Medical News May 13th, 2008
Posted on May 13, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |
Tell your MP to vote against Bill C-51
from the Natural Health Products Protection Association
Many Canadians rely upon natural health products for their health. These products are endangered and consumers need to act now to save them.
Since 2004 when the Natural Health Product Regulations were introduced, natural health products have been increasingly threatened. The new Regulations were Health Canada’s response to consumer demands for the government to protect their access to natural health products. The Regulations have had the opposite effect.
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Canada seeks to shift safety burden back to drug makers
Pharmaceutical firms operating in Canada could face increasing regulatory pressure if government plans to tighten up consumer protection laws are passed.
The government said that the proposal, Bill C51, is designed to modernize the country’s Food and Drug Act, and “crack down on negligent manufacturers, importers and retailers who knowingly endanger their customers.”
The amendment would enable Canadian health officials to demand that firms selling potentially dangerous pharmaceutical products provide additional evidence of safety to both consumers and regulators.
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Court Hears More Claims Linking Thimesoral in Vaccines to Autism
The parents of two 10-year-old boys who believe that a mercury-based preservative, thimesoral, found in many childhood vaccines, caused their sons to develop autism brought their case to U.S. federal court on Monday.
Autism is a brain development disorder that appears before a child turns three years old; it has a serious impact on social interaction and communication. Medical experts do not know for sure what exactly causes autism, but they do know there is a strong hereditary component.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in every 150 children has autism or a related disorder such as Asperger’s syndrome.
Pollution Boosts Risk of Blood Clots As Well
It has long been known that pollution has noxious repercussions on our health, but no study stated that it might raise the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) until today.
Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that forms in vein in the body. Blood clots occur when blood thickens and clumps together. Most deep vein blood clots occur in the lower leg or thigh. They also can occur in other parts of the body. What makes a blood clot dangerous is that it can travel through the bloodstream to different organs of the body. The loose clot is called an embolus. When it travels to the lungs for example, it blocks blood flow causing pulmonary embolism. It can also cause heart attack or stroke.
According to the Society of Interventional Radiology, about 600,000 new patients are diagnosed as having DVT every year and one in 100 of these people dies.
Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Inefficient in Preventing Alzheimer’s
Just one week after researchers from Boston University School of Medicine stated in a study that use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for five years was linked with a 24 percent reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, results of a clinical trial show that neither Celebrex nor naproxen (both belonging to the class of NSAIDs) preserves mental function.
Moreover, naproxen, which goes under the brand names Aleve and Naprosyn may even have a harmful effect on cognitive function it was found.
Childhood Multiple Sclerosis Impairs Cognitive Abilities
Children who develop multiple sclerosis, a disease that usually strikes during childhood, are more likely to have low IQ scores and cognitive problems, new research shows.
An unpredictable disease of the central nervous system, multiple sclerosis can range from relatively benign to somewhat disabling to devastating, as communication between the brain and other parts of the body is disrupted.
Health experts believe MS is an autoimmune disease – one in which the body, through its immune system, launches a defensive attack against its own tissues. In the case of MS, it is the nerve-insulating myelin that comes under assault. The degeneration of myelin affects nerves by lessening their ability to conduct signals. These problems in nerve transmission cause complications in movement, sensation, cognition, vision and other functions.
Drugs Alone Don’t Lower Heart Disease Risks for Overweight Americans
Daily doses of statins and blood pressure medications will not be enough to prevent heart disease among the ever-growing number of Baby Boomers who are overweight or obese, a new study suggests.
The simple truth, experts say, is that pounds must also be shed to keep cardiovascular trouble away.
“There is a debate out there about whether this generation is going to live as long as their parents, and the truth is they probably won’t,” said study author Dr. Gregory L. Burke, director of the division of public health sciences at Wake Forest University School of medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.
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Viagra ‘aids muscular dystrophy’
The anti-impotence drug Viagra may help save people with muscular dystrophy from an early death, a study suggests.
Researchers found the way the drug works to combat impotence may also help ward off heart failure in muscular dystrophy patients.
Tests on mice with a version of the disease showed the drug helped keep their hearts working well.
The Montreal Heart Institute study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Muscular dystrophy is a genetic condition causing wasting of the muscles.
The first signs of muscular weakness appear at roughly age five, leading to a progressive loss in the ability to walk by the age of 13.
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[…] Tech Medical News May 13th, 2008 » This Summary is from an article posted at doctor-clinic.net on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 This […]
[…] Products Protection Association Many Canadians rely upon natural health products for their heahttp://doctor-clinic.net/medical-news-may-13th-2008/NSAIDs for Alzheimer’s? Never Mind WebMDDespite evidence that NSAID drugs might prevent Alzheimer’s, […]
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