As I see it

How much of a danger are the H1N1 vaccine side effects?

2009-12-13T10:41:00.001+03:00

How much of a danger are the H1N1 vaccine side effects?

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Man Trapped In 23-Year 'Coma' Was Conscious

2009-11-24T08:42:00.001+03:00

Yesterday, 09:32 am

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An engineering student thought to be in a coma for 23 years was actually conscious the whole time, it has emerged.Skip related content

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Man Trapped In 23-Year 'Coma' Was ConsciousEnlarge photo

Rom Houben was misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative state after a car crash left him totally paralysed.
For the whole time, he was trapped in his own body with no way of letting friends and family know he could hear every word they were saying.
The 46-year-old, who can now tap out computerised messages and read books on a device above his hospital bed, has revealed: "I screamed, but there was nothing to hear.
"All that time I literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt.
"I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me - it was my second birth.
"I want to read, talk with my friends via the computer and enjoy life now people know I am not dead."
His misdiagnosis was discovered by neurological expert Dr Steven Laureys, who fears there may be similar cases all over the world.
He looked at Mr Houben's case again at the University of Liege, Belgium, using state-of-the-art imaging that showed the patient was aware of what was happening around him even though he had lost control of his body.
Dr Laureys, who leads the Coma Science Group, was unavailable for comment when contacted by Sky News Online.
He told the Daily Telegraph: "In Germany alone each year some 100,000 people suffer from severe traumatic brain injury.
"About 20,000 are followed by a coma of three weeks or longer. Some of them die, others regain health.
"But an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people a year, remain trapped in an intermediate stage: they go on living without ever coming back again."
Rom, a martial arts enthusiast who remains in constant care at a facility near Brussels, was repeatedly wrongly assessed in Zolder, Belgium, by doctors using technology available at the time.
They used the internationally accepted Glasgow Coma Scale to assess his eye, verbal and motor responses. But each time he was graded incorrectly.
The disclosure is likely to renew the right-to-die debate over whether people in comas are truly unconscious.
There have been several cases where people in deep comas have recovered.
Carrie Coons, 86, from New York, regained consciousness 20 years ago.
Days before her recovery, a judge had granted a request for the removal of her feeding tube which had been keeping her alive.

Three Killer Indicators Identified That Are Even Worse Than High Cholesterol

2009-11-10T09:39:00.001+03:00

Three Killer Indicators Identified That Are Even Worse Than High Cholesterol
ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2009) —
Researchers at the University of Warwick have identified a particular combination of health problems that can double the risk of heart attack and cause a three-fold increase in the risk of mortality.

The team, led by Assistant Clinical Professor of Public Health at Warwick Medical School Dr Oscar Franco, has discovered that simultaneously having obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar are the most dangerous combination of health factors when developing metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The main five health problems normally associated with metabolic syndrome are abnormal levels of blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglyceride levels (the chemical form in which fat exists in the body), too much sugar in the blood and central obesity (excess of fat around the waistline).
In his study, published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, Dr Franco has identified the most dangerous combination of these conditions to be central obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar. People who have all three of these conditions are twice as likely to have a heart attack and three times more likely to die earlier than the general population.
His team looked at 3,078 people to track the prevalence and progress of metabolic syndrome as part of the Framingham Offspring Study.
He said: "Metabolic syndrome is a highly prevalent condition that is increasing dramatically and affects a large portion of the middle-age population. Not all individuals enter the syndrome with identical combination of factors. Certain combinations confer higher risks of incident cardiovascular disease and mortality."
Dr Franco said the combination of high blood pressure, central obesity and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar ) showed a significantly higher risk compared to the others.
He added: "Intense efforts are needed to identify populations with these particular combinations and to provide them with adequate treatment at the early stages of disease."
Three Killer Indicators Identified That Are Even Worse Than High Cholesterol

Mathrubhumi Education News

2009-10-13T10:42:00.001+03:00

Mathrubhumi Education News

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Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease: Leaked letter reveals concern of neurologists over 25 deaths in America

2009-09-28T11:31:00.001+03:00

A warning that the new swine flu jab is linked to a deadly nerve disease has been sent by the Government to senior neurologists in a confidential letter.

The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, has been leaked to The Mail on Sunday, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins.

It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine.

GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe, and can be fatal.

The letter, sent to about 600 neurologists on July 29, is the first sign that there is concern at the highest levels that the vaccine itself could cause serious complications.

