Artificial sweetener neotame may have potential to damage gut, lead to IBS

Scientists have found a link between neotame and damage to the intestinal wall.

• The artificial sweetener neotame damages healthy cells in the human intestinal tract, leading to serious health problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, according to a new U.K. study.
• Neotame is a sweetener formulated to be an ingredient in baked goods, various other food products, and as a tabletop flavoring.
• The study will result in fresh risk/benefit considerations of neotame as a sweetener that can help people avoid overweight and obesity, themselves drivers of multiple chronic conditions.

Neotame, an artificial sweetener available for use in food products for which aspartame is inappropriate, may damage the intestine, according to a new study from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, U.K.

The study finds that neotame can alter healthy cells in human intestinal walls. This can impact the integrity of the gut wall, potentially leading to irritable bowel syndrome and sepsis.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved neotame for human consumption in 2002.

It is approved in many countries as a flavor enhancer and sweetener in cakes and other confectionary foods. It is also found in some sugar-free gums, lozenges, and beverages. Neotame may be introduced into foods in manufacturing or as a tabletop seasoning.

Neotame is 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sucrose.

The study says the sweetener can directly damage epithelial cells in the intestinal wall as well as adversely affect bacteria in the gut.

The study was conducted in vivo with E. Coli (Escherichia coli) and E. faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis), in which researchers observed various pathogenic responses after exposure to neotame.

Among these was the production of biofilm, and an increase in the ability of damaged bacteria to cling to the intestinal walls.

The study is published in Frontiers in Nutrition.

How neotame affects the intestinal epithelium

“Our studies indicate that neotame causes an increase in stress signaling in our human cells which reduces the amount of junctions that hold our cells together in a tight barrier,” Havovi Chichger, PhD, BSC, associate professor in biomedical science at Anglia Ruskin University, told Medical News Today. She is co-author of the new study, along with Aparna Shil, PhD, AFHEA, of Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh.

“This weakens the strength of the barrier, causing more leak of materials from the gut into our blood,” Chichger explained.

She noted that biofilms caused by neotame are “linked to a range of potential issues including heightened stress response and increased resistance to antibiotics.”

Super-sweetness from artificial ingredients

Various artificial sweeteners are many times as sweet as sugars found in nature. This is so that smaller amounts of them suffice to sweeten a food product and add fewer calories.

Chichger agreed with this concept in principle, saying, “As the public moves away from a sugary diet because obesity and diabetes are increasing, artificial sweeteners have the potential to be a useful tool in improving both these conditions.”

Dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN, who was not involved in the study, agreed, saying, “When it comes to blood sugar control, artificial sweeteners always outperform sugar. I’ve witnessed this repeatedly in my patients.”

“Neotame was developed as an alternate to aspartame with the aim of being a more stable and sweet version of the traditional sweetener. It is very stable at high temperatures, which means it is particularly suited to adding to baked goods. These features make it more useful for food manufacturing,” said Chichger.

At the same time, Chichger pointed out, “The issue with these ultra-sweet chemicals is that we don’t know enough about how they act on certain environments in our body.”

Kirkpatrick said she hasn’t seen much neotame in foods consumed by her patients. She tends to see “more sucralose, stevia, and erythritol [derived from monkfruit]” in her practice.

Sweetening in the real world

The hard truth is that a sweet tooth — regardless of whether it is satisfied by natural or artificial sweeteners — may lead one to consume too much sugar. This can lead to weight gain, and can cause type 2 diabetes. Being overweight also increases one’s risk of heart disease and some cancers.

According to Kirkpatrick, “Most of the research has found that stevia, monkfruit, and sucralose are not harmful. Though some studies do indicate potential adverse effects. It’s crucial to consider the body of evidence from which a study is derived.”

She pointed out that studies may find a correlation between consumption of a sweetener and health issues, but not a causal link.

“It is interesting that when you look at randomized controlled trials, people who use low- or no-calorie foods containing artificial sweeteners to replace sugary, calorically dense foods lose weight,” Kirkpatrick said.

Her real-world experience is not quite the same, though.

