Guest guest Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 News Content ANIMAL TESTING: A terrible suffering, and it tells us almost nothing EXERCISE: You can have too much of a good thing, as women athletes could tell us HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: Two types of drugs increase the risk of diabetes (and two lower it) HOSPITALS: They're as dangerous as mines and factories, commission says LABOUR: Acupuncture reduces the `active phase', new study finds ---- ----------- ANIMAL TESTING: A terrible suffering, and it tells us almost nothing Around 3 million tests were carried out on animals in the UK alone in 2005 in the name of medical research – and a new study suggests that most of it was needless suffering. Researchers studied six separate animal trials, and found that none of the results were replicable in humans. In two of these, corticosteroids for head injury helped the problem, according to animal studies, and yet were of no benefit when they were tested on humans, while a heart drug that was extremely effective in animal studies actually made the condition worse in humans. The research team, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also found that many animal studies were poorly prepared, and most ignored even the basic parameters for proper scientific testing. They also point out the very obvious fact that the biological differences between animals and humans are often so great that any results become meaningless. Meanwhile, groups such as FRAME (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments) continue their good efforts to convince scientists to use organs, tissues, cells grown in culture and even mathematical modelling instead. Even most drug companies agree that animal tests are useless, but form a necessary part of the licensing process. Solution? Change the requirements for a drug licence. (Source: British Medical Journal, 2007; 334: 197-200). EXERCISE: You can have too much of a good thing, as women athletes could tell us Exercise is good for us – up to a point. The vast majority of women who exercise excessively – usually because they're athletes or sportswomen – suffer menstrual dysfunction and bone problems, a new study has found. It's been known for a while that women who train hard suffer from a syndrome known as `female athletic triad' – menstrual dysfunction, low bone mass and a deficiency in energy – but a new report suggests that it may be far more extensive a problem than was first thought. Amenorrhea, or lack of a period, occurs in around 2 per cent of the general population, but in 44 per cent of female athletes. Other menstrual disturbances occur in 80 per cent of women who train hard. Women who are most at risk are those in `lightweight' sports, such as distance running, gymnastics and rowing, and whose training regime may involve running up to 50 miles a week. (Source: British Medical Journal, 2007; 334: 164-5). HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: Two types of drugs increase the risk of diabetes (and two lower it) Beta blockers and diuretics – designed to lower blood pressure – increase the risk of diabetes, a major new study has found. Conversely, two other types of antihypertensives – the ACE inhibitor and the angiotensin-receptor blocker – reduce the risk. It's been suspected for nearly 50 years that antihypertensives cause diabetes because they lower a patient's glucose tolerance levels, but a definitive statement has been hard to come by as many patients with raised blood pressure are more likely to develop diabetes in any event. Researchers from Rush Medical College in Chicago re-examined 22 clinical trials that involved more than 143,000 patients who did not have diabetes when they started taking an antihypertensive. (Source: The Lancet, 2007; 369: 201-7). DON'T TAKE CHANCES WITH YOUR HEART It makes great sense to take good care of your heart. So we've put together a very special pack – Your Healthy Heart – which combines the very best of our research into one pack. It includes our best- selling book, My Healthy Heart, the popular Secrets of Longevity report, together with special reports on heart drugs and heart disease. The pack represents a 30% saving on the normal price – so it's great value, too. To order your copy, HOSPITALS: They're as dangerous as mines and factories, commission says Hospitals are as dangerous as mines and factories, a special commission into hospital health and hygiene has reported. Lessons aren't being learned, and any hospital could be the site of a major pandemic. These gloomy predictions come from a special commission set up by the government of Ontario, Canada following the deaths of 44 patients from SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) at a Toronto hospital in 2003. So far, just five of the 25 recommendations made by the SARS Commission have been implemented. " Serious problems persist and much remains to be done, " the Commission has stated. Heading the Commission was Ontario judge Archie Campbell, who commented: " If we do not learn from SARS and we do not make the government fix the problems that remain, we will pay a terrible price in the next pandemic. " Of course, none of the above applies to the UK's hospitals, which are the very model of cleanliness and hygiene, and where nobody ever gets an infection. (Source: The Lancet, 2007; 369: 264). LABOUR: Acupuncture reduces the `active phase', new study finds Acupuncture can speed labour, a new study of pregnant women has revealed. It dramatically reduced the active phase of labour, although the women did not deliver the baby any sooner. In a study of 100 pregnant women who were about to give birth, 48 were given acupuncture while the remainder had standard care. Those given acupuncture had an average active phase of 4.4 hours compared with 6.1 hours in the standard-care group. Delivery time was marginally better in the acupuncture group – 29.1 hours compared with 32.7 hours in the standard-care group – but researchers felt it was too slight to be significant. (Source: Acta Obstretricia et Gynecologica, 2006;85:1348-53). ---- ----------- Help us spread the word If you or a friend would like to see a FREE copy of our monthly health journal What Doctors Don't Tell You, please e-mail your, or their, full name and address to: info. Please forward this e-news on to anyone you feel may be interested; better yet, get them to themselves by clicking on the following link: http://www.wddty.co.uk/e-news.asp. Thank you. 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