It refers to the use of a similar swine flu vaccine in the United States in 1976 when:

More people died from the vaccination than from swine flu.
500 cases of GBS were detected.
The vaccine may have increased the risk of contracting GBS by eight times.
The vaccine was withdrawn after just ten weeks when the link with GBS became clear.
The US Government was forced to pay out millions of dollars to those affected.

Concerns have already been raised that the new vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that the effects, especially on children, are unknown.
It is being developed by pharmaceutical companies and will be given to about 13million people during the first wave of immunisation, expected to start in October.
Top priority will be given to everyone aged six months to 65 with an underlying health problem, pregnant women and health professionals.
The British Neurological Surveillance Unit (BNSU), part of the British Association of Neurologists, has been asked to monitor closely any cases of GBS as the vaccine is rolled out.
One senior neurologist said last night: 'I would not have the swine
flu jab because of the GBS risk.'
There are concerns that there could be a repeat of what became known as the '1976 debacle' in the US, where a swine flu vaccine killed 25 people – more than the virus itself.
A mass vaccination was given the go-ahead by President Gerald Ford because scientists believed that the swine flu strain was similar to the one responsible for the 1918-19 pandemic, which killed half a million Americans and 20million people worldwide.

Within days, symptoms of GBS were reported among those who had been immunised and 25 people died from respiratory failure after severe paralysis. One in 80,000 people came down with the condition. In contrast, just one person died of swine flu.
More than 40million Americans had received the vaccine by the time the programme was stopped after ten weeks. The US Government paid out millions of dollars in compensation to those affected.
The swine flu virus in the new vaccine is a slightly different strain from the 1976 virus, but the possibility of an increased incidence of GBS remains a concern.
Shadow health spokesman Mike Penning said last night: 'The last thing we want is secret letters handed around experts within the NHS. We need a vaccine but we also need to know about potential risks.
'Our job is to make sure that the public knows what's going on. Why
is the Government not being open about this? It's also very worrying if GPs, who will be administering the vaccine, aren't being warned.'
Two letters were posted together to neurologists advising them of the concerns. The first, dated July 29, was written by Professor Elizabeth Miller, head of the HPA's Immunisation Department.
It says: 'The vaccines used to combat an expected swine influenza pandemic in 1976 were shown to be associated with GBS and were withdrawn from use.
'GBS has been identified as a condition needing enhanced surveillance when the swine flu vaccines are rolled out.
'Reporting every case of GBS irrespective of vaccination or disease history is essential for conducting robust epidemiological analyses capable of identifying whether there is an increased risk of GBS in defined time periods after vaccination, or after influenza itself, compared with the background risk.'
The second letter, dated July 27, is from the Association of British Neurologists and is written by Dr Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, chair of its surveillance unit, and Professor Patrick Chinnery, chair of its clinical research committee.

It says: 'Traditionally, the BNSU has monitored rare diseases for long periods of time. However, the swine influenza (H1N1) pandemic has overtaken us and we need every member's involvement with a new BNSU survey of Guillain-Barre Syndrome that will start on August 1 and run for approximately nine months.
'Following the 1976 programme of vaccination against swine influenza in the US, a retrospective study found a possible eight-fold increase in the incidence of GBS.
'Active prospective ascertainment of every case of GBS in the UK is required. Please tell BNSU about every case.
'You will have seen Press coverage describing the Government's concern about releasing a vaccine of unknown safety.'
If there are signs of a rise in GBS after the vaccination programme begins, the Government could decide to halt it.
GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, leaving them unable to transmit signals to muscles effectively.
It can cause partial paralysis and mostly affects the hands and feet. In serious cases, patients need to be kept on a ventilator, but it can be fatal.
Death is caused by paralysis of the respiratory system, causing the victim to suffocate.
It is not known exactly what causes GBS and research on the subject has been inconclusive.
However, it is thought that one in a million people who have a seasonal flu vaccination could be at risk and it has also been linked to people recovering from a bout of flu of any sort.
The HPA said it was part of the Government's pandemic plan to monitor GBS cases in the event of a mass vaccination campaign, regardless of the strain of flu involved.
But vaccine experts warned that the letters proved the programme was a 'guinea-pig trial'.
Dr Tom Jefferson, co-ordinator of the vaccines section of the influential Cochrane Collaboration, an independent group that reviews research, said: 'New vaccines never behave in the way you expect them to. It may be that there is a link to GBS, which is certainly not something I would wish on anybody.
'But it could end up being anything because one of the additives in one of the vaccines is a substance called squalene, and none of the studies we've extracted have any research on it at all.'
He said squalene, a naturally occurring enzyme, could potentially cause so-far-undiscovered side effects.
Jackie Fletcher, founder of vaccine support group Jabs, said: 'The Government would not be anticipating this if they didn't think there was a connection. What we've got is a massive guinea-pig trial.'
Professor Chinnery said: 'During the last swine flu pandemic, it was observed that there was an increased frequency of cases of GBS. No one knows whether it was the virus or the vaccine that caused this.
'The purpose of the survey is for us to assess rapidly whether there is an increase in the frequency of GBS when the vaccine is released in the UK. It also increases consultants' awareness of the condition.

