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Panel
urges pain relief for kids (Times of India Online-07/09/2001)
Infants usually cry
when they get circumcised. Children often wince when they get shots. Some
young cancer patients dread giving blood samples. Children feel pain as
much as adults, and doctors should do more to relieve their pain from
injuries, illnesses and medical procedures, the American Academy of Paediatrics
and the American Pain Society declared.
``Children are needlessly suffering,'' said Dr Michael Ashburn, APS president
and director of pain programmes at the University of Utah. ``Poorly treated
pain following a procedure can lead to prolonged healing and make children
at a higher risk for adverse side affects.''
Doctors need to re-evaluate their routines to better anticipate and assess
pain in children, create a soothing environment in their offices and involve
parents in preventive measures, the statement said. It also recommended
that pediatricians press for child-specific research in pain management
and urge the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate pain relievers for
children.
Even during minor procedures such as getting a shot, most children do
not have the same ability as adults to calm themselves when they feel
pain, Ashburn said. ``If you wait until you start poking the child with
needles, it's too late,'' he said.
While there is extensive literature describing how to evaluate and treat
acute pain in children, doctors have not done as much as they should to
prevent or relieve that discomfort for several reasons, including a misconception
that youngsters don't feel pain as adults do, the statement says. Other
factors cited include doctors' lack of training to evaluate pain in children,
fears about side effects of pain medication, and the belief among some
health care workers that pain builds character. The two groups began working
on the statement in 1995, after health care professionals realised children's
pain was undertreated and after new techniques to assess pain were developed,
said Dr Joseph Hagan, a Vermont pediatrician and chairman of the AAP committee
that wrote the statement.
Pain in children with long-term illnesses can cause stress that weakens
their immune systems, resulting in a slower recovery, said June Dahl,
a professor at the University of Wisconsin Medical School and a pain specialist.
But when a youngster has cancer, for example, the focus often is on keeping
the child alive, she said. ``The pain gets lost in the shuffle,'' Dahl
said.
A child who needs blood drawn weekly, for example, would feel less pain
if a cream were used to numb the skin and if the youngster were reassured
by parents and doctor during the procedure, Ashburn said.
Doctors are treating pain more frequently than they were about 30 years
ago, said Dr Joseph Zanga, chairman of pediatrics at Ronald McDonald Children's
Hospital of Loyola, which is part of Loyola Medical Centre in Maywood,
Illinois. He said children who were cut with a piece of glass in the 1970s
might have been given a shot of an anesthetic before stitches. Today,
doctors have more options, such as thinner needles that hurt less, lollipops
that release anesthetics when sucked and glue that can be used instead
of stitches.
``By simply telling a child, `We're not going to have to sew that. We're
going to glue it back together,' you can see the fear melt off their faces,''
Zanga said. Also, he said most paediatricians' offices and hospitals are
now decorated with images such as clowns to entertain and distract children
in pain. Still, Zanga also said paediatricians have been hampered because
the FDA has not approved potent pain relievers for youngsters. ``That's
a terrible indictment in this country for the treatment of pain in children,''
he said.
[Top]
Patient
expectations may influence recovery-(Times of India Online-05/09/2001)
Optimism may be good
for your health, according to a review of scientific studies on the topic.
Patients who had positive expectations about their recuperation usually
had a good recovery, researchers report. "There is scientific evidence
that when patients have positive thoughts and expect to recover well,
they usually do," said study author Dr. Donald C. Cole of the Institute
for Work and Health in Ontario, Canada. "(This) suggests that physicians
should ask their patients about their expectations of recovery," he added.
Cole and his colleagues reviewed 16 studies published between 1966 and
1998 that addressed the relationship between patient expectations and
recovery. The investigators report their findings in a recent issue of
the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Results from 15 of the 16 studies
showed that when patients had positive expectations about their recovery,
they tended to have a better recovery, even when psychological and social
factors were taken into consideration. The effect was small in four of
the studies, medium in five studies, and large in six studies. The remaining
study was experimental rather than observational, the report indicates.
The largest effects tended to be found in studies of medical conditions,
such as obesity, while smaller effects were more common in studies of
psychological conditions such as social phobia. Reasons for the relationship
between patient expectations and outcome may be that patients' expectations
triggered a physical response or that their expectations conditioned them
psychologically to ignore certain symptoms, the authors speculate. Or
it may be that the patients' expectations motivated them to achieve better
recovery results, they suggest.
[Top]
Human
cloning may be easier: Study (Times of India Online-15/08/2001)
It may be safer to
clone humans than sheep, new research contends, because people don't have
a genetic defect implicated in producing oversized offspring. However,
cloning experts cautioned that the finding does not mean cloning would
necessarily be easier in humans. Scientists don't know all the factors
that determine whether cloning succeeds or fails, or how important each
factor is. The gene, insulin-like growth factor II receptor (IGF2R), is
a suspect in some of the problems in cloned animals, but it is not the
only one, said Ian Wilmut, a professor at the Roslin Institute, the home
of Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult. "I hope
this will not be used to give encouragement to those who wish to clone
humans," Wilmut said from his lab in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The research, by scientists
at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., involved the working
of the IGF2R gene, which suppresses tumors and regulates fetal growth.
