Food packaging chemical links to diabetes and heart disease

Multiple newspapers reported a study published in JAMA that found higher level of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used in food and drink packaging, in adults' urine increased the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Researchers looked at the data of a survey that assessed the health and diet of the general US population invloving 1455 adults aged 18 - 74 to investigate associations between BPA concentrations in urine and adult health status.

Critics say that this is the first cross-sectional study on this subject, it can only show the relationships between exposure and risk but it cannot prove BPA cause these chronic diseases. Further research will be needed to confirm these findings.

Source: Lang IA, Galloway TS, Scarlett A, et al. Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults. JAMA 2008; 300(11):1303-1310

Evidence against leaky gut theory in autism

According to the "leaky gut" theory, vaccines such as MMR can damage the wall of the intestine. causing the production of more peptides which can damage the brain and possibly cause autism.
Advocates of the leaky gut theory have advised autistic children to exclude gluten and casein in their diet.

A new study into the leaky gut theroy examined 65 boys with autism and 158 boys without and found that children with autism did not have more peptides in their urine than the control group. Researchers concluded that peptide urine tests are not helful in the diagnosis or treatment of autism and that further work is needed. They have published their findings in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood.


Source : "Absence of urinary opioid peptides in children with Autism" Arch Dis Child. Published Online First: 12 March 2008