Showing posts with label kidney stones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kidney stones. Show all posts

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Monsanto's Politics. Part I Microbiome Mayhem.




Science Corrosion




Kavin Senapathy published a piece in the influential academic science journal- Forbes- igniting a  recent Twitter kerfuffle between myself and several prominent scientists. This blog post is my post-mortem.

 In case you don't know, Forbes, recently sold to a Hong Kong equity firm, offers a  promotional platform for some 1200 "contributors," some of whom paid to market there via a product called BrandVoice. It's a shell renting out space- Forbes brand name- for click-bait journalism. 

 Kavin's Forbes piece is writ in junk food industry lingo, smearing anti-GMO scientists, in this case,  Dr. Mercola and Dr. Hyman while unsurprisingly presenting more "suitable" alternatives-- friendlier to industry. 

  I'm familiar with Dr. Mercola to the extent that he is critical of GMOs and glyphosate, as am I, and he hosts a veterinarian on his website whom I like.  Please follow along and Drs. Hyman and Mercola will make an appearance.  

Can Forbes visitors differentiate one of  (mere) 45 journalists, a legitimate expert such as this here,  from shameless marketing twaddle by Aunt Martha from Covina? 


It's no accident that infamous Pesticide operatives-- Henry I Miller and  Jon Entine frequently publish Monsanto's propaganda in Forbes. In fact, Henry Miller and other Monsanto shills dwell on the sacred soil of Stanford University, from which Elizabeth Bik hails. 
Kavin's authoritative comprehensive knowledge and skills in science appear to derive entirely from a college degree in business marketing- which explains her fluency in junk food industry jargon, fervent evangelism for GMOs and rabid defense of  Monsanto, with requisite hate of anything organic.  
She is a science advocate minus any actual science education with an astroturf group dressed in really cheesy bright green astroturf shirts. Kavin has many science illiterate sisters, and mothers in arms,  to spread industrial junk science.




Shhh... don't tell Jonathan Eisen, the prominent, influential UC Davis scientist who believes that pointing out these blatant red flags is arrogant. 



A progressive professor named Winners


Held classes each evening for sinners
They were graded and spaced
So the very debased
Would not be held back by beginners

But, me, I have a medical concern about glyphosate and it's possible contribution to kidney stones. 

 So what does Professor Winners do about my medical questions, when it is clear he is defending a science illiterate who happens to be featured on Monsanto's own blog?
Well of course he writes a satirical blog post about it and censors my response from it. Why is that? Because he can't answer my questions--he is supporting Monsanto. 




A Detour into Kavin and Yvette's Land of Better Living through Chemistry


Kavin and her bookend, Yvette aka @TheSciBabe, appear to have been manufactured specifically to take down Vani Hari, the infamous serial killer,
a criminal wielding life- threatening juicing and exceptionally dangerous recipes. 

 Be vewwy vewwy scared of women wielding carrots!




In fact, Yvette owes her entire career to a vulgar Vani Hari "takedown"  in Gawker; Meanwhile Kavin is selling a book- a critique, take down of Vani Hari's book.

 

Monsanto's Underground Chemical Kitchen cooks up Cyberattacks

Between organizing Marches against Marches against Monsanto, Kavin made a brief appearance on my business Facebook page, during a GMOLOL cyberattack...after I posted this blog, about kidney stones, coincidentally. 









Monsanto's PR Person, Janice, started GMOLOL, whose erudite members felt that kidney stones are hilarious, or maybe not? 

 As much as I want to accuse GMOLOL of suffering from junior- delinquency, I found that several of Jonathan's parishioners, er,  "scientists," likewise thought this subject is funny. I am afraid our tastes in humor might be different because I don't find euthanasia of animals whose owners can't afford these surgeries very humorous. At all! Not even a little bit. 














