Pork, Autoimmune Disease, and Parkinson's?

[Bolt_Upright]

So... I have posted on my belief that PD is an autoimmune disease before: Is Parkinson's Disease an Autoimmune Disorder? healthunlocked.com/cure-par...

And... (surprisingly) I have not posted on the fact that the only meat I eat is beef. I have been off all other meat for about a year. I gave up other meat because I figure chicken and pork have lectins from the corn they eat, but cows have 4 stomachs and I think those 4 stomachs filter the lectins out (I have a high school degree. No idea if I am right).

And... the other day I heard about the man who got a pig kidney transplant and the radio guy said humans share more DNA with pigs than we share with chimps (he was wrong, but we do share about 98% of DNA with pigs).

AND THEN IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT EATING MEAT THAT IS 98% HUMAN DNA MIGHT CAUSE AUTOIMMUNE ISSUES.

Immunodietica: A data-driven approach to investigate interactions between diet and autoimmune disorders 2019 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

"Autoimmunity is on the rise around the globe. Diet has been proposed as a risk factor for autoimmunity and shown to modulate the severity of several autoimmune disorders. Yet, the interaction between diet and autoimmunity in humans remains largely unstudied. Here, we systematically interrogated commonly consumed animals and plants for peptide epitopes previously implicated in human autoimmune disease. A total of fourteen species investigated could be divided into three broad categories regarding their content in human autoimmune epitopes, which we represented using a new metric, the Gershteyn-Ferreira index (GF index). Strikingly, pig contains a disproportionately high number of unique autoimmune epitopes compared to all other species analyzed. This work uncovers a potential new link between pork consumption and autoimmunity in humans and lays the foundation for future studies on the impact of diet on the pathogenesis and progression of autoimmune disorders."

4 Hidden Dangers of Pork healthline.com/nutrition/is...

" One of the most surprising risks associated with pork — one that’s received remarkably little airtime — is multiple sclerosis (MS), a devastating autoimmune condition involving the central nervous system.

The robust link between pork and MS has been known at least since the 1980s, when researchers analyzed the relationship between per capita pork consumption and MS across dozens of countries (22Trusted Source).

While pork-averse nations like Israel and India were nearly spared from MS’s degenerative grips, more liberal consumers, such as West Germany and Denmark, faced sky-high rates.

In fact, when all countries were considered, pork intake and MS showed a whopping correlation of 0.87 (p<0.001), which is much higher and more significant than the relationship between MS and fat intake (0.63, p<0.01), MS and total meat intake (0.61, p<0.01) and MS and beef consumption (no significant relationship)."

What is the Problem with Pork youtu.be/wd69VWnBU0w?si=411...(Not working as expected?)

This idea is kind of fringe. It makes sense to me (and I was not eating pork anyway, so no extra effort needed for me). I have a high school degree and no medical training.

[WinnieThePoo]

But how do you account for the high incidence of PD in israel and islamic nations, and vegetarians?

[Bolt_Upright in reply to WinnieThePoo]

You made me look! Apparently the rate of PD in Arab nations is low:

The prevalence of Parkinson's disease in an Arab population, Wadi Ara, Israel pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/204...

" Methods: We studied a Muslim Arab population living in a well-defined geographic area in Israel, with the majority located in two towns and two large villages. Of the approximately 115,000 residents, about 38% are under the age of 15 and 7.75% are older than 65. Drug tracer methodology was applied in this study. All those who were on anti-PD medication were identified and examined by a neurologist to confirm the diagnosis.

Results: The overall crude prevalence of PD in this population was low, 43.24/100,000, while the prevalence in the age group above 65 years was 477.32/100,000. Below this age, the prevalence was very low, 12.29/100,000. PD prevalence was higher in males than in females (ratio 1.17); 63% of male patients smoked cigarettes. The prevalence was found to be twice as high among the residents of rural areas, where most inhabitants work in agriculture.

Conclusions: The prevalence of PD among the Arab population in Israel is considered low and comparable to that reported in other Arab countries. "

[Bolt_Upright in reply to Bolt_Upright]

10% of Israelis have genes that make them prone to PD:

"Worldwide, about 10% of cases have a genetic basis. While Israel’s rate of Parkinson’s is no different than in other countries, the percentage caused by genetic mutations is much higher. Prof. Nir Giladi co-directs Tel Aviv University’s Aufzien Family Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. Photo courtesy of TAU

“In Israel among Jews of Ashkenazi heritage, 37 percent of Parkinson’s cases are genetic,” says international expert Prof. Nir Giladi, chairman of Tel Aviv Medical Center’s Neurological Institute" israel21c.org/why-israel-is...

