familial dietary habits and disease clusters

[Kathy Fullmer]

Jeff are there any good studies out there on this subject that you caould share with us?

My family of orientation is riddled with diseases like MS, Parkinsons, Schizophrenia. I have recently discovered how very attrocious my father's eating habits are. When I was a kid, I had no idea he was such a picky eater because mom never served anything he didn't like. I just thought she was a lousey cook! He has recently had a serious health crisis (80 years old). A kidney specialist sent him home with the order to be on a no salt, low potassium diet. Implementaion of this new diet has incredible obstacles becuase of the extreemely limited number of fruits and vegetables he is willing to eat. It sure is an eye opener.

We have been on the McDougall Program for about two years now and I continue to take delight in the variety of new foods which are on program.
Kathy

[lucegoose]

I don't mean to intrude on your question, Kathy, but I'm also interested in hearing answers from Jeff about those illnesses, and if I may add to the list senile dementia as well. I had a grandmother with it, and now my fiance's grandmother has it. Is senile dementia, as well as the other conditions Kathy mentioned, genetic? Food-related? Thanks.

[JeffN]

Jeff are there any good studies out there on this subject that you caould share with us?

Hi Kathy

I must have missed this post. Sorry.

While it is not my area of specialty, i know this information is studies and researched. I would guess it is part of or a branch of epidemiology and I am sure the WHO and CDC are active in the area.

Here is a quote I found that might help point you in the right direction..

From
An Update on Cancer Cluster Activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 January; 115(1): 165–171.

An appendix to the CDC 1990 disease cluster guidelines presented an exhaustive summary of available methods to test for spatial and/or temporal clustering (CDC 1990). Although these methods remain valid and actively used in cluster investigations, many have limited application in cancer cluster analysis because of the associated complexities: long latency period, multiple exposures, genetic susceptibility, migration, small area investigations with limited case numbers, and data quality and resolution (Elliott and Wartenberg 2004; Jacquez 2004; Kulldorff and Hjalmars 1999; Wakefield and Elliott 1999; Wartenberg 2001). Recognizing these limitations, scientists have refined existing methods and developed additional ones. The topic has been the subject of lively discussion in the literature (Cuzick and Edwards 1990; Jacquez et al. 1996b; Waller 2000; Wartenberg 1995; Wartenberg and Greenberg 1993). Several national and international workshops have also addressed this issue: the 1992 Workshop on “Statistics and Computing in Disease Clustering” in Port Jefferson, New York; the 1994 Conference on “Statistics and Computing in Disease Clustering” sponsored by the NCI in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and the 1997 World Health Organization “Disease Mapping and Risk Assessment for Public Health” in Rome, Italy (Jacquez et al. 1993, 1996a; Lawson et al. 2000; Wakefield et al. 2001). As a result of the increased intensity in the field of cluster statistics, more than 100 analytic methods are currently available (NAACCR 2002).

The WHO Report

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitl ... 86348.html
(for purchase)

Here is a link to the CDC info on the topic

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/cluster/definition.html


In Health
Jeff Novick, MS, RD