"There are going to be other things that potentially go awry. You're not
home free, assuming that you wanted to do this (cloning), but you're getting
closer," said Randy Jirtle, one of the Duke researchers.
Jirtle, a radiation
oncologist, and Keith Killian, a molecular evolutionist, found that humans,
other primates and their closest relatives have two activated copies of
the gene. People get one functional copy from each parent. However, sheep,
pigs, mice and nearly all non-primate mammals receive only one working
copy of the gene. The other copy, from the father, is intact, but permanently
switched off. That is caused by a phenomenon known as gene imprinting,
where the gene carries chemical markings that turn off its function.
With one copy of the gene knocked out, the animals are more prone to developing
cancer and, if cloned, to suffer from complications like overly large
offspring, underdeveloped lungs and enlarged hearts, the scientists said.
"You hear over and over that we've cloned sheep, mice, cows, pigs and
they've all had this problem of large offspring syndrome and therefore
you will have these problems in humans. This shows that you don't necessarily
have these problems," Jirtle said.
Wilmut, who was not involved in the research, said the interpretation
that human cloning would be easier because of this particular genetic
advantage, is flawed. Failure of placental development is very frequent
in cloned livestock, and this probably reflects errors in the working
of other genes specifically involved in making the blood vessel network
of the placenta, Wilmut said. Also, oversized cow fetuses are apparently
the result of overactivity in the IGF2 gene itself, not underactivity
of the receptor, he said.
"It seems that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and the authors
have allowed themselves to over-interpret their interesting findings,"
Wilmut said.
Lee Silver, a molecular biologist at Princeton University, added that
the IGF2R gene is just one of many genes that get silenced in animals
and could potentially cause problems in cloning. Until scientists discover
whether those other genes are switched on or off in humans and how important
a role they play in the overall success of cloning, it will remain unclear
whether cloning will be safer in humans than in other animals. Killian
said the findings also could revive several potential drugs that were
discarded after being tested in mice and other animals. "Clinical development
of hundreds of potential disease-treating drugs have been abandoned after
rodent studies have shown them to be potential carcinogens studies that
might have had a different outcome if rodents possessed two functional
copies of the tumor suppressing gene, Killian said.
[Top]
Wine
drinkers healthier, wealthier: Study (Times of India Online-13/08/2001)
A daily glass of red
wine has been shown to help stave off heart disease and even cancer, but
a Danish study said the grape's salutary effects may be due to imbibers'
sense of well-being. The study of nearly 700 Danish adults aged 29 to
34 drew comparisons between wine drinkers and beer and liquor consumers
and found the former had generally healthier habits and psyches, and were
less likely to abuse alcohol.
Wine drinkers also tended to have a higher socioeconomic status and score
higher on intelligence tests than beer or liquor drinkers, which the study
speculated had ramifications for physical health.
Previous studies have shown that light to moderate red wine consumption
relieves stress and improves blood circulation, both deterrents to heart
disease, and is linked to good self-perceived health. Ingredients in red
wine are also believed to lower the risk of several health problems, including
stroke, upper digestive tract cancer, lung cancer and hip fracture. Overall
mortality rates among wine drinkers are lower than for those who drink
beer or alcohol, or for those who abstain, according to previous research.
[Top]
Burning
incense may cause cancer-(Times of India Online-02/08/2001)
Burning incense could
cause cancer according to a scientific study conducted by researchers
from Taiwan, who found high levels of carcinogens in the smoke of incense
burned in Buddhist temples.
"We truly hope that incense burning brings only spiritual comfort, without
any physical discomfort, but there is a potential cancer risk," Ta Chang
Lin, who led the study, says in the report. "We just cannot say how serious"
the risk is, he adds in the study, which appears in the latest edition
of New Scientist magazine.
The team from Taiwan's Cheng Kung university analysed smoke from a Taipei
temple and found that it contained high levels of chemical compounds blamed
for causing lung cancer and that levels of pollutants were higher than
would normally be expected at a city road junction.
Comparing air samples
from the temple with those from the traffic intersection, the researchers
found the temple air to contain high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs). The highly carcinogenic compounds are given off when
certain substances, including tobacco, are burned. Air analysis revealed
levels of PAHs inside the temple to be 19 times higher than in normal
outside air, and slightly above the concentration found at a traffic intersection.
In particular, researchers found levels of benzopyrene - a particularly
carcinogenic compound - to be 45 times higher than in a household with
cigarette smokers and 118 times above houses with no source of combustion,
such as a cooker.
"During some major ceremonies, hundreds or even more than a thousand sticks
are burnt at the same time. Sometimes the visibility is so low you can't
see clearly across the room. We are concerned for the health of workers
or keepers in the temples," the report's authors said.
[Top]
Armstrong:
From near death to glory-(Times of India Online-29/07/2001)
If you had a friend
who had cancer, what would you suggest he do? If Lance Armstrong had this
friend, he would have a simple formula. Take your medicine and ride a
few bicycle races. Not your ordinary run-of-the-mill bike races. More
like 4,000 km. variety with a few mountains added to the daily diet. Add
to that a 250 km. World Championship and repeat the performance at least
three years in a row. In the craze for everyone's favourite sport a superhuman
is not being given his due. It is time to set this right.
