Seth's Blog

Two epidemiological case-control surveys have linked the age at which, growing up, your home got a refrigerator with your chances of getting Crohn’s Disease later in life. The controls (without Crohn’s) got refrigerators later than the cases (with Crohn’s). This is not one of those data-mining correlations. It was (a) predicted and (b) found in two independent studies.

Crohn’s Disease is much more common in rich countries than poor ones so it was reasonable to examine aspects of lifestyle that distinguish rich and poor countries. In rich countries, the likelihood of having Crohn’s seems to be increasing over time, which is more reason to look for environmental explanations. One of the studies was done in Tehran, where a significant fraction of the population didn’t have a refrigerator when they were born. The control group was patients with irritable bowel syndrome, a curious choice. (The differences might have been larger had they chosen a non-inflammatory digestive problem.) The other study was done in England and used a control group of patients with a non-inflammatory disease.

Refrigerators, of course, retard the growth of bacteria, which I believe everyone needs to eat plenty of (the umami hypothesis). Long ago, “refrigerator mothers” — mothers who treated their children with insufficient warmth — were blamed for autism and schizophrenia in their children. Now that it is clear that autism is connected with digestive problems there may be ironic truth in the old claim.

Thanks to Dennis Mangan.

Refrigerator poetry.

From here:

“Cure just around the corner”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists from the National Scurvy Institute (NSI) recently convened a 5-day conference to assess progress in the War on Scurvy. . . .
A cure is just around the corner, announced a spokesman at the conference. Over the past 30 years NSI, NIH (National Institute of Health) and ASS (American Scurvy Society) have spent over $30 billion on scurvy research. Pharmaceutical companies have over 80 new drugs in development to combat scurvy according to the FDA.

The 5-year survival rate after diagnosis of scurvy is over 50% up from 30% just 20 years ago although 500,000 Americans continue to die of the disease each year. . . .
Risk factors for scurvy include cigarette smoking, diets high in saturated fat, and long ocean voyages. Sailors are particularly at risk for the disease. A researcher at the University of Washington has speculated that there may be a substance in sea water that triggers the disease. . . .
Researchers at the University of Maryland, working on the Human Genome Project, have identified a “Scurvy gene.” From this it may be possible to develop a test to identify individuals at risk for the disease.

Scurvy doctors have long emphasized the importance of frequent screenings for scurvy in at-risk individuals. The disease can be effectively treated if detected early enough. Men and women over 40 should get regular checkups.

Conventional treatments for scurvy include frequent gum cleanings to combat the bleeding associated with the disease, surgical amputation of atrophied limbs that have been ravaged by the disease, and stimulants to combat the lassitude characteristic of the disease.

A pilot research program has been proposed to NSI that would study a possible connection between Vitamin C and scurvy. A study conducted on 20,000 Americans at the University of Florida showed a substantially higher rate of scurvy in people who don’t eat fruits and vegetables. Dr. Henry Jacobson, assistant director of NSI, was quick to point out that no such connection has ever been scientifically proven. Vitamin C as a treatment for scurvy remains on NSI’s “unproven remedies” list. Clinical trials conducted in the 70′s showed no effect of Vitamin C on scurvy, added an NSI spokesman.

In related news, officials at the American Pellagra Society (APS) have designated the month of May as “Pellagra Awareness Month”…

When Tucker Max was in law school (at Duke, a top-rated law school), he made a bet with his friends. He claimed he could sign up for a class, attend none of the classes, do none of the reading, never study, and — armed only with class notes from a friend (who attended the class) that he brings to the final without previously studying — get a 2.5 or better on the final, thus passing the course. (Highest possible grade is 4.0.) And he would let them choose the class.

A friend chose Federal Tax. A really tough class, it was said. The final lasted two hours. It consisted of several hypothetical situations to which you write an essay-like answer.  Tucker finished 20 minutes early. He got a 2.7, which wasn’t the lowest score in the class (of about 60 students).

More trouble with the basics at Duke. For whom do law schools exist?

According to this there is a Shangri-La Diet page on Twitter. I found only these tweets.

Outside Berkeley Whole Foods I encountered this cooking camp in session — they teach kids 8-12 years old to cook in two-week sessions, 4 hours/day. I love the idea. I think childhood obesity is due to eating ditto foods (foods, usually factory-made, that taste exactly the same each time) — teaching someone how to cook is a good way to reduce that.

I asked if they included any fermented foods in the curriculum. “Tomorrow we’re making tofu,” said one of the counselors — a Nutrition major at UC Berkeley.  Tofu is not a fermented food, I said. She wasn’t sure what a fermented food was.