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I survived the first day of school.  I've got a heavy load, but have some
great kids.  BTW, I teach 7th grade Life Science, Bio I and II, and
Environmental Science.
 
Thank you to everyone who responded to my introduction.  I appreciate the
wealth of information on this list.  I hope to respond to each post, but
please be patient.  I only get 45 minutes a day of free on-line time with
my education server so I'll do the best I can.  It only cost $5 a year so
I'm not complaining.
 
The attached post is from something that was posted on another list.  It
looks like interesting research so I thought I'd share.
 
Thanks again.
 
Take Care,
 John
 
   John L. Dettling, Jr.                  WILD ABOUT WILDFLOWERS?
   [log in to unmask]                   http://www.wild-flowers.com
   Louise, Texas
 
 
"Canadian researchers have found that a hormone, GLP-2, stimulates growth
of the lining of the small intestine - a discovery that could lead to
treatments for such agonizing digestive problems as Crohn's disease and
ileitis.
The hormone could also be used to treat cancer patients whose intestinal
lining has been attacked by radiation and chemotherapy.
The research by a team at the Toronto Hospital and the University of
Toronto, was published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
ALLELIX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS INC., the Mississauga biotechnology company
that partly funded the research, is expected to begin trials of GP-2 by
the end of l997, said Daniel Drucker, leader of the research team.
The hormone could be available to the public within 3 or 4 years, he said.
The most dramatic benefit would likely be for the l0,000 or so people in
North America who have had nearly all of the small intestine removed due
to disease, in a procedure called a bowel resection.
Such patients have great difficulty absorbing nutrients from food - which
is the function of the small intestine - and must be fed intravenously,
Dr. Drucker said.
"Psychologically, it's a very debilitating condition.  Food plays a large
role in our enjoyment of life," said Dr. Drucker, director of the
endocrinology division of the department of medicine at the University of
Toronto.
Currently , there is no way to repair or enhance the groiwth of the small
intestine's lining.  Although production of GLP-2 occurs naturally in
healthy people, these patients aren't producing enough because they have
very little left of the small intestine.
Hormone replacement therapy, using GLP-2, can cause new lining tissue to
grow, Dr. Drucker said.  Even patients who have only a small amount of
bowel left will experience an increase in the surface area of tissue,
resulting in greater absorption of nutrients, he said.
Although research has so far focused on cases of severe bowel malfunction,
GLP-2 could also be used to repair intestinal lining tissue damaged by
inflammatory diseases, such as Crohn's and ileitis and by cancer therapy.
GLP-2 hasn't been the subject of much research, Dr. Drucker said, because
its function wasn't known."