Thursday, May 13, 2004

THIS IS STUNNING NEWS!!! The headline reads: 'Breakthrough heart drug to be sold over counter'   The first paragraph goes on to say. "A "wonderdrug" that reduces the risk of heart attacks by lowering cholesterol will be sold over the counter in chemists across Britain".   And I thought... they surely can't be talking about a statin drug!   But, yes they are! According to John Reid the UK Health Secretary, pharmacists will now be able to sell this drug over the counter without a prescription!! His decision has been backed by the 'Committee on Safety of Medicines' - an 'independent' group that advises ministers on the safety of  drugs.   I wonder who the decision makers on the independent, 'Committee on Safety of Medicines' are? Would they be connected to the pharmaceutical industry? Surely not! Just because appointees from pharmaceutical companies influence other 'independent' committees and foundations, it doesn't necessarily follow that the same applies in this case... does it???.      For the record, statins are well documented as causing:    * Muscle pain    * Liver damage    * Sexual dysfunction problems    * Suppression of your immune system     * Memory loss    * Personality changes    * Irritability     The UK is the first country in the developed world to permit the sale of statin drugs without prescriptions! There seems to be no requirement for ongoing testing of liver enzymes which are crucial when taking a statin drug... in order to avoid possible permanent liver damage. Anyone will be able to call into their local chemist shop, have a quick blood test for their cholesterol levels and if elevated can purchase the drug immediately.  These tests are likely to be a quick total cholesterol one as opposed to a full lipid one giving a breakdown of HDL and LDL. Total cholesterol tests on their own are quite meaningless and misleading as you can have high total cholesterol but if the ratio is good and your triglycerides, homocysteine and C-Reactive Protein are normal then your risk of a heart attack is low, and does not warrant the risk of damaging your liver with a statin drug, not to mention all the other risks.     Now that the UK has opened this door, where next? The U.S.? Why not? The pharmaceutical lobby is certainly as strong in this country as overseas. Be aware that there are moves afoot behind closed doors to force people into relying totally on pharmaceutical drugs to treat whatever as opposed to using natural preventative and therapeutic remedies. Pretty scary eh?   12:57:06 PM    comment [] Gene therapy may block HIV spread - Three people with HIV have had a new experimental treatment to try to help them fight the disease. Scientists in the United States have used gene therapy techniques to try to boost their immune systems. Initial results from the trial have been promising, according to a report in New Scientist magazine. VIRxSYS, the company behind the technique, says it will test it on another two patients shortly, before embarking on a larger trial. Re-engineered cells The technique involves taking T cells from patients and re-engineering them so that they can destroy HIV. T cells are a type of white blood cell that can identify and destroy invading viruses. This is probably the most exciting of the anti-HIV strategies around at the moment Professor Alan Kingsman, Oxford BioMedica These cells are treated with a "gutted" form of HIV in the laboratory, which has been genetically engineered to stop HIV in the body from replicating and spreading. After the cells have been treated in this way, they are re-introduced into the body where they lie in wait until HIV attacks. The idea is that the re-engineered cells will paralyse HIV and prevent it from spreading to other cells. It does this be cutting up the virus and inserting its own genetic material, which is designed not to spread. The three patients who have received the treatment so far have all been resistant to some of the drugs normally used to treat the virus. The first patient was treated last July. The company was recently given the go-ahead to try it on two more people. Scientists at VIRxSYS hope their VRX496 treatment will prove to be effective. The current trial is designed to find out if the treatment is safe. The initial results suggest it is. "No adverse events related to VRX496 have been observed in the first three patients," said Boro Drupulic, the firm's chief scientific officer. "We are similarly encouraged that, to date, the viral load results are not above pre-dose levels and CD4 counts have remained stable." 'Exciting strategy' Professor Alan Kingsman, chief executive of Oxford BioMedica which has carried out research in this area in the past, said the trial was promising. "This is probably the most exciting of the anti-HIV strategies around at the moment," he told BBC News Online. "They are using a well-established technique to chop up HIV. It is an interesting approach." 12:56:05 PM    comment []

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