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That
deadly new car smell
DETROIT —
The invigorating bouquet of a freshly manufactured automobile's
interior could be harmful to your health, according
to a new report by the Ecology Center, an American environmental
group. Their research found that the famed 'new car
smell' largely comes from plastics, flame retardants
and other chemicals used to treat the interior —
and that toxins like bromine and lead often go along
with the odour. The report didn't assess the specific
risk to human health but they did rate certain car models'
potential toxicity: some had alarming smells (like the
Chevy Aveo and the Kia Rio) while those with lower levels
of toxins (like the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Volvo
V50) were deemed "of least concern."
A
heart grown from stem cells
HAIFA —
Researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
have managed to grow functioning human heart tissue
from embryonic stem cells. The tissue they grew is less
than one square centimetre in size, but nevertheless
has a beat. Their research, published in February's
Circulation Research, is groundbreaking. The
scientists envision using their technique to experiment
on human heart tissue without endangering patients'
lives, and as transplant tissue to patch up damaged
hearts. They hope to begin trials grafting the tissue
onto humans' hearts within 10 years.
Lancet
presents with military industrial complex
LONDON —
Reed Elsevier Group is under fire for hosting armament
industry fairs. Doctors worldwide have condemned the
company's alleged hypocrisy in publishing the august
journal The Lancet, while working with merchants
of mass death. The Lancet's editors sided with
protesters, publishing three pages of angry letters
in its March 23 edition and adding their own sharp rebuke
of their publisher. A Reed Elsevier spokesperson told
the Associated Press that it supported The Lancet's
right to editorial independence but the group has no
plans to stop hosting weapons fairs.
Bipartisan
cancer tribulations
WASHINGTON —
Two prominent American political figures — Tony
Snow, the White House press secretary; and attorney
Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic presidential
candidate John Edwards — have both been diagnosed
with recurrences of cancer over the past weeks. Mr Snow
had a cancerous growth removed from his abdomen March
26. He had surgery in 2005 for colon cancer, which now
appears to have spread to, or around, his liver. Ms
Edwards underwent treatment for breast cancer in 2004,
but the cancer was recently found in her bones. She
has encouraged her husband to carry on his campaign.
Alleged
Tamiflu-suicide link
OTTAWA —
Health Canada revised its warning labels for Tamiflu
in late March after Japan reported two more teen suicides
may have been related to the drug. No link has yet been
proven in Japan between Tamiflu and the more than a
dozen suicides it has allegedly caused, but the Japanese
Ministry of Health and Welfare has opted to restrict
its use in patients between the ages of 10 and 20 as
a precautionary measure. No deaths or psychiatric adverse
events have been reported in connection with Tamiflu
in Canada.
Sizing
up dangerous drugs
LONDON —
A group of British researchers, writing in the March
24 issue of The Lancet, are proposing a new,
evidence-based framework for classifying dangerous substances.
Their system proposes incorporating three factors in
determining the drug's risks: harm to the user, potential
for addiction and impact on society. The rankings identified
heroin and cocaine as the most dangerous. Alcohol came
in fifth of 20, and tobacco ninth. Cannabis was ranked
eleventh, and ecstasy was even lower down the list.
The researchers hope their work will lead to a more
sensible government policy on harmful drugs.
TB
vaccine loses its kick
MONTREAL —
A new genome analysis of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin suggests
that the currently used TB vaccine may not be as useful
as older types once were. The bacterium in the vaccine,
which is given to millions around the world every year,
is significantly different now than it was when the
vaccine was developed in 1921, according to the investigators.
The research, conducted by a team of researchers from
around the world, including Dr Marcel Behr of McGill,
was published in PNAS on March 19. For more on TB, please
see "When's it OK to lock patients up?" on page 7.
Quacks
rob folks blind
SUZHOU, CHINA
— A Chinese judge issued a final ruling
in March upholding previous five- and six-year-long
jail terms given to two brothers for posing as eye surgeons.
The brothers performed 10 cataract laser surgeries in
December 2005 at a Suzhou hospital. Nine of their patients
became infected with Bacillus pyocyaneus and
had to have their eyes removed, reported Xinhua news
agency.
Tapping
your inner artist
PHILADELPHIA —
Jefferson Medical College is teaching future doctors
to use artists' visual skills to diagnose patients and
read radiological images. The new "Visual Perception"
workshop joins the list of other non-traditional lectures,
such as "Sculpture and Surgery" and 'Art and Healing,"
intended to teach students to look at medicine from
a different perspective. The art courses are modelled
after a Yale program that was found in a 2001 JAMA
study to improve doctors' observational skills.
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