Is There A Link Between Coeliac Disease And Microcondrial DNA Problems?
I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post.
This was the answer I got.
Yes, there is a link between celiac disease and mitochondrial DNA problems. Studies have shown that individuals with celiac disease exhibit higher levels of lymphocyte mtDNA content, suggesting mitochondrial biogenesis as a compensatory response to the disease-related oxidative stress. Additionally, sera from celiac patients, especially those with neurological symptoms, can induce apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway in vitro.
When I clicked the Show More link, I got a lot more information, that needs a widely-educated medic to understand.
Conclusion
Coeliac disease is a Many-headed hydra.
But it does appear, that if you don’t feed it gluten, it will behave itself and even help you live a healthy life.
There are a lot more worse diseases that you can have.
Out of curiosity, I asked Google AI, if any other animals can get coeliac disease.
This was the answer I got.
While coeliac disease is a human-specific condition, some animals, particularly dogs and rhesus macaques, can experience gluten-related disorders that share similarities with coeliac disease. These animals can exhibit symptoms like digestive issues and villous atrophy when exposed to gluten, though the condition is not exactly the same as human coeliac disease.
Were the dogs on a vegetarian diet containing gluten? Monkeys are also prone to stealing anything they can eat. I’ve heard a story about baboons stealing baguettes, from peoples’ mouths, as they were eating them.
Google also points to this paper on the National Library of Medicine, which is entitled Important Lessons Derived From Animal Models of Celiac Disease.
The Miracle Of Newcastle
This article in The Times is entitled ‘Three-parent’ babies are born in UK via pioneering IVF treatment.
This is the sub-heading.
Four girls and four boys — including one set of identical twins — were born to seven women at a high risk of transmitting mutations, according to the research
These are the first two paragraphs.
Eight healthy “three-parent” babies have been born via a “pioneering” IVF technique, British scientists have said.
The world-first research reported that four girls and four boys — including one set of identical twins — were born to seven women at a high risk of transmitting mutations causing mitochondrial disease. One further woman is pregnant.
This could give the females of my family hope. of successfully raising a child.
When my wife and our youngest son died of aggressive cancers in the early years of this century, Addenbrooke’s advised that I had my family professionally traced, in case there was an aggressive gene tic trait somewhere.
I am coeliac and we felt that came from my paternal Jewish great-great-great grandfather from Konigsberg, who probably arrived in the UK around 1800.
Sadly, we found, that no female born into this Jewish male line had ever successfully produced a child. Even my sister, who was born in 1950, didn’t have a child.
My late wife and myself had three sons and they have produced two grandsons and a granddaughter.
The granddaughter was born with a congenital hernia of the diaphragm and I’ve since found out, was given little chance of survival by the Royal London Hospital.
But due to heroic surgery at a few days old, by the incomparable Dr. Vanessa Wright and her team, she is now in her twenties and holding down a full time job.
I shall be following this Miracle of Newcastle with interest, as I believe it could be part of the saviour for the female of my family and those that will surely follow her in the future.
I’ve Got A New Keyboard
My eyesight is not as good as it was, so I have called in the experts.
The RNIB recommended this keyboard with large yellow keys.
At a price of just over thirty pounds it seems to make a lot of difference to my typing.
It was bought from the RNIB web site.
To install it, I just shut down the computer, swapped the keyboards and restarted the computer.
These are some thoughts on the use of these keyboards.
Typing Accuracy
I’ve been using the keyboard for about three hours now and I’ve only made one mistake.
Last week, I was typing garbage all the time.
Should Every Office Have A Keyboard Like This?
I have four minor eyesight and keyboard problems, so I am probably a special case.
- My first eye-test was done by a retired eye doctor of many years experience, who said, I’d got the driest eyes he’d ever seen.
- Because of the dryness, I have a bath every day and put my head under the hot water for perhaps five minutes every morning, when I get up.
- The school bully broke my left humerus, so I usually type with just my right hand and look down on the keyboard.
- My mother went blind from macular degeneration, so I’m worried about the same happening to me.
The keyboard certainly seems to improve my typing.
From what I’ve learned in the last few hours, at least the knowledge of these keyboards and where to get them should be in every office.
Customer Data Entry
I have solar panels on my roof and I have to enter how much electricity, I’ve generated every few months.
Although, I have problems reading the meter, I have no problems entering the values into the Internet.
But I can envisage some data entry, where one of these keyboards would help, when the customer in reporting their readings or energy usage.
Perhaps someone should devise a large screen smart meter for solar panels? I certainly need one!
Medical And Other Research
I am involved in medical research as a lab-rat.
In two cases, I have been asked to use a computer.
- At Moorfields Eye Hospital they were testing a new instrument that had been designed by one of the London Universities, to test a particular ocular function, that used a keyboard worked by the patient.
- At the University of East London, I used a computer to test my balance as part of stroke research.
Using a yellow keyboard might remove bias in the research, against bad typists.
High Pressure Typing Jobs
How many people have to retire from high pressure jobs with a lot of typing, because there eyes aren’t up to it?
Could the thirty pounds for one of these keyboards allow people to work productively longer?
