Around 400 high profile doctors, medical researchers and scientists recently joined forces to form lobby group Friends of Science in Medicine (FSM in order to have "alternative medicine" degrees removed from Australian universities.
Chiropractic, osteopathy, Chinese medicine, naturopathy, iridology, kinesiology, reflexology, homeopathy and aromatherapy are some of the courses on their blacklist.
The issue has had significant media coverage, but one question has failed to be properly answered.
Why is a group of prestigious doctors and scientists who have the backing of the most profitable industry in the world according to Fortune 500 – the pharmaceutical industry – targeting a few poorly-funded natural medicine courses?
The official line of the group is that these "alternative medicines" are making Australia look bad and "trashing" the universities' reputation. But is that really the reason? With all the countries and all the universities in the world that provide alternative medicines?
A similar move was made in the UK recently – the British will no longer be able to study certain natural medicine degrees – this does not include chiropractic or osteopathy – at publicly-funded universities from this year. Yet natural medicine has been utilised across Asia and Europe for thousands of years.
The United States and Canada are pioneers of chiropractic as we see it today, providing university courses long before they were ever offered in Australia. Also, nearly 85 per cent of US medical schools offer elective courses in alternative medicines.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO , 80 per cent of the world's population relies on natural therapies. The figures in Australia are much the same.
So why Australia? What is FSM so worried about?
The group seems to be particularly concerned about an increase in chiropractic courses after it was announced recently that Central Queensland University would be offering a new chiropractic science degree. The move could also be partly to do with the ruling in 2010 that all chiropractors in Australia may use the title 'Doctor'.
FSM has accused what it labels as Australia's "lesser" universities that offer alternative medicine courses of "putting the public at risk".
However, this is a difficult notion to fathom when you compare the tiny number of injuries inflicted on natural medicine patients compared to the hundreds of thousands of deaths recorded each year due to medical errors.
WHO estimates that one in 10 hospital admissions leads to an adverse event while one in 300 admissions leads to death. WHO puts medical errors as among the top 10 killers in the world. According to the US's Institute of Medicine, preventable medical errors kill 98,000 people in the US alone each year and injure countless more.
One of the group's biggest complaints, according to FSM co-founder Emeritus Professor John Dwyer from the University of NSW, is that natural medicine "doesn't strive to be tested". He says that modern medicine is "totally devoted" to taking an "evidence-based approach" and "do good science and do good research into the things we do to people".
The argument that modern medicine is evidence-based as opposed to other types of medicine is an argument that is often used by medical lobbyists, and tends to be generally accepted by the public. However, according to a report by a panel of experts assembled by the prestigious Institute of Medicine, "well below half" of medical care in the US is based on or supported by adequate evidence.
According to the report, between 1993 and 2004 there was a more than 80 per cent increase in the number of medications prescribed to Americans. The panel believes this boom in pharmaceuticals is outpacing the rate at which information on their effectiveness can be generated. "If trends continue, the ability to deliver appropriate care will be strained and may be overwhelmed," the report concluded.
What FSM fails to recognise is that natural medicine courses taught at universities incorporate a much higher level of evidence-based studies, such as health science and human physiology, than if they were to be taught outside of a university.
The Australian universities that have been criticised have all defended their courses, saying they are very much evidence and science-based.
In naturopathy, for example, on top of herbal medicine and nutrition, students also learn the same things that a physiotherapist, medical doctor or nurse learn. As well as chiropractic studies, chiropractors study biology, physiology, neuroscience, anatomy and pathology, for example. These are all scientific studies.
Acting head of RMIT's Health Sciences School Dr Ray Myers has defended its programs as "evidence-based education and practice", saying clinical research of natural medicine treatments are funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC .
If FSM really was so worried about public safety they would not be trying to exclude natural medicine from universities where they are taught with much more of a medical focus. Graduates of these courses are much more likely to refer patients to medical doctors when necessary.
As Nick Klomp, dean of the science faculty at Charles Sturt University, points out, thousands of practitioners already provide alternative medicine and they are very much in demand. "I could ignore them or I could train them better," he said. "We actually create graduates who are much better health care providers. It's all about evidence based, science based."
The other question to ask is just how representative the group is of Australian doctors. Dr Wardle, a NHMRC Research Fellow at the University of Queensland's School of Population Health conducted a survey of every rural GP in NSW and found a third did not refer to alternative medicine providers, a third were incredibly open to it, and a third would refer patients to practitioners that they knew achieved results.
The Australian Medical Association president has withdrawn his support from the lobby group. A number of researchers and doctors have also pulled out of FSM reportedly saying they were not aware of the full picture.
Many Australian medical doctors recognise their limits and refer to natural providers when necessary. However, others continue to believe that modern medicine – which is only 100 years old – is the only way of curing pain.
Natural therapies have been used for more than 10,000 years, and so they deserve a place in society, in Australian universities, and even in modern medicine. According to Australian trauma and general surgeon Dr Valerie Malka, former director of trauma services at Westmead Hospital, while modern medicine is revolutionary when it comes to surgery, particularly in emergencies, for pretty much everything else, traditional, natural or alternative medicine is much more effective.
She says in particular, modern medicine is completely unable to treat or cure chronic illness. Rather than focusing on symptom control, natural medicines work on the body's ability to heal the cause of the illness while modern medicine suppresses the body's healing mechanism with drugs that attack the body's natural defence mechanisms, throwing the immune system out of whack.
