From: young@serum.kodak.com (Rich Young)
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition,rec.food.veg
Subject: Re: PCRM and milk (revisited)
Date: 22 Nov 92 14:55:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: pixel.1992Nov22.145533.1909
Reply-To: young@serum.kodak.com
Organization: Clinical Diagnostics Division, Eastman Kodak Company
Originator: young@sasquatch

In article <By3uK1.JCM@wpg.com> russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) writes:
>From article <1992Nov20.155324.27337@pixel.kodak.com>, by young@serum.kodak.com (Rich Young):
>> The following is from THE TUFTS DIET AND NUTRITION LETTER: Vol. 10,
>> No. 10, December 1992, and is quoted without permission.  Note followup.
>>  ...
>> MILKING THE FACTS
>> 
>> All concerned agree that the Physician's group did make one valid
>> statement: cow's milk should not be given to a child under the age
>> of one.  The reason is that it falls short in certain ingredients
>> such as vitamins C and E and, in particular, iron.  But there's
>> nothing new in that.  For years, pediatricians have advised parents
>> to feed their babies either breast milk or iron-fortified formula
>> rather than strtaight cow's milk during the first year of life to
>> prevent problems such as iron-deficiency.  [Comment: another reason 
>> may be that the infant gut is extremely permeable in order to allow
>> absorption of antibodies from colostrum and breast milk to confer
>> immunity to disease from mother to child, and this permeability,
>> which disappears after one year, may allow bovine antigens to enter
>> the bloodstream and increase the risk of later allergy.  There is
>> little evidence that these proteins can be absorbed intact after the 
>> gut has "closed."]
>
>One of the author's of the recent New England Journal of Medicine 
>article on this topic was quoted by a Scientific American staff 
>writer as saying that there's some evidence to indicate that 
>dairy products in the diets of adults can, indeed, pass through 
>the intestinal wall, after gut closure.  What's the scoop?  
>
>Karjalainen, et al.  "Bovine Albumin Peptide as a Possible Trigger
>of Diabetes Mellitus".  _NEJM_.  July 30, 1992.  pp 302-307.
>
>Rennie, John.  "Formula for Diabetes".  _Scientific American_, 
>October, 1992.  pp 24-26.


Claim:  Milk causes juvenile onset diabetes.

Fact:  Milk does not cause diabetes. This misleading claim is based on a
preliminary report in the July 30, 1992 issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine. The paper reports observations which need to be examined further but
it does not prove milk consumption causes juvenile diabetes. The paper reported
an antibody against a particular protein found in cow's milk was found in blood
of children who were newly diagnosed as having juvenile diabetes.  The antibody
interacted with a protein on the surface of rat pancreas cells.  These
conclusions are questionable for technical reasons and certainly do not warrant
depriving children of the well established benefits of consuming dairy
products.

Written by:
  Dr. Ken Lee, Professor and Chair and Dr. John Allred, Professor of Nutrition
  Food Science and Technology, Ohio State University.
     
Reviewed for accuracy by:
  Dr. Karla Roehrig, Associate Professor of Nutrition, Dr. Grady Chism,
  Professor of Food Science and Technology, Ohio State University.


-Rich Young (These are not Kodak's opinions.)