The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher

Friday 14 January 2011

Gluten implicated as a cancer risk

This study was published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 2004 Feb;38(2):177-80

Study title and authors:
Gluten-free diet has a beneficial effect on chromosome instability in lymphocytes of children with coeliac disease.
Kolacek S, Jadresin O, Petković I, Misak Z, Sonicki Z, Booth IW.
Referral Center for Paediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition, Children's Hospital Zagreb, University of Zagreb Medical School, Zagreb, Croatia. siki@inet.hr

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14734880
 
Children with coeliac disease (CD) have an increased number of chromosome abnormalities in their white blood cells. Whether genetically determined or a secondary phenomenon in CD, chromosome abnormalities may be involved in the predisposition to cancer in CD patients.

The aim of the study was to follow a group of children with CD in whom the initial frequency of chromosome abnormalities at diagnosis was known and to measure the same variable after a minimum of 2 years on a gluten-free diet.
 
The authors found that the frequency of chromosome aberrations in peripheral white blood cells of patients with CD decreased significantly on a gluten-free diet.

They concluded that chromosome instability was a secondary phenomenon, possibly caused by chronic intestinal inflammation (caused by gluten).

AMAZON UK Is Gluten Making Me Ill?: A 14-day Programme to Reduce Symptoms of Gluten Sensitivity and Restore Your Health and Vitality
AMAZON USA The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health--And What You Can Do to Take Control Now