The McCarrison Society for Nutrition and Health - NUTRITION the answer? A new website initiative

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Socio-economic status is associated with epigenetic differences in the pSoBid cohort

01-02-2012 Hits:12 Chair's Comments Simon House

Conclusions - This study has indicated an association between epigenetic status and socio-economic status (SES). This relationship has direct implications for population health and is reflected in further associations between global DNA methylation content and emerging biomarkers of CVD. Key words - DNA methylation, epigenetics, socio-economic status. Abstract - http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/08/ije.dyr215.short Read more

Assisted reproduction treatment (ART) and epigenetic inheritance,

27-01-2012 Hits:19 Chair's Comments Simon House

Introduction . . some genes from babies conceived by means of IVF show a gene expression pattern that is different from naturally conceived children (Katari et al., 2009). . . this mechanism could put children conceived by means of assisted reproduction treatment (ART) at a greater risk of diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, later in life. Epigenetic deregulation already received increasing attention as a possible common cause of adverse ART outcomes, since the incidence of disorders that involve imprinted genes, especially... Read more

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Mary Langman Prize Essay 2011/2012

The ‘Mary Langman Prize’; is an annual £500 award for an essay that furthers the lessons learnt at the Pioneer Health Centre about the social, emotional and environmental determinants of...

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Raising the profile of the work of Sir Robert McCarrison who believed that the most important factor in restoring health is healthy nutrition. We are venturing into the world of...

Update: Congress Unites Against FDA Approval of GE Salmon The biotechnology industry has genetically engineered a fish that grows at twice the normal rate, so it can get to market sooner...

Darwin’s original thesis, trashed by Weismann, restored by David Marsh.

Michael Crawford says: In an excellent meeting on 22nd November 2011, David Marsh, winner of the Cleave Cup for 2011, expounded on "The Origins of Diversity": In...

First Report: Mini-Conference: Cleave Award - Origins of Diversity

Held Tuesday 22 November 2011. See response by Prof Michael Crawford, President, McCarrison Society. David Marsh is awarded the Cleave Cup after presenting the lecture:"Origins of Diversity"; Co-author with Michael Crawford of...

Why the food and alcohol industries need tougher regulation (Guardian…

From: Dr Myriam Wilks-Heeg, Liverpool Andrew Lansley's plans to tackle the UK's obesity crisis without imposing legislation on the food industry (Lansley's new obesity pan branded 'worthless rubbish', 14 October) is...

Getting Kids cooking

A new book, for 3-11 year-olds, with a foreword by Marguerite Patten, Cook School (link to commercial website) may be a useful tool. The review in the Daily Telegraph by...

Campaign against unsustainable deep water trawling - please sign!

from: Avaaz.org Our oceans are being systematically destroyed and we have little time to raise the alarm. The seafood industry uses long chains of heavy metal disks to drag nets across...

House of Lords debate on child poverty, 2010

Below are extracts from 2 speeches made in the House of Lords with regard to the Child Poverty Bill last year below. The speeches were made by Baroness Finlay and Lord...

Reactions to BBC Horizon "The Nine Months That Made You" - Simon House
Chair, The McCarrison Society: This is the best and most valuable program I have seen on TV and should not be missed - viewable for 30 days on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mgxf - or some can…
New debate on Human Brain Evolution
SUNDAY TIMES, 31ST July 2011 The Sunday Times 31st July 2011 front page has it that people at Cambridge University claim the brain human brain has reached the limit of intelligence!…
What toddlers eat really matters Thursday, 23rd June 2011 – 6pm
(Apologies for late posting of this event. Webmaster) Chatsworth House, Bakewell, Derbyshire. DE45 1PP Guest speaker Dr Alex Richardson, Founder/Trustee of FAB Research and Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford. (Alex is…
Keep Kids Cooking!?
Does your MP support cooking lessons in schools? Find out now at http://www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign/keep_kids_cooking/ The Children's Food Campaign wants to improve young people's health and well-being through good food…
Obesity: Britain is in crisis - TRAIN THE DOCTORS!
A new campaign from within the next generation of Doctors is launched and the McCarrison Society for Nutrition and Health is co-operating from the outset. Eat To Treat isn't the…
The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?
By Ronnie Cummins Organic Consumers Association, Jan 27, 2011 Straight to the Source…
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight: how do we support it?
You may have noticed the popular TV food pundit's campaign on Channel 4 TV in mid January 2011. His first target is the Discard policy…
Welcome
Welcome! The Purpose of the McCarrison Society is to assemble scientific knowledge on nutrition and health that is free from economic and political pressures, to help secure the physical…
A Celebration of DHA: Report
by Rachel Gow 26th and 27th May 2010 Meeting Overview Forty years ago, experimental evidence began to appear showing a special role for docosahexaenoic acid…

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NUTRITION the answer? A new website initiative

BBC: ADHD Drugs 'not the answer'
NUTRITION the answer?

