WDDTY e news 12 April

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AVIAN FLU: Cost is the key as yet another ineffectual drug is pushed

EXERCISE: It protects against breast cancer, and helps you when you

have it, too

ANAEMIA: Major warning on drugs that kill

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AVIAN FLU: Cost is the key as yet another ineffectual drug is pushed

 

 

Medical researchers are a little like politicians in one major

regard: they both like to keep us in a state of terror. For the

politician, it's a useful device in order to remove civil

liberties `for our own good'; for the medical researcher, it's a

great way to sell product.

 

The latest health scare is, of course, Avian flu, which is apparently

about to decimate the world's population. It was expected to do so

the winter before last, then it was going to be last winter – but

still we wait to be decimated. In the meantime, the drug companies

have been busy selling antivirals, and especially Tamiflu, to

governments and key personnel around the world to ensure they're not

among the one in 10.

 

Tamiflu isn't ideal. As well as making the patient suicidal, it also

doesn't work. So the ever-flexible drug industry is instead

suggesting another antiviral, Symmetrel (amantadine). Symmetrel has

an interesting history. It was approved back in 1976 as an

antiparkinson's therapy, which has made a few people wonder why it's

now being promoted as the world's saviour against Avian flu. It's

certainly nothing to do with effectiveness. At best, it can relieve

symptoms if it's taken within 48 hours, but it doesn't stop infection

or nasal excretions. So, like Tamiflu, it doesn't work.

 

It's also very likely to cause nausea, insomnia and hallucinations,

so perhaps it's not the ideal drug to give to ambulance drivers,

helicopter pilots and the like.

 

The real reason Symmetrel is being pushed is one of cost. It's

cheap. No, it doesn't work, yes, it causes key workers to

hallucinate - but it doesn't cost much. On that basis, water costs

nothing at all, and it doesn't cause hallucinations.

 

(Source: British Medical Journal, 2007; 334: 439).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXERCISE: It protects against breast cancer, and helps you when you

have it, too

 

 

We all know that exercise is good for us, and a gentle version of it

is especially beneficial for anyone with a heart condition. But now

researchers have discovered that it can also help people with cancer.

 

A research team put a small group of women with early-stage breast

cancer through a 12-week exercise programme, which included fast

walking. All the women reported greater mobility in their shoulders,

and the quality of their life had improved. These improvements

carried on for six months after completing the exercise programme.

 

But earlier studies suggest an even more exciting possibility. In a

review of 48 studies, researchers found that postmenopausal women who

exercised reduced their risk of breast cancer by 80 per cent, while

it had a 20 per cent protective effect among women who had not

reached menopause.

 

(Source: British Medical Journal, 2007; 334: 484-5; Epidemiology,

2007; 18: 137-157).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANAEMIA: Major warning on drugs that kill

 

 

A major health alert has been issued on a class of drugs that treats

anaemia. The drugs, known as erythropoiesis stimulating agents,

cause fatal cancers and heart problems.

 

In an earlier study that involved 1,432 patients, 222 suffered heart

problems, some of which were fatal.

 

America's drugs watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration, has

issued a federal alert about the drugs, and will review their

continued availability at a meeting next month. In the meantime, the

FDA is advising doctors to keep dosages low.

 

The drugs are big business. In 2002, the latest year when figures

are available, global sales had reached $8.1bn (£4.2bn), an increase

of 18 per cent on the previous year.

 

The drugs are routinely given to patients who are anaemic following

chronic renal failure, cancer, chemotherapy treatment, or HIV and

AIDS.

 

(Source: The FDA website).

 

 

 

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