Lumo Allows Passengers From London To Edinburgh To Pre-Order Meals
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
I just tried it out and what I saw was a good start.
They even had gluten-free sandwiches and other items from Marks & Spencer.
You can access it here.
AstraZeneca May Explain Britain’s Lower Death Rate
The title for this post, is the same as that of this article on the The Times.
These are the second and third paragraph of the article.
Dr Clive Dix said he believed that the jab could help to stave off serious Covid-19 illness for longer than RNA-based alternatives made by Pfizer and Moderna. “If you look across Europe, with the rise in cases, there’s also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in the UK,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “I personally believe that’s because most of our vulnerable people were given the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Dix suggested that the T cell response to the AstraZeneca jab may explain the lower level of hospital admissions and deaths.
Dr, Clive Dix is a former Deputy Chair of the Vaccines Taskforce.
I think that Dr. Dix may have a point.
I am coeliac and I know I have a strong immune system.
When I had my dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, I was fairly sure that my immune system gave the viral vector vaccine a good kicking, as it thought the chimpanzee adenovirus on which it is based could be a dangerous intruder.
But with the second dose, I got no reaction. Had my immune system decided that the vaccine was a friend?
I have mentioned this reaction to people and I have found some coeliacs, who had a similar reaction to the one that I had with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
But more significantly, this summer, I suffered badly from hay fever. My GP told me that the high level could have been because the AstraZeneca vaccine had boosted my immune system.
I’ve only had it as bad once before and I suspect that was a couple of years after I went gluten-free, after being diagnosed as a coeliac. I suspect that that would have boosted my immune system.
I can do a small calculation.
I suspect, that there are about 40,000,000 in the UK who have been vaccinated with two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
If we assume coeliacs are 1-in-100 of the population, as stated on this page on the NHS web site, and most have been vaccinated, as they tend to be cautious about their food and health, that equates to 400,000 people who could be fully vaccinated and have an immune system with all the defensive strength of a whole regiment of special forces soldiers on steroids.
For some time now, various sources have been saying the models of the pandemic aren’t right.
I do wonder, if coeliacs with the AstraZeneca vaccine are super-immune and they are skewing the models. After all 400,000 with a super-immunity is a large number in comparison to the total number of deaths from the Covids in the UK, which stood at 171,801 with the Covids on their death certificate tonight.
Conclusion
I am drawn to one big conclusion and that is more research needs to be done.
It would be a great help, if we knew how many coeliacs on long-term gluten-free diets had ended up in hospital.
I wouldn’t ask the doctors, but the catering departments, who would be providing the gluten-free food, that the coeliacs will be demanding.
Infection, Mortality And Severity Of Covid-19 In Coeliac Disease – Prof Jonas Ludvigsson
The title of this post is the same as that of this presentation on the Coeliac UK web site.
If you are coeliac and worried about catching the Covids, I suggest you watch the presentation.
The presentation is about eighteen minutes long and this is the last-but-one screen.
Coeliac Disease and Covid-19
- No increased risk of death from Covid-19
- No increased risk of ICU for Covid-19
- No increased risk of any (!) Covid-19
THEN: Coeliac patients with Covid-19, have no increased risk of death compared to other patients with Covid-19.
Conclusion
The professor concludes it is good news and there is no need for coeliac patients to get the jab earlier than other people.
I would also like to add my fourpennyworth!
The professor was only analysing diagnosed coeliacs, who were probably on a long-term gluten-free diet.
My son was an undiagnosed coeliac, who lived the rock and roll lifestyle, generally living on ciggies, high-strength cannabis and Subways. His immune system, probably gave him all the protection of a plastic colander.
He died at just 37 from pancreatic cancer.
A Full-English Gluten-Free Breakfast At Leon
I regularly have a breakfast like this in Leon.
Delicious and gluten-free!
How Celiac Disease May Affect Your Risk for Gallbladder Disease
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on verywell.health.
I am posting, as I am a coeliac, who has had gallstone problems and want to be able to find the article easily in the future.
Street Burger – Islington
Regularly in pre-pandemic times, I would go to Carluccio’s at The Angel in Islington for a quick lunch after doing my shopping on a Saturday.
But unfortunately, Carluccio’s is no more!
Now there is a Street Burger by Gordon Ramsay between Marks and Spencer and one of the bus stops, from where I can get a bus home.
Before I continue, I should say I have form with Gordon Ramsay, as I once talked to him on Radio 5 about gluten-free food in a restaurant.
He said that if you book at least 24 hours before and say you want a gluten-free meal, the restaurant has no excuse for not giving you what you need.
