25 July 2007
USA - Smoking May Impede Alcoholism Recovery
According to a new study published in the July issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, alcoholics who smoke may be at a disadvantage as they try to quit drinking. "Non-smoking alcoholics showed a significantly greater level of recovery than smoking alcoholics in the areas of mental efficiency, higher-level reasoning and problem-solving, visual-spatial processing skills, and working or short-term memory," said Timothy C. Durazzo, an assistant adjunct professor in the department of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF. It is estimated that 50 to 90 percent of people in North America who seek treatment for alcoholism are also smokers. And previous research has shown that alcoholics who smoke have poorer cognitive skills than non-smokers when they are still actively drinking or after a short period of sobriety. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness and consequences of attempting to quit smoking at the same time as discontinuing alcohol, the team said. ...[more]
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Australia - Ice Fuelling HIV by 'Hyper-Sexual' Activity
Australia’s ice scourge is fuelling the nation's HIV/AIDS resurgence by encouraging "hyper-sexual" promiscuity, a leading authority on the disease has warned. Professor David Cooper, head of the National Centre for HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, said stimulant drugs were playing a key role in a comeback of the virus. New figures show that one in eight people in their 20s have tried amphetamines in the past year, and an increasing number are choosing more potent crystal meth, or ice, over speed. Prof Cooper said the dangerous methamphetamine was also responsible for a new kind of sexual abandon which was putting an increasing number of young Australians, both gay and straight, in "grave danger'' of contracting HIV and other sexually-transmitted disease. "The methamphetamine epidemic is a big worry because the drug makes people hyper-sexual and seek sexual partners without assessing the risk or taking preventative measures,'' Prof Cooper said. ...[more]
Southern Africa - Diaphragms Don't Help Prevent HIV
Using diaphragms in addition to condoms provides no extra protection against the AIDS virus, researchers reported Friday in the journal Lancet. Researchers gave 5,045 women in South Africa and Zimbabwe an HIV-prevention package that included condoms; some received diaphragms as well. But the incidence of the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS was the same in both groups, around 4%. The hope was that diaphragms would give women extra protection against the virus, especially since so many men are reluctant to use condoms. ...[more]
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Samoa - Homosexual Activity Ok’d At Pacific Games
South Pacific Games officials in Samoa have overruled a ban on the country's homosexual competitors at the event having sex. Team Samoa management issued a memo to its athletes and officials banning them from engaging in homosexual activity at the games, which start in Apia on August 25. Homosexuality is illegal in Samoa, with a penalty for indecency between males of up to five years' jail. ...[more]
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United Kingdom - Doctor Accused of Infanticide Let off
A British doctor who was accused of actions "tantamount to euthanasia" with regard to the deaths of two premature babies has been cleared of any misconduct. Dr Michael Munro felt the infants were ‘suffering horrendously’ and after receiving permission from the parents, he injected the children with a paralyzing drug to hasten their deaths. The panel also rejected claims that his actions fell below standard, as there were no clear specific professional guidelines. The General Medical Counsel panel chairwoman, criticised the doctor for poor note keeping and for misleading an investigator probing the case. Following the hearing Dr. Munro said that he hoped the decision would mean more discussion on end of life decisions and apologized to the parents of the babies involved for any distress caused by the proceedings before the GMC. ...[more]
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Japan - Human Stem Cells May be Produced Without Embryos
Japan’s leading genetics researcher, Shinya Yamanaka, could be “a matter of months” from producing an “ethical” human stem cell without using a human embryo. Professor Yamanaka’s announcement followed his breakthrough work – in which the skin cells of laboratory mice were genetically manipulated back to their embryonic state. If the research develops in the way he hopes, the ethical problems that have swirled around embryonic stem-cell research would disappear. The concept of artificially inducing adult cells to return to a stem-cell state raises equally attractive possibilities for organ transplantation. If, for example, a patient’s skin cell could be reverted to stem-cell form and thence converted back into any other form of tissue – such as nerve, heart or other organs – it could then be transplanted without risk of rejection by the patient.