Dr Malka believes the attack on natural medicine has more to do with the threat to modern medicine's power base as well as its "unhealthy relationship" with the "trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry".
This is not the first time natural medicines have been attacked by the medical industry.
Alternative healthcare professionals such as chiropractors, naturopaths, and midwives have been targeted by the American Medical Association (AMA for nearly a century, in spite of a federal court injunction against the AMA in 1987 for illegally trying to create a monopoly in the healthcare market.
Up until 1983, the AMA had held that it was unethical for MDs to associate with "unscientific practitioners" and they labelled chiropractic "an unscientific cult". They also had a committee on "quackery" which challenged what it considered to be unscientific forms of healing. Five chiropractors including Chester Wilk sued the AMA, claiming that the committee was established specifically to undermine chiropractic.
Wilk won the case, with Judge Susan Getzendanner ruling that the AMA had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade "to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession," also saying that the "AMA had entered into a long history of illegal behaviour".
If you look at the history of attacks on natural healthcare providers over the last 100 years, it is difficult not to associate this attack by FSM as the latest attempt to influence the public into believing that natural medicine is, as it says, "quackery" by spreading propaganda that most of the time is simply not true.
"It's just extraordinary that such undisciplined nonsense is being taught in universities around Australia," Mr Dwyer has said.
Why does this group feel that it has the right to talk this way about natural medicines that are ages old and used by 80 per cent of people across the world?
If FSM really was concerned about patient care and safety in Australia, then perhaps it would investigate medical practices which, unfortunately, seriously injure and kill thousands of people every year, rather than target natural medicine.
Sarah Schwager is an Australian journalist currently working in South America. View her full profile
here.
The US Food and Drug Administration has moved to address a US cancer treatment drug shortage. Not only will it permit one drug to be imported, it's also fast-tracking the approval process for another.
Both measures are intended to ensure US cancer patients have access to the drugs they need after data showed that supply issues hampered the distribution of a good 200 drugs last year.
According to doctors and other health officials, the situation has forced suppliers into putting off cancer treatment programmes or drawing on other, less-effective or more expensive drugs to plug the gap.
The imported cancer drug is Lipodox, which is used in ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma treatment when other medications have been ineffective. It shares an ingredient, doxorubicin, with Johnson & Johnson's Doxil, supplies of which are now scarce.
FDA Cancer Drug Approval
Meanwhile, the FDA has also acted against the US drug shortage by approving APP Pharmaceuticals' production of methotrexate - a cancer drug used alongside other treatments to fight childhood leukaemia.
"A drug shortage can be a frightening prospect for patients and President Obama made it clear that preventing these shortages from happening is a top priority of his administration", Doctor Margaret Hamburg - administration commissioner - confirmed in a statement. She added: "Through the collaborative work of FDA, industry and other stakeholders, patients and families waiting for these products or anxious about their availability should now be able to get the medication they need.
"We are making progress. There were 195 drug shortages prevented in 2011 and 114 drug shortages prevented since October 2011 when we made the call for early notification."
US Drug Shortages
The US drug shortages have been attributed to multiple causes including manufacturing plant closures.
Lipodox is produced by Sun Pharma Global FZE which, in a statement, described the unusual circumstances under which it had been contracted. ‘[The] temporary importation of unapproved foreign drugs is considered only in rare cases when there is a shortage of an approved drug that is critical to patients and the shortage cannot be resolved in a timely fashion with FDA-approved drugs', it wrote.
An experimental drug combination may provide “a new weapon against pancreatic cancer”, BBC News has reported.
In a search for new ways to fight the aggressive cancer, scientists combined an existing chemotherapy drug called gemcitabine with an experimental chemical called MRK003. The chemical can block the actions of a protein called "gamma secretase" that plays a range of roles in the body. To test the effect of this combination they gave the mixture to mice genetically engineered to develop pancreatic cancer. They found that that the mice survived 26 days with the combination treatment, compared with just nine days when given an inactive dummy drug. Cancer Research UK reports that a human trial of gemcitabine combined with another gamma secretase blocker are now underway.
Pancreatic cancer often has a poor prognosis as it’s usually only diagnosed at an advanced stage, by which time it is resistant to many conventional treatments. It is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the UK, and patients with metastatic disease (where the cancer has spread survive between two and six months on average.
This animal study has reported promising results for a new form of combination therapy. However, there are limits to what can be learnt from animal tests, so the results of the current clinical trial will provide a much clearer indication of how safe or successful this regime is for treating patients.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, Cambridge University and Merck Research Laboratories, USA. It was funded by the University of Cambridge and Cancer Research UK, the Li Ka Shing Foundation and Hutchison Whampoa Limited, the UK National Institute for Health Research, Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the collaborative research programme at Merck, a pharmaceutical company. The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Experimental Medicine.
This story was covered by the BBC and Metro. The coverage was accurate and explained that the drug is part of an ongoing phase I/II clinical trial.
What kind of research was this?
This study examined the use of an experimental drug in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer and on cells grown in the laboratory. Animal models of disease provide a useful way to test what might happen if human patients were given a particular drug. Although the animal models don’t necessarily reflect what would happen in humans, they can be invaluable in exploring the properties of potential treatments. The mouse model in this research has already been used to test several pancreatic cancer drugs, with researchers finding that it accurately modelled the responses seen in patients with the condition.
This is the ideal study design for preliminary trials of new drugs. Drugs need to be well-tolerated and effective in the laboratory and in animals before trials on humans can happen.
What did the research involve?
