"doctor" news and stories

Food allergies may be on the rise. While doctors report that in the past only a small segment of their patients, around 5%, were afflicted with allergies, today a much larger portion are. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of hard data to support anecdotal evidence like this because there is not a lot of money that goes into food allergy research. The problem is of particular concern because some doctors also believe that near-fatal reactions are becoming more common.

Since even medical professionals are relying on what they're seen and not necessarily what they've studied, does anyone else feel this way?

It seems that more and more people are claiming to have "allergies" and "sensitivities" or, even more vaguely, "to have issues with" various food products. While many people do have food-related problems, is it possible that this is just hypochondria, or are allergies really getting worse?

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There has been a 75% increase in the "twinning" rate since 1980 and a new study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine is saying that it has to do with dairy consumption. In a study that compared omnivores, lacto-vegetarians and vegans, omnivores were the most likely to have twins. The scientists attributed this to the fact that they had much higher levels of  insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in their bloodstream, and that those levels, which were also lowest in the vegan women, directly corresponded to the likelihood of having twins.

Common sense should tell you that humans have been consuming animal products - including dairy - for thousands of years. A change in the birthrate over the last two decades is indicative of something that happened in the last several decades, not with dairy in general. And, in fact, the physician in charge of the study noted that the increase "may also be a consequence of the introduction of growth-hormone treatment of cows to enhance their milk and beef production." This seems like a logical explanation, since it offers a reason why dairy may now be having an effect on the birth rate of twins.

Doctors in the study suggested that women consider non-animal protein sources during their pregnancies to help decrease the risks associated with multiple births. It sounds like they should be recommending that women increase their non-animal diet before becoming pregnant, as well.

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