[Bolt_Upright in reply to Bolt_Upright]

But there are some Muslim countries with rates similar to America: Soudi Arabia, UAE, and Oman. That is curious. ourworldindata.org/grapher/...

[Bolt_Upright in reply to Bolt_Upright]

Parkinson's Disease in the Gulf Countries: An Updated Review 2015 karger.com/ene/article/74/3...

"The Arabian Gulf region is a rapidly developing part of the world. With the increase in average life-expectancy, idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), is also expected to increase in prevalence. Furthermore, the high rate of consanguinity among Arabs probably makes familial cases of PD more likely to be encountered than other areas in the world. "

[JayPwP in reply to Bolt_Upright]

The prevalence was found to be twice as high among the residents of rural areas, where most inhabitants work in agriculture.

Is this due to pesticide and herbicide use?

[justoldage in reply to JayPwP]

I have seen studies showing the prevalence among rural residents, especially men, due to more exposure to chemical used in agriculture.

[justoldage in reply to JayPwP]

I have seen studies showing the prevalence among rural residents, especially men, due to more exposure to chemical used in agriculture.

[FergusonJR in reply to Bolt_Upright]

Let's also look at Arab diagnoses of all diseases compared with the US. Could be they are less often diagnosed in ALL diseases, not just PD?

[Esperanto in reply to WinnieThePoo]

With the vegetarians, the findings are also slightly more nuanced as evidenced by a prospective study among 126,283 participants from the UK Biobank cohort. Over 12 years of follow-up, the researchers noticed 577 cases of Parkinson’s disease. Those in the highest overall plant-based diet index quartile demonstrated an 18% lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.

However, there appears to be a distinction in the type of diet. Not all plant-based foods are healthy, though. Some unhealthy plant-based foods could include fruit juices with added sugar and other sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, sweets, and other plant-based ultra-processed foods.

Subjects in the highest healthy plant-based diet index quartile demonstrated even a 22% lower Parkinson’s disease risk.

On the other hand, participants in a higher unhealthy plant-based diet index had a 38% higher Parkinson’s disease risk!

Interesting though in the food-based analyses, higher consumption of vegetables, nuts, and tea was associated with a respective 28%, 31%, and 25% lower risk of PD.

movementdisorders.onlinelib...

[Rufous2]

Bolt, with your interest in autoimmunity, you might want to check out this MedCram video on sialic acids; youtube.com/watch?v=xRkRilP...(Not working as expected?)

[MarionP in reply to Rufous2]

I love Medcram!

Somebody get hold of Andrew Huberman and put him on this problem.

[gomelgo]

you might also find this new film interesting

imdb.com/title/tt29630794/

[Bolt_Upright in reply to gomelgo]

Thanks! My wife was playing some interviews from the film makers and we were planning on seeing it. It is playing today! Sunday. I probably would have missed it if you had not reminded me. Thanks! youtube.com/@christspiracyfilm

[Bolt_Upright in reply to gomelgo]

Saw Christspiracy today. Great informative and sad movie. I'd recommend it to anyone. Thanks.

[gomelgo in reply to Bolt_Upright]

Yup, hard to accept a lot of new info, but makes perfect sense. I love the work of this docu film maker. He is not afraid to dig in.

[jl2879]

Thanks for starting this thread. Really interesting. I can’t contribute medically as I have no medical background, however my dad suffered from Parkinson’s, Lewy Body Dementia and latterly pancreatic cancer. He was a typical meat and two veg eater, liked sweet things, and most meals were made from scratch. An ex-(heavy) smoker (stopped age 50 ish), moderate drinker, played golf, never overweight, well read , ex engineer, Both his parents died suddenly from circulatory diseases, early 60’s. Dad was 82. I wish we could do medical testing for PD and other auto immune diseases. I’d like to know if it’s hereditary, particularly now my children are likely to live until they are nearer 100.. Wishing you every success with your career.

[MarionP]

Well your new theory is as successful, in the main, as just about every other theory about parkinson's. It's not a bad starting point, maybe it's time some AI (artificial intelligence) expert systems got put on the problem.

