Caesarean babies also have fewer chemicals in their gut, which are known to reduce allergic responses.

Swedish scientists looked at the way in which bacteria colonised in the guts of 24 infants, nine of whom were born via caesarean section. They were assessed one week after their birth and then again one month, three months, six months, 12 months and 24 months later.

Blood samples were also taken at six, 12 and 24 months to test for immune system chemicals known as Th1 and Th2 chemokines. Too much Th2 chemokines are thought to play a role in the development of allergies, however Th1 chemokines can counteract this.

The study found that babies who did not pass down the vaginal canal and were instead born via caesarean had lower levels of Th1 chemokines circulating in their body.

It also found that these babies either lacked the group of gut bacteria known as Bacteroidetes phylum, or they acquired them late. Bacteroidetes phylum have a major role to play in keeping the gut healthy.

The scientists found that in some caesarean babies, they did not acquire these important bacteria until one year after their birth.

Meanwhile, caesarean babies had a lower range of bacteria in their guts overall compared to babies born vaginally.

The scientists from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology emphasised that bacteria are important for getting the immune system ready to respond to triggers in the body and not overreact, which is what occurs in conditions such as allergies and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis currently affects around 15,000 people in Ireland. Symptoms can include persistent diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and fatigue.

Statistics show that the caesarean rate in Ireland in 2011 was 27%.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Gut.

For more information on IBD in Ireland, see our Crohn’s Disease and Colitis Clinic here

As a precautionary measure, the FSAI is advising people to boil all imported frozen berries for at least one minute prior to eating.

It says 10 cases ten cases of Hepatitis A virus have been identified in Ireland and half of these cases have been linked to the consumption of imported frozen berries.

At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that fresh Irish or fresh imported berries are implicated, the FSAI said.

There is currently an outbreak in Italy of the same strain of Hepatitis A virus as that identified in Ireland, and this is is also linked to the consumption of imported frozen berries.

Prof Alan Reilly, Chief Executive of the FSAI, said boiling imported frozen berries for at least one minute before they are eaten will destroy the virus if it is present.

“The source of this outbreak is not known yet, but all indications are pointing towards imported frozen berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackberries and strawberries. At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that fresh Irish or fresh imported berries are implicated.”

“Therefore, as a precautionary measure, we are advising consumers to boil all imported frozen berries for at least one minute before eating them to destroy the virus. Also we remind consumers to wash all fresh berries, and other fruit and vegetables if eating them uncooked,” Prof Reilly said.

Hepatitis A can be relatively mild, lasting, one to two weeks or in more severe cases, lasting a number of months.

Severity of symptoms tends to increase with age. The most common symptoms are fever, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue and abdominal pain, followed within a few days by jaundice. The incubation period (time from exposure to onset of illness) ranges from 15 to 50 days, the average being 28 days.

The FSAI says its investigation is ongoing and is focused on tracking and tracing foods consumed by those infected with the virus to endeavour to identify the source.

Consumers with food safety queries can visit www.fsai.ie or call the FSAI’s Advice Line on 1890 336677.

Inflammatory bowel disease includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and it affects over 15,000 people in Ireland.

The damaging inflammation in these conditions is assisted by immune cells that penetrate the gut tissue and are activated locally by bacteria normally resident in our gastrointestinal tracts.

According to researchers at TCD, the main function of the immune system is to protect from infection with disease-causing bacteria and viruses, but these responses must be evenly balanced to prevent them from causing damage from inflammation.

However in certain individuals, genetic or environmental influences can upset the balance, leading to excessive inflammation and serious conditions like IBD.

A TCD research team led by Prof Kingston Mills has discovered that administration of retinoic acid, a dietary molecule of vitamin A, can protect mice against intestinal inflammation.

Administering retinoic acid was found to to reduce the damaging effect of the gut bacteria and to promote recovery of the damaged tissue in the intestine.

Professor Mills said the new finding provides important new information on the immune system and how its imbalance can lead to inflammatory diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

“On a practical level it has confirmed the importance of Vitamin A-rich green and root vegetables in our diet, and how Vitamin A helps to promote a healthier gut by stimulating the production of protective molecules in a hostile gut environment.”

The findings are published in the The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Visit our Crohn’s Disease and Colitis Clinic

Living with Crohn’s and colitis

According to the Department of Health’s National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), there were only 24 patients awaiting a ‘non urgent’ colonoscopy for longer than three months at the end of December last.

However, this figure rose to 357 at the end of February and to 468 at the end of March.

