Professor Melvyn Greaves has a great life goal – he wants to create a drink that could prevent leukemia from developing in children.
The idea of creating a drink that could prevent leukemia may sound a bit eccentric, yet professor Greaves from the Institute of Cancer Research in London is no “alternative medicine man” and his ideas are being taken quite seriously by many ontological experts.
Cleanliness is important, but…
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia begins because of a series of biological events that start with a genetic mutation that appears in about one out of every twenty children. This mutation happens in the womb making it impossible to prevent with our current knowledge.
But this mutation is not all that needs to happen. A deficient immune system is needed as well. And if a human isn’t exposed to any infections during his/her first year of life it will have negative effects on his immune system. And that is precisely where the issue lies. Nowadays many parents are obsessed with cleanliness around their children – they use antiseptic napkins, antibacterial soap etc. etc.
Plus, many babies are not breastfed or are breastfed less than they would have been in the bast. And on top of that less social contact in comparison with the previous generations is also common. All of this combined results in a lesser probability of the child being exposed to microbes. When they then get sick with a normal illness their immune system may react abnormally. As the inflammation progresses cytokines are released into the blood and they may end up causing a second mutation that in combination with the first mutation opens the floodgates to cancer.
That is why Melvyn and his colleagues started working on a drink that would include bacteria, fungi… All that good stuff that stimulates the immune system. The end goal is to find six to ten microbes that can do the best job at repairing the child’s microbiome.
We should also add that research indicates that insufficient exposure to microorganisms during childhood may lead to allergies and type I. diabetes. Thus, this drink has the potential to decrease the amount of not only leukemia but also other health issues.
Sources:
- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/30/children-leukaemia-mel-greaves-microbes-protection-against-disease
- https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/get-help/ive-got-cancer/types-cancer/leukaemia?gclid=Cj0KCQiA05zhBRCMARIsACKDWjeKlxqH1FS1ByEa4yVK2k4-nQ1UA88oUdhKAQ_avmur2Zt6OCHp5wQaAg8ZEALw_wcB
