Editor's Choice | This Week in BMJ | Press releases
BMJ No 7114 Volume 315 Press Releases Saturday 18 October 1997 Embargoed: 00.01 hrs 17 October 1997 UK time Red meat is not a cancer risk Red meat is not a cancer risk(Frequent consumption of red meat is not risk factor for cancer)In a letter in this week's BMJ, Cox and Whichelow counter recent reports that link eating red meat to cancer. The authors write that research in a British population has shown that there is no evidence to suggest that frequent consumption of red meat is a risk factor for cancer but that eating fruit and salad can help protect from the disease. Cox and Whichelow conclude that most of the evidence supporting the association between meat and colorectal cancer comes from the United States, rather than Europe. Cultural differences in the way in which meat is cooked and how it is eaten in relation to fruit and salad, may explain the inconsistent findings. See Letter (Cox and Whichelow) p 1018
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Health and Lifestyle Survey,
tel: 01223 330324/5
From Russia with love(Incidence of early syphilis acquired in former Soviet Union is increasing)Deayton and French write a warning in a letter in this week's BMJ, that there has been an upsurge in the number of cases of syphilis in the UK. They raise particular concern over those people who have had sexual contacts in the former Soviet Union or with a Russian partner in the UK, as this area of Eastern Europe has been experiencing a growing epidemic of syphilis since 1990. See Letter (Deayton and French) p 1018
Contact:
Mortimer Market
Centre,
tel: 0171 530 5077
Explanation of why smokers have lower risk of dying when admitted to hospital after heart attack(Comparison of case fatality in smokers and non-smokers after acute cardiac event)It has been recognised that patients who smoke have a lower risk of dying when admitted to hospital after an acute heart attack, than patients who do not smoke. In this week's BMJ Beaglehole et al explode this apparent paradox. The authors' research reveals that the phenomenon is largely explained by the fact that smokers who have suffered a heart attack tend to die before they actually reach hospital.
Contact:
Department of Community Health,
tel: 0171 607 8549 The ethics of research in the developing world(Ethics and international research)There has been much debate about the ethics of drug studies in the developing world and specifically about current research looking to prevent maternal-infant HIV transmission. In this week's BMJ, Halsey et al responds to the recent commentary by Lurie and Wolfe in the New England Journal of Medicine, which criticised placebo controlled trials in this area. The authors write that each year 300,000 infants in developing countries become infected with HIV. They note that women participating in studies to find a means of lowering this figure are fully informed of their HIV infection status; the purpose of the study; the probability of receiving drug or placebo (a 'dummy' drug) and are given the option to participate. Lurie and Wolfe in the New England Journal of Medicine propose that the studies are unethical and that any research supported by the US government should provide all participants with the same level of care that is available to Americans. Halsey et al indicate that universal care is not feasible and that the HIV studies are being undertaken for the benefit of those in developing countries and not developed countries (a successful regimen has already been proven in the developed world). In the case of the HIV studies under discussion, none of the participants are being denied the care that they would otherwise have (consistent with the guidelines of the Council for International Organisation of Medical Sciences), and some participants are receiving treatment that they would never have had. The authors conclude that were it not for studies of this kind, oral rehydration and low cost surgical procedures, that have dramatically improved health care throughout the world, would never have been developed. Halsey et al highlights that for every month that there is a delay of finding an effective practical intervention, over 20,000 children are dying from HIV infection. See Editorial (Halsey et al) p 965
Contact:
Division of Disease Control,
tel: 001 410 955 3540
BMA response to new evidence on the dangers of passive smokingResponding to evidence published in this week's edition of the BMJ which shows that non-smokers exposed to passive smoking have a 23 per cent greater risk of developing heart disease and a 26 per cent greater risk of lung cancer, Dr Bill O'Neill, Science and Research Adviser for the BMA says :This week has seen four major blows to the UK tobacco industry. Universities are rejecting tainted research funds, pressure is growing for court action against the UK industry to expose its conspiracy to deceive, BAT's credit rating is slipping and now the last shreds of doubt about the dangers of passive smoking have been blown away. The new evidence published by the BMJ shows that living with a smoker is a major health hazard. It dramatically increases your risk of developing lung cancer and heart disease, even if the level of environmental tobacco smoke around you is quite low. The new evidence has lessons for individual smokers who are exposing their loved ones to needless risk, but also for employers, pub and restaurant owners who all have a responsibility to eliminate tobacco smoke from public places. The tobacco industry must now stop its pathetic attempts to evade the evidence and accept that cigarettes not only harm and kill those who smoke them, they harm and kill non-smokers too. Embargo: 00.01 hrs Friday 17 October 1997 Please contact Public Affairs Division for the text of the paper & the authors for further comment For further information, please contactel:
Jill Shepherd on 0171 383 6529
or telephone (8.30am -
6.00pm): 0171 383 6254 Or fax requests to Public Affairs Division, BMA on 0171 383 6403. If you currently receive your British Medical Journal press release by mail and you would like it faxed to you please telephone (0)171 383 6123, Fax: (0)171 554 6123 or E-mail: LRiviere@mail.bma.org.uk When dialling the UK from abroad, remember to delete the first zero from the local area code, eg, (00 44) 171... BMA on Internet page: http://www.bma.org.uk If you intend to use any article publicised in this press release, ensure you quote the British Medical Journal as source
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