A few years ago Lance
Armstrong, an American cyclist, was showing promise. In a country where
the average world-vision borders within national boundaries and sports
myopia is baseball and basketball-centric, `Lance WHO?' was the refrain.
The Colossus was beyond their ken.
Enter the villain
of the piece -- The Big C. Lance was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
In the under thirties it is invariably rampant and virulent. The disease
spread to the chest and the brain. It took on the ominous form of a dozen
or so golf-ball sized lumps. Chemotherapy and surgery reduced the cyclist
to a physical shadow of himself. Great cyclists, present and past, came
visiting. Some of the best took it upon themselves to attend to the ailing
patient in a final show of camaraderie.
True champions are
made of sterner stuff. They can bat on any pitch and bowl a deadly delivery
on crafted surfaces ... all weather is fair weather to them. What distinguishes
the best from the rest is the ability to take on every eventuality. And
win. Lance beat the odds. He also beat the rest. Moreover he did it in
style.
The Tour de France
is not a tour. It is a cycle race. The anomaly lies in the French word
for circuit. The race goes around the country. About 4,000 kms. in three
weeks, a couple of `rest' days included. That is close to 200 kms. every
racing day, at average speeds of around 40 kms. per hour. Definitely not
for the faint hearted nor the weak kneed. The mountains at 1,500 metres
do not contribute to a pleasant day's outing. For Lance, it was just what
the doctors ordered.
That brought on the
Continental journos, that peculiar breed whose sole purpose in life is
to create a story where none exists. If a man wracked by cancer can ride
the Tour, and win it, annihilating the European demi-gods ... well, there
has to be something fishy. One, with an especially gifted imagination
suggested that the drugs taken to fight the C-curse must have some performance
enhancing stuff. God forbid, a sick man winning the Tour, and an American
at that! Fortunately, he stopped short of recommending the disease as
a solution.
By the time you read
this, Lance will be spending his last few hours in bed before taking to
the French roads one last time en route to Gay Paree. Yet another saga
in the never-ending story of man's victory over just about everything
fate and nature throws at him will be written. A third consecutive victory
will place him in the elite group of six others and just two short of
Spaniard Miguel Indurain's record five consecutive victories. God give
him the strength. He deserves it.
[Top]
Bush
supports ban on human cloning (Times of India Online-31/07/2001)
President George W
Bush supports a ban on human cloning, as proposed by a group of Republican
lawmakers, the White House said. "The administration supports a ban on
the cloning of human beings by somatic cell nuclear transfer," said a
statement of administration policy. Somatic cell nuclear transfer is the
technique used to create Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, in
1997.
The statement said the administration does approve of the development
of cell and tissue-based therapies based on research involving the use
of nuclear transfer or other cloning techniques to produce molecules,
DNA, cells other than human embryos, tissues, organs, plants or animals.
"To date, these scientific methods have enabled researchers to develop
innovative drugs to treat research, such as breast cancer, or aid in treatment
techniques for injury, such as cloning skin cells for skin grafts," it
said.
[Top]
Rules broaden use of medical marijuana in Canada-(Times
of India Online-31/07/2001)
Canadians suffering
from terminal illnesses and chronic conditions such as arthritis can legally
grow and smoke marijuana, or designate someone else to grow it for them,
under new regulations. The new rules are part of the first system in the
world that includes a government-approved and paid-for supply of marijuana,
now being grown in a former mine in northern Manitoba.
The new rules permit drug possession for the terminally ill with a prognosis
of death within one year; those with symptoms associated with specific
serious medical conditions; and those with other medical conditions who
have statements from two doctors saying conventional treatments have not
worked. Eligible patients include those with severe arthritis, cancer,
HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis.
More than 500 new applications are pending, and more are expected, according
to the federal health ministry. The Canadian Medical Association, which
represents tens of thousands of doctors, opposes the new regulations because
they make physicians responsible for prescribing a substance that lacks
significant clinical research on its effects. Without the cooperation
of doctors, patients cannot get medical marijuana exemptions.
[Top]
Experts
studying proteins and cancer (Times of India Online-23/07/2001)
Researchers for the
first time will conduct studies directly linking cancer patients with
the new science of proteomics, a study of all the proteins in living cells.
Federal officials announced that the Food and Drug Administration and
the National Cancer Institute are establishing a joint research lab designed
to develop cancer therapies and diagnosis systems based on the study of
proteins.
The effort, called the Clinical Proteomics Programm, ``holds the potential
to revolutionise cancer detection and care,'' said Tommy G Thompson, the
secretary of Health and Human Services, the parent department of both
FDA and NCI. ``With this expanded collaboration, the FDA and NCI are employing
powerful new technologies they developed jointly."
The new program will
be funded at $1.1 million a year for three years, the agencies announced.
Experts say proteomics offers the hope of identifying, on a molecular
scale, the proteins produced in a cell that may relate to cancer, its
diagnosis and its treatment.
[Top]
Drug
Destroys Only Oxygen-Starved Cells Within Tumors (Cancer Info-19/07/2001)
University of Ulster
cancer research scientists in the UK have developed a revolutionary tumor-busting
drug that destroys tumor cells that other anti-cancer treatments can't
reach. The new drug -- called AQ4N -- has just gone into clinical trials
in England. The drug works by destroying only the oxygen-starved (hypoxic)
cells that exist within tumors. These cells are difficult to destroy by
conventional treatment methods -- yet form up to 30% of any tumor. And
the higher the percentage of hypoxic cells in a tumor, the worse the prognosis
for the patient.