'This is a belt-and-braces approach to safety and is not something people should be substantially worried about as it's a rare condition.'
If neurologists do identify a case of GBS, it will be logged on a central database.
Details about patients, including blood samples, will be collected and monitored by the HPA.
It is hoped this will help scientists establish why some people develop the condition and whether it is directly related to the vaccine.
But some question why there needs to be a vaccine, given the risks. Dr Richard Halvorsen, author of The Truth About Vaccines, said: 'For people with serious underlying health problems, the risk of dying from swine flu is probably greater than the risk of side effects from the vaccine.
'But it would be tragic if we repeated the US example and ended up with more casualties from the jabs.
'I applaud the Government for recognising the risk but in most cases this is a mild virus which needs a few days in bed. I'd question why we need a vaccine at all.'
Professor Miller at the HPA said: 'This monitoring system activates pandemic plans that have been in place for a number of years. We'll be able to get information on whether a patient has had a prior influenza illness and will look at whether influenza itself is linked to GBS.
'We are not expecting a link to the vaccine but a link to disease, which would make having the vaccine even more important.'
The UK's medicines watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, is already monitoring reported side effects from Tamiflu and Relenza and it is set to extend that surveillance to the vaccine.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'The European Medicines Agency has strict processes in place for licensing pandemic vaccines.
'In preparing for a pandemic, appropriate trials to assess safety and the immune responses have been carried out on vaccines very similar to the swine flu vaccine. The vaccines have been shown to have a good safety profile.
'It is extremely irresponsible to suggest that the UK would use a vaccine without careful consideration of safety issues. The UK has one of the most successful immunisation programmes in the world.'
I COULDN''T EAT OR SPEAK... IT WAS HORRENDOUS

But within hours, she was on a ventilator in intensive care after being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
She spent three months in hospital and had to learn how to talk and walk again. But at times, when she was being fed through a drip and needed a tracheotomy just to breathe, she doubted whether she would survive.
The mother of two, 57, from Maryport, Cumbria, had been in good health until she developed a chest infection in March 2006. She gradually became so weak she could not walk downstairs.
Doctors did not diagnose Guillain-Barre until her condition worsened in hospital and tests showed her reflexes slowing down. It is impossible for doctors to know how she contracted the disorder, although it is thought to be linked to some infections.
Mrs Wilkinson said: 'It was very scary. I couldn't eat and I couldn't speak. My arms and feet had no strength and breathing was hard.
I was treated with immunoglobulin, which are proteins found in blood, to stop damage to my nerves. After ten days, I still couldn't speak and had to mime to nurses or my family.
'It was absolutely horrendous and I had no idea whether I would get through it. You reach very dark moments at such times and wonder how long it can last.
But I'm a very determined person and I had lots of support.'
After three weeks, she was transferred to a neurological ward, where she had an MRI scan and nerve tests to assess the extent of the damage.
Still unable to speak and in a wheelchair, Mrs Wilkinson eventually began gruelling physiotherapy to improve her muscle strength and movement but it was exhausting and painful.
Three years later, she is almost fully recovered. She can now walk for several miles at a time, has been abroad and carries out voluntary work for a GBS Support Group helpline.
She said: 'It makes me feel wary that the Government is rolling out this vaccine without any clear idea of the GBS risk, if any. I wouldn't wish it on anyone and it certainly changed my life.
'I'm frightened to have the swine flu vaccine if this might happen again – it's a frightening illness and I think more research needs to be done on the effect of the vaccine.'

