Guest guest Posted October 28, 2006 Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 -news broadcast - 26 October 2006 No.304 Help us spread the word This broadcast is copyright-free. Please e-mail this on to any friends you think would appreciate receiving it. Better yet, get them to join the WDDTY community by registering on our website - www.wddty.co.uk - to receive their own E-bulletins twice a week. Thank you. News content GOOD DAY SUNSHINE: As the man said 65 years ago, it prevents cancer COUGH SYRUP: It wasn't the cough that carried them off. . . EPILEPSY: It's wrongly diagnosed in one out of four cases ADVERSE REACTIONS: 700,000 people need emergency hospital care every year SSRIs: Antidepressants are linked to birth abnormalities DIABETES: The drugs don't work, but diet does EGGS IN LIVERPOOL: Tis the season to be throwing GOOD DAY SUNSHINE: As the man said 65 years ago, it prevents cancer Commercial pressures and influences in medicine are so great that it can never be considered a true science. As a result, major discoveries that don't earn a pharmaceutical billions of dollars usually get discarded or forgotten. Take, as an example, the groundbreaking work of Dr Frank Apperly, from the University of Melbourne, who discovered in 1941 that sunlight could have a protective effect against many cancers, including breast, lung, prostate and colon. By studying cancer statistics for North America, he noted that people who live nearer to the equator have far lower incidence of cancer. Over the 65 years since, many studies have confirmed and added detail to Dr Apperly's initial observation. Not surprising as sunlight is the richest source of vitamin D, which is an essential anti-carcinogenic. Two studies, published last week, confirm the vital role that the vitamin plays in preventing breast cancer. In the first, carried out by Imperial College London, women who had higher intake of vitamin D - from sunlight, cod liver oil or milk - between the ages of 10 and 29 had a 40 per cent reduced risk of developing breast cancer later in life. They think that the protective effect may happen during puberty when the breasts are developing. In the second study, from the University of California, women with high levels of vitamin D in their blood halved their risk of developing breast cancer. However, the greatest protective effect occurred when levels were 52 nanograms per millilitre of vitamin D, which equates to a daily intake of 1,000 IU, a level that is hard to reach by dietary means alone. The best food sources of vitamin D include eggs, liver, fish, liver oils, and oily fish such as salmon, sardines, trout and tuna - but sunlight is by far the best. Meanwhile, our health guardians continue to hammer on about the harmful effects of sunlight, a topic that Dr Apperly also addressed. He discovered that it was not sunlight per se that caused skin cancers, it was the temperature associated with it that did the damage. High exposure to sunlight in cooler climates with mean temperatures below 5.5 degrees C (42 degrees F) didn't raise the incidence of skin cancer. And as we've outlined in previous E-news bulletins, you know you're getting a beneficial exposure to sunlight if it slightly reddens the skin. (Sources: Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2006; 17 October (Imperial College study). Nutra-Ingredients, USA, published online on 17 October 2006 (University of California study)). COUGH SYRUP: It wasn't the cough that carried them off. . . It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a good cough, must be in want of a cough syrup - even though it is also universally acknowledged that such a remedy is useless, albeit benign (writes our correspondent Jane Austen, Bath newsdesk). Sadly the same cannot be said for a cough syrup that has been on sale in Panama. At the last count it had killed 22 people. The syrup, which was prepared in a government-run laboratory, contained diethylene glycol (DEG). DEG has excellent solvent properties, which make it useful in cleaners, cement processing, heat transfer fluids and adhesives. Its usefulness doesn't extend to cough remedies, however, a fact that is also universally acknowledged everywhere except Panama. (Source: British Medical Journal, 2006; 333: 822). EPILEPSY: It's wrongly diagnosed in one out of four cases Epilepsy drugs take no prisoners. Their number reads more like a 'most wanted' list, and includes phenobarbitone, phenytoin, primidone, carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and sodium valproate. As such the adverse reactions to these drugs can be as bad, if not worse, than epilepsy itself, and at WDDTY we've recorded a number of deaths as the direct result of an anti-epileptic. To add insult to injury, it's just been