The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point

Archive for the 'Genetics' Category

The reality of herbal supplement contamination

Thursday, October 17th, 2013

little-guy2Adulteration of herbal products is common and a threat to consumer safety.

Researchers from Canada and India are the latest to investigate the integrity of herbal products. (more…)

Adverse response to exercise

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Dr. Claude Bouchard and colleagues from around the US and Finland tell us that people differ in their response to regular exercise.

Sometimes these differences contribute to adverse changes in cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors, according to this study. (more…)

Lowering dementia risk in selected people

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

The presence of the APOE epislon4 gene is a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, examined whether physical exercise alters the association between APOE gene and amyloid deposition in normal adults. (more…)

Cannabis and the genetic vulnerability for depression

Friday, November 25th, 2011

Evidence for the association between cannabis and depression is inconsistent.

Researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen, in The Netherlands, evaluated the potential influence of a person’s genetics on the cannabis/depression risk. (more…)

Moderating effect of religiosity on problem alcohol use

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder studied whether religiosity moderated the genetic variance associated with problem alcohol use during adolescence and early adulthood. (more…)

If you were genetically susceptible to Alzheimer’s would you take supplements?

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Apparently, many people would, according to this study by researchers at Boston University School of Public Health, in Massachusetts. (more…)

Reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

The haptoglobin (Hp) 2-2 gene is dysfunctional in people with diabetes and increases their risk of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, tested the antioxidant vitamin E to protect diabetic patients with HP 2-2 from cardiovascular complications. (more…)

Relative importance of lifestyle changes on the risk of dementia

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Researchers at INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Medicale), in Montpellier, France, tell us lifestyle changes can more than offset the risk posed by genetics, which, of course, can’t be changed. (more…)

Is there a genetic predisposition to vitamin D deficiency?

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

The SUNLIGHT (Study of Underlying Genetic Determinants of Vitamin D and Highly Related Traits) Consortium reports its results.

The abstract in The Lancet is poor, but here’s a summary of the details from Medical News Today. (more…)

Michael Crichton and genetically modified food

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

The late physician/author of Jurassic Park, State of Fear, and ER was once asked by Scott Burgess if genetically modified food (GM) is a boon or threat to the world.

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DHA effective in some people with Alzheimer’s disease

Friday, July 17th, 2009

 During the Alzheimer’s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers from Oregon Health & Sciences University, in Portland reported that the benefits of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 essential fatty acid, were influenced by a patient’s genetic makeup. (more…)

Selenium, genetics, and aggressive prostate cancer

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Genetics appear to influence the risk of aggressive prostate cancer in men taking selenium supplements, according to collaborators at cancer centers across the US. (more…)

A pharmacogenomic-CAM connection in diabetes

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Dr. Andrew Levy from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa makes the case for a new pharmacogenomic blood test that can be used to identify diabetes patients at highest risk for cardiovascular disease.

Presently, medical costs of treating cardiovascular complications of diabetes are more than $100 billion per year in the US. (more…)

Increased protein and mineral content from genetically engineered wheat

Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

Researchers have cloned a gene from wild wheat that increases its protein, zinc, and iron content. The impact of this research could improve nutrition, worldwide.

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Worried about global warming?

Sunday, December 10th, 2006

Here’s a list of research designed to allow grains to offset the effects of global warming. Thanks to genetic engineering, some are in development, while others are already being used.

Al Gore, take note.
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Are we willing to pay more for organic food?

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006

Northern California shoppers were divided into two groups: “regular organic shoppers” who buy organic produce on a typical grocery-shopping trip; and “nonregulars” who don’t. They were asked how much more they would pay for four different produce items.

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Good news for genetically modified cotton

Monday, October 16th, 2006

Here is an update to an earlier post that chronicled a problem with genetically engineered cotton in China where it was necessary to use pesticides to control new pests.

Skeptico reviews the problem, the possible reasons for it, and the fix being use in the U.S.

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A problem for genetically modified crops that has nothing to do with environmentalists

Thursday, August 24th, 2006

Chinese cotton growers were among the first farmers to plant genetically modified (GM) cotton to resist bollworms (photo). Now, the substantial profits they reaped for several years by saving on pesticides have eroded.

The reason, according to Cornell University researchers is that other pests are attacking the GM cotton.

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Genetically engineered rice “contamination.” So what?

Saturday, August 19th, 2006

The Washington Post reports, “U.S. commercial supplies of long-grain rice [were] inadvertently contaminated with a genetically engineered (GE) variety not approved for human consumption.” There’s nothing new here. The group, Californians for GE-Free Agriculture has chronicled a series of these events.

The problem is that those who plant GE crops are supposed to keep the stuff in their own fields and products and not let it mix with other non-GE foods.

What are the risks?

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Genetically modified food. What’s new.

Tuesday, August 15th, 2006

Global biotech crop acreage grew to 222 million acres in 2005 from 7 million in 1996. Except for this, and the growth of anti-genetically modified (GM) foods websites, not much has changed pro or con.

The hyperbole continues. Last Sunday protesters damaged two GM maize testing fields in France. A few days earlier, Greenpeace activists chopped a giant cross through the maize. In case you don’t get the message, that’s the universal danger sign for “contamination.”

For some perspective, here is an article I wrote 6 years ago.

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