 Kavin frequently partners with Dr. Tobacco Science personified, Henry I. Miller,  in astroturf campaigns on multiple social media platforms including  IWF described at the link to the left. Several right-wing think-tanks promote Kavin's trash. Henry I Miller was also outed as a ghost-writer from Monsanto and fired from that elite science journal, called Forbes

I haven't and don't intend to read either Vani's, Yvette's or Kavin's books. 
However, I've had the misfortune of meeting Kavin's book coauthors online. I can assure you; it wasn't pleasant. 







The interesting thing is- all three authors of this book haven't managed to scrape together one science degree collectively, between the three of them. 
Alsip wrote a silly blog post about me debunking my "bad science" while Draco-- bolstered by Kavin's sister in industry marketing, Yvette-- threatened me with a libel suit online and through harassing phone calls to my office. 


Kavin Senapathy, Yvette/ TheSciBabe with  CamiRyan of Monsanto.

When I failed to dignify the silly threats or insipid blog with a response, Yvette and Cami Ryan paid my hospital a visit, in person. Yeah, Monsanto people coordinate cyberattacks, and professional libel campaigns. 
They post fraudulent reviews,  professionally and personally smear people, and when the bullying and libel don't shut scientists up - Monsanto's "ambassadors" physically stalk people!  



"Dear Yvette.  Ears are made of skin, a very large organ very prone to allergies-- which means ear infections are addressed best by dermatologists, rather than toxicologists. 

If you call the ASPCA poison center for advice on ear infections toxicologists will hang up on you--they will think you are making a prank call. You know, like when people call dog veterinarians asking for advice for their pet giraffes with a pain in the neck. Just a little hint for the blissfully clueless. May I suggest you think for a minute or an hour or two about what exactly you expect a toxicologist to advise about a dermatology disorder?"    

 Dr. Ena  



But according to Jonathan Eisen, an influential UC Davis scientist, who took the time to pen a blog about this kerfuffle titled Degree Madness, it's arrogant to reject Kavin's medical advice (and by extension Yvette's, I presume). 




 In the Forbes piece, Kavin says of Dr. Mark Hyman
  
"Dr. Mark Hyman, for example, who recently hosted the “Fat Summit,” a seminar also hosted by Health Talks Online in January, has an online shop with products to optimize customers’ microbiomes", says Kavin (or the pupeteers pulling her strings).  


 Kavin, of course, isn't selling anything! 


But wait: "Kavin Senapathy’s book examining popular food myths, “The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House,” with co-authors Marc Draco and Mark Alsip, is available now."

So who is  Dr. Mark Hyman and what crimes has he committed? 

 MARK HYMAN, MD, is a practicing family physician, a nine-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in his field. He is the Director the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is also the founder and medical director of  The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor for The Huffington Post, and has been a regular medical contributor to CNN and many television shows including CBS This Morning, the Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, Katie, and The Dr. Oz Show.  



 Minus Dr. Hyman's eight years of tedious didactic training, boards, a medical license and years of professional experience, and you get Kavin or Yvette. 











According to these folk, we can look forward to  Kavin, Elizabeth Bik, and Jonathan Eisen scrubbing in to perform a kidney transplant or a triple bypass and then scrub out to direct the next Mission to Mars.  

Don't worry; Yvette's pass-fail pseudo-degree qualifies her to perform cardiac and neurosurgery also, just like licensed medical doctors. [1]




"-If people don’t cite any scientific studies but instead cite anecdotes and testimonials and self-written books  question what they are saying. If people have a history of making misleading claims (e.g., Mercola and Chopra and many others at this meeting) then question what they are saying.

  A lot" 

Jonathan Eisen





For Monsanto's Politics Part II  <- click here please


Microbiome Guardians 




Footnotes

1. California Regulations and guidelines for medical practice. 

2. Interesting discussion about probiotics for kidney stone prevention


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Friday, April 4, 2014

Alert: Round Up Ready GMO might be causing bladder & kidney stones

Do you want high-tech help for your pet who can't pee? 

