It was discovered that a bacteria called Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) found in dairy products survives the heat of pasteurization and causes inflammatory bowel disease in a variety of animals, including monkeys and chimpanzees.Certainly a daunting prospect—especially since humans aren’t that genetically far removed from monkeys and chimpanzees—and the research supports the insidious Crohn’s disease-cow’s milk connection. More from Dr. Fuhrman:
In the last few years, this same bacterium has been detected in a large percentage of humans who have Crohn’s disease.1 To quote the most recent of these referenced medical journal articles, “The rate of detection of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in individuals with Crohn’s disease is highly significant and implicates this chronic enteric pathogen in disease causation.”Now, not everybody is sold on the dangers of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis. Guest blogger Rachel Kirby drops this post on Aetiology. Here’s a bit:
One of the first I came across and strangest but most relevant to an infectious cause was that the bacteria enters your body through contaminated milk (dairy) or water products. The bacteria are a mycobacterium that is abbreviated MAP (Mycobacterium avium subsp. Paratuberculosis).There seems to be some correlation between culturing MAP in patients with Crohn's. The idea that there is a bacterial cause may come from the idea that there is a similar bovine disease called Johne's disease. It has many of the same symptoms. Because of the similarities with Johne's disease, a mycobacterial cause of Crohn's disease has been sought for many years. It has been disproved that they have any real connection. In one study it suggests that once the bovine strain enters a human host it becomes less virulent. Another reason there is a problem making the correlation of MAP and Crohn's is because MAP is often hard to culture. Why they do they still suggest that there is an infectious agent that causes Crohn's? This could be because they still continue to culture MAP in Crohn's patients but there is not strong enough evidence to fully support the theory. It may be that MAP is present even before the onset of Crohn's.Perhaps there is a grayish hue surrounding the MAP-Crohn’s disease link, but at the very least, the preponderance of evidence certainly warrants further investigation. Let’s check back with Dr. Fuhrman:
An unexpected finding from all this research on Crohn’s disease was the revelation that patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome may also be affected with MAP from dairy product consumption.2 The problems caused by the MAP bug, transmitted from dairy products, may be a severe public health issue.Okay, here's what I take away from this disagreement. When you look at the dairy with a wide angle lenses, you’ll see that there are A LOT of reasons to avoid it. Here’s just a handful:
- Milk Linked to Prostate Cancer
- Cow's Milk an Invader?
- The U.S. Department of Meat, Milk, and Cheese
- Dairy and Weight Loss
- A Dairy Conspiracy?
- No Milk for Acne
- Dairy Ousted for Weight-Loss
- The Hard Truth about Milk
- Dairy Soon to be Even Scarier
- Are Dairy Products the Answer to Osteoporosis?
1. Hermon-Taylor J, Bull TJ, Sheridan JM, et al. Causation of Crohn’s disease by mycobacterium subspecies paratuberculosis. Can J Gastroenterol 2000; 14(6):521-539. Harris JE, Lammerding AM. Crohn’s disease and mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis current issue. J Food Prot 2001; 64(12):2103-2110. Chamberlin W. Graham DY, Hulten K, et al. Review article: Mycobacterium avium subsp. Paratuberculosis as one cause of Crohn’s disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2001; 15(3):337-346. Hermon-Taylor J, Bull T. Crohn’s disease caused by mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis: a public health tragedy whose resolution is long overdue. J Med Microbiol 2002;51(1):3-6. Lund BM, Gould GW, Rampling AM. Pasteurization of milk and the heat resistance of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis: a critical review of the data. Int J Food Microbiol 2002; 77(1-2):135-145. Detection and verification of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in fresh ileocolonic mucosal biopsy specimens from individuals with and without Crohn’s disease. J Clin Microbiol 2003;4(7): 2915-2923.
2. Taylor JH. Most of Crohn’s disease and probably some irritable bowel syndrome is being caused by a bug called MAP (mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis). 104th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, May 20-27, 2004, New Orleans, La. (session 127).