Hi, Kat:
It is VERY EASY to dispute the validity of these findings, since the study had at least one basic design flaw: We are not looking for differences in IgA levels, but it is HOW WE REACT to ANY (specific) IgA level that causes AS in the first place.
Experiment after experiment is conducted using improper DOE guidelines, and cited in attempts to discredit Ebringer's results. You are very right that not just BIG PHARMA has an interest in the status quo, but funding at the university level is a very tricky thing, also. I have seen papers that appear to contradict the 'germ theory,' co-authored by people doing some of the work both with and for Ebringer. The reason? Grant money (first I suspected this, but over a year later I confirmed it by asking some of the people directly involved).
Don't believe everything you read--even the committee at the Karolinska Instituet gets it totally wrong sometimes.
Besides, Ebringer's results are nearly a moot issue when compared with myriad other sources proving dietary connections with AS and other arthritides. More than a decade before Ebringer began using his London AS Diet in his clinic, Giraud Campbell had already published his work--with X-ray evidence that diet can reverse bone damage and eliminate AS symptoms. There are many others over the past 100 years.
I appreciate your bringing this paper to our attention; I stopped looking for them quite some time ago, refusing to toss the Philosophers' Stone back into the pond once again!
Best to You,
John