Hotline staff given access to confidential records

Confidential NHS staff records and disciplinary complaints could be accessed by hundreds of workers manning the Government's special swine flu hotline.
They were able to browse through a database of emails containing doctors' and nurses' National Insurance numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, mobile phone numbers and scanned passport pages – all details that could be used fraudulently.
And private and confidential complaints sent by hospitals about temporary medical staff – some of whom were named – were also made available to the call-centre workers, who were given a special password to log in to an internal NHS website.
It could be a breach of the Data Protection Act.
The hotline staff work for NHS Professionals, which was set up using taxpayers' money to employ temporary medical and administrative staff for the health service.
The not-for-profit company runs two of the Government's swine flu call centres – with 300 staff in Farnborough, Hampshire, and 900 in Watford, Hertfordshire.
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley described the revelations as 'disturbing'.
Anne Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Unison, said: 'There's no excuse for such a fundamental breach of personal security. Action needs to be taken as soon as possible to make sure this does not happen again.'
A spokeswoman for NHS Professionals would not confirm whether access to the confidential files had been granted.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206807/Swine-flu-jab-link-killer-nerve-disease-Leaked-letter-reveals-concern-neurologists-25-deaths-America.html#ixzz0SO7o3gTh

Glitch hits Visa users with more than $23 quadrillion charge

2009-07-16T12:28:00.003+03:00

Glitch hits Visa users with more than $23 quadrillion charge

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

$23,148,855,308,184,500 charge is about 2,007 times the size of the national debt
Visa customer in New Hampshire, also hit with $15 overdraft fee, finds out online
Statement said he'd spent the big sum at gas station where he buys cigarettes
Card issuer strikes charge and fee, blames "temporary programming error"
July 15, 2009 -- Updated 1837 GMT (0237 HKT)

By Jason Kessler
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A technical snafu left some Visa prepaid cardholders stunned and horrified Monday to see a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge on their statements.

Josh Muszynski noticed the 17-digit charge while making a routine balance inquiry.

That's about 2,007 times the size of the national debt.

Josh Muszynski, 22, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was one Visa customer aghast to find the 17-digit charge on his bill. Adding insult to injury, he had also been hit with a $15 overdraft fee.

He noticed that his debt exceeded the world GDP while making a routine balance inquiry on his online Bank of America account. According to his statement, he had spent the profound sum in one pop at a nearby Mobil gas station -- his regular stop for Camel cigarettes.

"Very, very panicked," he jumped in his car and sped to the station.

Had they perhaps noticed any "outrageous" charges come across their books recently, he inquired of the cashier there. She checked the records. They had not.

Muszynski wondered aloud what he might possibly have asked to purchase for such an astronomical price. "Can I buy Europe on pump 4?"

He next called Bank of America, the issuer of his Visa prepaid debit card. The bank kept him on hold for two hours, during which time he contemplated the impossibly bleak financial future that might await him. He also felt a stab of fear that he had saddled all his unborn grandchildren -- and their grandchildren -- with a lifetime of debt. "Down the generational line, nobody would have any money."

Finally, a bank representative told him that the $23 quadrillion charge -- and the $15 overdraft fee -- would be stricken from his account.

Muszynski compared the giant debt reprieve to receiving "an amazing Monopoly card that says, 'Bank error in your favor.' "

In a statement, Visa said the rogue charges affected "fewer than 13,000 prepaid transactions" and resulted from a "temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services ... [which] caused some transactions to be inaccurately posted to a small number of Visa prepaid accounts."

The company assured customers that the problem has been fixed and that all falsely issued fees have been voided. "Erroneous postings have been removed ... this incident had no financial impact on Visa prepaid cardholders."

Experts dispute doctor's stem cell breakthrough claim

2009-07-15T11:47:00.003+03:00

Experts dispute doctor's stem cell breakthrough claim

• STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Florida cardiologist is administering stem cell therapy in Dominican Republic
• He claims he's had success in turning stem cells into cells from target organ
• "There is no such cell" as a "regenocyte," stem cell research expert says
• Therapy patient and her longtime physician say her improvement was significant

SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic (CNN) -- This Caribbean city already known for cigars, furniture, chocolate and coffee may become a magnet for Americans seeking controversial stem cell therapy for life-threatening illnesses if a Florida cardiologist has his way.

