INTERESTING TIMES

We used to live in a world where people got sick from exposure to feces and lives were saved with antibiotics. Now we live in a world where people are dying from antibiotics and their lives are being saved by feces.
--a colleague

Lots of great quotes from research articles (complete with pubmed links) here:
http://heracommunityclinic.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/just-quotes-about-probiotics/

Saccharomyces Boulardii and No-Knead Bread Recipe
Jacob Schor ND, FABNO
December 1, 2009
( from denvernaturopathic, includes a review of the literature regarding effects of this yeast, and a bread recipe )

The upshot: Flaxseed meal (not the oil) may be beneficial for people with IBS who do not respond well to psylium. Freshly ground flax meal is an excellent source of fiber mucilage. Any cholesterol lowering and PMS reducing effects are probably due to the bulking and improved intestinal function. If you are using flax products to increase your omega 3 fatty acid levels, it takes about 7 times more flax oil than fish oil to achieve the same effect. Flax contains ALA (alpha-linoleic acid) which is a precursor of omega-3's, getting converted in the liver. The Natural Standard Research Collaboration sees the current evidence as being inadequate to recommend flax for any condition at this time. Flax in any form goes rancid easily when exposed to light, heat, or oxygen.
( notes from medscape )

I am instructed to give a diagnosis and five reasons I have given this diagnosis. I am further instructed to provide 2-3 other possible conditions that are part of my differential diagnosis (what it might be). Lastly I am asked to provide a naturopathic treatment plan.
( the case )

--the GI tract has 400 square meters of surface area and over 500 species of bacteria
--less TLR's on macrophages and DC's in gut
--some enteric microbes no longer bind TLR's (bifidus)
--food in lumen crosses mucosa to peyers patches, mesenteric lymph nodes
--peyers patches and mesenteric lymph nodes constitute 80% of a person's immune system
--always active
--eating oil with food causes it to be absorbed lower in the tract, increasing the odds of allergy because there are more allergens down there
--TGFbeta is the 2nd signal to shut down T cells ???
--M cells are between peyers patch and lumen
--M cells transport food via endosome to PP
--epithelial cells also take in food, have MHC-I
( notes, not very clear yet )