GENERAL MEDICAL NEWS
The staff of The Reproductive Times here offers brief referenced notifications on interesting general medical and scientific news with broad relevance to reproductive medicine and biology. Some of these news items may become subjects of more detailed reporting in The Reproductive Times on later occasions. The purpose of these short notifications is to give readers the opportunity to get immediately more detailed information by looking up the reference of the notification.
Can diets control the immune system
Related to the above, - yet distinct, a recent article in Nature magazine by journalist Nic Fleming in turn explored attempts by scientists – in attempts to improve immune function and health and/or treat diseases - to investigate the link between what people eat and how their immune system then responds (1). data for example suggest that intermittent fasting can reboot the immune system.; or beneficial bacteria in the gut can be helped through a plant-based diet. Mushroom tea in place of coffee may improve anti-cancer immunity, etc.
The article makes it clear that this is a new field which has made great strides in the last five years, - but still has some way to go. And then there is, of course, the widely known association between obesity and a whole variety of disease, from cardio-vascular, to some immunological diseases and, even cancer. All of these disease groups, of course, interact very closely with our immune systems. Just switching form high- to low-fiber diets within days reprograms the immune system, for example in mouse models and in humans. Switching in mice to a high fat diet suppresses their immune system and makes them more susceptible to infections.
Anybody who has ever witnessed the effects of an anti-inflammatory diet on some women with very advanced endometriosis knows that this is not only imagination and/or a placebo effect. What we feed our bodies without question can affect our immune systems. The principal question that still remains to be answered, however, is which diets for which conditions?
Reference
1. Fleming N. Nature 2024;634:529-531.
A new framework for the management of obesity in adults
Below figure reflects in graphic format the new framework for diagnosis, staging, and management of obesity proposed by the European Association for the Study of Obesity, recently proposed after a consensus process in Nature Medicine (1).
Reference
1. Busetto et al., Nat Med 2024;30:239-2399
POLITICS IN MEDICINE
We survived the “big” election – some may say barely – and, as somewhat of a pleasant surprise, we did so without uproar and/or destruction in the streets. Compare this to the Netherland, Belgium, France, or the U.K. where demonstrations recently have turned violent. The scenes in French cities after the country’s recent election were a good example. But that does not mean that politics do not invade medical practice, including in reproductive medicine.
We see it in medical journals like The Lancet, which will always find a reason to criticize Israel (1,2); but never found it worthwhile noting that nobody from the Red Cross has in over a year visited Israel’s over 100 remaining hostages in Gaza even once, - and that included one baby.
And then there is, of course, the issue of political correctness that is permeating academia probably more so than any other sphere of life. In that regard, we were impressed by an Op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by Roland Fryer, a professor of economics Harvard (yes “liberal” Harvard), a founder of Equal Opportunity Ventures, and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute with the heading, “The Economics of Political Correctness” (3).
In it he makes the point – and we paraphrase - that scholars must be incentivized to tell the truth, and not -as has become practice - to hide it and, instead, only promote socially acceptable ideas. Only 10 years ago, this statement would have attracted little or no attention because its content would have seemed so obvious. Nowadays, however, in most contemporary academic circles this statement would be probably viewed as discriminatory or even racist.
The author, therefore, asks, what can be done and concluded the following: A careful reassessment of how members of academic faculties are hired and promoted. To say it even more bluntly, he noted that, “instead of having faculty candidates sign statements swearing fealty to DEI, perhaps we should have them promise to tell the truth (what an idea!).” And in addition, academic institution must create “high-powered incentives” for people who are – regardless of politics – correct in what they say or do.
He concludes – and we are here quoting verbatim - “I am gravely concerned about the rise of political correctness on college campuses, its effect on the type of analysis that is being published and being taught, and how this will undermine, among many other things, efforts to help the marginalized in America. Such efforts will succeed only if they are rooted in the truth.” We couldn’t agree more!
And = believe it or not – big company bosses have stopped chasing after Ivy League Degree job candidates, as another recent article in the Wall Street Journal pointed out (4), “pedigrees from elite universities, like Harvard and Yale, now often work against job seekers from such schools (4) They just often appear to be too miseducated!
References
1. Irfan et al., Lancet 2024;404:1725-1726
2. Gilmour S. Rahman S. Lancet 2024;404:1726
3. Fryer R. The Wall Street Journal. November 11, 2004, pA15. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-economics-of-political-correctness-scholars-need-incentives-to-find-truth-not-hide-it-263c7aa1
4. Borchers C. The Wall Street Journal. November 11, 2024. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-economics-of-political-correctness-scholars-need-incentives-to-find-truth-not-hide-it-263c7aa1