“I have observed in my patients over the course of 20 years — the real world, not a study — that many of them will consume foods containing artificial sweeteners in addition to their regular food. For instance, a patient I work with enjoys cheeseburgers and fries, but often pairs the meal with a diet cola,” Kirkpatrick shared.

“If we go back to the studies,” she said, “this example of confounding could often lead to incorrect conclusions when looking at population studies versus randomized controlled trials.”

“The more data we have, the more power we have in our day-to-day lifestyle habits, including food choices. More data is always a great first step — and I’d love to see more RCTs on this topic,” Kirkpatrick added.

“There are numerous variables involved in determining safety for an individual, so for my patients, I encourage them to not label an artificial sweetener as ‘bad.’ Instead, let’s examine all the variables of the patient, as well as the strength of the study they may be citing. The [overall] dietary pattern is the most important variable in my practice — it’s way more than just a single ingredient.”— Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/artificial-sweetener-neotame-may-have-potential-damage-gut-ibs#Sweetening-in-the-real-world

World's 1st rigid endoscope system to help deep tissue imaging during surgery

A team of scientists from Japan has developed the world's first rigid endoscope system that can see the invisible and help boost outcomes of advanced medical procedures.

The system is capable of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) -- a technique that captures and processes information across a given electromagnetic spectrum -- from visible to over-thousand-nanometre wavelengths.

While various types of HSI devices have been developed, for OTN wavelengths, ordinary visible cameras lose sensitivity and only a few commercially available lenses exist that can correct chromatic aberration.

"At the core of the innovative system lies a supercontinuum (SC) light source and an acoustic-opto tunable filter (AOTF) that can emit specific wavelengths," according to the team from Tokyo University of Science (TUS) and RIKEN in Japan.

"An SC light source can output intense coherent white light, whereas an AOTF can extract light containing a specific wavelength," said Professor Hiroshi Takemura from TUS. "This combination offers easy light transmission to the light guide and the ability to electrically switch between a broad range of wavelengths within a millisecond," he added.

Their findings were published in the journal Optics Express.

The team also identified several future research directions for improving this method, including enhancing image quality and recall in the visible region and refining the design of the rigid endoscope to correct chromatic aberrations over a wide area.

"With these further advancements, in the coming years, the proposed HSI technology is expected to facilitate new applications in industrial inspection and quality control, working as a ‘superhuman vision’ tool that unlocks new ways of perceiving and understanding the world around us," the researchers said.

https://www.newkerala.com/news/2024/24701.htm

AI tool may help detect cancer in a few minutes with a drop of blood

AI may be able to help detect cancer in the blood quicker.

• Researchers have designed a simple, cheap experimental test for diagnosing cancer.
• The test requires just a tiny dried blood spot.
• The researchers found that it has a sensitivity of 82–100% and takes just a few minutes.
• This approach may be particularly useful for people in low-income countries.

Scientists in China have created a dried blood spot test to diagnose cancer. In the new study, they focused on pancreatic, gastric, and colorectal cancer.

The system, which uses a form of artificial intelligence (AI) called machine learning, is significantly quicker and more cost-effective than current whole blood tests and other diagnostic techniques.

According to their recent paper in Nature Sustainability, the experimental dried blood spot test may also be more accurate than currently available whole blood tests.

The rise of AI in medicine

Today, virtually everything is powered by AI, for better or worse. But while AI might be stealing people’s jobs and creating terrible “art,” its powers can also be used for good.

Medical researchers are busy wielding the cutting edge of AI to help us understand and manage disease.

One part of this voyage of discovery is identifying innovative ways to diagnose medical conditions. This is important work — catching diseases earlier generally leads to better outcomes.

Because some cancers are difficult to diagnose and lack reliable blood markers, some experts are investigating whether AI can help.

Currently, accurate diagnosis often requires expensive facilities, equipment, and transport. For instance, whole blood needs temperature-controlled storage in transit, which comes at a price.

As the authors of a new paper write, “Cost-effectiveness is key in disease screening.”

These costs are an additional burden for developing countries and poorer regions, where many cancer cases are missed due to a lack of access to healthcare. Because of this, some experts believe that by 2030, 75% of cancer deaths will occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Using blood spot tests to detect cancer

Some diseases can already be diagnosed using dried blood spot tests, which are far cheaper and easier to take and transport than whole blood samples.