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved this stem cell therapy in the United States because no clinical trials to prove its effectiveness have been done. But Dr. Zannos Grekos says his company, Regenocyte Therapeutic, has successfully used adult stem cells to treat patients with heart and lung disease.
Grekos said he and his associates draw blood from a patient in Florida and then send it to a laboratory in Israel that produces what his company calls "regenocytes." The company defines regenocyte as "a stem cell that has been activated to become a target organ."
"These procedures work," he told CNN, standing inside a hospital room at the Clinica Union Medica del Norte in Santiago. "And it's substantiated by objective data that we are collecting."
But Grekos' procedures have not been reviewed by other researchers, and leading scientists involved in U.S. stem cell research efforts say Grekos is simply wrong. Dr. Irving Weissman, president-elect of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, told CNN, "There is no such cell. There is nothing called a 'regenocyte.' "
"As a stem cell scientist who works in the field of regenerative stem cells, I am disappointed and shocked that somebody would prey on a family that has an untreatable disease with the promise of a therapy that has no scientific or medical basis," Weissman said.
Grekos has a busy practice in Bonita Springs, Florida, outside Naples, and runs a company that promotes and administers stem cell therapies in Santiago, a noisy, crowded industrial city in the central Dominican Republic.
He told CNN that in the past 18 months, about 100 patients have received adult stem cell therapy at a Dominican hospital. Most of them have been patients with severe heart disease, while the rest have suffered from chronic lung illnesses, he said.
He said the Israeli laboratories can produce between 40 million and 80 million stem cells from a patient's blood sample.
"Then they also activate them and educate them to become the end organ to any tissues we are looking to regenerate," Grekos said.
Grekos said he makes no promise of results to his patients. He is collecting data from his procedures and has been in contact with a Florida hospital to independently review his findings, but that hasn't happened yet, he said.
He said he wants to present his data to the Food and Drug Administration by the end of 2009, then ask the federal agency to accelerate its approval process.
But Weissman said the FDA will not accept data from a physician if the doctor has a financial interest in the outcome. "It is simply not done," he said.
The procedure is costly. Grekos said he charges $64,500 -- none of it covered by insurance. He said the cost is driven by the expense of processing the stem cells, and providing clean rooms and couriers who hand-carry the cells to Israel and back.
A year ago, Barbara McKean of Naples, Florida, paid Regenocyte Therapeutic more than $54,000 for stem cell therapy in the Dominican Republic after suffering from chronic lung disease. She said she believes the therapy was worth the expense.
"Right away, the next morning, I felt a sense of well-being that I hadn't felt in a long, long time," McKean said.
"I know that I am living proof that this does work," she added. "I know that."
McKean's family physician, Dr. Robert Folsom, confirmed to CNN that she had been suffering for many years from an advanced state of COPD, an incurable lung disease. Folsom told CNN he was "quite incredulous" after seeing her condition improve.
The chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, Dr. Norman Edelman, said he does not doubt the sincerity of patients who believe they have been helped by stem cell therapy. But he added, "There's an enormous placebo effect in almost all of these cases."
"I have looked for the scientific efficacy of this approach, and can find none," Edelman said.
Folsom, who said he has been McKean's family physician for many years, disputed any suggestion that her apparent recovery stemmed from a "placebo effect" -- an improvement sometimes seen in patients who are given an inert substance in clinical trials.
"I know about the placebo effect, and her improvement does not seem to be a result of that," he said.
Grekos said his patients "are getting better" under his treatment, but he has not yet applied for clinical trials in the United States because of the high cost. He shrugs off the criticism from people who doubt his claims, saying he -- and not they -- are on medicine's cutting edge.
Stem cell experts who reject his methods "need to be better educated," he said.