AQ4N is the result
of ten years of work by Dr. Stephanie McKeown of the University of Ulster's
Radiation Science Research team, based at the Jordanstown campus. "Laboratory
tests indicate that AQ4N is likely to be effective against hypoxic cells
in any solid tumor," said Dr. McKeown. "We are confident that AQ4N will
enhance the effectiveness of contemporary anti-cancer treatments, as it
can reach and destroy hypoxic tumor cells that are resistant to radiation
and existing chemotherapy techniques." And there is a double advantage:
according to Dr. McKeown, the oxygen-starved cells targeted by AQ4N are
also prime suspects in the development of more malignant and aggressive
cancers -- including secondary cancers. "When oxygen-rich cancer cells
are killed using radiotherapy or conventional chemotherapy, the previously
dormant hypoxic cells may then cause regrowth of the tumor into a more
malignant, aggressive and treatment-resistant tumor. That's why it's so
important to kill off hypoxic cancer cells, and why we're so excited about
the potential of AQ4N," she said.
AQ4N was originally
designed by Professor Laurence Patterson of the University of London (previously
based at De Montfort University, Leicester). Development and implementation
of the new drug was carried out by the Bioreductive Development group
(part of the Radiation Science Research Unit led by Prof. David Hirst)
at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown. Dr. McKeown's R&D effort
was primarily funded by the Ulster Cancer Foundation and has recently
received a funding commitment from the UK Cancer Research Campaign. Clinical
trials are now under way, organized by the Cancer Research Campaign and
funded by BTG plc (British Technology Group). The initial trials are being
carried out by Prof. Will Steward, (Leicester Royal Infirmary) and Dr.
Dennis Talbot (Imperial Cancer Research Fund's unit at Churchill Hospital,
Oxford).
AQ4N is fundamentally
different from other standard chemotherapy agents since it is administered
as the non-toxic prodrug (AQ4N) and only becomes toxic when reduced in
hypoxic cells. This allows specific targeting of tumor tissue since hypoxic
cells are rarely found in normal tissue. Indeed, they are only found in
tumors, due to the poorly formed chaotic vessels, which develop inadequately
in the tumor to meet the needs of the fast growing tumor cells. This specific
difference provides an opportunity to target a therapy directly to tumors
while sparing normal tissues.
The presence of a
significant proportion of hypoxic cells in a wide range of human tumors
has only recently been confirmed with the development of sensitive oxygen
electrodes. The importance of tumor hypoxia is twofold. First, it is known
to protect cells from the cytotoxic effects of standard chemotherapy drugs
(hypoxic cells are dormant (i.e., non-cycling) and therefore are less
susceptible to cytotoxic agents. Also, oxygen significantly enhances the
cytotoxic effects of radiation. Secondly, it has recently been shown that
increasing levels of hypoxia can predict for poor prognosis and may also
be instrumental in selecting cells within the tumor that are stress-resistant
and of a more malignant phenotype.
Dr. McKeown's group
has shown that the inclusion of AQ4N in a range of treatment regimens,
both radiation and standard chemotherapy, enhances the anti-tumor effect
of these agents. Standard therapies primarily target better-oxygenated
cells, leaving the hypoxic cells to repopulate the tumor; for complete
tumor control, it may be essential to kill this more malignant subpopulation.
The current Phase
I clinical trial is being funded by British Technology Group and organized
by the Cancer Research Campaign. It is being carried out by Prof. Will
Steward, University of Leicester, at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, and
Dr. Dennis Talbot at the Churchill Hospital Oxford. It is designed to
evaluate the toxicity of the drug and its efficacy with palliative radiotherapy
for head and neck tumors. It is hoped to start a second trial in the near
future of AQ4N in combination with a standard cytotoxic agent.
[Top]
Bush
ally supports stem cells (Times of India Online-20/07/2001)
The Senate's only
physician, who also is a close ally of President Bush, added new momentum
to the drive for federally financed medical research with embryonic stem
cells. Senator Bill Frist, said he opposed abortion but felt compelled
to support research that could save lives. The senator who has often transformed
the president's views into Senate proposals also proposed several limits
to the new funding. Namely, he'd limit the number of sets of cultured
stem cells to come from a single embryo. Frist offered a compromise that
he said would allow stem cell research to progress ``in a manner respectful
of both the moral significance of human embryos and the potential of stem
cell research to improve health.''
Bush, also an abortion opponent, is considering whether to allow federal
funds to pay for research on stem cells taken from human embryos.
Stem cells are master cells that can generate body tissue. Scientists
believe the cures for many diseases could be unlocked from research using
stem cells. Abortion opponents say harvesting the stem cells requires
the death of an embryo, which many regard as human life. A federal health
research report said scientists should be free to pursue all avenues of
research, including that involving human embryos. Supporters also embraced
the 200-plus-page report from the National Institutes of Health, though
it did not specifically call for federal funding. Opponents favour research
using ``adult'' stem cells, which are taken from mature organs and then
manipulated in the lab. The federal researchers said embryonic stem cells
can develop into all types of cells and tissue, a flexibility that may
be lacking in adult stem cells.
