Tag Archives: hygiene hypothesis

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #68 – John Warner, M.D. – Allergy, Milk and Prevention

This week we sit down with Dr.  John Warner, an Emeritus professor of Pediatrics at the Imperial College of London in the United Kingdom and also at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. We discuss his recent paper entitled: Strategies and Future Opportunities for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Cow Milk Allergy. Dr. Warner completed his undergraduate medical training in the School of Medicine, University of Sheffield and his initial pediatric experience was at the Children”s Hospital, Sheffield in the United Kingdom. He moved to London as Professor of Pediatrics and Head of Department at Imperial College St Mary’s hospital campus.  He is also Hon Professor of Pediatrics in the University of Cape Town.

In 2008 he became Director of Research for the Women and Children’s Clinical Programme Group, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT). He was the lead for pediatrics in both the Biomedical Research Centre in ICHT and the NW London CLAHRC (Collaboration for Applied Health Research and Care) and was President of the Academic Pediatrics Association.

Professor Warner’s research has focused on the early life origins of asthma and related allergic and respiratory disorders.  He has published over 500 papers in scientific journals on these topics.  He was Editor in Chief of the journal Paediatric Allergy and Immunology from 1997-2010 and chairman of the paediatric section of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology for 5 years until 2010.  He was also a member of the Speciality and Training committee of the World Allergy Organisation and a past Trustee of the charity known as The Anaphylaxis Campaign. 

He was a member of the Advisory Committee for Novel Foods and Processes of the Food Standards Agency for 12 years until 2012 and was recognised for his work in food allergy research by the award of an OBE in 2013.

 

Please enjoy my conversation with Professor Warner,

Dr. M

 

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #58 – Mahmoud Ghannoum, Ph. D. – Microbiomes – Bacterial and Fungal

This week’s guest is Professor Mahmoud Ghannoum. For over four decades, Dr. Ghannoum has been exploring a critical but neglected inhabitant of the human body, the fungus. Born and raised in Lebanon, Dr Mahmoud Ghannoum is the current Director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve University. He began his scientific journey at Loughborough University in England where he studied the fungus candida and its health associated diseases. Coupling this work to his curiosity about the whole area of intestinal microorganisms in the human body, he has become one of the leading researchers in the world in this space.
His discoveries include the knowledge that fungal organisms constitute an essential part of the microbiome. In fact, in 2010, Dr Ghannoum was the first scientist to identify over 100 native species of fungi in the oral cavity and that they are mostly friendly to us. Like with bacteria, there are good fungi as well as bad fungi. And just as it was startling to discover that we need positive bacteria in our guts, most people today are shocked to learn that their health depends on flourishing colonies of helpful fungi. Symbiosis in all things seems to be the flavor of the day and history has proven this to be what we should have always assumed.
He is widely published in top journals as well as being the founder and director of Biohm, a company dedicated to microbiome analysis and management from the perspective of fungal and bacterial communities. He is the author of Total Gut Health. This week, Dr. Ghannoum and I look critically at the microbiome of humans from the well trafficked bacterial road to the less travelled fungal road.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #56 – Robert Roundtree, MD – The Autoimmune Story

Robert Roundtree, MD
This weeks guest is Bob Roundtree.
Robert Rountree, MD, received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill in 1980 before completing a residency in family and community medicine at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. He augmented his medicine training with extensive postgraduate studies in nutritional and herbal pharmacology along with certification as a master practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming. Dr. Rountree has provided his unique combination of traditional family medicine, nutrition, herbology, and mind-body therapy in Boulder, CO, since 1983. He has recently opened Boulder Wellcare, a private practice specializing in individual healthcare consulting. He is coauthor of three books on integrative medicine,Immunotics: A Revolutionary Way to Fight Infection, Beat Chronic Illness, and Stay Well (Putnam, 2000); Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child (Avery Publishing, 1994); and A Parent’s Guide to Medical Emergencies (Avery, 1997). He is an amazing teacher about all things disease prevention based through a functional medicine lens.
This week we dive into the world of autoimmunity and human health. Why is it happening? How can we stem the tide of immune auto reactivity? What are some treatment options? And so much more….
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 12 Issue 36

Biome Depletion Theory or Biota Alteration Theory
When we look at risk of disease over time in humans, we need to take stock in what was supposed to be versus what is. If we become mismatched genetically to the environment that we find ourselves in, then we will begin to suffer disease. The work of Dr. William Parker and colleagues is very fascinating here. His understanding of our immune solvency takes us back to a time when macrobes like parasites lived with us in a semi-symbiotic way. Most of them were harmless where a few were pathogenic. This matters tremendously because as we are learning, the microbes that exist within us play a major role in tuning the immune system towards tolerance and effective pathogen killing.
A lot to explore here,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #9 – Dr. Tracy Shafizadeh, Evivo Probiotic for Babies

Dr. Tracy Shafizadeh is a nutritional scientist, speaker, and author with over 15 years of experience in scientific communications and life science research. Prior to serving as the Director of Scientific Communications at Evolve BioSystems, she led both product development and research services at various start-up life science companies, including Lipomics Technologies, Tethys Bioscience and Metabolon, Inc. Dr. Shafizadeh received her PhD in nutritional biology from UC Davis, studying intestinal development and folate metabolism in newborns.

Today, we spend the hour discussing the maternal and infant microbiome with respect to maternal breastmilk, human milk sugars and childhood outcome. Evolve Biosystems has produced a probiotic with excellent science to help guide us in new therapeutic discovery. We head to the beginnings of disease onset when the infant is only starting to take his or her first breaths.

I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Tracy Shafizadeh,

Dr. M

 

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #7 – Dr. William Parker, The “Macrobiome” and Human Health

Dr. William Parker, Associate Professor of Surgery and Global Health at Duke University, will discuss the biome depletion theory and how our cleanliness is disrupting normal immune function. These processes can have profound downstream effects on maternal and child health. From the Duke Medical School: What is widely known as the “hygiene hypothesis” is more appropriately described as the biota alteration or biome depletion theory: Changes in symbiont composition in the ecosystem of the human body in Western culture has led to immune dysfunction and subsequent disease. We are working on several aspects of this theory. Our earlier studies probe the immunological differences between laboratory-raised and wild-raised animals as a means of assessing differences between humans with and without Western culture, respectively. Other studies probe the role of biome enrichment, in particular the addition of helminths, in the treatment of disease. Studies are ongoing in both humans and in animals, with particular attention to the role of biome depletion in cognitive dysfunction.

We discuss the future of human health with a specific focus on our macrobiome friends, parasites, with whom we have co evolved. They are now missing and we are not better off because of it.

 

Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. William Parker,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 11 Issues 39 and 41, Covid Updates 44 and 45

Coronavirus Updates #44 and 45 – Listen to the latest data driven perspectives on the pandemic. Vaccine boosters, MIS and what is happening now are covered. For the written versions please visit: https://www.salisburypediatrics.com/patient-education/dr-magryta-s-newsletter

 

Best,

Dr. M