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Listmates,
I recently read an interesting article in MEDICAL HYPOTHESES, 1995, vol.
45, pages 115 to 120, by W J Lutz, entitled: "The Colonisation of Europe
and our Western Diseases".

The abstract reads:
Correspondence of fat intake with civilizatory diseases (coronary disease
and cancer) is usually attributed to adverse effects of animal fat and
cholesterol. The 'field studies' themselves undertaken to support this
theory, failed. As the last environmental changes in human history are
agriculture and rise of carbohydrate intake (and concomitant reduction of
fat and protein consumption), the author thinks that the carbohydrates
rather than the animal fats cause our civilizatory diseases.

It can be shown that the spread of agriculture from the Near East to the
West and North of Europe with the accompanying differences in time for
the adaptation to the new food ( the carbohydrates) easily explains the
geographic differences in the frequency of civilisatory diseases  which
is highest where ( in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Finland) carbohydrates
came last. Highest, too, in those areas is the 'polymorphism' of genes
which are related to cardiovascular diseases (ACE, apolipoprotein-B etc.)
This 'adaptation theory' explains also the hitherto unexplained up and
down of cardiovascular disease in the USA by immigration from regions
with higher adaptation to carbohydrates.


end

When I think of gluten instead of carbohydrates, and think about the
article by Paul H. Black that implicates opioids in the downregulation
of the immune system, I am forced to think some fairly radical thoughts.
I would be interested in further speculations in this venue.

I would also welcome any information & sources that could tell me the
portion of the population with HLA B8 and DR.

Thank You
Ron