The researchers took mice that modelled the main subtype of pancreatic cancer, called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This type accounts for around 90% of pancreatic cancer cases. The researchers wanted to test a novel drug called MRK003, a type of “inhibitor” that blocks the gamma secretase pathway. Gamma secretase is involved in a signalling pathway between cells, which is disrupted in many cancers.
To test their theory, the researchers looked at the effect of several treatment regimes involving MRK003, administering it alone or in combination with a drug called gemcitabine that is already clinically used to treat pancreatic cancer. In particular, the researchers looked at:
- the way treatment affected the expression of certain markers that are characteristic of pancreatic cancer
- the effect on mice survival
- the effect on the tumour cells
What were the basic results?
The researchers found that MRK003 could reduce the expression of certain pancreatic cancer markers. When given alone, MRK003 had no effect on the survival of pancreatic cancer model, but when given in combination with gemcitabine the median survival time of the mice was significantly increased, from nine days when given a placebo to 26 days when given MRK003 and gemcitabine in combination (p=0.002 . The researchers found that combination treatment promotes tumour cell death and suppresses tumour growth.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that this research supports the further investigation of gamma secretase inhibitors (drugs such as MRK003 in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Conclusion
Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer can have a poor outlook, as the disease is aggressive and often advanced by the time it produces any symptoms. Despite being a relatively rare form of cancer (with around 7,800 cases diagnosed each year , it’s the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Patients with metastatic disease (where the cancer has spread have a median survival of between two and six months.
Given the current poor outlook for pancreatic cancer patients, there is a real need for new treatment options for the condition. This experimental study, although only in mice, has produced positive results for the combination therapy involving a gamma secretase inhibitor and gemcitabine. Gemcitabine is an established treatment for pancreatic cancer, but it currently attains only modest survival results.
The combination treatment was found to promote the death of tumour cells and suppress tumour growth, and increased survival time to 26 days (compared to nine days with a placebo .
These are exciting early results in an area with a clear need for better treatments. However, it will take the results of further clinical trials, such as the phase I/II clinical trial currently underway, to tell how successful or safe this regime is for treating patients.
Analysis by Bazian
Links To The Headlines
Pancreatic cancer: Trial drug MRK003 shows promise. BBC News, February 21 2012
Drugs mixture offers new hope in pancreatic cancer fight. Metro, February 21 2012
Links To Science
Cook N, Frese KK, Bapiro TE et al. Gamma secretase inhibition promotes hypoxic necrosis in mouse pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, February 20 2012
Merlin
Democratic Republic of the Congo (the
06 Mar 2012
Responsible To: Provincial Operations Manager Working With: Field medical and non medical team members Location: Birambizo health zone, Rutshuru territory, North Kivu Province, DRC Start Date: ASAP Duration: 12 months
Salary: ?27,980 - ?28,730 per annum (dependant on relevant experience , inclusive of annual Cost of Living Allowance Benefits: Insurance cover, accommodation, R&R, annual leave entitlement of 24 days per annum rising to 30 days at the completion of 12 months of continuous employment with Merlin.
Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer this post before the closing date.
Please note that this is an unaccompanied position
Merlin Undaunted and determined, Merlin saves lives. We deliver medical expertise to the toughest places. And we stay to help build lasting health care.
Our mission is to end the needless loss of life in the poorest countries caused by a lack of effective health care. We help communities set up medical services for the long term including hospitals, clinics, surgeries and training for nurses and other health workers.
We do whatever it takes and we stay for as long as it takes.
Context and Background The Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire is the third largest country in Africa and The Democratic Republic of Congo is the second largest country in Africa and one of the poorest. Decades of dictatorship and civil war have left much of the national infrastructure destroyed. Merlin has been operational in DRC since 1997. Merlin teams have provided emergency medical care to the most vulnerable populations in Maniema, Kasai Oriental , North Kivu and Orientale Provinces. Activities have included emergency response, support to primary and secondary health care facilities (including supervision, supply of drugs, and the payment of incentives , reproductive health, institutional capacity building, immunisation campaigns, nutrition, WASH, and the rehabilitation of health facilities.
From 1 January 2012 Maniema and North Kivu will operate as autonomous programmes, each reporting direct to head office in London; they will be supported by country offices in Goma and Kinshasa. In North Kivu Merlin currently works in Rutshuru/Binza, Kayna, and Birambizu health zones, providing essential health care services to DPs and host populations; and will provide the health component of the rapid response to movements of population (RRMP mechanism throughout the province.
Main purpose of the role The Birambizo Project Coordinator will be responsible for managing the Nyanzale office, the Tongo sub-base and for overseeing Merlin project activities in the whole Birambizo health zone. This includes overseeing logistic activities, responsibility for security and ensuring proper financial procedures are followed for the project implementation. She/He is also responsible for the coordination, management and capacity building of national staff members.
Overall Objectives (scope • Base management • Project Management and Development • Administration and Finance • Human Resources • Security • Representation Responsibilities
Base Management • Ensure adequate information flow within Nyanzale and Tongo teams and between Nyanzale and Goma offices • Create/maintain a “team spirit” within the Merlin staff
Project Management and Development • Budget holding of the Merlin (sub- projects implemented in Birambizo • Plan and monitor project activities and outputs against project Logframes and budgets. This includes grant opening, grant closing and monthly grant monitoring meetings with all departments, as well as activity, procurement and financial planning. • Ensure the delivery of the project according to objectives and time-frames • Reporting – internal and external - for daily and weekly site communications. • Ongoing evaluation and development of proposals
Security • Responsible for the security of the Merlin team and assets in a changeable and volatile security environment, including initiating and organising evacuation if necessary • Ongoing monitoring of the security situation in the region • Prepare and update security guidelines and ensure that these are adhered to • Provide timely and accurate security/incident reports to the Project Coordinator and Goma Security Focal Point • Maintain regular contacts with key actors in relation to security (local authorities, the community, MONUC, OCHA, etc.
