FSM Friends news & articles
Report attacks acupuncturists for illegal treatment claims: “Section 58(1)(a) of the Medicines Act bans any advertisements that claim a treatment can “prevent, mitigate or cure” from a list of about 40 named serious conditions. Ryan found that … claims for treatment or prevention of mental illness, infertility and arthritis (all on the list) … appeared on 73 per cent of the websites. He also found 11 per cent of sites claimed acupuncture could treat or prevent cancer, 23 per cent made diabetes claims, 19 per cent targeted thrombosis and 14 per cent offered help for heart disease. Ryan said ACC subsidises acupuncture treatments at $67/hr and spent $33.2 million on acupuncture claims in the 2016/17 financial year. “We need to ensure that taxpayers’ money is only used to pay for evidence-based treatments,” he said. “The government needs to review its funding of acupuncture and stop wasting money.”
General news
Corrective Statements: Ads and Social Media: A federal court found tobacco companies lied about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke – and how they designed cigarettes to make them more addictive. Now the companies must run court-ordered TV and newspaper ads – called corrective statements – that tell the truth.
Exclusive: First U.S. Baby Born After a Uterus Transplant: “Taylor Siler, 36, a registered nurse in the Dallas area, donated her uterus to the woman who recently gave birth. Siler wasn’t always certain she wanted to have children, but she says deciding to get pregnant was one of her best decisions. “Once they lay that baby in your arms,” Siler says. “Your life changes forever.” Siler, who has two boys aged 6 and 4, came across a news segment about Baylor’s uterus transplant program. She and her husband had already decided they were not going to have any more children, and she wanted to offer someone else a shot at motherhood. “I have family members who struggled to have babies, and it’s not fair,” says Siler. “I just think that if we can give more people that option, that’s an awesome thing.””
Glyphosate Not Associated with Cancer: “Corporations look after their own bottom line. That is why we need regulations, transparency, and oversight to protect consumer and public interests. I also don’t think we can trust activist organizations, nor can we assume that government agencies will act without ideological bias. Again, history tells a very different story. What we need, therefore, are professional disinterested reviewers. We need scientific experts to review objective evidence, and investigative journalists to make sure there is transparency. They don’t always do their job optimally either, but the whole system acts as a set of checks and balances.”
Great Moments in Health and Science
The Discovery of the Cell. History of Cell Biology: The functional unit of all living things, the cell was first discovered and so-named in 1655 (60 years after the invention of the compound microscope) due to the resemblance of cells in cork to small rooms.
Abused health concept
Parents often don’t know what is best: When dealing with anti-vaccers and other believers in woo, I often encounter indignant parents who, when faced with evidence and arguments that are contrary to their views, respond with, “well as a parent, only I know what is best for my child.” This sentiment is pervasive among anti-vaccers, but if we think about it for even a few seconds, the absurdity of it quickly becomes clear.
Health promotion & disease prevention:
Never had a Pap smear? Now there’s a DIY option for you: “From this month, under-screened women should find it easier to be screened for two main reasons. First, a new reminder system will invite all women for screening by letter on their 25th birthday, and every five years after their first HPV test. The current system only reminds women if they’re already late for screening. Second, from next year there will be a new option offered specifically to under-screened women. Unlike the old Pap smear, which a GP or nurse collected, some women will have the option of collecting their own sample for testing (known as “self-collection”). In trials, women who have never been screened or who are under-screened are more likely to take part in cervical cancer screening if they are offering “self-collection” rather than the reminder letters used in our current system.”