September 5th, 2009 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
Tags: Cancer, Lung Cancer, Nicotine Replacement Therapy, NRT, Research
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A recent research report by Professor Robert Murray (University of Manitoba) and colleagues examined whether nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) may cause cancer. The report was published in the September edition of the journal, “Nicotine and Tobacco Research”, and was based on analysis of the Lung Health Study.
The Lung Health Study recruited 5887 smokers starting November 1986, and 3923 of them were randomly selected to receive an intensive, state-of-the-art stop smoking treatment (group therapy plus nicotine gum). The participants in the original study were followed for 5 years, and 3320 were included in a longer study focusing on lung cancer for another 7.5 years.
The study presents one of the best opportunities of measuring the known exposure to either smoking, or NRT, or both over a 5 year period, as this information was accurately recorded throughout the study.
The study found that 75 participants were diagnosed with lung cancer and 203 with cancer of any type during the follow-up period. Those with the largest cigarette smoke exposure during the study were significantly more likely to suffer lung cancer, but those who used a large amount of nicotine gum were not at any greater risk of suffering from lung cancer or any other cancer examined in the study.
Even though most of the participants were relatively young at enrollment (just under 50) and so had relatively low risk over the immediately following years, around 3.2% of the heaviest smokers developed lung cancer, as opposed to half that proportion in those smoking less. But the amount of use of NRT during the study was not associated with getting cancer.
The results of this study are consistent with the vast majority of human studies, in that they do not find any convincing evidence to suggest that NRT causes cancer.
Murray RP, Connett JE, Zapawa LM. Does nicotine replacement therapy causecancer? Evidence from the Lung Health Study. Nicotine Tob Res. 2009 Sep;11(9):1076-82. Epub 2009 Jul 1.
This post, Does Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) Cause Cancer?, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
September 5th, 2009 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in News
Tags: Alternative Medicine, Death, Herbal Medicine, Opioids, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Poison, Poppy Pod, Poppy Tea, Tea, teens, thebaine, Toxicology
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The Boulder County coroner announced today that the July death of a Boulder teen was indeed due to opioid intoxication from preparation of a poppy pod tea.
Jeffrey Joseph Bohan, 19, of Boulder, was found dead in his friend’s Boulder home about 6 p.m. July 21 after drinking poppy-pod tea the night before with his brother, according to Boulder police.
Investigators suspected the Fairview High graduate, who was going to Colorado State University, died from the psychoactive tea, which is brewed from the plant that produces opium. But they couldn’t be sure until the Coroner’s Office confirmed Monday that Bohan’s cause of death was morphine overdose, and his manner of death was accident.
Here is also coverage from The Boulder Daily Camera.
This marks the second death in Boulder from young adults mixing up decoctions of seeds or pods from the poppy, Papaver somniferum. We reported in March on the death of CU-Boulder student, Alex McGuiggan, in March.
In a subsequent post, we expanded on a commenter’s story of his own efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of poppy seed tea following the death of his own son. Commenter Tom’s site can be viewed at Poppy Seed Tea Can Kill You (http://poppyseedtea.com).
Extracts from poppy pods can contain up to 10% morphine and 1-5% codeine together with several other benzomorphan compounds. Seeds themselves are intrinsically devoid of morphine but the drug can remain on the seeds in reasonable quantities simply from their processing. The Santa Clara County crime laboratory investigating the death of Tom’s son determined that a tea made with the same seeds he used contained 259 µg/mL of morphine.
Depending on the starting material, however, the extract may also contain thebaine, a natural intermediate used for semi-synthetic opioid synthesis that causes intense nausea, vomiting, and even convulsions.
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
September 3rd, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News
Tags: Assistive Device, Carrying Patients, Japanese, Robot, Technology
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The Japanese are gearing up for a time when there are more elderly folks needing assistance than there are young whippersnappers available to do the chores. The RIBA, or Robot for Interactive Body Assistance, is a 400 pound (180 kilos) device designed by engineers at the RIKEN institute and Tokai Rubber Industries to carry people up to 135 pounds (61 kilos) between hospital beds, wheelchairs, and even toilets. The device is full of tactile sensors to make carrying safe and comfortable for patients, and it can even recognize faces and be commanded via voice to perform basic tasks. The only problems, from our point of view, is the inadequacy of this robot of serving the hefty average American and the menacing demeanor of what looks like a space bear without the personality of Chewbacca.
Here’s a demo video of the RIBA…
Link: Google translation of Japanese info page about the RIBA…
More from the Pink Tentacle…
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
August 21st, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News
Tags: Basic Science, Organ Transplant, Rat, Research, stem cells, Tooth
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The individual in the photo is not displaying his newly acquired gold tooth bling, but rather something more precious: the first fully functioning 3D organ derived from stem cells, described in PNAS as “a successful fully functioning tooth replacement in an adult mouse achieved through the transplantation of bioengineered tooth germ into the alveolar bone in the lost tooth region.”
More from The Wall Street Journal:
Researchers used stem cells to grow a replacement tooth for an adult mouse, the first time scientists have developed a fully functioning three-dimensional organ replacement, according to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers at the Tokyo University of Science created a set of cells that contained genetic instructions to build a tooth, and then implanted this “tooth germ” into the mouse’s empty tooth socket. The tooth grew out of the socket and through the gums, as a natural tooth would. Once the engineered tooth matured, after 11 weeks, it had a similar shape, hardness and response to pain or stress as a natural tooth, and worked equally well for chewing. The researchers suggested that using similar techniques in humans could restore function to patients with organ failure.
Press release from the Tokyo University of Science (in Japanese)…
Full story in WSJ: From Stem Cells to Tooth In the Mouth of a Mouse…
Takashi Tsuji Lab…
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
August 13th, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Medical Art, News
Tags: Band-Aid, Haute Couture, Johnson & Johnson, Leather, Wound
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Scott Amron from Amron Experimental has a new idea for our gilded age, the leather bandage. Three of these will cost you $15, but will look very appropriate next to your Armani jacket.
Product page: Hurt Couture
(hat tip: Interior design room)
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
