Environmental Medicine News

The News Review:

- FDA Statement on Institute of Medicine’s Report on Preventing…
- ‘These poor guys have targets on their backs’
- Scientists look anew at ‘magic’ mushroom
- Stem cells: vetoes, half-truths, and outright lies
- Gene variant increases risk of type 2 diabetes - but healthy lifestyle…

FDA Statement on Institute of Medicine’s Report on Preventing…
Free with registration - M2 Presswire - AccessMyLibrary.com - Jul 21, 2006
FDA Statement on Institute of Medicine’s Report on Preventing Medication Errors. | M2 Presswire (July, 2006)… –> COPYRIGHT 2006 M2 Communications Ltd. M2 PRESSWIRE-21 July 2006-US FDA: FDA Statement on Institute of Medicine’s Report on Preventing Medication Errors(C)1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD RDATE:21072006 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes the Institute of Medicine report released today provides a much needed perspective on the frequency, severity and preventable nature of medication errors. We find that many of the recommendations outlined in the report are supported by efforts already underway at FDA in the areas of medication error prevention, patient education and label comprehension. We look forward to using the occasion of this report to continue to work with stakeholders and partners to build on these efforts. * In January, FDA announced a major revision to the format of prescription drug information, commonly called the package insert or physician labeling, to give healthcare professionals clear and concise.

‘These poor guys have targets on their backs’
USA Today - Jul 21, 2006
“That’s where the test comes in. That’s the end phase. ”
Wilk is a co-founder of Champion Sports Medicine in Birmingham, Ala. , where surgeries were performed on Brees’ and Pennington’s shoulders, and on Culpepper’s three torn knee ligaments. He says that it’s only because of ever-improving arthroscopic surgery and rehabilitation techniques that all three are expected to return to the field this season. “Drew, Chad and Daunte all had horrible injuries,” says Wilk, who worked seven hours a day with Brees during rehab. “Three years ago, it would have all been doom and gloom… In my case, I just got my leg caught under someone. ”
Wilk says that blame-free attitude is typical of the quarterbacks he’s worked with the last two decades. “All these guys say, ‘It’s just the nature of the beast, and I’m just going to move forward,’ ” says Wilk. “I’m kind of impressed with that. ”
Brees’ moving-on attitude after shoulder surgery Jan. 5, says Wilk, was apparent when he began cheering on rehab patients he didn’t even know at Champion Sports Medicine. But it went too far at a Saints workout last month when Brees started throwing passes to Wilk and backed farther away each time.

Scientists look anew at ‘magic’ mushroom
International Herald Tribune - Jul 21, 2006
Neuroscientists could study people under the influence of the drug to answer basic questions about human perception and consciousness. But the research also shows that scientists can safely and reliably provoke a mystical experience in a laboratory, meaning they now have an unprecedented chance to study the nature of the mystical experience itself, using brain scanning and other techniques to probe the biological basis of a puzzling human phenomenon that has powerfully shaped the world's religions. "This represents a landmark study, because it is applying modern techniques to an area of human experience that goes back as long as humankind has been here," said Charles Schuster, a former director of the government's National Institute on Drug Abuse and currently a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. The Hopkins team is planning follow-up work to look at the drug's medical potential, but other groups have already begun similar research. Preliminary results from a study under way at a California hospital show that a single session with psilocybin helps patients overcome the anxiety and depression that occur with a diagnosis of incurable cancer. A scientist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, is studying the use of ecstasy, another illegal psychedelic, for the same purpose… Neuroscientists could study people under the influence of the drug to answer basic questions about human perception and consciousness. But the research also shows that scientists can safely and reliably provoke a mystical experience in a laboratory, meaning they now have an unprecedented chance to study the nature of the mystical experience itself, using brain scanning and other techniques to probe the biological basis of a puzzling human phenomenon that has powerfully shaped the world's religions. "This represents a landmark study, because it is applying modern techniques to an area of human experience that goes back as long as humankind has been here," said Charles Schuster, a former director of the government's National Institute on Drug Abuse and currently a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. The Hopkins team is planning follow-up work to look at the drug's medical potential, but other groups have already begun similar research. Preliminary results from a study under way at a California hospital show that a single session with psilocybin helps patients overcome the anxiety and depression that occur with a diagnosis of incurable cancer. A scientist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, is studying the use of ecstasy, another illegal psychedelic, for the same purpose. A researcher at the University of Arizona, meanwhile, is testing whether psilocybin can treat obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Stem cells: vetoes, half-truths, and outright lies
Ars Technica - Jul 21, 2006
Other claims, such as those for
Parkinson's or spinal cord injury, are simply untenable. The references Prentice cites as the basis for his list include
various case reports, a meeting abstract, a newspaper article, and
anecdotal testimony before a Congressional committee. A review of those
references reveals that Prentice not only misrepresents existing adult
stem cell treatments but also frequently distorts the nature and
content of the references he cites. Sadly, you won't just find misleading statements or outright lies
from opponents of stem cell therapies. Around the globe, clinics are
springing up that prey on the hopes and susceptibilities of desperate
patients,… Some offer treatments involving stem cells
recovered from umbilical cord blood, but others utilize tissue obtained
from aborted fetuses. The common factors are the high price and total
absence of any evidence of efficacy. The organizations, with names like
the Preventative Medicine Center, EmCell, and the Institute for
Regenerative Medicine are highly secretive about their techniques, and
none have published their results for scrutiny by the medical
community. In short, they are quacks and con men. Sadly, cases such as
these, and the South Korean controversy, are all the ammunition
opponents of hESC research need.

Gene variant increases risk of type 2 diabetes - but healthy lifestyle…
News-Medical.net - Jul 21, 2006
The DPP Genetics subgroup conducted the study in a multi-institutional collaborative effort. Its findings build on the deCode Genetics report, published online in Nature Genetics in January 2006, by:

confirming the finding in an independent population that included the racial and ethnic diversity typical of the U. population with diabetes
showing that the gene variant increases risk in those with pre-diabetes, and in a prospective study where patients are followed over time
examining for the first time the relationship between the genetic risk factor and interventions that delay diabetes onset, and
showing that the gene variant affects insulin production, not cells’ response to insulin. The hallmarks of type 2 diabetes are insulin resistance - the inability of target tissues to respond to insulin - and a gradual failure of beta cells to produce enough insulin. “This variant of TCF7L2 is associated with decreased insulin production, but not with any increase in insulin resistance,” said DPP study chair David M… org), which houses data collected in large clinical trials funded by the Institute, made data from the DPP available to researchers free of charge. The NIDDK, part of the NIH, also conducts and supports research on other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutrition, and obesity; and kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases. Spanning the full spectrum of medicine and afflicting people of all ages and ethnic groups, these diseases encompass some of the most common, severe, and disabling conditions affecting Americans. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The Nation’s Medical Research Agency - includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.