"I strongly believe that we have measured the question carefully,
and that it is time to move on," said Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa,
whose Senate panel oversees federal health spending and held the hearing
where the report and Frist's opinion were made public. He added he will
push for legislation allowing the stem cell funding if Bush doesn't approve
it. "The NIH report is clear on this important point: Embryonic and
adult stem cells are different and both present immense research opportunities
for potential therapies."
Scientists believe they can learn to direct the development of embryonic
stem cells to grow mature cells or tissues that could be used to treat
disease. Some estimate that stem cells could benefit more than 100 million
patients with such disorders as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Parkinson's
disease, diabetes and spinal cord injuries.
Most of Frist's points are consistent with the NIH guidelines. He would
also ban cloning of embryos for research. House lawmakers plan to take
up that issue. Some research scientists have rejected certain restrictions,
especially the limits on stem cell lines.There currently are approximately
one dozen embryonic stem cell lines. But researchers say it will take
experiments with scores, perhaps hundreds, of embryonic stem cell lines
for scientists to be confident that basic biological discoveries are universal
and not characteristics that are unique to the limited number of cell
lines.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Frist's statement ``carries great
weight and has a great deal of respect'' because of his medical expertise.
A key abortion opponent, Senator Orrin Hatch, also supported federal funding
for stem cell research. But he added that he is troubled that some companies
would create embryos in order to conduct this research.
[Top]
Candidates
debate stem cells-(Times of India Online-18/07/2001)
Virginia's two candidates
for governor expressed alarm that researchers had created human embryos
in the lab solely to harvest their stem cells. News that the embryos had
been created by the private Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine
in Norfolk, sparked national debate. Scientists had previously been known
to derive stem cells only from excess embryos donated from infertility
treatments.
``I was troubled at
the idea of creating stem cells,'' Democrat Mark Warner said. ``I have
asked for a briefing on it, but we need to hear this issue out before
we rush to judgment.'' Warner, who has a daughter with diabetes, said
stem cell research offers enormous potential for cures for such diseases.
Republican Mark Earley,
while not condemning all stem cell research, attacked the use of embryos.
``You ought to be more than troubled, Mark, if there is a place in Virginia
that on its own basically without public discussion begins to create human
embryos for the sole purpose of experimentation and destruction,'' Earley
said it was possible to research the lifesaving possibilities of stem
cells by using the bone marrow of adults.
Interest in embryonic
stem cells centres on their ability to generate other tissues of the body.
Doctors hope using stem cells could possibly cure diseases such as diabetes,
Alzheimer's and cancer.
Virginia Governor
Jim Gilmore has called for an ethics investigation into the research.
President Bush has said he will soon decide whether to allow taxpayer
dollars to be used for embryonic stem cell research. He is under pressure
from patient groups that favour the research and opponents who feel the
work is inherently unethical.
[Top]
Malaysia
withdraws soy sauces on cancer fear-(Times of India Online-13/07/2001)
Malaysia has ordered
soy sauce and seasoning products from several countries off food shelves
for fear they cause cancer, a health official said. Twenty-two soy sauce
and seasoning products from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore
were found to have excessive levels of 3-MCPD, a cancer-causing chemical,
and were withdrawn from supermarkets, local newspapers said.
A Malaysian health
official confirmed remarks by Malaysian Health Minister Chua Jui Meng,
who said banned products did not comply with the 20 parts per billion
level set by the European Union for food products. "Any food product found
contravening this will be seized and destroyed immediately," Chua said
in the New Straits Times daily.
The British Food Standards
Agency warned last month that several brands of Chinese soy sauce contained
3-MCPD, which could cause cancer if taken daily.
[Top]
Lab
harvests human stem cells-(Times of India Online-12/07/2001)
Virginia scientists
have become the first researchers to create human embryos in the lab for
the sole purpose of harvesting their stem cells. Until now, scientists
had derived stem cells only from excess embryos donated from infertility
treatments. In this case, the scientists approached donors and informed
them that their eggs and sperm would be used to develop embryos for stem-cell
research. The work, conducted by researchers at the Jones Institute for
Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, drew criticism from religious conservatives
opposed to embryo research.
"I think this is a
cautionary tale against starting down the slope," Richard Doerflinger
of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops told The Washington
Post in Wednesday's edition.
"It's still killing
a human being," Mary Petchel, president of the Tidewater chapter of the
Virginia Society for Human Life, told The Virginian Pilot of Norfolk,
Va.
Scientists who conducted
the work said several review panels had assessed the ethical implications
and concluded that the approach was at least as ethical as using spare
frozen embryos.
The group extracted
eggs from 12 women, who signed consent documents and were paid $1,500
to $2,000 each, according to William Gibbons, a reproductive endocrinologist
who was not involved in the work. Of the 162 eggs collected and inseminated
by donor sperm, 50 embryos were successfully created. The researchers
destroyed 40 of those to get the stem cells that resided inside. The work
was done with private funds. The results appear in the July issue of the
journal Fertility and Sterility, published Wednesday. The study
began in 1997 and concluded last July.
Interest in embryonic
stem cells centers around their ability to generate other tissues of the
body. Doctors hope using stem cells could possibly cure diseases as Alzheimer's,
diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's, and spinal cord injuries.