Drug giants warned: Tell the truth on medicines

2008-02-27T11:54:00.001+03:00

Drug giants warned: Tell the truth on medicines
After antidepressant treatments are discredited, fears grow that other products may be ineffective
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
The pharmaceutical industry came under assault from senior figures in medical research yesterday over its practice of withholding information to protect profits, exposing patients to drugs which could be useless or harmful.
Experts criticised the stranglehold exerted by multinational companies over clinical trials, which has led to biased results, under-reporting of negative findings and selective publication driven by the market, which was worth £10.1bn in the UK in 2006, amounting to 11 per cent of total NHS costs.
The latest attack was triggered yesterday by an analysis of published and unpublished trials of modern antidepressants, including Prozac and Seroxat, showing they offer no clinically significant improvement over placebos (dummy pills) in most patients. But doctors said patients on the drugs should not stop taking them without consulting their GPs.
It was the first time researchers – from the UK, Canada and the US – had successfully used freedom of information legislation to obtain all the data presented to regulators when the companies applied to license their drugs. In some cases it had not been made public for 20 years. Over the past two decades the drugs, known as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have been among the biggest selling of all time, earning billions of pounds for their makers. Yesterday's finding suggests that the money may have been misspent. Drug companies are required by law to provide all data on a drug, published and unpublished, to the regulatory authorities when applying for a licence. But this requirement does not apply to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which assesses cost effectiveness and recommends which drugs should be used by the NHS.
Peter Littlejohns, the clinical and public health director of Nice, said: "The regulatory authorities have access to everything. Obviously we have access to the published data and we do ask the industry for unpublished data, but it is up to the companies whether to deliver it or not. We have no power to demand it. The issue is that it relies on the good will of the industry."
Professor Mike Clarke, the director of the UK Cochrane Centre, an international collaboration between researchers in 100 countries which has published more than 3,000 systematic reviews of published trials to establish best medical practice, said lack of co-operation from the drug industry was damaging medical care.
"When we ask for details of a trial the company might tell us nothing. We have even less power than Nice. Researchers trying to make sense of trials for decision-makers need to have access to this data. If we have only got access to half of the data, when we see evidence that a drug works we don't know whether to believe it or not.
"It makes us doubtful – that's the big worry. The companies are in the business of making profits – but they are also in the business of providing safe, effective health care."
Legislation to compel the drug industry to publish its results was included in Labour's manifesto at the 2005 election and last month the Commons Health Select Committee demanded that Nice be given unfettered access to all clinical trial results.
Yesterday, the Government said it had been told that compelling the industry to publish trial data would not be allowed and it was instead pursuing a voluntary approach, developing a "searchable register" of all trials that have taken place in the UK and pressing the EU to make its own confidential register public.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "The Government has consistently supported open access to information about research when the findings could affect decisions about treatment or health outcomes. We planned to support the principle of mandatory registration of clinical trials in the UK, but legal advice stated this would be illegal under EU law." A World Health Organisation working group is examining how to improve reporting of clinical trials and is expected to announce a consultation shortly.
The pharmaceutical industry was unrepentant about its strategy yesterday. Richard Tiner, the head of medicines at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industries, said: "The regulatory authorities have access to all the data – absolutely everything. Nice is not a regulatory authority – it is making decisions on whether medicines should be available on the NHS... There is no reason why the companies would restrict access – it depends what they are asked for. The industry is very much more transparent than it was 10 years ago."
GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Seroxat, said yesterday it "fully endorsed public disclosure of all clinical trial results" and had published all data relating to Seroxat on its website "regardless of study outcome".
The antidepressant debate
Paul Bough, 41: 'You name it, I've tried it: none of them worked'
"The findings go against several decades of experience. I have suffered three major traumas in my life – my father leaving home when I was 11, my husband having an affair, and now an unpleasant divorce – and I'm convinced these drugs helped me survive them. I've been close to suicide myself, but now, in my 60th year, I'm feeling positive and able to survive all the terrifying experiences each day throws at me. I take 20mg of Fluoxetine each day, and it makes me feel I can cope. I simply don't buy the idea that it's just a placebo – but then I suppose the point is even if it were I wouldn't care. These drugs are my crutch and my comfort; without them I would lose hope altogether. I'm staying on."
Sylvia Genge, 59: 'Without these drugs I would lose hope altogether'
"The findings of this latest report don't surprise me in the slightest. In fact, they confirm what I already knew.
"I've been a depressive for most of my life, and all of my adult life. After the umpteenth failed suicide attempt seven years ago my doctor said I should try taking antidepressant drugs. You name it, I've tried it. Diazepam, Citalopram, Prozac, Seroxat, Atenolol [a beta-blocker], Efexor: none worked. They turned me into a zombie, totally incapable of motivation or movement and forced to vegetate on a sofa.
"I'd say to anyone on these drugs, you're better off going cold turkey. Talk to people, have therapy, be sociable: but don't rely on these little happy pills. Having tried the lot, I'm coming off – and staying off."

Sweet…? You must be jo(cho)king !!

2008-01-17T11:00:00.001+03:00

This is an email I received. I do not know the authenticity of this email. However, this could be a useful piece of information and an eye-opener for many of us. Therefore, I am sharing with you all...!

In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.

By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick.she just knew she was dying. She put her house, bank accounts, lifeinsurance, etc., in her oldest daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of.

She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.

On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I recalled an article a friend of mine e- mail ed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment.

I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e- mailed her the article my friend, a lawyer, had sent.

My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home.

Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death.

When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life.

If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME," marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.'

In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant.

I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants.

The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is!

Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition.

We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas.

In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly.