Logistics • Assure planning, procurement and follow-up of goods in line with project and base needs • Collaborate with Merlin Goma Logistics to assure planning, procurement and timely delivery of drugs and medical consumables to Merlin-supported Health Facilities, avoiding stock ruptures • Assure Merlin procurement and logistics procedures are followed • Manage, register and maintain Merlin assets • Manage and document warehouse and transport of Merlin goods according to Merlin procedures
Admin and Finance • Manage the program budget and ensure regular communication with the Finance Manager on all budget matters. • Manage cash on site, ensuring compliance with Merlin procedures in relation to cash security (on site and cash transfer . • Ensure activities in Birambizo comply with all legal and bureaucratic requirements of DRC • Prepare timely cash requests and transfers • Filing systems and record keeping • Prevent, and if necessary report and investigate fraud and misconduct within Merlin staff and partners
Human Resources • Supervise and directly or indirectly line-manage all Merlin staff in Birambizo • Ensure that Merlin recruitment and appraisal procedures are followed • To ensure that all staff management is carried out according to the Merlin internal regulations and the DRC labour code • To provide the HR dept in Goma with monthly staff information updates and keep them informed on all disciplinary matters • Organise and supervise capacity building and development of national staff
Representation • Represent Merlin and its activities to key stakeholders (community, authorities, donors, other (I NGOs, partners • Closely collaborate with MoH on Health Zone level and assure that Merlin projects effectively contribute to MoH capacity building and comply with MoH strategies
Other • Provide meaningful reporting on project activities to Goma office • Provide coverage for other posts when needed and carry out any other responsibilities as requested by the Country Director
Person Specification Essential Qualifications, experience and competences
• Experience and proven skills in budget holding and management • Experience and proven skills in Project Management • Experience of working in security and unstable environments • Strong communication skills, with excellent written and spoken English and French • Knowledge and understanding of project management tools (Logical Framework analysis, project cycle management, indicators etc. • Proven problem solving and organizational skills, flexible and calm under pressure • Strong leadership skills and a supportive management style • Good team worker, able to live and work closely with a small team • Computer skills (Word, Excel, E-mail • Experience of proactively identifying and addressing issues • An understanding of and commitment to Merlin’s mission and values
Desirable Qualifications, experience and competences
• Working experience in DRC / Central Africa • Experience in health care management in insecure and instable contexts
To apply for this position To apply for this job, please go to
www.merlin.org.uk/jobs and apply using our online recruitment system. In order to apply for a job with Merlin online you will need to complete a short registration process and create an account – the online recruitment system explains how to do this. Once your account has been created, you will be able to save the information that you have entered in your application and re-visit it at any time before you submit it.
If you are unable to apply online please contact:
applications@merlin.org.uk.
Please note that we do not accept CVs. Unfortunately due to the number of applications we receive, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
16-Feb-2012
Indore: State mental health authority has started a probe into allegations of unethical clinical trials conducted on mentally ill patients in Indore on the directive of the government of India.
“We have summoned all the five doctors who allegedly conducted clinical trials on mentally ill patients. We have also called the complainant doctor in this matter,” Dr RN Sahu, secretary of the state mental health authority and head of psychiatry department, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal told DNA.
He said the probe on the government of India’s instruction will cover all aspects and find out if any violations were committed.
Whistle blower in the clinical trials Dr Anand Rai said he has also been summoned on February 24 and has been asked to bring all the relevant documents.
In a letter on January 24, the union health ministry instructed state mental health authority to conduct an inquiry of the allegations of clinical trials on mentally ill patients. As per the allegations, 233 mentally ill patients in Indore were subjected to clinical trials to check efficacy of various drugs. These included 42 patients for a drug called Dapoxetine used to cure premature ejaculation.
The trials were conducted in private clinics by doctors of the mental hospital attached to the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College between January 2008 and October 2010. This came to light following chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s reply to a question raised in the state assembly.
The reply, tabled in the assembly, mentioned five doctors - Dr Ramgulam Rajdan, Dr VS Pal, Dr Ujwal Sardesai, Dr Abhay Paliwal and Dr Pali Rastogi.
http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MP-IND-docs-summoned-for-drug-trials-2869358.html
Summary:
Diagnoses and treats variety of diseases and injuries in general practice by performing the following duties.
Elicits and records information about patient's medical history.
Examines patient to determine general physical condition.
Orders or executes various tests, analyses, and diagnostic images to provide information on patient's condition.
Analyzes reports and findings of tests and of examination, and diagnoses condition.
Administers or prescribes treatments and drugs.
Inoculates and vaccinates patients to immunize patients from communicable diseases.
Advises patients concerning diet, hygiene, and methods for prevention of disease.
Provides prenatal care to pregnant women, delivers babies, and provides postnatal care to mother and infant.
Reports births, deaths, and outbreak of contagious diseases to governmental authorities.
Refers patients to medical specialist or other practitioner for specialized treatment.
Performs minor surgery.
Makes house and emergency calls to attend to patients unable to visit office or clinic.
Conducts physical examinations to provide information needed for admission to school, consideration for jobs, or eligibility for insurance coverage.
