The Luck Of The Genes
There’s an article in The Times, which is entitled When It Comes To Success, Luck Can Trump Intelligence.
It got me thinking about my life.
I have been pretty successful in life, and I put it down to winning the gene lottery, with a part-Jewish father and a part-Huguenot mother, who taught me hard work and everything they knew. So were my genes forged by religious persecution in the harsh conditions of the ghettoes of Europe?
But luck has always played a great part in my success. On the way, three or four successful men have chosen me for projects and I’ve repaid them by succeeding. I’ve been at the heart of the creation of two world-changing companies.
But the luck turned bad, a dozen years ago. My wife and our youngest son died from cancer and I had a serious stroke.
But the genetic lottery of being coeliac and therefore having B12 injections, has meant, I’ve made a good recovery from the stroke. The B12 injections is a stroke recovery method from the States, but is considered quackery over here. I believe it saved my life.
And then during the pandemic, those coeliac genes and the gluten-free diet I need for health, seem to have protected me from a severe dose of the covids. I’ve yet to find a fellow coeliac, who has had one either. Scientific research from Italy and Sweden, is also backing up my observations.
Lady luck has smiled on me. Or does the devil, look after her own?
Should Those With Long Covid Be Checked For Coeliac Disease?
One of my Google Alerts picked up this interesting page on the British Medical Journal.
In response to this paper on the journal, which was entitled Long Covid—An Update For Primary Care, a retired GP named Andrew Brown had said this.
The update reminds us that alternative diagnoses should be considered in patients presenting with long covid symptoms. I suggest that screening for coeliac disease should be added to the list of conditions to look for. Coeliac disease occurs in more than 1% of the population, with many more cases undiagnosed. Typical symptoms of fatigue and GI problems are the similar to those of long covid.
As a non-medical person, I would agree, as after the Asian flu of 1057-58, I was off school for a long time with long covid-like symptoms and my excellent GP; Dr. Egerton White was very worried.
But at the time, it is now known, I was an undiagnosed coeliac.
So was my coeliac disease meaning that I couldn’t fight the flu?
I cover the link between coeliac disease and long covid in more detail in Covid Leaves Wave Of Wearied Souls In Pandemic’s Wake.
Why A Lucky Few May Help The Rest Of Us Beat Disease
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-title.
A British biotech firm believes patients who defy odds could hold the key in their blood.
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
Patient 82 should be dead. At the age of 63 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In most cases, he would not have lasted a year. But seven years on, patient 82 is alive. Not merely alive — thriving.
He enjoys gardening. He likes seeing his grandchildren. He enjoys life.
How? The answer, a British biotech company believes, could lie in his blood. Now, with the help of dozens of other anonymous patients, all of whom have defied their cancer prognoses, they hope to find it.
Note, that the company is Alchemab Therapeutics.
The article got me thinking about myself.
I belong to a group of people, who are twenty-five percent less likely to suffer from cancer according to peer-reviewed research at Nottingham University.
I am coeliac and adhere to a strict gluten-free diet.
There may be other benefits too!
I have not had a serious dose of the covids, although I may have had a very mild case at the beginning of 2020 after I shared a train with a large number of exuberant Chinese students, who had recently arrived at Manchester Airport and were going to their new University across the Pennines.
I have also since found at least another seventy coeliacs, who have avoided serious doses of the covids.
Research From The University Of Padua
This paper on the US National Library of Medicine, which is from the University of Padua in Italy.
The University followed a group of 138 patients with coeliac disease, who had been on a gluten-free diet for at least six years, through the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Padua.
This sentence, sums up the study.
In this analysis we report a real life “snapshot” of a cohort of CeD patients during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Italy, all followed in one tertiary centre in a red area of Northern Italy. Our data show, in accordance with Emmi et al., the absolute absence of COVID-19 diagnosis in our population, although 18 subjects experienced flu-like symptoms with only one having undergone naso-pharyngeal swab.
It says that no test subject caught Covid-19, in an admittedly smallish number of patients.
But it reinforces my call for more research into whether if you are a diagnosed coeliac on a long-term gluten-free diet, you have an immune system, that gives you a degree of protection from the Covids.