This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia. During a lecture, I said, "If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!"

People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?"

Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem.

Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice, a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence!

Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight!

These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs.

Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin andis used primarily to preserve "tissue specimens." Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body!

Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the "diet products" and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame.

The Aspartame drives the bloodsugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.

Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrierand it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage.

Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well.

Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet. So called "behavior modification prescription drugs" (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being "poisoned" on a daily basis with the very foods that were "better for them than sugar."

It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.

Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison."

Herein lies the problem:

There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets.

Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a "piece of the Aspartame pie." I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is.

And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians?

This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.

Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed.

It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're Informed now! YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!

Please print this out and/or e- mail to your family and friends.

They have a right to know too!!!!!!

2007-11-08T10:48:00.000+03:00

The Science of Growing Body Parts

Thursday, Nov. 01, 2007 By ALICE PARK

Things in Dr. Anthony Atala's lab at Wake Forest University are not always what they seem. On one lab bench, surrounded by gutted printer cartridges, lie the inner workings of an inkjet printer. But this isn't the scene of some document-printing job gone awry. Instead, the printer has been jury-rigged to handle something much more extraordinary than ink — it now sprays tiny living cells into the three-dimensional forms of human organs.

And that's not all. Behind ordinary-looking incubator doors lie some of the most remarkable feats of modern science — pulsing blood vessels, beating heart valves, and delicate, swollen human bladders. For nearly two decades, Atala has been perfecting the science of regenerating human tissues — essentially, the science of building new body parts. "The concept is to use the body's own cells to make new tissues and organs for patients who need them," he says. "We have had so many advances in various fields of science — cell biology, materials science, and stem cell biology — and all of them are coming together now to allow us to go one step further in the field of regenerative medicine, and to start to think of creating more complex organs to help patients."

In recent years, the curative promises of embryonic stem cells and therapeutic cloning methods have outshone other research, but these techniques are still too new and unproven to yield safe and effective treatments for patients. Atala's strategy has been to use already existing cells to create more practical solutions — for replacing everything from diseased heart muscle to worn out cartilage and failing kidney cells. "Every cell in your body is programmed to do a job, and our job is to put these cells in the right environment in the lab so they know what to do," he says. "To us, it doesn't matter where the cell comes from — whether it's a bladder cell or a blood cell or an adult stem cell — we use whatever cell gets the job done."

In most cases, that cell comes right from whatever organ is ailing, and, in the ultimate feat of personalized medicine, from the ailing organ of the patient himself. Furthest along in development are regenerated human bladders, which are already being tested in early human trials and which Atala has thoughtfully designed in small, medium and large sizes. Not far behind on the organ assembly line are heart valves and blood vessels. Atala began with the bladder not only because of his training as a pediatric urologist, but also because bladder cells are among the many that can be grown outside of the body. In fact, he says, just about every human cell can now be cultured in a Petri dish — something that wasn't true 20 years ago, when Atala began his regeneration research. The only exceptions are pancreas, liver and nerve cells; so far these have proven too finicky to survive outside their human home.

It takes Atala about six weeks to grow a new body part. The key to his success and speed, he says, is his reliance on a patient's own cells whenever possible. "We take a small piece of tissue from the diseased organ, grow up a bunch of normal cells, manipulate them and put them right back into the same patient," he says. "Because we are not using cells from other people, we avoid all issues with rejection." For the patient, that also means a shorter and more comfortable recovery, and a better chance of having the regenerated organ "take."

Creating a working organ hinges on keeping those first few cells alive, which has proven to be the biggest challenge for Atala's team. Each cell — whether from the bladder, skin, cartilage, or heart — prefers a different environment to grow, made up of unique cocktails of growth factors, enzymes, proteins and other nutrients. Once the incubated cells have multiplied to a sufficient number, Atala puts them through a series of rigorous tests to ensure that they look, act and function just like their normally grown siblings in the body.

And that's when the fun starts. In order to mold human organs from a clump of cells, Atala came up with creatively constructed scaffolds that would guide the newly grown cells into shape. In most cases — for the bladder, blood vessels and valves, for example — he uses a biodegradable material made of collagen, the structural component in skin. But in order to create more complex structures, such as the heart, he needed something far more sophisticated as a matrix. That's where the inkjet printer came in. One of Atala's colleagues had the bright idea that if a printer can spray tiny bits of ink in a pre-set pattern, why couldn't that same technique be used to scatter cells into pre-designed templates? So, instead of printing in one dimension, Atala's expert re-tooled the printer to "print" its cells in successive layers; the end result is a three-dimensional mold of cells that looks suspiciously like, for example, a rudimentary heart.

