Guest guest Posted June 4, 2007 Report Share Posted June 4, 2007 News content EXERCISE: You need far less than you think in order to stay fit MMR AND AUTISM: Conflicts of interest muddy the waters PARKINSON'S: Pesticides play a key role, and may be a major cause DRUGS FOR THE YOUNG: Around 40 per cent of drugs prescribed to our children CANCER: Death rate drops 60 per cent if you have someone to talk to DRUG SAFETY: 93 patients and 149 errors suggests a rethink ************************************************* EXERCISE: You need far less than you think in order to stay fit How much exercise do you really need in order to be fit? Apparently, it's far less than we've been told by government health agencies, who reckon on 20 minutes a day. Researchers have discovered that people who walk or cycle for just half that amount – 72 minutes a week, or just over 10 minutes every day – improve their overall fitness by 4.2 per cent. Double the exercise time and your fitness level will improve by 6 per cent, while those who walk or cycle for 27 minutes every day can see an 8 per cent improvement. The other good news is that everyone – in all the exercise groups – saw a 2cm average reduction in their waist measurement, and that's without changing their diet. However, none of the group – made up of post-menopausal women who lived mainly sedentary lives – lost weight, and their cardiovascular risk factors didn't reduce, either. So some level of fitness is attainable for pretty much all of us, just as long as we're prepared to walk 10 minutes every day. (Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007; 297: 2081- 91). MMR AND AUTISM: Conflicts of interest muddy the waters Conflict of interest can be a tricky area. It's an accusation that's been thrown at paediatrician Andrew Wakefield, who first raised the flag about a possible link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism back in 1998. It came about when Sunday Times journalist Brian Deer claimed that Dr Wakefield failed to disclose payments made by lawyers to Dr Wakefield's hospital, the Royal Free, when he was retained as an expert witness for the legal claims brought by thousands of parents whose children had been damaged by the vaccine. As a result, the General Medical Council, which governs the behaviour of doctors in the UK, has been investigating Deer's claims. As it is, it is due to begin deliberations about Dr Wakefield's research and findings in a hearing that begins on July 11, and which is set to last 14 weeks. Normal GMC hearings last for one or two days. Unfortunately, this long-awaited hearing has been thrown into disarray. Secret government papers that have been leaked reveal that the hearing's chairman, Prof Dennis McDevitt, was part of a panel that, in 1988, judged the MMR vaccine to be safe. It was withdrawn four years later after thousands of children suffered adverse reactions. Then there was the mysterious withdrawal of legal aid for the thousands of parents who were fighting for compensation after their children suffered serious, and sometimes permanent, damage after having the vaccine. Their claim was against the vaccine's manufacturer, Smith Kline & French Laboratories. Their appeal against the withdrawal of legal aid was dismissed in a secret session with High Court judge Sir Nigel Davis. Unfortunately, Sir Nigel forgot to mention that his brother, Sir Crispin, was a main board director of the vaccine's manufacturer. As we say, conflict of interest can be tricky. PARKINSON'S: Pesticides play a key role, and may be a major cause Exposure to pesticides can increase the risk of Parkinson's disease by as much as 39 per cent, researchers have found. Even low exposure can raise the risk by 9 per cent. The new study, which involved 959 sufferers, confirms a link made by earlier research between the disease and pesticides, which found that a higher percentage of agricultural workers developed the disease than did people in the general population. In the new study, the group revealed their lifetime exposure to chemicals such as solvents, pesticides, iron, copper and manganese. The findings were compared with those from people who didn't have the disease, and the researchers concluded that pesticides were a clear cause. Family history also played a significant part, as did the number of times the person was knocked out. (Source: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, May 2007; published online: doi:10.1136/oem.2006.027003). DRUGS FOR THE YOUNG: Around 40 per cent of drugs prescribed to our children Most drugs aren't designed with children in mind. They haven't been tested on the young, and the license prohibits their use among those under the age of 18 years. And yet nearly 79 per cent of young people receive at least one drug that's been inappropriately prescribed, a new study has discovered. This off-label prescribing, as it's called, accounts for around 40 per cent of a drug's revenues, researchers estimate. They looked at the prescribing records from 31 children's hospitals in the USA for 2004. The most common drugs being prescribed off- label were those for treating gastro-intestinal problems and central nervous diseases. Money spent on off-label prescribing amounted to $270.27m for the year, or 40 per cent of the total. (Source: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2007; 161: 282-90). CANCER: Death rate drops 60 per cent if you have someone to talk to Yet more evidence of a link between the body and mind comes in a new study of elderly people with severe depression. Those who were assigned a `depression coach' were far less likely to die during the five years of the study. And, inexplicably, deaths from cancer were 60 per cent lower than the group who were given standard care for depression. The study looked at the impact of a `depression coach', or depression care manager, on elderly people with severe depression who were registered with one of 20 practices in the USA that participated in the trial. Overall, the death rate over the five years of the trial fell by 45 per cent among those who had a personal manager, but the most impressive improvement was in the reduction of deaths from cancer, which fell from 20.6 deaths per 1000 person years to just 8.9 deaths. Researchers are baffled by the sudden improvement. Perhaps it's simply that the elderly had someone to talk to, and the manager gave them a reason to live. Just a thought. (Source: Annals of Internal Medicine, 2007; 146: 689-98). DRUG SAFETY: 93 patients and 149 errors suggests a rethink Drugs are perfectly safe – while they remain in their containers. But things go terribly wrong, and in the vast majority of cases, once they've been prescribed, as a new study has discovered. Researchers tracked the progress of 93 patients following a liver or kidney transplant who were each given an average of 10 different drugs as part of their out-patient care. In all, the researchers identified 149 errors, including adverse reactions that saw 17 of the 93 patients back in hospital. Another three needed special out-patient treatment. Twenty of the prescriptions were wrongly prepared, and another 20 specified the wrong dose. Even if the doctors didn't get it wrong, someone else down the line did. Pharmacy staff and others in the chain were responsible for a further 41 errors. As we say, keep `em in the containers. (Source: Archives of Surgery, 2007; 142: 278-83). ---- -------- 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.com/Registration/register.aspx? ReturnUrl=/ Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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