President Bush has
said he will soon decide whether to allow taxpayer dollars to be used
for research on embryonic stem cells. He is under pressure from patient
groups that favour the research and opponents who feel the work is inherently
unethical.
[Top]
Stem
cell cloning flawed: Study-(Times of India Online-07/07/2001)
Experiments show that
genes used in cloning often fail to work properly, causing serious abnormalities
in mice, a finding that confirms the belief of many researchers that the
method used to clone Dolly the sheep should not be used on humans. In
a study appearing on Friday in the journal Science, researchers
said even the use of embryonic stem cells in cloning did not assure the
creation of normal mice. The study comes as the Bush administration considers
whether to allow federal funds for non-cloning embryonic stem cell research.
"This study confirms
the suspicions of many of us that cloning of humans would be really dangerous,"
said Rudolf Jaenisch, senior author of the study and a researcher at the
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.
David Humpherys, first
author of the study, said that many of the mice cloned in the experiment
appeared to be normal, including having normal genes, but there was evidence
that during embryonic and fetal development the genes did not work properly.
"It is quite likely
that just the animals that are most nearly normal make it to birth (in
cloning), but our study shows that doesn't mean they are completely normal,"
said Humpherys. "There may be changes in gene expression that could affect
them later in life." In cloned humans, Jaenisch said the gene expression
flaws could affect personality, intelligence and other human attributes.
Humpherys said there
was no evidence that the genes in the cloned animals were altered, but
that the way in which the genes made proteins was flawed and unstable.
In effect, the researchers found that even though the biological blueprint
was intact in the cloned animals, the way that the blueprint was read
and interpreted was flawed. This could result in abnormal tissues and
organs, they said. Humpherys and Jaenisch said that a number of scientists
doing cloning experiments with mice, pigs, sheep and cattle have reported
that even apparently normal animals develop disorders later in life. Jaenisch
said that extreme obesity has developed in many cloned animals, including
Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
Dr. David A Prentice,
an Indiana State University professor of life sciences, said the MIT-Whitehead
study shows the hazards of the current cloning technology. "Development
is a finely orchestrated ballet of cells forming tissues and organs at
the right place and time," said Prentice. "It takes only one going awry
at the wrong time and place to have a seriously flawed individual."
In the study, the
researchers made the mouse clones using embryonic stem cells, the primordial
cells known to be able to form virtually any tissue in the body. The DNA
from the cells was removed and inserted into a mouse egg that had been
stripped of its DNA. The resulting embryos were then implanted in mother
mice and allowed to grow to birth.
The researchers monitored
the expression, or action, of genes that play a role in embryo and fetal
development. They found that the genes, even from nearly identical stem
cells, worked differently. In fact, said Humpherys, stem cells are unstable
in gene expression even in the laboratory dish.
This instability raises
the possibility that using stem cells to treat health disorders may not
work as well as some scientists have suggested, said Dr. Joann A. Boughman,
vice president of the American Society of Human Genetics.
"When we grow (embryonic
stem) cells for a curative situation, we will need to precisely control
the process," she said. "This paper shows that we've got a very long way
to go to fully understand this whole process."
Some researchers have
suggested that embryonic stem cells could be cloned from a patient and
used to grow cells that could be used to restore that patient's ailing
heart or liver or other organs.
Jaenisch said that
it is unlikely that genetic instability would block the curative use of
embryonic stem cells. He said in developing cells for therapeutic use,
researchers would harvest and inject into patients only those cells that
are normal.
During cloning, he
said, no such selection is possible because an embryo must use the DNA
provided and cannot select only that which is perfect.
Regulations that would
permit federal funding of embryonic stem cell research has been delayed
by President Bush who ordered a review of the whole issue. Some in Congress
oppose embryonic stem cell research because obtaining the cells involves
the death of a human embryo. Many scientists, however, believe that embryonic
stem cell research could relieve suffering for millions of patients with
a variety of disorders.
[Top]
Eat
curry to beat cancer: CSIRO-(Times of India Online-07/07/2001)
If one goes by the
number of Indian restaurants in each and every sizable Australian suburb,
the antipodeans have a great liking for spicy curries. The love affair
is likely to grow even more with a finding made by an Australian research
institute to the effect that spices and herbs, like curry leaves, go a
long way towards keeping deadly diseases like cancer at bay.
Nutrition scientists
of CSIRO, Australia's largest scientific and industrial research organisation,
have found that herbs and spices not only taste good but are also good
for health. "Across the world, some varieties of herbs and spices have
been investigated in relation to cancer and heart disease risk, improving
memory and alleviating nausea," research nutritionist Lynne Cobiac said
in a media report.
Traditional Asian
cuisine has long been appreciated in this country for both taste and the
variety that it offers. Now scientists have also added a health perspective
to these cuisines.
"French emperor Charlemagne,
in the eighth century, is quoted as saying 'a herb is a friend of the
physician and the praise of cooks' while ancient civilisations in India
and China were also aware of many of their culinary and medicinal properties,"
CSIRO scientist Cobiac said.
Though ancient medicine
in India and other older civilisations had identified the medicinal and
nutritional values of spices and herbs thousands of years back, skeptical
Western experts have been a bit slow in extending their acknowledgment.