Earlier this year, Atala's group became the first to make another valuable discovery: that amniotic fluid contains stem cells. These have proven critical in helping his team to regenerate tissues from the more ornery cells of the pancreas, liver and nerves, which don't grow as well in a lab dish. Amniotic-fluid stem cells aren't as versatile as embryonic stem cells, which can turn into every tissue type in the body, but they can still develop into an impressive number of much-needed cell types, and Atala has already used them to grow up muscle, bone, fat and blood vessel cells, in addition to nerve and liver. He thinks that amniotic-fluid stem cells could eventually be banked, like blood cells, for universal access by any patient who might need regenerated organs. He predicts that if only about 100,000 specimens were collected from the 4 million live births each year in the U.S., it would be enough to supply 99% of Americans with appropriately matched tissues.

The first patients to receive Atala's regenerated organs were seven young children who were transplanted with bladders grown from their own cells. Eight years after their surgery, the children are doing well, and their bladders continue to function normally. Atala now has about 20 other tissues and organs in his lab almost ready for human trials, but he refuses to rush the technology. "Our goal is to transfer these technologies from bench to bedside in the fastest way possible," he says, "But we have gone slowly in these trials because we wanted to make sure that the tissues and organs we create are safe and effective long-term." That kind of patience is sure to be rewarded.

2006-01-29T10:22:00.000+03:00

Kozhikkode Visheshangal

I am a ‘Pravasi’ for many years now. The initial 28 years of my life, I lived in Kerala before moving to Mumbai and then to ‘Bangalooru’. Now, for the past several years I am toiling in the gulf. I visit Calicut, now my home town, every year. I love that place for the warmth of the people there and for the moderate weather conditions compared to Palakkad, the place where I originally come from.

One remarkable thing about Calicut is that the developments in the city in the last say 10 years are many. Though the overall look and feel of the place has not changed a bit, thanks to the nice people from here, the City planning and traffic authorities have brought in many improvements. Let me list a few items from the ever increasing collection.

While retaining the original pothole on all important main roads, the size and depth have been quadrupled. Creation of new ones is ongoing and are retained. During rainy time it helps in rain water harvesting and statistics show that the ground water table has become very high in the city.

The size of mosquitoes have been improved to the size of a small bird while increasing their numbers at any given time after 530 PM to many folds. The great canal flowing from Karaparamba junction through Eranhipalam to Mavoor Road and beyond is doing a wonderful service to the people of Calicut by producing enough number of these ‘blood thirsty’ birds to meet the increase in human population. This has helped people to have more physical activity at night with less sleep and lesser blood volume. According to leading physicians the incidence of ‘blood pressure’ is less in Calicut area compared to other cities. This may be directly attributed to the increased activities of these mosquitoes.

The traffic department in other countries are seriously contemplating to adopt Calicut’s unique traffic system of allowing two way traffic on any one way traffic road any time after 745 PM to next morning until a Police cap is seen in the vicinity.

The traffic lights that had never worked installed at all traffic junctions has become a hot subject of discussion on all Road safety workshops. Other cities around the globe are sending research groups to Calicut to study this possibility there also.

The population explosion is also kept under check thanks to the buses that zip through the narrow roads. The limited stop buses that ply between Calicut and other towns needs a special mention. Without them, the accident and emergency care of the Medical College and the other private hospitals would have been rendered jobless. Apart from this, the tinkering workshops and paint shops are bustling with activity and the business is improving per day.

The traffic department has also ensured more driving thrills if you have not had enough. The nail biting drive from 4th gate through Cannanore Road to join YMCA cross road and from Gandhi Road to Christian college cross road towards Wynad road could be true unforgettable experiences. It can be as thrilling as surfing against an oncoming Tsunami.
I also want to mention about the musical beating on the bus doors by the ‘Kilis’’ as they overtake a boring safe driver on the road. It reminds one, of the age of bullock carts where the driver will use his stick to make such sounds to make the bulls run faster. How nostalgic!!

The interesting sights and scenes are many.. I will try to continue at a later occasion. I hope the authorities will do nothing to change these attractions as I intend to visit again in the next 5-6 months. I do not want to miss my Calicut.

2006-01-25T14:04:00.000+03:00

Intentions.. honestly

I intend to 'type' my thoughts aloud.. any thing that has created an impression on me...