Can you afford it? Can your cat and dog?  If you answered no, please read ingredient labels






Stubborn Stones


Sometimes, just like humans dogs and cats develop urinary stones. 

A few months ago we saw a case we think is worth sharing--a cute little 5-year old pooch with two stones wedged inconveniently in the urethra overlying the os penis, a rod-like bone structure within the penis of male dogs (see X-ray below ).  


While veterinarians can remove bladder stones via routine surgery--it's a different story with blockages of the urethra- the tube through which urine empties the bladder. 

Obstruction of the urethra presents a life-threatening emergency.  If the animal can't void it becomes rapidly intoxicated by the waste products remaining in the blood stream, causing build up of acid, potassium, and urea- leading to a painful death.

Urinary Obstructions are most often seen in male dogs and cats since the male urethra is longer and narrower than females' though we have seen females with a urinary obstruction (rarely) too. 

Some breeds, dalmatians, have a genetic predisposition to stone formation, and infections can lead to struvite (Magnesium Triple Phosphate) stones.   And yet other stones form for reasons we don't understand--the most common in cats and dogs (as well as people) being calcium oxalate. 

Here is a good overview on calcium oxalate stones by VCA Animal Hospitals and we will offer more insight VCA veterinarians aren't aware of below. 


Wait, what? We can we get kidney stones from oxa-what?   


 

 "What are Urinary Stones? What is Oxalic Acid and Oxalate?" Check out this link




And now,  let's get back to our lovable and very miserable  patient.





The first stone dissolved nicely with antibiotic plus acidification therapy and the dog passed it.  The second stone, unfortunately, wouldn't budge with multiple catheterization procedures performed to flush the stone back into the bladder, where it could be surgically retrieved. The poor dog's quality of life was becoming rather lousy-- living with a constant burning sensation is miserable, not to mention dangerous.



The dog's luck was starting to run out as we considered "turning him into a girl"--performing surgery ( perineal urethrostomy ) to bypass the penis. The trouble is that a newly created "vagina" often increases the dog's susceptibility to chronic urinary tract infections, not to mention is invasive and painful. 

Fortunately, for our little patient the owners were happy to drive him up to U.C.Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where veterinarians have refined laser lithotripsy. ,   a procedure in which a tiny fiber-optic camera contained within a urethroscope or endoscope is used to visualize and guide a laser to pulverize the stone ( shown in the ureteral lithotripsy link).

Here is the before image of the stone within the urethra. It's pretty obvious why we had such difficulty budging it. Ouch!



Urethral stone before lithotripsy




Laser Lithotripsy to the rescue!

And here is AFTER lithotripsy





Laser blasts evaporated the stone, and the little dog was done with pain and straining as soon as he woke up,  minus invasive and painful surgery. Yay! What a relief!


Why reading food ingredient labels is crucial


 But you are a GMO watcher. How does any of this relate to GMOs?

Round Up Ready corn, soy and beet pulp from GMO sugar beets are in pet foods


The items underlined in red on the pet food label are most likely genetically modified (GMOs). They have been sprayed with Round Up- a proprietary formulation of glyphosate with other ingredients. 
The image isn't posted to pick on any dog food company. Iams is just one of numerous examples of popular widely available pet foods containing these ingredients. 

Beets are in many common pet foods. In addition to beets naturally being very high in oxalate, Monsanto genetically modified them (GMO) and they are sprayed with Round Up.

Glyphosate-containing herbicides are applied in large amounts to crops 2 to 3 times per season to remove weeds and dry out grain in a process called ‘desiccation’ [22]. Once applied, glyphosate accumulates in leaves, grains or fruit. Glyphosate residues cannot be removed by washing and they are not broken down by cooking [23]. Glyphosate residues can remain stable in foods for a year or more, even if the foods are frozen, dried or processed

Round Up (glyphosate) isn't just an herbicide; it's also an antibiotic.

 

 Monsanto patented formulations of glyphosate with oxalate as an adjuvant for its herbicides, and farmers are spraying it in exponentially increasing amounts on GMO crops.