But it's obvious that the world's vast majority has been waiting for any
such approval as, according to CSIRO figures, 80 per cent of the global
population continues to depend upon centuries old medicinal systems for
their health requirements.
"Recent research from
CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition in Adelaide has proved the anti-oxidant
properties of curry leaves, while work is continuing to assess scientifically
the antioxidant properties of ginger," Cobiac further said in the media
release. "Researchers are working to ascertain how much of each herb and
spice we need to consume to gain their beneficial effect, but some quantities
are already known," she said.
Besides curry leaves
and ginger, the scientists have also mentioned garlic as a good insurance
against cholesterol if consumed daily. Garlic, CSIRO media release says,
can thus help in fighting heart disease in a very positive manner. Garlic,
often detested for its smell, has also garnered appreciation from Australian
scientists for its anti-carcinogenic properties.
Another ingredient
used extensively in Asian cooking, Gingko biloba, is also under the CSIRO
microscope, as it is said to be helpful in improving memory and cognitive
function.
With the identification
of the medicinal properties of some of the herbs and spices intrinsic
to Asian cuisines, now CSIRO scientists are trying to identify the active
beneficial components and find the best way to optimise their effects.
But there is still a gray area as far as this process is concerned as
the scientists are not sure whether a component, if separated, would retain
its potency or not.
[Top]
Panel
to track Appalachian health (Times of India Online-08/07/2001)
A database will be
created to track details on health care and mortality in the Appalachian
Mountains, where cancer, heart disease and infant mortality rates have
been infamously high. The Appalachian Regional Commission began asking
universities last week to bid on the job of compiling the data on what
behaviours might be worsening residents' health, their accessibility to
health care providers and insurance and any relevant socio-economic factors.
``We've never done
anything this encompassing,'' said Duane DeBruyne, a commission spokesman
in Washington. ``There have been some spotty, state-based examinations
of health care disparities, but this is our first top-to-bottom review.''
Health care has long
been a concern for Appalachia's 22.2 million residents in the 199,000-square-mile
region that stretches from Mississippi to New York. White Appalachian
women have a higher rate of cervical cancer than women elsewhere in the
country, while white Appalachian men suffer more from lung cancer, according
to documents the commission made available to research institutions. The
commission also plans to study the financial conditions of the region's
hospitals and clinics and identify which facilities are struggling. Policy
makers would have access to the database when deciding on health care
spending, research and education. The target date for completing the study
is September 2002
``If a substantial
number of states all recognise there is a problem common to them all,
they would have more national political clout if they came together and
said, 'This is something that needs to be addressed,''' said Roger Hagler,
consultant for the North Carolina Office of Rural Health.
The federally funded
commission was created in 1965 after a study sponsored by the Kennedy
administration found that, in addition to the region's crushing poverty,
death from infectious disease was 33 percent higher in Appalachia than
in the rest of the nation. The study also found the region had 30 percent
fewer doctors per 100,000 residents than elsewhere, and infant mortality
rates were twice as high in some Appalachian counties than in other parts
of the United States. Last year, a study by a consortium at the University
of Virginia found that adults ages 35 to 64 in the western toe of Virginia
die 30 per cent faster than the same population statewide. The study also
found that people in the mountains are 50 per cent more likely to die
of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 26 per cent more likely to die
of heart disease, 53 per cent more likely to die of pneumonia or flu,
and 60 per cent more likely to commit suicide.
``There's a consensus
that the regional picture might be a more dramatic picture than the picture
of any individual state,'' Hagler said.
[Top]
Questions,
answers about stem cells-(Times of India Online-06/07/2001)
Many scientists believe
that stem cells hold the promise of dramatic new treatments for disease,
offering hope to millions of patients. But some groups oppose using stem
cells taken from embryos because this results in the death of the embryo.
Instead, they favour research limited to stem cells taken from mature
tissue. US President Bush has ordered federal funding of embryonic stem
cell research delayed while the policy is reviewed. A decision by the
administration is expected later this month.
Here are questions
and answers on this issue:
Q: What are stem cells?
A: Stem cells are
the fundamental building blocks for all the tissues in the body. They
can develop into bone, brain, muscle, skin and all the other organs.
Q: What kinds of stem
cells are there?
A: There are three
types totipotent, pluripotent and multipotent, each representing a different
stage in development.
Q: What are totipotent
stem cells?
A: Totipotent stem
cells form when a fertilised egg first divides. Totipotent stem cells
can develop into a complete individual.
Q: What are pluripotent
stem cells?
A: After a few days,
totipotent stem cells form a blastocyst, a ball of cells. The inner layer
contains pluripotent stem cells which are capable of developing into any
tissue in the body. Pluripotent stem cells, however, cannot become a complete
individual. Pluripotent stem cells are also called embryonic stem cells.
Q: What are multipotent
stem cells?
A: Multipotent stem
cells are found in mature tissue and are formed by the body to replace
worn out cells in tissues and organs. Stem cells from the bone marrow,
for instance, form the various kinds of blood cells. Neural stem cells
can form nerve and brain cells. Multipotent stem cells are sometimes called
somatic or adult stem cells.
Q: How are stem cells
useful in medicine?
