. coli outbreak nearly destroyed California's spinach industry. Now, Chiquita and more than 160 other produce companies have adopted systems that let people use a computer or iPhone to trace the source of fruits and vegetables, communicate with farmers and even find out whether a particular product is on a government recall list.
"A lot of the battle is building public confidence," said Bill Patterson, a senior analyst for Mintel, an international research firm that follows food trends. "People want to have a better connection with who they're buying from."
Leaf Locator
Chiquita's new system is called Leaf Locator. There is a tracking code on the packages that can be entered into the Fresh Express Web site to pinpoint each lettuce's origin, including the region's soil and weather conditions.
"The idea started two years ago when we were trying to grow the brand," said Tanios Viviani, the company's chief marketing officer. Last year Fresh Express made $1.1 billion, about 31 percent of Chiquita's total revenue. The company hopes to increase its revenue from bagged salads.
When Fresh Express polled consumers on how best to connect, shoppers said they "wanted to see faces" and wanted to know who was making their salads. Even if they didn't use the Leaf Locater, just knowing that the company was providing the information gave it an advantage, shoppers said.
"It makes consumers relax," said Kara Nielsen, a trend analyst for San Francisco's Center for Culinary Development. "It's a sort of security gesture."
Since the program was unveiled, traffic on the Fresh Express Web site has grown eightfold, said Chiquita's Judy Chen.
Recall alerts
Other companies are offering even more information, including up-to-date recall alerts. The tracing system from supermarket chain Kroger, for example, told shoppers which brands of lettuce were safe to eat and which ones should be discarded during a recent E. coli outbreak linked to romaine.
It was the 2006 E. coli outbreak in Salinas Valley's spinach fields that put Redwood City's HarvestMark in business. YottaMark Inc., HarvestMark's parent company, was peddling a new tracking system for electronics and computer chips at a trade show when it was approached by Driscoll's, a large California berry grower. Producers like Driscoll's saw the widespread devastation of the tainted spinach, which killed three people and sickened 205, and scrambled to find a way to monitor their products.
Tracking the source
"Driscoll's asked us if we could do the same thing for their berries," said Miz Nakajima, a HarvestMark spokeswoman. "None of us had thought about produce. But Driscoll's said if we could do it, we'd have the job."
Four years later, HarvestMark has created tracing programs for some of the largest growers and retailers, including Kroger.
"Nothing is better than meeting the farmer and exchanging a head of broccoli face to face," Nakajima said. "This is the next best thing. We're providing that connection. It's like putting the farmer in your kitchen."
A sticker with the HarvestMark code, a butterfly logo and a sequence of letters and numbers, is attached to the product. Shoppers can punch the code into the HarvestMark Web site, or scan it with the company's free iPhone application. Within seconds, information ranging from recipes and food safety tips to a history of the farm and contact information for the grower appears. Some farms even include videos and a form to rate their product.
Talking to farmers
In many cases, said Nakajima, consumers take the time to e-mail the farmer with questions, praise or complaints. One Georgia grower got a flurry of comments that his so-called seedless watermelons had seeds. "He mailed them back their money," Nakajima said.
Over the years, traffic on the HarvestMark Web site has increased, especially when there's a new report of food-borne illness, she said. After the 2008 salmonella outbreak mistakenly linked to tomatoes (authorities think it was actually jalapeeppers) sickened more than 1,200 people in 42 states, consumers were particularly cautious. That year an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that 86 percent of those surveyed wanted all produce labeled so it could be traced back to the farm.
Meeting growers
Many people have turned to farmers' markets, where they can meet the growers in person. A 2009 Mintel study showed that 58 percent of people polled had shopped at a farmers' market in the previous two years, and 25 percent said that while they primarily shopped at supermarkets, farmers' markets were their second source for produce, beating out club stores such as Costco.
Big-box stores want that business back. Many now require producers to provide tracing information, even if it's only for internal use.
Cindy Jewell, marketing director for California Giant Berry Farms, figured the company might as well share that information with customers, too. California Giant has placed HarvestMark trace codes on a million of the 4-pound strawberry containers it sells at Costco, which is about 20 percent of its inventory. So far, consumers have been slow to use the tool - it is still early in the season - and the cost, about $60,000, has been high, Jewell said.
In addition, Jewell is concerned about glitches that have led to inaccurate tracing information. "We're still seeing how it's going to work," she said. "I don't know yet whether we'll make the 100 percent investment, but it's definitely the right thing to do."
E-mail Stacy Finz at sfinz@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Posted via web from GF Doctor-a slightly biased view of gluten free life.
Teasmade Alarm Clock Wakes You Up to Tea | Apartment Therapy Unplggd
Teasmade Alarm Clock Wakes You Up to Tea
Mornings are not our favorite time of the day. Often when the alarm clock rings there is nothing that we are less interesting in than getting out of bed. A great alarm clock can help with not only waking us up, but also in helping to get the day off to a great start.We have seen and blogged about some interesting alarm clocks before, like the Nature Lover's and voice controlled Moshi alarm clock, this alarm clock boasts a little something extra.
Comments -->A remake of a classic product that has been around for over 70 years, the Teasmade not only functions as a nifty alarm clock, it also brews you a fine cup of tea. Made by Swan, the Teasmade is an alarm clock with a built in rapid water boiling function that allows you to wake to a fresh pot of a tea.
To use the Teasmade, you put tea bag into the pot the night before, fill the kettle with water, and then set the alarm. Incredibly simple and easy, we wonder why we do not see more of these in stores.
The clean design of the Teasmade would blend well in any modern home and we like its small footprint and cute LCD face. We imagine that waking up on cold rainy days would be all that much more pleasant with a fresh cup of tea at our bedside....oh how we would love a Teasmade!
Since this is a remake of a product that has been around for quite some time, we would love to hear from readers who have any experience with a Teasmade. Have you ever used a Teasmade?
The Teasmade STM100N2 sells for about $88. For more information, check out Swan.
[via The Design Blog]
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What a great way to wake up! Now to check and see if the water gets too hot for green tea or not. Maybe I can get one of these for Christmas?
Posted via web from GF Doctor-a slightly biased view of gluten free life.