"Jonathan Ball" > wrote in message
link.net...
> See James Strut wrote:
> > http://www.post-gazette.com//pg/03273/227089.stm
>
> Off topic, jimmy, [bleep gratuitous obscene ad hominem attack] This is
supposed to be
> a forum for the discussion of vegetarian *food*, not
> for patting yourself on the back for being a
> health-obsessed freak.
>
> Anyway, that study is bad science. It's right there in
> the press release:

Hardly off-topic, Jon. And it's not bad science at all. Don't confuse
writeups by the media with what the primary source actually said. These are
actually extremely interesting findings. The increase in autoimmune
disorders has become a major health concern, and it seems like autoimmunity
components are being found in more and more illnesses. There are certainly
many factors that can trigger autoimmune responses, but we're still in the
dark ages with respect to understanding how these happen. This study
certainly isn't definitive in any way (no study is, as I'm sure you are
aware), but it provides some compelling new evidence that I'm sure will fuel
a lot more additional research.

The lipid hypothesis in re heart disease has never made complete sense, and
the focus has shifted in part to inflammatory processes. But even these
haven't been well understood. The information from this study provides a new
avenue of reasearch. It's particularly interesting because it may help
explain why heart disease tends to positively correlate with consumption of
animal products, on both a world-wide level (based on epidemiological
correlations) and on a more local level (studies performed in the U.S. and
Europe). It may also provide more insight into the cause of Type I diabetes,
pretty much understood these days to be of autoimmune origin, but with the
mechanism (root cause) not well constrained.

It's good that you've cut back on meat and, hopefully, dairy. Dosage is
likely an important factor in immune responses, so the less you eat of this
stuff, the better.

Hannah