Job Details
| Date Posted: | 2012-02-22 |
| Job Location: | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Job Role: | Healthcare/Medical |
| Company Industry: | Pharmaceutical; Medical/Hospital; Healthcare, other |
Preferred Candidate
| Career Level: | Mid Career |
| Gender: | Male |
| Nationality: | Philippines; Saudi Arabia |
| Degree: | Bachelor's degree / higher diploma |
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"Excessive testing costs $200 billion to $250 billion (per year ," Dr. Steven Weinberger, CEO of ACP said in an interview from his office in Philadelphia. "There's an overuse of imaging studies, CT scans for lung disease, overuse of routine electrocardiograms and other cardiac tests such as stress testing."
In an article published last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the ACP cited 37 clinical situations where screening did not promote health and might actually hurt patients.
They included performing coronary angiography - a procedure that uses a special contrast agent and X-rays to see inside the heart's arteries - in patients with chronic, stable chest pain that is being controlled by drugs or who lack specific high-risk criteria on exercise testing.
"It's medical gluttony," said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.
"The ironic thing is that people are talking about rationing. We have got to think about the rational use of medicine in order to avoid rationing medicine," he said.
Slaughter specically asked the companies to breakdown what percentage of the food they sell is raised "without any antibiotics," raised with antibiotics only for "therapeutic reasons," or raised with "routine use of antibiotics" -- information that consumers often have no way of knowing. The list of companies that received the letter was varied, including: Burger King, Cargill, YUM! Brands, Costco, Bon Appetit Management Company, Kraft, McDonald's and Whole Foods.
"Very simply, consumers have a right to know what's in their food," said Slaughter. "It's like that old commercial, 'where's the beef?' We just want to know, 'what's in the beef?' The US is facing a growing public health crisis in the form of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and information about how these companies are contributing to its rise or resolution should be available to consumers."
Antibiotic-resistance is not just an issue that rallies sustainable agriculture advocates -- who have long argued against drug use in food animal production -- the issue is increasingly tied to foodborne illness outbreak headlines.
Last year, the United States had the most outbreaks ever of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella tied to meat and poultry, according to Slaughter's office. Last summer, the largest Class I meat recall on record was initiated after Cargill ground turkey was linked to a nationwide drug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak tied to 136 illnesses and one death.
"Decades of research has shown that the practice of routinely feeding antibiotics to swine, cows, and chickens harms human health by contributing to diseases that fail drug treatment," the letter continued. "A National Academy of Sciences report stated that 'a decrease in the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in human medicine is not enough [to slow the increase in antibiotic resistance]. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate misuse in animals and agriculture as well."
The most recent estimates show around 80 percent of all antibiotics sold annually are used in food animal production.
The only microbiologist serving in Congress, Slaughter challenged companies to tout examples of lessening antibiotic use.
"There are some who would have us believe that we must pump our food up with antibiotics to keep prices low and affordable," she said. "But the food industry has proven success stories and leaders who understand the benefits that come from raising and serving antibiotic-free meat. It is not incompatible for us to have healthy and affordable food."
The
letter asks companies to respond in detail to Congresswoman Slaughter's office by June 15.
“Not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill,” according to the Daily Mail.
This somewhat sweeping statement is based purely on an animal study looking at how mice body clocks affected their immune systems. The study found that levels of an infection-detecting protein called TLR9 fluctuated throughout the day and that the exact level of this protein influenced how effective a vaccine was in mice. It also influenced the mice’s response to a type of serious infection.
Differences between man and mouse mean more research will be needed to determine if these findings apply to humans. If they do, then it may be possible that certain vaccinations could be administered at specific times of day to make them more effective. However, this approach would need to be tested in humans to be sure that it actually made a meaningful difference to the effectiveness of the vaccines.
The immune system is a complex area, and while this research shed some light on one aspect of the body’s immunity and its ties to the body clock, there’s still much to learn.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US. It was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Immunity.
When reporting this study both BBC News and the Daily Mail stated that this research was in mice, and gave good summaries of the findings. However, the Mail’s headline claimed that “not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill”, which the current research does not support. The results of this research in mice should not be interpreted as providing proof that amount of sleep affects illness in humans.
What kind of research was this?
This was animal research looking at exactly how the body clock affects the function of the immune system in mice. The researchers say that previous studies have shown that certain immune system functions and chemicals vary naturally in relation to light and daily rhythms in humans and mice. They say that studies have also suggested that disruptions to normal daily rhythms, such as jet lag or sleep deprivation, may also affect the immune system.
This type of early research will usually use animals such as mice to carry out in-depth investigation of the interaction of basic biological functions, which might be difficult to carry out in humans. Generally, it’s only once researchers have built up a picture of these interactions in mice that they can then carry out further studies to test the findings in humans.
What did the research involve?
The researchers first looked at a group of mice genetically engineered to have defective body clocks and a group of normal mice to identify any differences between the two groups in how their white blood cells (immune cells responded to invading microorganisms. They found that the differences identified related to a protein called Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9 . This protein recognises DNA from bacteria and viruses, and plays a role in signalling to the immune system to mount an attack on these invading organisms. The researchers then looked at whether the production and function of TLR9 in normal mice varies throughout the day as a result of the body clock cycle (known as the “circadian cycle” .