Commentary:
Dr David Prentice of Family Research Council says that the technique seems to meet the ethical test – i.e. that no embryos are used or produced, making the possibility of creating an embryo doubtful. The cells produced are still embryonic stem cells in character, which means that they still have all of the medical and scientific problems that plague embryonic stem cells, i.e. the tendency to tumor formation, difficulty in producing desired functional cells, etc. ...[more]
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Canada - Links Between Porn And Rape
A scientist, Dr Geraldine Moane, University College Dublin, published research that makes the link between porn and rape, and concludes, that 'the consumption of pornography is associated with the increase in aggressive attitudes towards women and a greater acceptance of myths about rape, including that women like to be raped'. In his latest book 'Getting Off; Pornography and the End of Masculinity', Robert Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas, Austin, states that, "from nearly 20 years of research on the issue, he has concluded that one of the most damaging aspects of pornography is not only that it objectifies women but that it also encourages men to objectify themselves." From the shocking stories that accompany the physical and psychological abuse of both men and women, pornography has played its part in fuelling serious crimes.
...[more]
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South Korean Courts: Life Begins at Birth
The South Korean Supreme Court ruled that an unborn child will not be considered human until the mother goes into labor. This definition came in a court decision late last week that cleared a midwife of negligent homicide charges. Father Lee Dong-Ik, professor of medicine at the Catholic University of Korea and a member of the bioethics committee of the Korean bishops' conference said “this sentence "is a social defeat." "We are living in an era in which a 21-week unborn child can be saved with an incubator. It is unacceptable to see a verdict where a 42-week unborn is not considered a human being." ...[more]
RSA - Provisions of New Children’s Act Stir Up Opinions
The Children’s Act, which came into effect this month, has stirred up controversy over provisions that allow children as young as 12 access to contraceptives and the right to have pregnancies terminated without parental consent. The act includes the controversial contraceptive clause on the grounds that it will help to protect children from sexually transmitted diseases and prevent teenage pregnancies. Figures recently released by the South African Medical Research Council show that teenage pregnancies have doubled in the past year, despite a decade of spending on sex education and HIV/AIDS awareness. Many people are outraged by the act. Taryn Hodgson, national co-ordinator for African Christian Action, says that twelve-year-old children do not have the maturity to make decisions regarding their sexual conduct. She says the legislation is “outrageous” for allowing girls to have abortions. “It is wrong to take the life of another human being.” ...[more]
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Canada - What’s Another Parent, More or Less?
Court rulings in Canada and the US and IVF technology are paving the way for multiple parents. In January, an Ontario court found that a boy can legally have three parents: the biological mother and father, plus the mother's lesbian partner. In April, a Pennsylvania court found that a sperm donor and two lesbians were all responsible for supporting two children after the lesbian couple had split up. It's not just a North American thing. Expert commissions in New Zealand and Australia have also proposed that sperm or egg donors enjoy the privilege of being a legal parent. Family scholar Elizabeth Marquardt says that these cases have been overlooked, partly because so many children are already growing up in chaotic households with multiple parent figures. But these are the first cases that support the notion of multiple legal parents. She feels that this points to a worrying trend. As a polygamist argued, "If Heather can have two mommies, she should also be able to have two mommies and a daddy." And if three, why not five? ...[more]
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Malaysia - Kepala Batas Hospital First to Integrate Traditional and Modern Medicine
The Kepala Batas Hospital in Penang will be the first government hospital to incorporate traditional and complementary medicine in September. Two other hospitals selected for the pilot project will do so later this year. The hospitals will introduce three modalities of traditional and complementary medicine – herbal preparation, acupuncture and traditional massage.
The Health Minister said, that under the project, three oncologists from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Guang’anmen Hospital in Beijing and the Universities of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Shanghai and Nanjing would be attached to each hospital for three months. “If proven successful, it will be extended to other public hospitals,” he said. “All plans governing the integration of traditional and complementary medicine activities will be carried out carefully and take into consideration safety, medico-legal, religious sensitivities and culture of Malaysians.” ...[more]
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