Category Archives: Health

Health, Medical, Research, Science, Scotland

Clot-busting drug boosts recovery for stroke victims…

STROKE victims who are given a vital clot-busting drug within six hours are more likely to have a long-lasting recovery than those who do not receive the treatment, new research has revealed.

A Scottish-led study of more than 3,000 patients across a dozen different countries reviewed the effects of the clot-busting drug rt-PA, which is given intravenously to patients who have suffered an ischaemic stroke.

An ischaemic stroke happens when the brain’s blood supply is interrupted by a blood clot. The damage caused can be permanent or fatal. Stroke symptoms include paralysis down one side and speech problems.

The international trial, led by Edinburgh scientists, found that 18 months after being treated with the drug, more stroke survivors were able to look after themselves. Patients who received rt-PA had fewer long-term problems with self-care and mobility, and experienced less pain and discomfort than those who did not.

Treatment also reduced the number of patients who needed help from other people from 51 per cent to 43 per cent.

However, the benefits of using rt-PA come at a price. Patients are at risk of death within seven days of treatment because the drug can cause a secondary bleed in the brain.

Stroke experts stress that these mortality figures need to be taken in context of deaths from stroke. Without treatment, one third of people who suffer a stroke die, with another third left permanently dependent and disabled.

Professor Peter Sandercock, the Chief investigator from Edinburgh’s University Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, said:

… The trial team is delighted that, even for the elderly, rt-PA significantly improves life after stroke in the longer-term.

… Our results underline the benefits of treating patients with the drug as soon as possible and justify extending treatment to those aged 80 and over. We hope that this new data will encourage wider use.

Researchers said that because of the threat of death and disability, many stroke patients are prepared to take the early risks of being treated with rt-PA to avoid being disabled.

About half of those who took part in the trial were aged over 80.

The study builds on the results of the world’s largest ever trial of the drug, which was published last year. It found that treatment with rt-PA improved health for stroke survivors up to six months following an ischaemic stroke.

The latest results from the trial show the quality of life of stroke patients 18 months after receiving rt-PA.

It involved stroke patients in 12 countries between 2000 and 2011 – half of whom were treated with intravenous rt-PA and half of whom were not.

Researchers found that for every 1,000 patients given rt-PA within six hours of stroke, by 18 months, 36 more will not need help from others than if they had not been given the drug.

The multi-centre, randomised trial was supported by the University of Edinburgh, the Stroke Association UK, the Medical Research Council, the Health Foundation UK, NIHR Stroke Research Network and NHS Lothian Health Board. The results have been published in the academic journal The Lancet Neurology.

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Biotechnology, Britain, Economic, European Union, Government, Health, Science, Technology

Environment Secretary says GM farming would save the countryside…

The Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson MP, has controversially claimed that GM farming would save the countryside and cost less.

Mr Paterson says that Britain should lead the way in producing genetically-modified food because it would lower prices and free up the countryside.

A long standing advocate of GM technology, Mr Paterson claims its adoption in the UK could be as significant as the agricultural revolution.

He has pointed out that since 1996 there has been a hundred-fold increase in the use of GM crops around the world, with 17 million farmers in 28 countries now growing what critics have branded Frankenstein foods. Less than 0.1 per cent of this takes place in the EU.

According to Mr Paterson farmers wouldn’t grow these crops if they didn’t benefit from doing so. Governments wouldn’t license these technologies, he says, if they didn’t recognise the economic, environmental and public benefits. He also added that consumers wouldn’t buy these products if they didn’t think they were safe and cost-effective.

In a speech designed to appeal to traditionalists, he said that while the rest of the world is ploughing ahead and reaping the benefits of new technologies, Europe risks being left behind.

… The use of GM (technology) could be as transformative as the original agricultural revolution was. The UK should be at the forefront now, as it was then.

Mr Paterson says that GM farming can help feed people in poorer countries and inject missing vitamins into the diets of children in the UK. He also argued that using GM crops to improve yields will require less space, and will free up more greenfield land.

… If we use cultivated land more efficiently, we could free up space for biodiversity, nature and wilderness.

The Environment Secretary also promotes the view that GM crops can help combat the effects of Britain’s increasingly erratic climate.

In recent weeks, the Prime Minister, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Mark Walport, and the Science Minister, David Willetts, have all voiced support for GM crops.

Mr Paterson intends to lead a campaign among European ministers to make Brussels lift many of its restrictions on the use of GM technology.

The Minister of State says that he is conscious of those who need reassurance on this matter. He highlighted the need for government, industry and the scientific community of having a duty to the British public to reassure them that GM is a ‘safe, proven and beneficial innovation.’

But despite the assurances, the Soil Association has warned:

… We need farming that helps poorer African and Asian farmers produce food – not farming that helps (GM producers) Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto produce profits.

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Biotechnology, Health, Science

Research suggests GM diet ‘can lead to disease in pigs’…

GM crops could give pigs diseases, after scientists claimed those fed the so-called Frankenstein food had inflamed stomachs and heavier uteruses.

The research is significant because the digestive system and organs of pigs are similar to those of humans, who eat the pork from the animals.

A group of Britain’s biggest supermarkets recently ended a ban on the feeding of GM crops to pigs and other animals on farms in the UK.

Meat, milk and eggs from these animals are not labelled as having come from animals fed on GM crops.

The latest study will embarrass the Government, which supports GM crops and food, based on assurances that they have been proven safe for humans and the environment.

However, the research suggests this cannot be taken for granted.

The study was led by Dr Judy Carman, associate professor in health and the environment at Flinders University, Australia.

She said GM-fed female pigs had on average a 25 per cent heavier uterus than non-GM-fed females, which is a possible indicator of disease.

Also, severe inflammation in stomachs was markedly higher in pigs on a GM diet. Referring to the results as ‘striking’, Dr Carman added:

… We found these results in farm conditions, not in a laboratory, but with the benefit of strict scientific controls. We need to investigate if people are also getting digestive problems from eating GM crops.

The trial involved 168 newly-weaned pigs fed either GM soya and corn, or an equivalent non-GM diet.

But Professor Tom Sanders of Kings College, London, said that there were no differences in growth and mortality rates and pigs appeared in similar health. Cambridge Professor, David Spiegelhalter, has also said that the ‘conclusions don’t stand up to statistical scrutiny.’

The Biotechnology Industry Organisation said that this study was authored by ‘anti-biotech campaigners’. It added that hundreds of independent studies found no difference between animals fed GM or non-GM diets.

Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, claims opposition to GM food should be cast aside in the interests of the economy and our ability to feed the world. Mr Paterson has dismissed scepticism of GM as ‘complete nonsense’.

A statement issued by Mr Paterson’s department said:

… The world’s population is set to hit nine billion by 2050, and we must increase food production, minimise waste and boost competition. We must not ignore technologies, including GM, that can meet the challenge.  

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