The researchers then gave mice vaccinations containing molecules that would activate TLR9 and looked at whether mice responded differently to the vaccine according the time of the day it was given. They also looked at whether time of day affected how mice responded to being infected with bacteria in a process known to involve TLR9. The method used involves allowing bacteria from the mouse’s intestines to invade its body cavity. This leads to a condition called sepsis, a strong inflammatory immune system response throughout the body that is harmful to the mice.
What were the basic results?
The researchers found that levels of the protein TLR9 in mice did fluctuate naturally through the day, peaking at set times over a 24-hour cycle.
They found that when they gave mice vaccines that would activate TLR9, the vaccination produced a greater immune response if given at a time of day when TLR9 levels were at their highest. The researchers found that if the mice were infected at a time when TLR9 was at its highest, the mice showed worse signs of sepsis and died earlier than mice infected at the time when TLR9 was at its lowest.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that their findings showed a direct link between the body clock and one aspect of the immune system in mice. They said that this may have important implications for how vaccination and immune-system-related therapies are administered in humans.
They also noted that some studies have found that people with sepsis are more likely to die between 2am and 6am. They say that further studies are needed to determine if this may be related to levels of TLR9, and if so whether giving certain therapies during this period could reduce this risk.
Conclusion
This study identifies one way in which the body clock and immune system interact in mice, via a protein called TLR9. The researchers found that fluctuations in this protein throughout the day influenced how effective a certain form of vaccination was in mice, and also influenced the mice’s response to one type of serious infection.
Differences between the species mean more research is needed to determine if these findings also apply to humans. If they do, then vaccinations could be given at specific times of day when they would be most effective. However, this theory needs testing in humans to ensure that it makes a meaningful difference to the effectiveness of the vaccine.
There has also been media speculation that researchers could develop infection-fighting drugs based on these findings. However, this suggestion is premature as researchers first need to confirm that the mechanism identified in this study also applies in humans. Even if it is confirmed, it would still take a great deal of research to develop and test a drug that could capitalise on it.
It’s also worth remembering just how complex the immune system is, and although this research improves our understanding of one aspect (how it is affected by the body clock there is still much to learn.
Analysis by Bazian
Links To The Headlines
Body clock 'alters' immune system. BBC News, February 17 2012
Not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill, says study. Daily Mail, February 17 2012
Links To Science
Silver AC, Arjona A, Walker WE, Fikrig E. The Circadian Clock Controls Toll-like Receptor 9-Mediated Innate and Adaptive Immunity. Immunity, February 17 2011
As we've pointed out here several times in the past nine months, the anti-choice forces
made major strides in making legal abortions harder to get in 2011. They did their work at the state level where they have achieved steady, damaging victories for a number of years, but were especially emboldened by the Republican success at the polls in 2010.
To condense, 135 provisions were enacted in 36 states during 2011 relating to reproductive health or rights. Eighty-nine of those provisions restricted abortion, 50 more than in 2005, the previous record year for such legislation. Dry statistics. But as Carole Joffe
reports, they are causing personal pain. Both for women seeking abortions and for providers.
First consider Jennie McCormick. She ordered abortion medication over the internet and now faces criminal charges that could put her away for five years. Joffe writes: "She has also been stigmatized in her own community to a degree to which the fictional Hester Prynne of
The Scarlet Letter
fame could relate." From the
Independent:
When Jennie Linn McCormack walks the streets of Pocatello, the town in southern Idaho where she was born, raised, and still lives, she attempts to disguise her face by covering it with a thick woollen scarf.Unmarried, impoverished and pregnant with her fourth child, McCormack faced the problem so many American women do because nearly 90 percent of the nation's counties have no clinics or hospitals that will perform abortions. That is an outcome of nearly four decades of attacks by anti-choice forces. For her, the closest clinic was in Salt Lake City, a 150-mile drive. Because Utah requires a waiting period, she would have had to make the five-hour round-trip twice. The expense of the trip, the procedure and follow-up medical care also worried her.
It doesn't really work. In the supermarket, people stop and point. At fast-food outlets, they hiss "it's her!" In the local church, that supposed bastion of forgiveness, fire-and-brimstone preachers devote entire sermons to accusing her of mortal sin. [...]
Then she found out from her sister about RU-486, the abortion-inducing drug. Her sister ordered it, and McCormack took the pill as soon as it arrived. It worked. But there were complications that brought the fact of her abortion to the notice of authorities. In Idaho, self-induced abortions are outlawed. Although the original charges against McCormack were dismissed last summer, they could be reinstated. The whole affair has put the issue of the constitutionality of the ban in Idaho, and by extrapolation similar bans in six other states, into the hands of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Then there is the provider. Joffe relates the example of Amy Hagstrom Miller, who oversees abortion clinics in Texas under the name Whole Women's Health. She and her clients now have to contend with new obstacles from a state law that requires a woman seeking an abortion to obtain an ultrasound from a physician who must describe to her in detail the development of the fetus. The same physician must perform the abortion, which presents a huge scheduling problem.
But, more importantly, the vast majority of abortions are performed at 12 weeks of pregnancy or less. The fetus is quite small at this phase. That means that physicians who want to avoid running afoul of a law that is intended by its sponsors to reduce abortions must use a transvaginal probe. That requires penetrating a woman's vagina, "state rape," as opponents have so rightly called it. If she refuses, no abortion.
From Idaho to Texas and other states across the nation, it's all part of the long-running effort to end legal abortions. There is nothing the anti-choice forces will not stoop to in their relentless war on reproductive freedom.
19-Feb-2012
Manicka Tagore, MP,Virudhunagar, distributing guardianship certificate to the guardian of mentally disabled girl
during an event organised by M. S. Chellamuthu Trust & Research Foundation at Alagarkoil near Madurai on Saturday.