discovered that 90,000 people in England and Wales alone - and the number could be around 450,000 in the USA - are each year wrongly diagnosed with epilepsy. That means 90,000 people each year are prescribed one of these noxious substances for no reason whatsoever. A new study reckons that one out of four cases of epilepsy are wrongly diagnosed - largely because the practitioner has no knowledge of epilepsy. The report writers suggest that any suspected case of epilepsy should be referred to a specialist who actually knows what he's talking about. For the report writers the scandal is all about the waste of money involved. These wrongly diagnosed cases are costing the National Health Service around £138m ($257m) every year in unnecessary drug use, they estimate. Our thoughts are more with the patients and their families, who may be trying to cope with major incapacity and even death caused by a drug that was prescribed by a doctor who doesn't even know what epilepsy looks like. (Source: Seizure, 2006; 29 September). ADVERSE REACTIONS: 700,000 people need emergency hospital care every year Statistic of the week: Every year 700,000 people in the USA need emergency out-patient hospital care following an adverse reaction to a prescription drug. Of these, 16 per cent are admitted to hospital for surveillance. (Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2006; 296: 1858-66). SSRIs: Antidepressants are linked to birth abnormalities Pregnant women who are taking an SSRI antidepressant such as Prozac double the risk of their baby being born with a congenital abnormality, a new study suggests. The most dangerous time is during the second and third months of pregnancy. The risk is virtually non-existent among women who are prescribed an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) late on in the pregnancy, the researchers found. This is a further blow to a class of drugs that is suspected of causing suicidal tendencies in patients, and, paradoxically, making their depression worse. (Source: Epidemiology, 2006; 4 October). DIABETES: The drugs don't work, but diet does There seems to be a symbiotic relationship between the more needy patient and the doctor that's based on the fine, longstanding principles of the quick fix or magic bullet. The patient wants pills for his ills, and the doctor has little time but to dispense them. Thus the medical vicious cycle is established. It's a relationship that serves neither party well. The patient won't get better, and the doctor is reduced to being a pill pusher, as a new study into type 2 diabetes confirms. Type 2 diabetes is the ultimate lifestyle disease of modern times. As such it can be successfully treated by stopping the bad habits, and introducing new, beneficial ones, such as improved diet and exercise. Despite these obvious remedies, doctors continue to look for a drug solution, possibly under pressure from the patient who doesn't want to change his diet or exercise more regularly. One popular drug in the fight against diabetes is the ACE inhibitor ramipril, marketed as Tritace and Lopace, which is designed to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) and heart disease. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. It failed to prevent diabetes in 17 per cent of the 2,623 participants with raised glucose levels, even after they had taken the drug for three years. Strangely, the drug can prevent diabetes as a happy by-product in patients who take the drug for their heart problems. Anyone for a change of diet? (Source: New England Journal of Medicine, 2006; 355: 1551-62). EGGS IN LIVERPOOL: Tis the season to be throwing Last week we asked if any readers in Liverpool could explain why so many residents are suffering from eye damage caused by egg throwing. One reader tells us that the night before Hallowe'en is known as 'mischief night' when youths believe it is their civic duty to throw eggs at windows. Last year our correspondent had an egg thrown on his car. The remedy is clear: eggs should be sold only to people aged 40 or over under special licence (and then every egg should be accounted for in special night raids on people's fridges, and no 'Mersey' should be shown). Goodness, we should be in government. And thanks to Sean for the information. Listen to Lynne On the radio: Hear Lynne McTaggart on Passion the innovative DAB Digital Radio Station focusing on your health and your environment - http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_main.asp On demand: Select and listen to any of Lynne's archived broadcasts on Passion, there's a new one each week - http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_archive.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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