People with coeliac disease may be more susceptible to osteoporosis because their own immune system attacks their bone tissue, a study suggests.

Osteoporosis is a known risk of coeliac disease and has been explained by a failure to absorb calcium or vitamin D.

But a study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests coeliac patients produce antibodies which attack a key protein that maintains bone health.

They could easily be treated with drugs to prevent bone loss, researchers say.

It also explains why osteoporosis in those with the digestive disorder may not respond to calcium and vitamin D.

Coeliac disease is caused by a reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, which damage the small finger-like villi that line the small intestine and play a key role in digestion.

When damaged and inflamed, the villi are unable to absorb food properly, causing diarrhoea and malnutrition.

It affects one in 100 people, and of these a significant proportion may go on to develop osteoporosis - a disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of painful and disabling fractures.

Protein clue

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh say it may be a protein called osteoprotegerin which holds the key to the link between coeliac disease and osteoporosis.


Our traditional understanding of its cause has left some people with the condition with little hope that their symptoms and quality of life will improve
Sarah Sleet
Coeliac UK

In 20% of the coeliac patients tested, antibodies were produced which stopped this protein - crucial for maintaining bone strength - from working effectively.

Lead researcher Professor Stuart Ralston from the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, said: "This is a very exciting step forward. Not only have we discovered a new reason to explain why osteoporosis occurs in coeliac disease, but we have also found that it responds very well to drugs that prevent bone tissue removal.

"Testing for these antibodies could make a real and important difference to the lives of people with coeliac disease by alerting us to the risk of osteoporosis and helping us find the correct treatment for them."

Sarah Sleet, head of Coeliac UK said: "Osteoporosis is a damaging complication of coeliac disease and our traditional understanding of its cause has left some people with the condition with little hope that their symptoms and quality of life will improve.

"This new breakthrough in understanding and treatment will give renewed hope to our members struggling with their condition."

Dr Claire Bowring, medical policy officer with the National Osteoporosis Society said: "We already know that coeliac disease is a risk factor for osteoporosis and that early diagnosis and treatment of coeliac disease gives the best chance of improving bone density.

"A better understanding of the relationship between coeliac disease and osteoporosis will enable clinicians to manage both conditions more effectively.

"Although this research is at an early stage it is certainly interesting and we look forward to more extensive work to identify how prevalent this antibody is in people with coeliac disease."

More than 400,000 Indian babies a year die within 24 hours of being born, according to a recent report.

The country comes fifth in a tally of worldwide newborn death rates. Over 15,000 people were surveyed for the purposes of the report.

The surveys were conducted during the past two months in a wide range of places including Great Britain, Italy, China, and Kenya.

Thomas Chandy, head of Save the Children in India, said that the government's efforts to provide basic healthcare to all of the country's citizens had not changed the plight of newborn babies and that, although the intention and allocation of resources were there, they were not reaching the people who needed them.

Researchers found that two million children die every year within 24 hours of being born, and gathered data on 14 countries.

India's child mortality rates came out higher than its neighbours, with 72 deaths for every 1,000 live births and more than two million Indian children dead each year before reaching the age of five.

Mewa, a 25-year-old mother, said that she has had four children, and that she lost her second child when he was two days old.

She said that she does not know why her son passed away, and that he did not seem ill before he died.

During the first months of a child's life, major preventable causes of death may include pneumonia, malnutrition, and diarrhoea.

The report's authors said that, while low-cost solutions to the problem of infant mortality in India exist, public attitudes about healthcare have stopped the government from taking action.

Chandy said that change was indeed possible, and that people would be shocked if they understood how affordable and feasible it is to prevent children from dying.

More than half of all women in India give birth without the help of a doctor or midwife.

Chandy said that some local cultural practices contribute to India's high rates of infant mortality, and that there are tribal groups who do not breastfeed their babies.

The report said that approximately 40 billion dollars could significantly reduce infant mortality worldwide.

When Save the Children in India conducted a survey among Indians living in metropolitan areas, to gauge their attitudes to infant mortality, only a fifth responded that they would be willing to forgo a day's earnings to save a child from dying.

A world expert in sleep disorders will warn obese people of the potential dangers of getting behind the wheel because of a condition that disrupts breathing during the night.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) occurs when soft tissue in the back of the airway collapses and blocks it, causing interruption in breathing lasting 10 seconds or more.