Madurai : Mental illness can affect anyone at any stage and people should not undermine the question of self-respect of the mentally disabled, said Manicka Tagore, MP, Virudhunagar.
Participating in the annual day event of NAMBIKKAI (care givers association for the mentally disabled of M.S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation, here at Alagarkoil on Saturday, he said that providing genuine care with lot of affection is much needed for persons with Mental Disability (MD .
Mr. Tagore later distributed guardianship forms issued by the National Trust, gave away revolving funds to Self Help Groups attached to the project and also gave away educational assistance to the siblings of those with MD as part of the efforts to empower the care givers . The MP also inaugurated a cafeteria within the campus of the Trust where bakery products were made by persons with MD.
The Community Mental Health Project undertaken by NAMBIKKAI of M.S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation has involved in making phenomenal advancements in improving the status of mental health among the rural populace.
The project, which was started in the year 2000, saw the members reach every nook and corner in the Madurai East Panchayat Union to identify the mentally challenged people and bring them into the mainstream.
The project identified 1,099 persons, among whom women and children were found to be more in number. The project was about not only rehabilitation but also to make them productive through training programmes and tapping their potential to manufacture small useable items.
The annual day event of NAMBIKKAI exemplified the glimpses of empowerment that is happening among the persons with Mental Disabilities. The project has indeed unfettered the chains that were tied to the ankles and wrists of many mentally challenged persons in Madurai East Panchayat Union.
It was found during the project that medicines and drugs for psychiatry treatment are costlier and a few drugs had to be taken for a longer period of time so the Trust felt that the patients need to be empowered economically to the possible extent and it was then small units like candle making unit, bakery products and handicrafts were started for them.
The association founded by the family members of the mentally disabled meets once a month and discusses issues related to care giving.
Parents and siblings of mentally challenged persons shared their experiences about the intervention of the project.
S. Santiago, south Indian representative, ANDHERI-Hilfe Bonn, Germany, C. Ramasubramanian, State Nodal Officer, District Community Health Project. K. M. Kanagaraj, District Disabled Rehabilitation Officer, gave away revolving funds to three self-help groups attached to the project. R. Rajkumari, Executive Director, M. S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation was also present.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article2909882.ece
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And as if the old adage needed more proof that political movements always end up eating their own, Mr. Taylor's nemesis is MoveOn, the left-of-center group that got its start trying to retain President Clinton after his sexual liaison with Monica Lewinsky.
Taylor, currently deputy commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA , did not get on MoveOn's bad side for anything as nefarious as that.
He did however do a 15-month stint as vice president for public policy for Monsanto, leaving the corporation that has been called one of America's ten most innovative companies, in January 2000. If Taylor's obituary were written now, it's not his short time at Monsanto that would get much attention. It would be his two longer periods of public service. At USDA during the Clinton Administration, he was the top administrator for the Food Safety and Inspection Service that first banned E. coli O157:H7 from beef.
And at FDA, he put his skills with Congress to work to get the Food Safety Modernization Act passed by Congress and he now in charge of implementation.
Still, a loose coalition of genetic engineering (GE opponents, raw milk advocates, organic farmers and the like has voiced objections to Taylor since he joined the Obama Administration. They point to other stints in
Taylor's resume where they claim he had ties to Monsanto.
A petition went up months ago, but only after MoveOn adopted Taylor's removal as a pet cause has the effort "gone viral." It has so far collected about 420,000 signatures.
Now, however, some of the nation's best known food safety and consumer advocates are trying to see if they can get MoveOn to back down.
"We acknowledge that Monsanto symbolizes a lot of things that many people (including some of us don't like about modern, industrial agriculture. But Mr. Taylor's resume is not reducible to his work at that company," the signers wrote MoveOn.
"It is far more relevant that in the Clinton Administration he headed the Food Safety and Inspection Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he stood up to the meat industry and fought for strict controls that help keep E. coli and other pathogens out of meat and poultry. Since joining the Obama Administration, Taylor has been working extraordinarily hard to transform the FDA from a reactive agency that chases down foodborne?illness outbreaks after people fall ill, to a proactive public?health?based agency focused on preventing foods from becoming contaminated in the first place."
"We are confident that his leadership, formerly at USDA and now at FDA, has and will continue to reduce the number of Americans sickened, hospitalized, and killed by foodborne pathogens."
Signing on to the
public letter are:
-Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., Executive Director Center for Science in the Public Interest
-Shaun Kennedy, Director, National Center for Food Protection and Defense Director, Partnerships and Programs, College of Veterinary Medicine Assistant Professor, Veterinary Population Medicine University of Minnesota
-William D. Marler, Esq. Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm
-J. Glenn Morris, M.D., Director, Emerging Pathogens Institute University of Florida
-Michael Rodemeyer, Lecturer, Department of Science, Technology and Society University of Virginia, Former Executive Director, Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology
-Donald W. Schaffner, Ph.D., Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor Director of the Center for Advanced Food Technology Rutgers University
-Deirdre Schlunegger Chief Executive Officer STOP Foodborne Illness
-Carol L. Tucker?Foreman, Distinguished Fellow, The Food Policy Institute Consumer Federation of America, Former Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
On the other side, Atlanta' s Frederick Ravid is the author of the petition calling for Taylor's removal. He posted it on
SignOn.org in August. MoveOn sent it out on Feb. 6 to its five million members, spiking sign-ups.