The Times article mentions the immune system.
I believe my immune system to be strong after the reaction I had to the Astra Zeneca vaccine. I didn’t feel well to say the least after my Astra Zeneca vaccine and my GP and other doctors felt that it could be due to my immune system, thinking that the chimpanzee virus-based vaccine was a danger and attacking it.
Significantly, I had no reaction to the second dose. So had my immune system recognised the vaccine as a friend not a foe?
My son, who my late wife was sure was an undiagnosed coeliac, died of pancreatic cancer at just 37.
How did my late wife know? Don’t question her intuition and also she felt that my son and myself felt the same to her touch.
It should be noted that my son’s daughter was born with a Congenital hernia of the Diaphragm. Congenital defects can happen to people, who have a coeliac father.
At the age of 20, my granddaughter is fine now, after heroic surgery at the Royal London Hospital, at just a few days old.
MOB To Launch Gauge-Changing Montreux – Interlaken GoldenPass Express
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the explanatory paragraph.
December 11 will mark the start of a long-awaited through service by luxury train between Interlaken and Montreux. Operated by Montreux-Oberland Bahn and BLS Lötschbergbahn, the gauge-changing GoldenPass Express service is expected to become a major attraction between the two lakeside resorts that will help revive tourist travel in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
These are some details of the service.
- Journey time for the 115∙3 km trip through three cantons, including 11 intermediate stops and the change between 1 000 mm and 1 435 mm gauge at Zweisimmen, will be 3 h 15 min.
- The trains have been built by Stadler.
- There are three classes of accommodation; Prestige, First and Second.
- Catering will be appropriate to the class.
- Initially, there will be one train per day in each direction, but after June 2023, there will be four trains per day.
- Fares range between £64 and £129 one-way depending on the class.
- Tickets can be bought here.
It sounds like a trip worth doing.
I suspect that if this service is a success, then other countries will imitate it.
In the UK, we haven’t anything as grand as Montreux – Interlaken, but we do have the Settle and Carlisle Line.
- Trains run between Leeds and Carlisle.
- There are charter services, some hauled by steam locomotives.
- The distance is a kilometre longer than Montreux – Interlaken.
In Through Settle And Carlisle Service Under Consideration, I look at a Department for Transport study for a Glasgow and Leeds service via the Settle and Carlisle Line.
If the Borders Railway is ever extended to Carlisle, an Edinburgh and Leeds service would be a possibility.
China Covid: Chinese TV Censors Shots Of Maskless World Cup Fans
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These two paragraphs outline China’s censorship of the World Cup.
The phrase “football is nothing without fans” has become so accepted as to be cliché among some commentators. But Chinese state TV has been testing that assumption to its limit throughout the World Cup.
On Monday, as Ghana beat South Korea in a classic World Cup clash, subtle changes to China’s coverage of the match ensured viewers were not exposed to images of maskless supporters – and to a world moving on from Covid restrictions.
Autocratic regimes who act like China and Russia are doing now, have always come to a sticky and violent end.
When will these idiots ever learn?
An Expedition To Muswell Hill To Get Some Lovely Liver
After my plea in Need To Regularly Eat A Large Plate Of Calves’ Liver, I got a recommendation to try The Cilicia at Muswell Hill.
It was delicious and just what my body wanted. The liver had been cooked in sage butter with tomatoes, mushrooms and potatoes.
I shall return!
The only problem is that Dalston and Muswell Hill is not the easiest journey to make by public transport.
My route was as follows.
- I took by taking a 141 bus from close to my house to Manor House station.
- I then got a Piccadilly Line train to Turnpike Lane station.
- From there it was a 144 bus to Muswell Hill Broadway.
It took about 45 minutes.
But it might be quicker to take a 102 bus from Bounds Green station.
Or go to the Angel Islington and get a 43 bus from there to Muswell Hill Broadway.
But my route could all have been so different.
This map shows the Muswell Hill branch which was closed by British Rail and has since been mainly built over.
The Muswell Hill branch would have been part of the comprehensive Northern Heights Plan.