However, the most common diagnostic markers for cancer, such as microRNAs and proteins, are more easily disrupted during drying. Also, the small amount of blood harvested for a blood spot test is generally insufficient for cancer diagnosis.

Medical News Today spoke with Dr. Joel Newman, a consultant hematologist and clinical lead for pathology at Eastbourne District General Hospital, who was not involved in the study.

He talked about the difficulties of using blood spots to detect cancer:

“You have to find something detectable in a tiny amount of blood, that can be reproducibly linked with a cancer. What you don’t want to do is detect something that might be naturally occurring and lead to unnecessary further investigations or worry.”

The recent study takes an innovative approach. Rather than focusing on existing cancer markers, their technology detects cancer-related metabolic changes. As the authors explain, this is because “most metabolites remain stable on dried spots.”

They believe a cost-effective, rapid AI-powered dry blood spot test for cancer may be a viable option. Their experimental test relies on a technology called nanoparticle-enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (NPELDI MS).

More reliable, quick, and safe than whole blood tests

Using their experimental test, the researchers showed it could diagnose cancer using dried blood spots with a sensitivity of 82–100%. This outperforms current whole blood tests, which they say have a sensitivity of 50–80%.

As part of their research, they exposed the blood spot tests to a range of temperatures and environmental conditions. They found that the samples remained viable. In comparison, many standard whole blood tests require very low temperatures to prevent spoiling.

Also, standard tests rely on expensive, time-consuming pretreatment of samples, whereas the blood spot test can be analyzed directly, saving time and money. Similarly, blood spot tests require less physical space, making them easier and cheaper to transport.

This approach may also be safer: The process of drying blood spots inactivates some harmful pathogens, which remain active in whole blood.

Helping spot missed diagnosis of cancer

As part of their analysis, the authors assessed how many extra cases of cancer they might pick up using their dried blood spot system if it was widely implemented.

Currently, screening for colorectal cancer relies primarily on colonoscopy, pancreatic cancer requires computed tomography (CT scans), and gastric cancer is diagnosed using gastroscopy. These are all expensive techniques that require skilled medical staff.

In contrast, the authors explain that their approach “can achieve a high level of diagnostic accuracy, even when carried out by local health workers in resource-limited clinical settings.”

They estimate that undiagnosed cancer cases in underserved populations range from 34.56% to 84.30%.

However, if this new approach to population-based cancer screening was implemented in rural China, the authors estimate that rates of undiagnosed cases would fall from:

• 84.30% to 29.20% for colorectal cancer
• 34.56% to 9.30% for pancreatic cancer
• 77.57% to 57.22% for gastric cancer

MNT spoke with Anton Bilchik, MD, Ph.D., surgical oncologist, chief of medicine, and director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, who was not involved in the study.

We asked whether these results were surprising:

“I was very surprised by these findings. The reduced estimated percentages of undiagnosed cancer cases […] is astonishing, particularly in less developed areas.”

How much would the blood test cost?

To help avoid missed diagnoses, the blood spot tests would need to be rolled out population-wide, meaning that cost is an important factor.

The authors provide one example of how their technology can save money: An envelope with 100 filter paper dried blood spot tests can be sent from Gansu — one of the most underdeveloped provinces in China — to Shanghai in just 1.5 days. Shipping would cost just $0.32.

In comparison, a box of 100 liquid serum specimens, which are seven times larger, takes 4–5 days, requires cold-chain transportation, and costs $3.42.

Tests in humans needed

Finding a way to diagnose cancer that is cost-effective and accurate is exciting, but there is much work to do before this technology enters the clinic.

In this study, they only tested their AI model on a few hundred samples from people known to have cancer.

Before this technology moves into the mainstream, scientists need to test it on thousands of real-world people. Bilchik, however, remains upbeat about the prospect:

“The results need to be validated and prospectively studied because this could be practice-changing and have a major impact on the diagnosis of missed cancers.”