The keyboard my help someone to return to work earlier after an eye operation.
Coeliacs like me are prone to cataracts and I’m pretty certain, that the keyboard would have helped my recovery.
Public Keyboards
I haven’t come across more that one or two public keyboards in say a GP’s surgery or an optician’s, where the patient has been asked to use a computer for a test.
But I do believe this type of testing will happen more often.
Using a yellow keyboard might remove bias in the test , against bad typists.
Digital Disparities Among Healthcare Workers
This paper in the BMJ is entitled Digital Disparities Among Healthcare Workers In Typing Speed Between Generations, Genders, And Medical Specialties:Cross Sectional Study.
Surely, the title suggests a problem. But does that problem exist in similar or different patterns across other professions?
More Research needs to be done.
Conclusion
With a small amount of innovation, the blind and those with failing eyesight should be able to use computers and smart devices as easily as sighted people.
Binge Drinking And Obesity Behind Bowel Cancer Surge In Under-50s
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Deaths this year are set to be a third higher than in 2018 with biggest increase among young women
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
Obesity and binge drinking are causing a surge in bowel cancer among young British adults, research shows.
Deaths in those aged under 50 are set to be about a third higher this year than in 2018, with the highest increase in young women.
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, after breast and prostate cancers, and there are 43,000 new cases and 16,000 deaths a year. More than nine in ten cases are in those over 50, but the disease is increasingly being diagnosed in those under 50, in whom it is more likely to be aggressive and deadly.
I am coeliac and whenever, I see some illness that is more common in females, I wonder, if this is down to the fact, that female coeliacs are more common than males. This page on the NHS web site flags it up with this sentence.
Reported cases of coeliac disease are higher in women than men.
This could be because coeliac disease can cause complications in pregnancy, so more women get tested.
The NHS web site also links coeliacs with bowel cancer, but it does say this.
Once you’ve been following a gluten-free diet for some time, your risk of developing these types of cancer is the same as that of the general population.
My son was an undiagnosed coeliac, who worked in the music business. He lived on a diet of ciggies, cannabis and Subways and contracted pancreatic cancer, which killed him at just 37.
He should have got himself tested, as the NHS says, that if you have a first degree relative (Me!), who has coeliac disease, then you should get tested.
So if you think, you have a problem with gluten, get yourself tested!
If not for yourself for your family!
I am surprised that the Italian lead researcher doesn’t mention coeliac disease as Italy has lots of it! All that pasta and pizza!
Canary Wharf Move Means Expansion For Drug Trials Operator
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These three paragraphs outline the story.
An Aim-listed company that tests infectious and respiratory disease products on volunteers is preparing to move its operations to Canary Wharf.
Amid booming demand for its services, hVIVO, which infects volunteers with safe doses of virus agents, then quarantines them before testing the efficacy of vaccines and antivirals — in so-called human challenge trials — will move from its clinics in Whitechapel, east London, to a new larger facility near by owned by Canary Wharf Group early next year.
Canary Wharf is aiming to attract businesses from the life sciences and health sectors in a drive to become a sciences hub and less reliant on the financial services industry.
This is the second story about life science companies moving to Canary Wharf after Canary Wharf Boosts Its Science Ambitions.
I have my thoughts.
Canary Wharf Is A Transport Hub
Canary Wharf is served by the following transport links.
- Buses
- Docklands Light Railway
- Elizabeth Line
- Jubilee Line
- Thames Clipper
It is very well-connected, which means that staff and volunteers can get there easily.
Canary Wharf Is A Leisure Destination
Canary Wharf is very much more than a collection of expensive offices.
There are shops, bars, restaurants, a museum and a cinema complex.
There Is A Shortage Of Lab-Rats
I volunteer for medical research and regularly, I’m called in to help with the recruitment of more volunteers.
I suspect, that many would prefer to volunteer at Canary Wharf, rather than some parts of London.
Conclusion
I suspect that we’ll see an expansion of medical research of all kinds at Canary Wharf.
Canary Wharf Boosts Its Science Ambitions
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This are the introductory paragraphs.
Genomics England is to move its headquarters to Canary Wharf in east London this year as the financial quarter aims to become a life sciences hub.
The government-run DNA sequencing group will move in the autumn into One Canada Place, where its neighbours will include Brookfield, a Canadian property fund, and Reach, publisher of the Daily Express and OK! magazine.
Owned by the Department of Health and Social Care, Genomics England sequences the genomes of people with rare diseases and cancers to help doctors to treat them more effectively. With consent, some of that data is passed to researchers trying to develop new drugs and treatments.
If you type “Canary Wharf Science Hub into Google”, you find some serious articles.
This article in the FT is entitled Canary Wharf Proposes £500mn Lab Project To Reinvent Financial Hub.
This is a good idea, as scientist friends are always complaining about a lack of lab space in Cambridge and Oxford. Because of the Elizabeth Line, both these cities are not much more than an hour from Canary Wharf.
It should also fill the cafes and shops with scientists and engineers, who would replace some of those working from home because of the pandemic.
I wonder whether this model will work elsewhere?
The Anonymous Widower 