Being overweight is a major risk factor of the condition.

British medic, Dr Bertrand De Silva, will suggest to delegates at an obesity conference in London the problem can double the risk of road accidents.

Dr De Silva, who is medical director of American Sleep Medicine in California, will say: "Far from being regarded as a minor condition with irritating snoring, research has now identified Obstructive Sleep Apnoea as a fatal disease.

"This means that the condition and its consequences are now recognised as yet another co-morbidity of obesity along with type two diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

"We predict that only 15% of suffering patients have been diagnosed, so despite the dangers, the majority are oblivious that they even suffer from the condition.

"It is known that OSA, which causes daytime sleepiness, doubles the risk of road accidents."

Dr De Silva, who will give his speech to the National Obesity Forum's seventh annual conference tomorrow, will inform the audience that the condition has been the subject of numerous new US research studies.

"Healthcare professionals and patients need to be mindful that OSA deserves its new-found place in the limelight as we also know that it increases the risk of heart conditions by 30%, dramatically increases hypertension, affects 58% of diabetic patients (90% if obese), impacts glucose intolerance and insulin resistance and is the second leading cause of erectile dysfunction," he will say.

October is observed as World Breast Cancer Month, and the Indian Cancer Society has organised a mela on October 9 and 10 to spread awareness about this killer disease.

Among other things, members of Ugam: Victors of Childhood Survivors, an organisation formed in memory of poet-painterShobhit Kaushal, will host a fashion and dance show.

"The fashion show, which will feature Indian outfits, will also showcase various types of turbans. This is a symbolic gesture, a way for us to tell cancer patients, who lose a lot of hair during chemotherapy, to not be embarrassed about their situation," says Ekta Rawat, coordinator of Ugam and a cancer survivor herself. She adds that they will also have products like candles, bookmarks, greeting cards made by members of Ugam and such on sale.

Urmila Jain, head of the ladies committee of the Indian Cancer Society, says: "We will have craftsmen from all over the country coming to display their wares, which range from miniature paintings to artworks made by the Gond tribals to silver jewellery." She adds there will be interactive sessions and programmes around checking the spread of cancer.

"Members of Ugam, St Jude's India Childcare and Tankid, will provide information about medical expenses for treating cancer and have discussions about rehabilitation," says Jain.
Pervin Varma's choir will also perform, while NGOs such as Sujaya Foundation, the Helen Keller Institute, Aseema and Welfare of Stray Dogs will also participate in the mela. The collections from the mela will go towards cancer rehabilitation.

The October Mela will take place on October 9 and 10 at the YMCA, Colaba from 10.30am to 6.30pm.Contact: 98200 27254

Researchers have found that they can make people move in slow motion by boosting one type of brain wave. The findings offer some of the first proof that brain waves can have a direct influence on behavior, according to the researchers, who report their findings online on October 1 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

"At last we have some direct experimental proof that brain waves influence behavior in humans, in this case how fast a movement is performed," said Peter Brown of University College London. "The implication is that it is not just how active brain cells are that is important, but also how they couple their activity into patterns like beta activity."

There are many types of brain waves, distinguished by their frequency and location, Brown explained. In the new study, the researchers injected a small electrical current into the brain through the scalps of fourteen people while the participants manipulated the position of a spot on a computer screen as quickly as they could with a joystick.

The electrical current used increased normal beta activity, a wave that earlier studies linked to sustained muscle activities, such as holding a book. Beta activity drops before people make a move.

Unlike most previous work, which used constant brain stimulation, the new study employed an oscillating current, more like that underlying normal brain activity. As a result, people's fastest times on the computer task were 10 percent slower.

Brown said the researchers were surprised that the electrical currents used in the study - which were very small and imperceptible to the participants - could have such a measurable effect.

The current findings provide the first interventional evidence of a causal link between increased beta synchrony and the slowing of voluntary movement in otherwise healthy individuals, the researchers report, noting that earlier studies have shown altered brain waves to influence memory.

In addition to the new insight into normal brain function, the results might have implications for treating conditions characterized by either uncontrolled or slowed movements.

"If we know what patterns of brain activity slow voluntary movement, then we can try and boost these patterns in conditions like chorea and dystonia, where there is excessive and uncontrolled movement," Brown said. "Conversely, we can try and suppress beta activity in conditions like Parkinson's disease typified by slow movement."