This article forms part of a new exercise at this website to group together all the on-line materials concerning the effect of nutrition on all brain disorders. The BBC news story and the Panorama programme of 12 Nov 2007 make no mention of the benefits of sound Nutrition and Omega-3 for the alleviation of behavioural problems and ADHD. See our GHB Conference (extract below, Read More) and Food and Behaviour Research

from McCarrison Society's Newsletter, Special Generating Healthy Brains Edition, no.40/1 (to read the whole newsletter you need to be logged in)

Toshiko Matsudaira: Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London – is currently setting up a study on Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD), which includes impulsivity and poor coordination, leading to behaviour problems and conduct disorders. 3-10% of children suffer ADHD, 5% of school-age children. The male to female ratio is 4:1. 70-80% of children with ADHD continue as adolescents to have social, academic, and emotional difficulties, and some lifelong. Genetic factors are still unknown. They are the subject of: twin studies; molecular genetic research; adoption studies; and family studies. Indications are that ADHD is 70% hereditary. Environmental factors include child abuse. Treatment is multimodal: medication; parent training; cognitive/behavioral approach; also social skills training including anger management. Nutritional supplements are being tried including carnitine (an amino acid responsible for transport of fatty acids into a cell's mitochondria); zinc; iron; vitamin E; omega3 fatty acids etc. Stimulants have been used since the 1950s, particularly Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine), with some 75% response rate. Recently, non-stimulant medication – Atomoxetine or Strattera (atmoxetine hydrochloride), whose structure is similar to an antidepressant, has been used. But medicines have the problem of possible side effects such as growth retardation; appetite loss; headache; stomach ache; insomnia; and in patients with a history of seizures they can lower the seizure threshold. Their use can be followed by addiction or suicide (Atomoxetine for instance). Because of short or long term side effects, ADHD patients often choose alternative treatment such as supplementation.	The way omega3s benefit ADHD is uncertain. They may be important in remodelling dendrites and synapses, and/or sustaining several features: blood brain barrier, neuronal membrane, neurotransmitter channel, receptors and ion channels. Innis in 1994 and in 2003 found that omega-3 deficient rats showed hyperactivity. Burgess in 2000 showed that the reason for ADHD cases’ lower levels of omega-3 was not lower intake or absorption. Whether it could be enhanced metabolism or inefficient conversion of EFAs to LCPUFAs might be determined by carbon-dated traces or by scans. Boys need more omega3s than girls, and this may be connected with boys’ prevalence of ADHD. Aggression increased in rats deprived of DHA but normalized as DHA was restored. Richardson5 found PUFA were effective for cognitive problems and behaviour problems in ADHD/dyslexia. Stevens (2003) found them effective for oppositional defiant disorder, whereas EPA specifically was helpful with disruptive behaviour. DHA is important during gestation and early infancy, particularly for neurodevelopment. It may improve aggression. EPA is crucial throughout life, particularly for optimum cognitive function. In the Durham Trial5, 120 school children aged 6-12yrs with developmental coordination disorder, were tested with omega3s with 6s. After 3 months without, they had 3 months on the EPA. ADHD scores on co-ordination and short-term memory were improved when taking fatty acids. However, this trial was not only for ADHD-diagnosed children, nor did it involve EPA alone. Most needed now are: test of pure EPA vs. pure DHA; metabolic study; non- invasive methods to find essential fatty acid deficiencies; brain function assessment; genetic; gender difference; and EFA deficiency questionnaires.	There have been several attempts to see if omega 3 fatty acids will benefit and some like the Durham school trials in the UK have given promising results. In discussion Joe Hibbeln said that the Seychelles study found a correlation between hyperactivity generally with mothers deficient in omega 3s during pregnancy, and that the ALSPAC study indicated some correlation. Gillian West of the Hyperactive Children’s Support Group (HACSG) said they had found for decades that, as well as omega3s, the omega6 gamma-linoleic acid (GLA) had been most beneficial: despite the general excess of omega6 observed. This was because, in contrast to the evening primrose oil they use, dietary GLA was often not easily assailable. Also many of these mothers had previously received evening primrose oil for pre-menstrual tension, indicating they had a pre-existing EFA deficiency. Reasons for poor conversion included: deficiencies in zinc, chromium, magnesium and B vitamins; toxins; disease; and ageing. HACSG had had enormous success, turning round thousands if not millions of ADHD subjects. There were calls for specific studies on GLA in ADHD. Another puzzle raised was the effect of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The suggestion was that whereas DHA may primarily be benefiting brain structure directly, EPA may primarily be benefiting blood-vessel structure and so blood- flow to the brain. To the question of how fully the Japanese diet appears to minimise ADHD, Matsudaira replied that it is hard to say, since the Japanese would be reluctant for knowledge of such a disorder to reach awareness beyond the home.