He also said that if they think they’re a good restaurant and can’t offer gluten-free food, then they’re not a good restaurant.
Since then, I’ve eaten a couple of times in his upmarket restaurants and he’s not broken his own rules.
Today, I broke his rule, by just turning up. But I did know, they did gluten-free options.
Note.
- I forgot to take a picture of the burger before I started to eat it.
- The decor is simple and practical.
- What car did the seats come from?
- You can have as much soft drink as you like.
The pictures don’t do the meal justice, which was upmarket for a burger.
I shall use the restaurant more often, as it’s so conveniently placed, close to Angel tube station, which is one of my routes home.
Who Stole All The M & S Gluten-Free Food?
Over the last few weeks, certain gluten-free lines in Marks and Spencer have started getting difficult to find.
Some of the things, I like that have been difficult have included.
- Ginger snap biscuits.
- Gluten-free pies
- Scones
- Bloomer slices
- Gluten-free muesli
Note that my supper is usually something I cook myself from scratch or one of the many M & S ready meals, that contain no gluten. It is usually washed down by a bottle of Adnams low-alcohol beer and followed by some fruit. Tonight, the fruit will be one of my favourites, which are strawberries and bananas.
I did think that the shortage of the lines I mentioned was due to a supply problem.
But then, there have not been shortages of other lines, that I buy, that are not specifically gluten-free.
So is it some gluten-free suppliers are having problems? Possibly.
But!
Regular readers of this blog will know that I believe that those coeliacs on a long-term gluten free diet seem to be unlikely to suffer a severe dose of the dreaded covids. There was no battle with the second dose!
I know for a start that my immune system gives short shift to any viral invaders, as it did with the AstraZeneca vaccine before they came to a truce.
So have others, including some with more medical knowledge than myself, come to the same conclusion about coeliac disease, the immune system, gluten and the covids and have gone gluten-free for safety?
For example, I’ve heard that those suffering from long covid have been tested for coeliac disease.
I’d love to be able to analyse the sales of gluten-free food.
Has Ciprofloxacin Attacked My Tendon?
After my gallstone operation, the hospital gave me a week’s Ciprofloxacin, which is an antibiotic, to take.
I took one tablet on Thursday evening and another on Friday morning. But as I returned from shopping at the Angel, it felt like I had a splinter in the heel of my left foot.
The pain was so bad I could hardly walk this morning.
I have had plantar fasciitis in the past in my left foot, and as someone, who has spent a working life looking for connections in databases, I wondered if the Ciprofloxacin had anything to do with it.
So I looked up the data sheet on MedLinePlus, which is a trusted site, from the US Library of Medicine.
The data sheet starts with this Important Warning.
This is the first paragraph of the warning.
Taking ciprofloxacin increases the risk that you will develop tendinitis (swelling of a fibrous tissue that connects a bone to a muscle) or have a tendon rupture (tearing of a fibrous tissue that connects a bone to a muscle) during your treatment or for up to several months afterward. These problems may affect tendons in your shoulder, your hand, the back of your ankle, or in other parts of your body. Tendinitis or tendon rupture may happen to people of any age, but the risk is highest in people over 60 years of age. Tell your doctor if you have or have ever had a kidney, heart, or lung transplant; kidney disease; a joint or tendon disorder such as rheumatoid arthritis (a condition in which the body attacks its own joints, causing pain, swelling, and loss of function); or if you participate in regular physical activity. Tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are taking oral or injectable steroids such as dexamethasone, methylprednisolone (Medrol), or prednisone (Rayos). If you experience any of the following symptoms of tendinitis, stop taking ciprofloxacin, rest, and call your doctor immediately: pain, swelling, tenderness, stiffness, or difficulty in moving a muscle. If you experience any of the following symptoms of tendon rupture, stop taking ciprofloxacin and get emergency medical treatment: hearing or feeling a snap or pop in a tendon area, bruising after an injury to a tendon area, or inability to move or to bear weight on an affected area.
After reading that, I decided the best thing to do was to call a doctor, so I dialled 111 and within three hours I was seeing a young local doctor in his surgery.
He decided to be prudent and changed the antibiotics.
I have since found out from this page on celiac.com, that not all Ciprofloxacin is gluten-free. Mine was from a company called Torrent.
People With Coeliac Disease Are At Higher Risk For Cataracts
The title of this post is the same as that of this page on Ocli Vision.
This is a paragraph from the article.
In a recent study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers found that people who suffer from celiac disease are at a much higher risk of developing cataracts than those who are not diagnosed with the disease.
On Monday, Boots identified that my cataracts had got worse and signed me up to a private hospital that could do them free on the NHS.
It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
The Anonymous Widower 