Even though we eat oxalate in foods like kale, beets,  and spinach, intestinal bacteria like Oxalobacter formigenes degrade it, so less is bound to calcium and is unavailable to make kidney and bladder stones. But studies show glyphosate inhibits beneficial bacteria, some of which might degrade oxalate.

 In other words, Oxalobacter formigenes helps to neutralize oxalate, thus preventing kidney stones. It isn't the only vital bacterium, as studies have shown inconsistent reduction in oxalate in people administered a proprietary probiotic called OxaDrop, that doesn't contain O. Formigenes-- which is why microbiome studies characterizing microbial diverstiy and phenotypic changes cause by glyphosate in animals are needed.


Veterinary Epidemiology of Cat and Dog stones

Veterinarians have long been puzzled by the increase in the incidence of calcium oxalate urinary stones in cats and dogs.

The increased incidence of calcium oxalate stones in pets suggests an environmental cause.


Snap. Try this link please: canine-and-feline-urolith-epidemiology 

 Thanks Hannah for pointing out the broken link!




Calcium Oxalate uroliths are represented by green, whereas struvite is aqua blue.



http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v83/n6/full/ki2013104a.html

Snap. The article moved here. 

Research shows that a recently identified bacteria (Oxalobacter formigenes) found in both animals and people, reduces oxalate absorption from the intestines-- thereby reducing risks of forming calcium oxalate kidney stones in people.

Clinical Investigation

Kidney International (2013) 83, 1144–1149; doi:10.1038/ki.2013.104; published online 27 March 2013

The role of Oxalobacter formigenes colonization in calcium oxalate stone disease

About 75% of urinary stones contain oxalate. As Oxalobacter formigenes is a Gram-negative anaerobic bacterium that degrades oxalate in the intestinal tract, we assessed the role of O. formigenes in oxalate metabolism by evaluating its intestinal absorption, plasma concentration, and urinary excretion [...] Our findings suggest that O. formigenes  lowers the intestinal concentration of oxalate available for absorption at constant rates, resulting in decreased urinary oxalate excretion. Thus, dietary factors have an important role in urinary oxalate excretion. The data indicate that O. formigenes colonization may reduce the risk of stone recurrence.

Glyphosate sprayed on Round Up Ready GMOs ---  patented as an antibiotic has been shown in several studies to suppress beneficial bacteria in animals.

I've spent months and lots of effort to find out if glyphosate also kills this fragile and vital bacteria, and I couldn't get a basic simple microbiological test from the biotechnology industry scientists to prove that it does not.

Given Agri-Chemical corporations' previous history of denying harmful effects of their products coupled with stonewalling and  refusal to do a very simple microbiological test--an MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration of glyphosate for this bacteria)
-- leads me to suspect that it does!





We know that glyphosate is primarily excreted in the urine and feces where it can adversely affect beneficial bacteria, as well as paradoxically cause antibiotic resistance.

Bottom line  message


-Studies show Glyphosate inhibits beneficial bacteria. -Beneficial bacteria like Oxalobacter formigenes help break down oxalate.-Breaking down Oxalate helps prevent kidney stones.-Monsanto adds additional Oxalate to their poison, Glyphosate, which I suspect kills Oxalobacter formigenes. -Adding unnecessary oxalate and unneeded, unlabeled antibiotics to our food will increase kidney stones.


 If your pooch is a breed predisposed to these stones -Shi Tzu, Lhasa Apso,  Bichon Frise- or your doctor diagnosed him with calcium oxalate urinary stones-the Precautionary Principle dictates avoiding Round-Up Ready crops.  Do not buy pet foods with GMO corn, soy, beet pulp, as they are likely  to have been engineered to be Round-Up ready, and sprayed with glyphosate plus other undisclosed ingredients. 


Thanks to @farmfairycrafts  for your wonderful suggestions!! :)

 

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