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ai-tool-may-help-detect-cancer-few-minutes-drop-blood#Tests-in-humans-needed

Vaccination saved billions of lives, key to fight infections: Doctors

Vaccination has saved billions of lives globally and helped boost immune system to fight infections, said doctors on Monday, as part of World Immunisation Week.  

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), immunisation efforts have saved at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years worldwide.

“On the occasion of World Immunisation Week, we all should take a pledge that everyone should get proper immunisation as needed. Vaccination has saved billions of lives,” Dr Ravindra Gupta, Head of Department, Internal Medicine, C.K. Birla Hospital, Gurugram, told IANS.

“Our immune system fights against pathogens and protects us from infectious diseases. Vaccination helps our immune system fight against these infections and protects ageing adults and children from severe infections,” added Dr Agam Vora, General Secretary of the Association of Physicians of India.

The progress achieved on immunisation suffered a severe setback with some 20 million children missing out on one or more of their vaccines during the recent global Covid-19 pandemic. Further, growing conflicts, economic downturns, and a rise in vaccine hesitancy are some of the threats to efforts to reach these children.

“As a result, the world is seeing sudden outbreaks of diphtheria and measles diseases that, until now, we’d had nearly in hand,” as per the WHO.

Immunisation eradicated smallpox and almost eliminated polio. Despite childhood immunisation being highly successful, adult immunisation for pneumonia, various kinds of flu viruses, Covid, cervical cancer, and now herpes zoster are lagging.

Dr Agam told IANS that vaccination can be key to protecting ageing adults from serious infections and their complications such as shingles, pneumonia, and influenza. It is because the immune system also undergoes ageing and does not function as well.

Similarly, children below the age of five also need vaccination because their immune system is not fully developed. This makes them susceptible to multiple infections that can interfere with their growth and development, the doctor said.

https://www.newkerala.com/news/2024/24631.htm

AI helps researchers uncover gut-brain interactions in Alzheimer's

AI may help reveal new treatment pathways for Alzheimer’s disease.

• Research has suggested that the gut microbiome is disrupted in people with Alzheimer’s disease, and researchers from Ohio now propose this could be a target for treatment.
• They propose receptors that are present in the gut and brain could be the key to targeting the gut-brain axis.
• Using existing artificial intelligence (AI) tools researchers predicted which metabolites, the by-products of bacteria in the gut, would bind with which receptors by predicting their shape.
• They then used machine learning tools to predict which receptors and metabolites could have an influence on Alzheimer’s disease, and tested lab-created neurons to observe the effect of two metabolites on tau levels, a protein whose overaccumulation is linked to cognitive impairment.
• Machine learning has been used to predict how metabolites created in the gut bind with receptors found in the gut and brain.

A library of metabolites and receptor binding pairs, recently created by researchers, could be used by researchers to shed some light on the role of the microbiome in Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, OH recently evaluated the shapes of over 1 million potential pairs of metabolites and receptors to see which ones might bind together.

By identifying which metabolites bound with specific receptors, researchers were able to identify the biological pathways these metabolites might affect, and also identify the purpose of some receptors.

Lead author of the research — which appears in Cell Reports — Feixiong Cheng, PhD, director of the Cleveland Clinic Genome Center, explained in a press release:

“Gut metabolites are the key to many physiological processes in our bodies, and for every key there is a lock for human health and disease. The problem is that we have tens of thousands of receptors and thousands of metabolites in our system, so manually figuring out which key goes into which lock has been slow and costly. That’s why we decided to use AI.”

How does gut health influence brain health?

The presence of certain metabolites in the gut is partly indicative of the presence of certain bacteria in the gut, as these metabolites are created via the breakdown of food in the gut by the bacteria.

Alzheimer’s disease has previously been linked to changes in the gut microbiome in humans, and it is likely that the gut affects brain health due to its role in immune function.

Steve Gendron, PhD, who specializes in immunology and endocrinology, and was not involved in the recent study, made the following analogy in explaining the potential mechanisms to Medical News Today:

“Imagine the gut as a bustling market where all sorts of chemicals are being exchanged. These chemicals can hop on the bloodstream express and make their way to Brain Central Station. Scientists think this line of communication might influence brain health because if the market (gut) starts selling the wrong stuff (like inflammatory chemicals), it might contribute to the brain’s decline, seen in Alzheimer’s. It’s a bit like if bad ingredients were used in a cake — you end up with a baking disaster.”