- The Northern Line would have been extended from Edgware to Bushey Heath.
- The Mill Hill East branch would have been extended to Edgware.
- If you look at the maps in Wikipedia, the Northern Line would be very different through London.
- The Muswell Hill branch would have given better access to the magnificent Alexandra Palace.
But Austerity after World War II meant the extension never happened.
I can see a case could be made for some parts of the Northern Heights plan, but it is too late now, as viaducts have been demolished and routes have been built over.
My feeling is that if there was a need for the Northern Heights plan in the 1930s, then as London has expanded, that need will need to be fulfilled in the future.
So when Austerity hits as it did after World War II and as it is happening now due to Covid-19 and Vlad’s war in Ukraine, we should make sure we don’t compromise our plans for the future.
I believe that with a small amount of safeguarding in the 1960s, the Northern Line would now have a useful branch to Alexandra Palace and Muswell Hill.
Blackpool Needs A Diamond
Every year there are more and more depressing reports about Blackpool and there was another today.
Something dramatic needs to be done.
One of the successful scientific weapons that has been deployed on any number of problems, including the Covid-19 and malaria, has been the impressive Diamond Light Source at Harwell.
When I talk to researchers at universities in the North, they would love to able to use it more, but it is fully booked and getting access is difficult. There is also the travel problem.
I believe that the solution is to build Diamond 2 in the North. And what better place to build it than Blackpool. The city has good rail and tram links and plenty of accommodation.
Now, that’s what I call levelling-up.
Two Oases In The City
I came across these oases in Temple Avenue in the City of London.
What a good idea! The notice says it’s part of a Covid-19 Street Recovery Scheme
Coeliac Disease And Atrial Fibrillation
I am 75 and coeliac and I had or have atrial fibrillation. Cardiologists tell me that, the atrial fibrillation led to my stroke in 2011.
I should also say, that my father was an undiagnosed coeliac and he died from a stroke younger than I am now.
I typed the title of this post into Doctor Google.
I found this paper on Cureus, which is entitled Celiac Disease and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.
I will show two paragraphs from the Abstract,
This is the Introduction.
Several studies have found celiac disease may be associated with a variety of cardiac manifestations. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias that can cause significant morbidity. However, the risk of atrial fibrillation in patients with celiac disease according to epidemiological studies remains unclear. The aim of this meta-analysis study is to assess the risk of atrial fibrillation in patients diagnosed with celiac disease compared to controls.
And this is the Conclusion.
A significant association between celiac disease and risk of atrial fibrillation was reported in this study. There is a 38% increased risk of atrial fibrillation. Additional studies are needed to clarify the mechanistic link between atrial fibrillation and celiac disease. Some of the limitations of this study are that all were observational studies, some were medical registry-based and there was high heterogeneity between studies.
One of the paper’s conclusions is more research needs to be done.
I know that I have a supercharged immune system, in that it seems to protect me from flu and the dreaded covids and it gave the AstraZeneca vaccine a good kicking. Research from Nottingham University has also shown, that coeliacs on a gluten-free diet have a 25 % lower risk of cancer compared to the general population.
So I asked Doctor Google if there was any link between the immune system and atrial fibrillation.
I found this paper on PubMed, which is entitled The Role Of Immune Cells In Atrial Fibrillation.
This was the Abstract.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia, but its mechanisms are poorly understood. Recently, accumulating evidence indicates a link between immune response and AF, but the precise mechanism remains unclear. It should be noticed that the relationship between immune response and AF is complex. Whether immune response is a cause or a result of AF is unclear. As the functional unit of the immune system, immune cells may play a vital role in the immunological pathogenesis of AF. In this review, we briefly highlight the evidence on relationships between immune cells and AF, and discuss their potential roles in AF pathogenesis. We hope this review could provide new orientation and enlightenment for further research on AF mechanism.
One of the paper’s conclusions is more research needs to be done.
Conclusion
I feel a lot of research concerning coeliacs, their immune systems and atrial fibrillation should be done and this could lead to a better understanding of atrial fibrillation.
The Anonymous Widower 