In our Western diet, milk belongs to coffee, cheese crust to gratin, goulash to rice. But what if you become infected with a new type of pathogen through dairy products and beef as a small child, which can cause cancer or multiple sclerosis after 40 to 70 years? Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) suspect that such zoonoses may be widespread[1], and therefore recommend feeding infants milk only after the first year of life.However, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the Max Rubner Institute firmly reject such theories in two joint statements.
In 2008, Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for proving that human papillomaviruses pave the way to cervical cancer. The starting point was the observation that sexually abstinent women such as nuns extremely rarely develop this carcinoma. The conclusion was obvious that pathogens are transmitted during sexual intercourse, explain the married couple Prof. Dr. Ethel-Michele de Villiers and zur Hausen — both from the DKFZ Heidelberg.
Papillomaviruses, but also human herpes and Epstein-Barr viruses, polyomaviruses and retroviruses cause cancer directly: by incorporating their genes into the DNA of human cells. The proteins formed by expression stimulate malignant growth with a latency of a few years to decades by altering regulating host genes.
Inflammation produces oxygen radicals
Viruses can also — just like bacteria and parasites — indirectly cause cancer.One mechanism is the disturbance of the immune system, as shown by the sometimes drastically increased tumor incidence in AIDS or immunosuppressants after transplants. A second mechanism is chronic inflammation, which produces oxygen radicals and thus random mutations in replicating cells. Examples: stomach cancer caused by Helicobacter pylori, liver cancer by schistosoma, liver fluke, hepatitis B and C viruses.
According to de Villiers and zur Hausen, there are good reasons why other pathogens can lead to cancer via chronic inflammation. Epidemiological data suggest that dairy and meat products of European cattle (Bos taurus) are possible sources. For example, colon and breast cancer occur more frequently where these foods are consumed abundantly, i.e. in North America, Argentina, Europe and Australia. On the other hand, the rate is low in India, where cows are revered as sacred. It is also striking that women with lactose intolerance are less likely to get breast cancer.
Virus derivatives central to carcinogenesis?
In fact, the researchers found single-stranded DNA rings derived from viruses in the intestines of patients with colon cancer, which they called «Bovine Meat and Milk Factors» (BMMF).»At least from our point of view, this new class of pathogens deserves to be placed at the centre of cancer development and other chronic diseases,» they are convinced. Furthermore, they detected increased levels of oxygen radicals in these areas — oxidative stress, i.e. typical of chronic inflammation.
They assume that infants, whose immune system is still immature, absorb BMMF as soon as they receive milk. That’s why adults don’t have to do without milk or beef, because everyone is infected anyway, zur Hauen said in a Conversation.
«Breast milk is healthy» – the slogan applies
De Villiers and zur Hausen describe another reference to carcinogenic pathogens: Mothers who have breastfed are less likely to develop tumors of various organs, but also multiple sclerosis (MS) and type 2 diabetes, especially after multiple pregnancies.The authors attribute the protective effect to oligosaccharides in breast milk, which are formed as early as the middle of pregnancy. They bind to lectin receptors and thus mask the terminal molecule that the viruses need to dock. Consequently, the entry gate in cells is blocked to them.
Last but not least, the oligosaccharides also protect babies from life-threatening infections by preventing rota- and noroviruses from entering. In this way, especially with long breastfeeding — about 1 year — the phase of still incomplete immune competence is bridged.
Is colorectal cancer largely an infectious disease?
So far, it has been assumed that about 20 percent of all cancers worldwide are due to infections, the scientists conclude. If you add the suspected BMMF cases, you come to 50 percent, especially in colorectal cancer even to about 80 percent. Should the suspicion be confirmed, the consequences for prevention and therapy would be serious.
The voice of a Nobel laureate has undeniable weight, as zur Hausen had prevailed against a phalanx of doubters at the time with his discovery that a viral infection contributes decisively to cancer — cervical carcinomas.Nevertheless, there are some signs that he and his wife have maneuvered themselves into a dead end this time.
Even a Nobel laureate could be wrong
Because when his working group presented the results to the public in February 2019, the DKFZ was forced to write a All clear: There is no reason to classify milk and meat consumption as critical. Similarly, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the Max Rubner Institute (MRI) assessed the data as insufficient in a first joint Statementthe data as insufficient and called for further studies. Subsequently, several research teams dealt with the BMMF: In which foods are they contained?Are they more common in cancer patients than in healthy people? Are they infectious, do they induce inflammation and cancer?
The findings, which BfR and MRI at the end of November 2022 in a second Statement, contradict the claims of the DKFZ scientists across the board: BMMF were by no means new pathogens, but variants of already known DNA sequences. In addition, they are found in numerous animal and plant foods, whether pork, fish, fruit, vegetables or nuts.
BMMFs do not have the ability to «infect» human cells. Nor was there any evidence that they were harmful to health. Although the incidence of intestinal tumors correlates with the consumption of red and processed meat — which does not mean causality -, but dairy products are even associated with a reduced risk.Breast cancer, on the other hand, can be linked neither to beef nor to milk.
Therefore, the two institutes recommend that these products continue to be used as complementary foods for infants because of their micronutrients. In addition, they are safe for people of all ages.
Milk and beef should also benefit MS
Undeterred, de Villiers and zur Hausen go one step further in their current article: They argue that multiple sclerosis (MS) is also associated with the consumption of dairy products and beef. Here, too, the geographical distribution had given her the idea of searching for BMMF in brain lesions of MS patients. And indeed, they isolated ring-shaped DNA molecules that were found to be closely related to the BMMF from milk and bovine blood. Quote: «The result electrified us.»
However, additional factors must be taken into account, such as vitamin D3 deficiency.This is because the incidence of MS decreases from the Earth’s poles towards the equator with increasing solar radiation. Furthermore, Epstein-Barr viruses apparently play a role, as MS patients have significantly increased titers of EBV antibodies. One study also found that people in Antarctica excrete reactivated EBV in saliva during the winter, and vitamin D3 stops virus secretion.
Under these conditions, the researchers hypothesized that MS is based on a double infection of brain cells by EBV and BMMF. Due to a vitamin D3 deficiency, EBVs become active again, multiply the BMMF, which are finally converted into proteins. A focal immune reaction leads to functional failures of Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes, which leads to the destruction of the myelin sheaths around the nerve fibers.
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Source — https://www.univadis.de/viewarticle/partikel-milch-und-rindfleisch-beg%25C3%25BCnstigen-krebs-und-ms-2023a100047h