While the role of the immune system in Alzheimer’s disease is not well understood, research has linked inflammation to increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and chronic inflammation could play a role in the initiation of the disease.

Cheng, the study’s lead author, told MNT that “Alzheimer’s disease is a challenging disease by lack of effective treatment.“

However, he added, the “'[b]rain-gut axis’ has showed potential to treat brain disorders.“

“We posit that [the] ‘brain-gut axis’ may be a good target for Alzheimer’s disease drug development because we don’t have to deliver molecules/compounds to brain via improving gut health.”– Feixiong Cheng, PhD

Using AI to explore disease pathways in Alzheimer’s

If potentially harmful binding of metabolites to receptors could be prevented, then potentially Alzheimer’s disease risk could be reduced. To identify the binding pairs, the researchers behind the current study first carried out a genetic analysis to identify relationships between 408 receptors and Alzheimer’s disease.

Using the genetic code for these receptors researchers used existing artificial intelligence (AI) resources to predict the shape of the proteins that they code for. This gave a good idea of the shape of the binding regions of the receptors.

Researchers were then able to predict which metabolites would bind to these receptors and how. Most of the metabolites discovered were lipid, or lipid-like metabolites.

New treatment targets for Alzheimer’s?

They also looked at how these receptors might respond to the microbiome of somebody with Alzheimer’s disease. By investigating bacteria known to be abundant in the microbiome of somebody with Alzheimer’s disease researchers identified two metabolites — agmatine and phenethylamine, which are abundantly produced by Bacteroides fragilis and Ruminococcus, respectively.

Researchers then decided to observe the impact of these metabolites on the neurons of people with Alzheimer’s disease by creating forebrain neurons using induced pluripotent stem cells of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

They found that agmatine reduced levels of p-tau181, p-tau205, and total tau. Further studies on phenethylamine showed that it significantly reduced levels of p-tau181, p-tau205, and total tau in human induced pluripotent forebrain neurons in a dose-dependent manner.

This is a promising find, since overaccumulation of tau is associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

“In the current studies, we only quantified tau phosphorylation because tau phosphorylation is a more robust assay established by our lab and other scientists,“ Cheng said.

“We are doing more preclinical [animal] studies to further test efficacy of gut metabolites (i.e., agmatine) and we may test it in future trials we get very successful in our ongoing and future preclinical studies, including both safety in older individuals and high efficacy,” he added.

The study authors point out that 99% of clinical trials into pharmaceutical interventions for Alzheimer’s disease have not been successful, and Cheng says their findings could point to a new target:

“This is exact[ly] our hypothesis: Improving gut health may influence the tau levels in the brains and further prevent or even treat Alzheimer’s disease. However, we need more research to be done in the future to investigate this hypothesis further and we are working on it now using animal and human samples.”

Open access resource for Alzheimer’s researchers

Other researchers are welcome to use the findings from this study, in the hope it will help future studies, Cheng told us.

“We are working on open science approaches to help Alzheimer’s disease research community and help our colleagues free access of all our ‘big data’ findings to guide their future research to fight Alzheimer’s disease crisis,” said Cheng.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ai-helps-researchers-uncover-gut-brain-interactions-in-alzheimers#Open-access-resource-for-Alzheimers-researchers

Vitamin D may balance gut microbiome to give cancer immunotherapy a boost

A new study investigates vitamin D’s effect on the gut microbiome and its potential to help cancer immunotherapy work better.

• Over the past few years, researchers have focused on using vitamin D to prevent and treat different cancers.
• Previous research has looked at using vitamin D in conjunction with cancer immunotherapy.
• Researchers from The University of Manchester have found that vitamin D helps balance the gut microbiome, improving the way cancer immunotherapy treatments work via a mouse model.

Over the past few years, several studies have focused on using vitamin D to prevent and treat different types of cancers, including prostate, skin, breast, and bowel cancers.

Previous research has also linked high vitamin D levels to a decreased risk of developing cancer and a reduced cancer mortality rate.