A: Researchers believe
that stem cells have great promise in the treatment of many illnesses
from brain disease to diabetes to heart failure. Experts believe they
can learn to direct the development of stem cells into various types of
new cells that can rejuvenate or even replace ailing organs. For instance,
some believe it may be possible to grow insulin-producing cells to cure
some forms of diabetes, or nerve cells to restore function for patients
paralysed by spinal injury.
Q: Which type of stem
cell is best?
A: That is unknown.
Some researchers believe embryonic stem cells are best because they are
the most versatile. Also, embryonic stem cells can grow vigorously, forming
colonies that will expand virtually forever. But research has shown that
adult stem cells also are capable of forming many different types of cells.
For instance, some mouse experiments have shown that neural stem cells
from the brain can be coaxed into growing muscle, liver and heart cells.
Adult stem cells, though, are more difficult to grow and do not survive
in the lab as long as embryonic stem cells. Many researchers believe that
both embryonic and adult stem cells should be studied because it is unclear
now which will ultimately be the most useful in medicine.
Q: Why is embryonic
stem cell research controversial?
A: An embryo is killed
when the pluripotent stem cells are extracted. Many people are ethically
opposed to killing human embryos for any purpose. A 1995 law specifically
forbids federal funding of research in which a human embryo would be destroyed,
injured or placed at risk.
Q: Does that mean
federal money cannot be used for embryonic stem cell research?
A: Not necessarily.
In 1999, the National Institutes of Health established regulations that
would permit federal funding provided the embryonic stem cells were harvested
by privately funded laboratories. Federal money would be used to study
the stem cells, but not to harm the embryos from which cells were taken.
Q: Have any embryonic
stem cell studies been funded by the federal government?
A: No. Two research
projects have been proposed, but NIH consideration has been halted on
orders of President Bush who asked that the 1999 regulations be reviewed.
Q: Who opposes embryonic
stem cell research?
A: Some members of
Congress have proposed legislation that would forbid federal funding of
such research on moral grounds. Some anti-abortion groups oppose the research
because extracting the stem cells requires the death of a human embryo.
Pope John Paul II has said injury or death of a human embryo ``is not
morally acceptable'' even though it may advance research that would cure
or treat disease.
Q: Who favours federal
funding for embryonic stem cell research?
A: The majority of
research organisations in the US Eighty Nobel Prize winners have signed
a petition endorsing the research. Scores of scientific societies have
announced their support. Many members of Congress also support the research,
citing potential benefits for millions of patients.
[Top]
Cannabis
good on nausea, poor on pain (Times of India Online-06/07/2001)
Cannabis is better
than conventional drugs at combating nausea among cancer patients but
less effective at easing acute pain, and in any case is prone to side
effects. Two studies assessed nearly 40 medical trials involving cannabis,
with the goal of getting an overview of the drug's potential role in the
hospital. More than 1,300 chemotherapy patients were enlisted in 30 trials
in which they were given cannabis tablets or injections to fight nausea
and vomiting.
In every trial, the
cannabis was found to be more effective than conventional anti-sickness
drugs. However, the cannabis also had more side effects, ranging from
beneficial (euphoria) to harmful (depressions and hallucinations). Even
if it were only taken for a short while, this problem is likely to limit
its clinical use, the study said.
In separate research,
more than 200 patients, most of them cancer sufferers or people in post-operative
care, took part in nine trials to see cannabis' effectiveness for treating
acute or chronic (long-term) pain. In eight of these nine trials, the
cannabis was no better than codeine, and also had more side effects. The
cannabis was likewise administered by tablets or intra-muscular injections,
rather than by smoking.
"Cannabinoids are
no more effective than codeine in controlling pain and have depressant
effects on the central nervous system that limit their use," the study
said. "Their widespread introduction into clinical practice for pain management
is therefore undesirable. In acute post-operative pain, they should not
be used," it added bluntly.
The first study was
conducted by a team led by Martin Tramer of the department of anaesthesiology
at Geneva University Hospital; the second was led by Fiona Campbell of
the Pain Management Centre at Queen's Medical Centre, in Nottingham, England.
The work is published in the weekly British Medical Journal.
[Top]
Non-smoked
nicotine aids blood flow-(Times of India Online-30/06/2001)
Nicotine given to
animals in water or by injections stimulate the growth of blood vessels.
The finding surprised researchers and could have implications for some
medical treatments and the long-term use of nicotine patches. ``This was
totally a shock to us. We expected just the opposite,'' Dr John P Cooke,
director of vascular medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine,
said in a telephone interview.
Encouraging the growth
of blood vessels can be good or bad depending on circumstances, said Cooke,
whose findings were reported in Friday's issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
It's beneficial in cases where a patient has circulation problems, he
explained. But the process, called angiogenesis, can also result in encouraging
the growth of tumours, which need blood vessels to grow, and plaque which
can clog larger blood vessels, he said.
``Cardiologists are
very enamoured now of angiogenic therapy to treat poor blood flow to the
heart, to treat poor blood flow to the legs,'' Cooke said.
But he cautioned that
in this type of treatment it will be important to deliver the agents that
encourage vessel growth directly to the place where needed. ``If they
are given systemically it can have unwanted consequences,'' he said. But
he was quick to add that people should still use nicotine patches to stop
smoking, just not for long periods.
``That is a very good
therapy, nicotine p | 
