| Cutting edge |  There are two items in today's newsletters that call into the question the morality or otherwise of certain medical professionals and scientists. The first is the complicity of medical researchers in helping the tobacco companies cover up the serious health consequences of smoking for so many years. It is bad enough that the editor of Bild - himself an avid smoker - cooperated with the German tobacco companies to prevent Lufthansa from banning smoking on its domestic flights. But, the same documents that show this also show that medical scientists took tobacco company money to write scholarly articles attempting to refute the growing awareness of the link between smoking, ill health and premature death from a number of causes.
The other is the way in which our new Minister of Health is taking the initiative to rekindle spending and emphasis on the care and treatment of the many South Africans who live with HIV and AIDS. Our previous health minister was a medical doctor. Barbara Hogan is not - but she appears to have far more compassion and awareness of the magnitude of the problem and of how to tackle it.
As both an editor and a medical doctor I am always particularly concerned when lack of integrity shows itself in either profession. In these two cases lives were at stake. We are lucky that - in both cases - sense and science finally prevailed.
Bridget Farham Editor
https://www.bizcommunity.com
| | Headlines
MedicalZimbabwe: Doctors warn water crisis now at tipping point[Nelson Chenga and Charles Rukuni] A health disaster of unimaginable proportions looms in Harare after the water situation deteriorated even further this week, sparking fresh health concerns as an outbreak of cholera in Chitungwiza claimed two more lives lats week bringing the total number of deaths to 13 so far. Passionately pink for breast cancer - CANSAGo passionately pink for October and keep cancer survivors close to your heart. This is the message from the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) for its awareness campaigns in October, which is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Advertisement: | M-NET Breast Cancer Luncheon.
Just a table and lunch with us can inspire women everywhere.
JHB 14th OCt, Sandton Convention Centre | CT 17th Oct, CTICC | DBN 22nd Oct, ICC
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Chronic diseasesAlcohol intake may reduce risk of type 2 diabetes in womenModerate alcohol consumption in women, but not in men, may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Statins keep the arteries youngDrugs given to heart patients to lower cholesterol may have an additional benefit - keeping their blood vessels feeling younger.
Corporate Social ResponsibilitySAS helps Leratong children reach greater heights - Anticlockwise200 treasured little girls and boys under the age of 6 from the Leratong Preschool were treated to a day out at Monte Casino Bird Gardens by the staff at SAS Institute on Friday. Young boy to receive weight-loss operation at Netcare St Anne's Hospital - MNA Associates16-Year-old Blaine Coetzer became the youngest male in South Africa and the third member of his family to undergo a gastric banding procedure.
HIV/AIDSUganda: Disabled in the north missing out on HIV servicesDisabled people in northern Uganda - many of whom were injured in the long conflict between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) - are calling on the government to provide a more targeted HIV response. New Minister of Health to make HIV/AIDS a priorityThis comes after years of controversy from her predecessor's unconventional approach, bolstered by the previous president's dabbling with AIDS denial. South Africa: New health minister to champion AIDS treatmentSouth Africa's new health minister, Barbara Hogan, has listed the twin epidemics of HIV and TB as among the most serious health challenges facing the country. HIV around 100 years agoThe HI virus was probably first around a lot earlier than scientists first thought. Battle for HIV drugs market getting tougher[Mansi Shah] The battle for the HIV drug market share is getting fiercer - maybe too fierce for some.
Infectious diseasesHospitals on alert for deadly infectionAccording to IOL, Pretoria's Steve Biko Academic Hospital is one of several in the province which have been placed on high alert following the death of three people from a highly infectious disease.
Medical ResearchNew light on how the brain controls food intakeNew research may shed further light on the link between the brain and obesity. Vitamin C supplements may reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatmentsA new study by scientists in the United States has revealed that vitamin C may blunt the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment. Broad Institute awarded major grant to bolster epigenomics research - Broad Institute of Harvard and MITNIH award will support interdisciplinary work to comprehensively map the
human epigenome.
Medical TechnologyNew technology promises tests for diseases such as cancer in 15 minutesScientists at Leeds University in the UK say soon, testing for diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, could take as little as 15 minutes and could be as simple as using a pregnancy testing kit.
NutritionGDAs: Shopping at face value with Front-of-Pack food facts - Magna CartaConsumers will now see five key nutritional values displayed clearly on the front of Kellogg's® cereal boxes, courtesy of the user-friendly, front-of-pack (FoP) Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) labelling tool Kellogg is piloting in South Africa.
OncologyHepatitis B virus associated with pancreatic cancerPast exposure to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) might be associated with the development of pancreatic cancer, researchers report. Genetic link established between obesity and colon cancerA new study reveals the first-ever genetic link between obesity and colon cancer risk, a finding that could lead to greater accuracy in testing for the disease.
Pharmaceutical companies‘Emerging 8' set to join ‘Big 5' targeted cancer therapy blockbusters[Dr. Tom Gray] Since the first approval of a targeted therapy for cancer just over ten years ago, targeted therapies have notably improved treatment outcomes in cancer, becoming the leading therapy class in the oncology market.
PharmaceuticalsMarking and coding system tracks pharmaceuticals' journey to customers Dutch pharmaceutical packager Tjoapack implements a marking and coding system that exceeds existing global requirements for track and trace.
Public healthMillions will die of lung disease in China in the next 25 yearsA US study has suggested that more than 80 million people in China will die in the next 25 years as a result of lung disease. How tobacco companies stopped airlines banning smokingA German newspaper, working with the German tobacco industry stopped Lufthansa from banning inflight smoking. Pictorial warnings on cigarette packs in BritainPictures showing gruesome effects of smoking on the body will replace text warnings on cigarette packets in Britain from today, 1 October.
Sports scienceMusic boosts exercise enduranceRunning with an iPod may do more than relieve boredom.
Women's healthCan your 'organic' beauty treatments be trusted?Given our concern about what's in the food we eat, it is no wonder we have become more interested in the ingredients in our beauty products. But the rules governing the labelling of the stuff we put into our bodies by mouth do not apply to the products we absorb when we put them on our skin. Long-term breastfeeding significantly reduces risk of breast cancerBreastfeeding for a year over the course of a woman's life helps cut the risk of breast cancer, research says. |
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