Scientists have also examinedTrusted Source the use of vitamin D in conjunction with a newer type of cancer treatment called immunotherapy.

Now researchers from the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute at The University of Manchester in the U.K. have found that vitamin D helps balance the gut microbiome, improving the way cancer immunotherapy treatments work, via a mouse model.

The study was recently published in the journal Science.

Using immunotherapy to fight cancer 

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that uses the body’s immune system to help improve its ability to fight cancer.

Different types of immunotherapy treatments include monoclonal antibodiesTrusted Source, immune checkpoint inhibitorsTrusted Source, immune system modulatorsTrusted Source, cancer vaccinesTrusted Source, and adoptive cell therapiesTrusted Source like CAR T-cell therapy.

Over the years, the U.S. FDA has approvedTrusted Source several immunotherapy treatments for different types of cancers, with more being added over time.

“Immunotherapy reinvigorates the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells,” Evangelos Giampazolias, PhD, group leader of the Cancer Immunosurveillance Group at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, the University of Manchester and lead author of this study, explained to Medical News Today.

“Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of one of the deadliest forms of cancer, metastatic melanomaTrusted Source, and now is approved as a forefront treatment in a wide range of malignancies including those of kidneyTrusted Source and lungTrusted Source,” Giampazolias said.

“However, not all patients respond equally well to this therapy, and only a small group experience long-lasting (benefits),” Giampazolias continued. “Therefore, understanding when and how our immune system identifies malignant cells as a threat is critical for designing therapies that boost its ability to eliminate cancer,” he added.

How does vitamin D affect gut health and cancer treatment?

Giampazolias said that he and his colleagues were intrigued by the fact that the cancer-protective role of vitamin D was absent in mice treated with antibiotics or raised in sterile environments without any living microorganisms.

“Based on these (findings) we hypothesized that vitamin D promotes cancer immunity by influencing the communities of ‘friendly’ microorganisms that live inside the animals, known as (the) microbiome.

We found that vitamin D affects the cells lining the intestine, causing an increase in the levels of a bacteria called Bacteroides fragilisTrusted Source.”– Evangelos Giampazolias, PhD

According to Giampazolias, Bacteroides fragilis is a member of a larger community of microorganisms inhabiting the intestines of mice and humans.

“To determine if the bacteria alone could improve immunity to cancer, mice on a diet containing standard levels of vitamin D were given Bacteroides fragilis,” Giampazolias said. “These mice showed improved ability to resist tumor growth. However, this effect was not observed when the mice were given (a) diet deficient in vitamin D.”

“It is still unclear how Bacteroides fragilis (promotes) anti-cancer immunity but overall, our findings highlight an unprecedented link between vitamin D and gut microbiome that influences immune responses to cancer in mice,” he continued. “Further work is warranted to confirm a possible link between vitamin D and cancer immunity in humans.”

Potential new avenues for improving cancer treatment

After reviewing this study, Anton Bilchik, MD, PhD, surgical oncologist, chief of medicine, and director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, told MNT this is a very important study because while doctors have known that vitamin D is important in preventing cancers, the mechanism has been unclear.

Bilchik noted:

“This is one of the first studies to suggest that vitamin D influences a bacteria within our body Bacteroides, which then influences the immune system to reduce the chance of getting cancer. But even more important, demonstrates that immunotherapy is likely to be more effective in the presence of vitamin D. So these are completely novel mechanisms that have been described.”

MNT also spoke with Shama Farooq, MD, MBBS, a neuro-oncologist at Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in New Jersey.

Farooq said these findings suggest a potential link between vitamin D levels, the microbiome, and cancer immunity, offering potential new avenues for improving cancer treatment and prevention strategies:

“Continued research into enhancing the body’s immunity and optimizing immunotherapy is crucial because cancer is a complex disease with diverse mechanisms of evasion. By exploring new ways to boost the immune system’s ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells, researchers can develop more effective and targeted treatments, ultimately improving patient outcomes and survival rates.”

How much vitamin D is needed to help lower cancer risk? 

Based on this research, readers may wonder if they should make sure their vitamin D levels are correct to help potentially lower their cancer risk.