Commenting on the figures, the Irish Cancer Society pointed out that despite the recent rise in numbers waiting over three months for colonoscopies, waiting list numbers had fallen from 2,258 in April of last year, and this reduction was welcome.

However, the Society told irishhealth.com it would continue to monitor the situation as the number of people waiting more than three months for a colonoscopy had recently risen.

“It is important that the numbers waiting for a colonoscopy continue to fall given that BowelScreen, the national bowel cancer screening programme has begun and will result in an increased demand for colonoscopies.”

Health Minister James Reilly’s Special Delivery Unit (SDU) has since last year been undertaking an initiative to reduce numbers waiting for colonoscopies and upper GI endoscopies.

A colonoscopy is often used to check for possible bowel cancer. ‘Urgent’ bowel tests are usually carried out in hospitalswithin 28 days.

However, the Irish Cancer Society says it remains concerned at the Department of Health’s classification of patients waiting for a colonoscopy as either ‘urgent’ or ‘non-urgent’, and it believes there there should be no such distinction made.

“Some patients have obvious symptoms but many do not, and by classifying people by perceived urgency, some cases considered to be ‘non-urgent’ will be diagnosed with bowel cancer at a later stage.” the Society pointed out.

It says anyone who has been waiting longer than six weeks for a colonoscopy in a public hospital should contact their GP to see if they can schedule a procedure as soon as possible.

Patients currently on colonoscopy waiting lists represent those who have presented to their GPs with concerns about bowel symptoms they wish to get checked out in hospital with a colonoscopy.

The new national screening programme, on the other hand, targets all men and women in the population aged 60-69 through a home test kit known as the faecal immunochemical test (FIT). Where blood is found in the home test stool sample, a colonoscopy is performed as part of the BowelScreen programme.

Eventually, the BowelScreen programme will be targeted at all people in the 55-74 age group.

The number of people with bowel cancer in Ireland is expected to increase by 45% in men and 34% in women by 2020.

Meanwhile, a new report from the National Cancer Registry has shown that colorectal cancer was the third leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung and breast cancer, and the second leading cause of death in men, after lung cancer, during the period 2007-2009.

Around 950 women and 1,330 men were diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer annually during 2007-2009. Nearly 1,000 men and women died from colo-rectal cancer in 2008.

However, according to the Cancer Registry, the death rate from bowel cancer has been falling but there has been an increase recorded in the numbers dying in the subset of rectal, as opposed to colon cancers.

Find out more about colo-rectal cancer here

Ireland has one of the highest rates of this cancer, with around 450 new cases diagnosed each year.

The Lollipop Day campaign will take place on Friday and Saturday of this week.

The campaign was launched today by Health Minister James Reilly, who said his mother died from oesophageal cancer.

According to Prof John Reynolds of St James’s Hospital in Dublibn, the cure rate of patients presenting with this type of cancer had increased from 25% to 45% since the 1990s.

He said better awareness about the disease had helped improve the cure rate.

Find out more about oesophageal cancer here

Scientists studied pet markets in the UK, Germany and Spain and found that all attendees were potentially subject to some level of contamination through pets spreading germs.

They also found that visitors to these centres,which sell animals such as reptiles and amphibians, can carry with them a host of germs with the potential to spread disease far beyond the source of original contamination.

The researchers also warned of the health hazards associated with hiring out venues such as schools for exotic pet markets where bacteria may persist for some time after a market closes.

UK groups the Animal Protection Agency and International Animal Rescue commissioned the study, along with several other European animal protection groups.

In the UK, trading in exotic pets has been illegal for the past 20 years, but these markets are still legal on the continent and take place illegally in the UK.

According to the Animal Protection Agency, exotic pet dealers claim that anti-bacterial hand gel offers sufficient protection against bugs from the markets. However, the research showed that this was not the case, the Agency said.

The numbers waiting over three months for a ‘non-urgent’ colonoscopy dropped by 65% between the end of June and the end of August, latest figures show.

There were 849 on three month-plus waiting lists for colonoscopies at the end of August, compared to 2,443 two months beforehand, the Department told irishhealth.com

Of those waiting over three months for a colonoscopy, the numbers waiting between three and six months have fallen by 63%, to 668, those waiting six to nine months have fallen by 79% to 110, while the numbers waiting 9-12 months have dropped by 47% to 56.

The number waiting over a year for a colonoscopy increased from one to 15 between June and August.

However, according to the Department, this figure is statistically small and should not be ‘over-interpreted’ as, for example, non-urgent patients often express a preference for waiting until a particular consultant is available rather than availing of a shorter appointment wait with another.

