13 September Food Allergy Linked To Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children September 13, 2018 By The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center 0 Our Diabetes Center faculty are leaders in diabetes research but occasionally their research leads them to some other areas that are of broad societal interest. This is exemplified by the work of FOEDRC member Dr. Wei Bao MD Ph.D., who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, of the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health. Dr. Bao’s research is focused on the relationship between diet, food choices and diabetes. Recently Dr. Bao has found an important relationship between certain food allergies and autism. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder. While surveillance projects have consistently shown an alarming increase in the rate of ASD in US children, the causes of ASD remains unclear. Evidence from animal studies shows that food allergy in mice can induce autistic-like behavioral changes, including reduced social interaction, increased repetitive behavior, and impaired spatial memory. However, little is known on the relation between food allergy and ASD in humans. In an analysis of a nationwide population-based study involving nearly 200,000 children, Dr. Bao and colleagues reported that children with food allergy are twice more likely to have been diagnosed with ASD. Respiratory allergy and skin allergy are also linked to ASD in this study, but their associations were much smaller in magnitude than the association between food allergy and ASD. Dr. Bao and his colleagues proposed that immune dysfunction may be a shared mechanism for different types of allergic conditions in association with ASD, and additionally, impairment in a gut-brain-behavior axis may link food allergy to ASD. The team acknowledged that this study is observational and does not prove cause and effect. The work was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA – Network Open). In an Invited Commentary accompanying with this research article, Dr. Christopher J. McDougle, the Director of the Lurie Center for Autism at Harvard Medical School, wrote that “To my knowledge, the results [from the present study] are the first to document the association of food allergy with ASD with confidence, in part based on the large sample size [the authors] accessed.” He believes that evidence from the present study in conjunction with previous animal studies underscores the need to define “an immune-mediated subtype of ASD”. Related Articles DRC Director's Report - April 2019 In a recent study done by Wei Bao, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and member of the FOEDRC, his research team found that frequent consumption of fried foods, especially fried chicken and fried fish/shellfish, was associated with a higher risk of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease in women in the United States. Women with at least one serving per week of fried chicken had a 13% higher risk of death from all causes, and a 12% higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, when compared with women with no consumption of fried chicken. DRC - Should Women Limit Potato Consumption Before Pregnancy? Women who eat more potatoes before pregnancy are more likely to develop gestational diabetes (i.e., the form of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy), a new study suggests. Fraternal Order of Eagles & Soldier Strong Partner to Donate Ekso Bionics Suit to Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital The Fraternal Order of Eagles, an international nonprofit community organization, and Soldier Strong, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting veterans, partnered to donate an Ekso Bionics Ekso GT suit to the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital. The suit was formally presented to the hospital during a ceremony on Wednesday, May 18. The Fraternal Order of Eagles and Ekso Bionics Highlight the Revolutionary Ekso GT Suit Allowing Paralyzed Veterans to Walk July 4 at Arlington Cemetery Austin Reese, a Navy veteran with spinal cord injuries and lower extremity paralysis, highlighted American innovation enabling significant recovery and enhanced health. The Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.), an international nonprofit community organization, and Ekso Bionics, a California-based pioneer in the field of robotic exoskeletons, partnered for a special ceremony honoring veterans at Arlington National Cemetery July 4. Along with Austin Reese, they placed a focus on this extraordinary development during a demonstration on America’s birthday. Eagles Celebrate 120 Years of Community Service On February 6, The Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) celebrates 120 years of community service. The F.O.E. began in 1898, when six Seattle-area theater owners came together to share their passion for social progress and a dedication to philanthropy with the greater community. 120 years later, the F.O.E. continues to work hard to bring citizens together in the name of bettering communities and raising funds to assist friends and neighbors in need. From the creation of Mother’s Day, Social Security and Medicare to the hundreds of millions of dollars donated to various research and assistance organizations across North America, no life has been left untouched by the actions of an Eagle. FOE DRC Investigators Continue To Excel In Research Faculty members in the FOEDRC continue to excel in their ability to obtain competitive extramural funding for their research projects. In this month’s newsletter I will highlight new grant awards obtained by two of our members and next month I will feature another two. Dr. Julien Sebag, Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and member of the FOEDRC was recently awarded a 5-year $1.9M grant from the NIDDK for a project entitled: Investigating the requirement of MRAP2 for ghrelin function. Showing 0 Comment Comments are closed.