[FergusonJR]

if pork were the primary cause, we here in the US should have seen a higher correlation in our past. As an animal science B.S., I'm pretty confident, our early nation was built on pork. It's the top converter of plants to meat protein and most economical of all meat animals, if I recall correctly and historically. We have more protein source choices as competitors with pork today than ever before. But, it is only now that they tell us PD is racing ahead.

[Bolt_Upright]

Pork Consumption By Country: worldpopulationreview.com/c...

[LAJ12345]

pigs is the only animals we eat that aren’t vegetarians. And they eat dairy. Maybe they just concentrate any impurities in the same way fish that eat fish concentrate mercury?

I’m sure old religious rules are there for a reason!

[Bolt_Upright in reply to LAJ12345]

Interesting point about pigs not being vegetarians.

[Esperanto in reply to LAJ12345]

When it comes to dietary restrictions, religions have their own unique menu preferences. Buddhists say "No" to animals, Muslims give pork the cold shoulder, Jews steer clear of pork and shellfish, Hindus say "Neigh" to beef, and Christians, well, they just go with the flow and eat whatever they like.

[LAJ12345 in reply to Esperanto]

There is a list in the Bible Old Testament of things not to eat. It is debatable whether they were because of cultural reasons that applied at the time due to conditions they were living in or whether there is some religious reason for it. The New Testament doesn’t reinforce it so probably why Christian’s don’t adhere to no pork.

[gomelgo in reply to LAJ12345]

Wwatch Christpiracy ... animals were not meant to be food for human animals.

[Gioc in reply to Esperanto]

Hi          Esperanto ,

I know Christians don't eat meat on Fridays but fish because, in the past, there was no meat at the market.

“Saturday was the day dedicated to the slaughter of meat in view of the following public holiday. The less well-off, who could not afford the noblest cuts such as steaks, fillets or thighs, bought the so-called "fifth quarter", the scraps such as entrails, offal and tripe.”

Here we have the Mediterranean diet which is very varied and which is based on thousands of years of production and cooking experience in times where refrigeration did not exist. This fact alone can upset diets, especially the temporal sequences that strictly followed food production.

This makes a huge difference between the goodness and authenticity of the food produced in this way and junk food full of preservatives, artificial colors and flavours.

Many replies here resume in part the propaganda that would like to abolish traditional agricultural food and replace it with the production of industrial food such as synthetic meat and insect flour which can never replace the completeness and goodness of natural food .

FYI The pig is omnivorous but prefers fruits, roots, seeds and vegetables, insects. This is clear to anyone who has ever seen one, even without asking the AI.

the pig always eats everything, precisely... like a pig.🐷 😁

Pizza Napoli with tomato, buffalo mozzarella, anchovies, basil.

[Esperanto in reply to Gioc]

A real Gio wisdom: “the pig always eats everything, precisely... like a pig.” Or did you actually mean to say “humans eat everything, precisely... like a pig”? 🙂

My reply was to emphasize that religions not only have their own gods but also have all different dietary beliefs.

I completely agree with you. Eating locally sourced and pure food, preferably from one's own garden, guaranteed organic even without certification. As a resident of France, we can certainly appreciate each other's culinary achievements, although I personally have a preference for Mediterranean cuisine. Especially after a hike in the Alpes Bergamasques.

[Gioc]

excellent choice! 😊    Esperanto

Italian Mediterranean cuisine was born when there was nothing to eat, like the typical Lombardy dish (the one in the photo is made by my sister-in-law). Meat was eaten once a week .

Italian cuisine is not about eating, but about savoring a culinary work of art with a abysmal difference from the junk food consumed in other countries, even if they advertise as "Italian restaurant"; it's also a matter of ingredients.

It does not derive from Mexican cuisine. 🤷🏻😁

ricette.giallozafferano.it/...

”PRESENTATION

Cassoeula is a substantial single dish based on cabbage and pork, typical of Brianza cuisine. Its origins date back to the peasant tradition, when pigs were slaughtered and nothing was wasted. Claudio Sadler, a renowned starred chef of Milanese origin, prepared this dish for us using the classic ingredients: leg, muzzle, ear, tail and rind of the animal, to which he also wanted to add ribs and pork loin, a leaner cut of meat which goes beyond the original recipe but integrates perfectly with everything else”

Cazzuola: verze , polenta, costine di maiale.