The Department said the colonoscopy wait figures also showed a downward trend so far this month, and overall, the health service was on target to ensure that no patient should have to wait more than three months for a non-urgent colonoscopy by the end of the year.

Health Minister James Reilly’s Special Delivery Unit (SDU) earlier this year launched an initiative to cut colonoscopy waits, after they had reached record levels.

The Department says patients requiring an urgent colonoscopy are usually nearly all tested within a month.

The numbers waiting between one and three months for a colonoscopy dropped from 4,380 to 3,811 between June and August.

These problems appear to be highly related and can have significant effects on children’s daily lives, including their functioning at home and in school.

A study of 2,973 children and adolescents with ASD found that nearly 25% also had chronic GI problems, such as constipation, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea or nausea.

The results also showed that children with chronic GI problems were more likely to experience anxiety and sensory problems.

“These problems can have a very real impact on daily life. Children with anxiety may be distressed or reluctant to engage in new activities, and those with sensory problems may have trouble paying attention or participating in over-stimulating enviornments,” said researcher Micah Mazurek, who is a clinical child psychologist and assistant professor of health psychology at the University of Missouri.

“These children may also suffer uncomfortable GI problems that they may not be able to communicate about to adults.”

Doctors should be aware that anxiety, GI problems and sensory sensitivity often co-occur in people with ASD.

Managing these health issues effectively may improve children’s quality of life and their responses to treatment.

“Parents need to be aware that these problems may underlie some of their children’s difficulties, so if they notice any symptoms, they should talk to their doctors or therapists about treatment options,” Mazurek said.

“Practitioners who work with children with ASD need to be mindful that there is a pretty high rate of these problems, so if children are treated for one issue, it may helpful to screen for these additional symptoms.”

Autism is a complex developmental disability that causes problems with social interaction and communication. One person may have mild symptoms, while another may have serious symptoms.

The study was published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

This blunted ability to distinguish all five tastes of bitter, sweet, salty, sour, and umami (savoury) may prompt them to eat larger quantities of food in a bid to register the same taste sensation, suggest doctors.

They base their findings on 94 normal weight and 99 obese children aged between six and 18, who were in good health and not taking any medications known to affect taste and smell.

The taste sensitivity of every child was tested using 22 “taste strips” placed on the tongue, to include each of the five taste sensations, at four different levels of intensity, plus two blank strips.

Each child was asked to refrain from eating or drinking anything other than water and not to chew gum for at least an hour before they took the two tests, which involved identifying the different tastes and their intensity.

The sum of all five taste sensations at the four different intensities allowed for a maximum score of 20, with scores ranging from two to 19.

Girls and older children were better at picking out the right tastes.

Overall, the children were best able to differentiate between sweet and salty, but found it hardest to distinguish between salty and sour, and between salty and umami.

And obese children found it significantly more difficult to identify the different taste sensations, scoring an average of 12.6 compared with an average of just over 14 clocked up by children of normal weight.

Obese children were significantly less likely to identify the individual taste sensations correctly, particularly salty, umami, and bitter.

And while both obese and normal weight children correctly identified all the differing levels of sweetness, obese kids rated three out of the four intensity levels lower than kids of normal weight.

Similarly, children of normal weight were better able to distinguish the different taste sensations, the older they were, but this trend was not seen among the obese children.

Exactly why people have differing taste perceptions is unclear, but genes, hormones, acculturation and exposure to different tastes early in life are all thought to play a part.

But previous research indicates that heightened sensitivity to different taste sensations may help to reduce the amount of food eaten as less is required to get the same “taste hit”.

The research was published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The Minister told the Dail that plans for the implementation of a national colorectal screening programme are at an advanced stage within the HSE-National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS) and the programme will be introduced on a phased basis in quarter four 2012.

When fully implemented, the programme will offer free screening to men and women aged 55-74 every two years. As 50% of cancers within this age group are found in people aged 60-69, the programme will begin with this age cohort, the Minister said.

The screening scheme was originally planned for launch in January, and then July of this year, but was delayed.

The Minister said the HSE and the Special Delivery Unit in his Department had been working together to develop the appropriate capacity in colonoscopy services nationwide to support the introduction of the bowel screening scheme.

Approximately 2,200 new cases of bowel cancer are diagnosed each year, and it is a cause of death in around 950 people each year.

Dr Reilly was responding to a Dail query from Limerick TD Patrick O’Donovan.