Perro, Michelle, “Childhood Leukemia, the Microbiome, and Glyphosate: A Doctor’s Perspective,” GMOScience.org, January 15, 2019.
SUMMARY:
- Childhood leukemia is on the rise
- Exposure to pesticides is known to increase the risk of childhood leukemia, as well as other types of cancer
- New research links an impoverished gut microbiome (bacterial community) and chronic inflammation with increased risk of childhood leukemia
- Diet-related ways are being sought to improve the microbiome and prevent the inflammation that triggers childhood leukemia
- Glyphosate herbicides are used on around 90% of GM crops; glyphosate has been classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s cancer agency IARC
- Exposure to glyphosate-based and other pesticides has been shown to disrupt the gut microbiome in laboratory animals
- People who eat organic food have been found to have a 25% reduced risk of cancer
- Clinical experience shows that switching to an organic and non-GMO diet improves people’s health
- Controlled studies are needed to verify how switching to an organic and non-GMO diet affects the microbiome and certain disease conditions.