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health 1

New translation, the Magna Carta
article archives at abelard's news and comment zonehealth archives 1 2 3 III-2004: 11 25 30 31

 

health 1

aids vaccination process shows some promise

“The latest results [are described as] ‘the first concrete evidence in an animal model that one can achieve a substantial reduction in the level of virus in the bloodstream.’

“ In fact, the suppression is better than what doctors have achieved with single or double drug AIDS therapy, Walker says, and about as good as multi-drug highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), currently the leading treatment for HIV infection.”

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health241202

24.12.2002

 


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is ‘gulf war syndrome’ a real effect linked to sarin?

News services are beginning to pick up this report.

“ ‘They are pushing back the frontiers of biological effects of low levels of sarin. The evidence is building,’ said Dr. Francis O'Donnell, a medical consultant for the Defense Department who helps track Gulf War illness research.”

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health231202

23.12.2002

parkinson’s and pesticides

“Langston, who serves as science director of the Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale, Calif., is credited with being the first to link environmental chemicals with Parkinson’s and was recently named head of a $20-million effort by the National Institutes of Health to take a closer look at the role these chemicals might play in the disease.”

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health151202

15.12.2002

a useful article on aids

Meanwhile loons post anthrax and others seek to weaponise a variety of nasties.

To me there seems something anomalous hereabouts.

Related material
AIDS marches on. Are you all doooooomed? (archived news item)

 

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health291102

29.11.2002

related
material
AIDS marches
on. Are you all
dooooomed?
(archived news
item)

 

smoking cannabis
“A key finding highlighted by the review of 90 published papers is that the amount of smoke taken into the lungs is two thirds larger if cannabis is being smoked. The smoke is also taken one third deeper into the lungs - and that smoke is held an average of four times longer before being exhaled.”
[New Scientist, 11.11.02]

Note that the relative numbers of smokes for the two drugs are not mentioned. People who smoke cannabis often tend to do so in combination with tobacco, but they also can tend to smoke fewer doses. However, many cannabis smokers also smoke nicotine/tobacco as a separate drug.

Smoking is a hazardous (and widely anti-social) activity. A UK survey conducted earlier in 2002 found that 79 per cent of ‘children’ believed cannabis to be ‘safe’. Public health education in the UK is obviously failing severely.

This report suggests that approximately 45% of 16 – 29 year old Britons have ‘used’ cannabis at some point. Of course, this suggestion is near to meaningless without quoted amounts and frequencies.
     The report also suggests that the cannabis content of reefers/spliffs etc may have risen by 10–15 times over the last 40 years. Again, the claim is vague but it puts into doubt any long-term findings on the effects of this drug.
But this claim is strongly questioned here one GoldenYak [tm] award. The writer proposes that a more realistic figure for cannabis content would be 3 or 4 times, and that this is compensated by lower dosages.

It is vital that the health problems of smoking are not confused with any drug problems.

related material
cigarettes? yukkkkk
US ‘war’ on drugs
estimates of tobacco deaths revised up by 20%

 

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health121102

20.11.2002
(updated)

 

related material

cigarettes? yukkkkk

US ‘war’ on drugs

estimates of tobacco deaths revised up by 20%

the tobacco scourge in just the uk
“The research reveals that half of all cigarette smokers will eventually be killed by tobacco if they do not quit.”

“There are still 10 million smokers in Britain, and about 5 million will be killed by tobacco if they don't stop.”

“World-wide, there were about 100 million tobacco deaths in the 20th century, but if current smoking patterns continue there will be about 1 billion in the 21st century.”

related material
cigarettes? yukkkkk
US ‘war’ on drugs
estimates of tobacco deaths revised up by 20%

 

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health121102

13.11.2002

 

related material

cigarettes? yukkkkk

US ‘war’ on drugs

estimates of tobacco deaths revised up by 20%

WHO World Health Report 2002
A news release can be found here.

Health expectancy can be increased 5-10 years, says the report, which suggests that 40 percent of global deaths are due to just the following 10 biggest risk factors:

•childhood and maternal underweight
•unsafe sex
•high blood pressure
•tobacco
•alcohol
•unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene
•high cholesterol
•indoor smoke from solid fuels
•iron deficiency
•overweight/obesity

while the next 10 risk factors add less than 10 percent.

Here is the full report.

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health121102

13.11.2002

cigarettes? yukkkkk

poisonous reactions directly linked to nicotine being traced
“As if smokers need another reason to kick the habit, California scientists have discovered that a byproduct of nicotine, the substance that makes cigarettes so addictive, causes a type of chemical reaction in the body similar to that which occurs when sugar is scorched or food goes bad. This reaction is thought to play a role in diabetes, cancer and other diseases.”
[Reuters, 28.10.02]

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health291002

29.10.2002

news from the front—the mad USA ‘war on drugs’

UN health chief on smoking
“ "The United States has led opposition to a total (tobacco) advertising ban, saying it would be unconstitutional.”

In the meanwhile, the US is banning other ‘drugs’ and putting their users in cages by the hundreds of thousands.

and here we have a US politican who, at least, is consistent
next there will be fag pushers on the corner, or perhaps boutiques selling both varieties.
[Independent, 17.10.02]

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health211002

22.10.2002

estimates of tobacco deaths revised up by 20%
From this latest WHO report:
“Based on current trends, tobacco could soon become the leading cause of premature death worldwide, killing more than HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, car accidents, homicide and suicide combined.”
[Reuters, 11.10.02]

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/archive-health1.htm#health111002

11.10.2002

sommat nasty in the water.....
infections and sea bathing....

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news.htm#health220802

22.08.2002
a crass but useful article on aids...
When a propagandist attacks other propagandists.
The facts tend to get buried among the unrestrained verbiage.
31.07.2002

hiv is currently incurable but can be held in remission (in some people?)

aids—useful resource, large number of links [Washington Post, 27.07.02

30.07.2002
wine drinkers have less heart disease.....ah yes, but why? [Economist, 25.07.02] 30.07.2002

Study suggests a placebo procedure is as effective as arthroscopy (an operation) [IHT, 12.07.02]
“First do no harm”, from the Hippocratic Oath (historically, taken by medics)
How much more medical practice is pointless

related material
placebos and anti-depressants.... [IHT, 08.05.02]

13.07.2002
closing in on big tobacco....
big tobacco drug-barons still up to their old tricks.
08.06.2002

smoking kills—big time

New death risk tables, designed to be clear to number-phobic types.
note: PDF document, 6 pages.

Note the great differences between smokers and non-smokers.

10.07.2002

placebos and anti-depressants....
billions spent on drugs, but do they have any real effect? [IHT, 08.05.02, link no longer available]

“clinicians and researchers say the results do suggest that people may be overestimating the power of the drugs and that the medicines' greatest benefits may come from the care and concern shown to patients during a clinical trial - a context that does not exist for millions of patients using the drugs in the real world. ”

“Once [...] the patients who had been given placebos were told as much, they quickly deteriorated. People's belief in the power of anti-depressants may explain why they do well on placebos.”

09.05.02
Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures
400+ page quality report
21.04.2002
apparent physical after effects from anthrax infection.....
the symptoms sound similar to those from asthma (chronic low level oxygen starvation), this is not suggested in the article....
the example given was, of course, inhalation delivery of anthrax....
20.04.2002
the following is a scrappy article on mould in buildings, a ‘known’ asthma trigger.
Mould is replacing asbestos as the next issue for industrial hygiene
20.04.2002
asthma.........
clear and succinct report on asthma....
08.04.2002

 


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