Bilchik said it’s important for vitamin D levels to be within the normal range, not only for perhaps the prevention of cancer but also because it plays a very important role in bone density, reduction in fracturesTrusted Source, and reducing the chance of osteoporosis.

“Vitamin D plays many important roles and despite the fact that vitamin D is easily available through plants, meat, (and the) sun, it’s surprising how many people are vitamin D deficient,” he added.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, levels of 50 nanomoles per liter of vitamin D or aboveTrusted Source are the healthy range for bone and overall health for most people. Levels below 30 nanomoles per liter or above 125 nanomoles per liter may cause health issues.

“Based on this study, readers should consider ensuring their vitamin D levels are adequate as part of a comprehensive approach to potentially lowering their risk of cancer,” Farooq said. “While more research is needed to fully understand the relationship, maintaining optimal levels of vitamin D is generally beneficial for overall health and may contribute to reducing cancer risk.”

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/vitamin-d-balances-gut-microbiome-to-improve-cancer-immunotherapy#How-much-vitamin-D-is-needed-to-help-lower-cancer-risk?

Undiagnosed immune deficiency rising among Indian children: Doctors

Undiagnosed immune deficiency is significantly rising among children under the age of five in India, said doctors here on Sunday, as part of the World Primary Immunodeficiency Week.

Every year, April 22 to 29 is observed as World Primary Immunodeficiency Week. It aims to raise awareness about Primary immunodeficiencies (PIs), also known as inborn errors of immunity (IEI) -- a group of 450 rare and chronic conditions where a part of the body's immune system is missing or does not function correctly.

Dr Gaurav Kharya, Director, Department of Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, told IANS that the prevalence of primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDs) is rising in India.

“These are potentially fatal genetic conditions that affect a child's immune system, making them more susceptible to infections, autoimmunity, and malignancies,” he explained.

While there is no nationwide data on the prevalence of PIDs in India, statistical projections claim that there could be more than one million patients with PIDs in the country.

Dr Sagar Bhattad, Consultant - Paediatric Immunology & Rheumatology, Aster CMI Hospital, Bangalore, told IANS that over the past seven years, the hospital has identified more than 450 children suffering from rare and complex immune deficiency diseases.

“Whereas, a decade ago, the number was limited to 1-2 cases per month, which has now increased to 10-12 every month -- a significant five-fold increase. In the past year alone, over 125 diagnoses were made, and experts predict this number to rise substantially in the coming years.

“It is estimated that before 2004, less than 50 cases of immune deficiency were identified nationally. This number has risen dramatically, with an estimated 300-500 cases diagnosed in 2014 and a further increase to 2,500-3,000 cases projected in 2024. This represents a staggering 300-400 per cent increase over the past decade,” Dr Sagar said.

The doctors blame lack of awareness about the conditions as well as treatment facilities to be a major reason for the rise in PIDs.

"These genetic conditions are more common in communities that practise consanguineous marriages. Many cases of immunodeficiency go undiagnosed due to a lack of facilities and awareness, especially in rural areas,” Dr Gaurav said.

“The lack of awareness and diagnostic facilities are often the reasons why these patients do not reach tertiary care centres where they can be treated for these disorders,” he explained.

The doctors stressed the need for recognising the signs and symptoms that can help in early diagnosis, as well as better outcomes. Genetic testing during pregnancy can be key to identifying potential problems and preventing recurrence in future pregnancies.

According to Dr Gaurav, bone marrow transplant (BMT), which replaces the defective immune cells of the patient with healthy cells from a compatible donor, has emerged as a potentially curative treatment for several types of primary immunodeficiencies.

“If a child falls ill repeatedly and requires frequent antibiotics, it could be a sign of a serious genetic immune problem. These conditions can affect multiple children in the same family,” Dr Sagar said.

“By identifying these conditions at early stages, children can receive the targeted treatment they need to avoid frequent infections and the overuse of antibiotics,” he said, calling for a wider availability of affordable genetic testing to enable earlier diagnoses and improve treatment outcomes.

“By working together, we can ensure that no child misses out on a healthy life due to an undiagnosed immune deficiency,” the doctor said.

https://www.newkerala.com/news/2024/24444.htm