Taylor's supporters have pointed out that Ravid 's claims that biotech foods contribute to various types of cancers are without scientific merit.
Taylor has removed himself from making any policies having to do with GE foods.
Erratic supplies of vitamin D drugs and the rising cost of unlicensed alternatives are wasting millions in NHS cash, GP leaders have warned.
NHS Information Centre data show the supply problem has forced GPs to prescribe expensive unlicensed medicines costing up to ?2,400.
The GPC criticised the DH for failing to help GPs increase the use of supplements, which can prevent expensive conditions such as bone disease.
Primary care prescribing costs for vitamin D have tripled since 2004 and will hit ?100m by 2013 (
GP
, 15 February . Expensive special-order vitamin D drugs are a key factor in this.
A standard course of cholecalciferol tablets to treat deficiency costs about ?16. But the NHS spent up to ?2,400 per prescription on liquid versions in July-September 2011.
GPC negotiator Dr Chaand Nagpaul said GPs were struggling to obtain supplies of licensed vitamin D products for deficiency treatment. PCTs have repeatedly changed prescribing advice as the supply waxes and wanes, he said.
Dr Nagpaul said: 'There's a myriad of policies for obtaining products,' which has caused 'confusion' and led to higher use of specials, and called for more clarity from commissioners.
DH officials have admitted uptake of free vitamin D supplements under the Healthy Start scheme remains undersubscribed.
The UK's four CMOs recently wrote to GPs calling for more awareness of the problem and encouraging them to alert patients to the free supplements scheme.
Dr Nagpaul said: 'Many GPs received this letter, but were not (told how to implement the recommendations.' A DH spokesman said the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition was reviewing advice on vitamin D.
By Stephen Robinson
In 2009, the FDA told Johnson & Johnson it could no longer sell an unsafe hip replacement in the United States. That didn’t stop the New Jersey health care giant from selling the device in other countries.
Now, the New Brunswick company faces up to $3 billion in legal and medical costs over the device, which J&J finally recalled in 2010 after evidence was revealed that it was leaving tiny, painful slivers of metal in many of those overseas patients.
Inside J&J, workers take pride in the corporation’s famous credo. Summarized, it says: Act ethically and responsibly, no matter the cost, and profits will follow.
J&J is proof that profits follow bad corporate behavior, too.
In 2010, the company earned a record $13 billion. At the same time, it paid roughly $750 million in government fines and settlements for a laundry list of wrongs. It was fined $70 million for overseas bribery, shut down a children’s drug factory for safety violations and was investigated for a “phantom” recall of tainted Motrin.
Defenders of the 1 percent insist corporations and their executives have every right to amass whatever fortunes they can in America’s free market.
But the headlines reveal that many big businesses are raking in billions without conscience. What we’re seeing is a grotesque shift in corporate values that undermines Corporate America’s image as the benevolent job creator.
Occupy Wall Street zeroed in on the enormous gap in pay between corporate executives and the so-called 99 percent. But not enough was said about the erosion of corporate citizenship and the lengths to which Big Banking, Big Pharma and Big Oil, just to name a few, will go to increase profits at the expense — even the victimization — of humanity. (See accompanying chart for some awful offenses.
We see deadly accidents in coal mines and on oil rigs as owners cut corners on worker and environmental protections; patients put at risk when pharmaceutical companies take already successful drugs and try to drive profits even higher by selling them for diseases the FDA never studied nor approved; taxpayers footing fraudulent bills as contractors look at government like a blank check, overcharging millions or more.
It is understandable for companies to pull back on their charitable works in tough times, or even trim the workforce. In the throes of the Great Recession, even companies with a social conscience often did that. Who could justify million-dollar gifts for charity when employees are being laid off?
But this is different. This is despicable behavior, and it’s widespread. If the same acts were committed by an individual, that person would likely find himself in prison. Corporations typically face only the loss of cash. Don’t worry, they’ll make more.
The U.S. Supreme Court is inching toward full personhood for corporations — see Citizens United vs. FEC, which granted them freedom of speech. Perhaps it’s time they were punished like people, too.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-3083.2012.04486.x/abstract (excerpts follow
J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2012 Feb 21,
Kasperska-Zajac A,
Grzanka A,
Czecior E,
Misiolek M,
Rogala B,
Machura E, Chair and Clinical Dept of Internal Diseases, Allergology and Clinical Immunology, Dermatology and Allergology, Chair and Clinical Dept of Otolaryngology in Zabrze, and Chair and Dept of Pediatric in Zabrze, Medical U .
Active chronic urticaria, identified as a mast cell- and basophil-dependent inflammatory disorder of the skin is able to elicit acute phase response (APR .
Plasma IL-6 and serum C-reactive protein (CRP concentrations were studied in 17 patients with NSAIDs-induced acute urticaria/angioedema (NSAIDsAU
CRP and IL-6 concentrations increased significantly in patients with NSAIDsAU as compared with their asymptomatic period and the healthy subjects.
an acute systemic inflammatory response is activated in patients with NSAIDs-induced urticaria and/or angioedema.
up-regulation of CRP and IL-6 in urticaria/angioedema does not necessarily reflect any concomitant infection or other inflammatory processes, but may be due to the disease itself.
an acute systemic inflammatory response is activated in patients with NSAIDs-induced urticaria and/or angioedema.
up-regulation of CRP and IL-6 in urticaria/angioedema does not necessarily reflect any concomitant infection or other inflammatory processes, but may be due to the disease itself.
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