Shocking Pictures To Appear On Cigarette Packets In UK On 1st October

The UK's ten million Smokers may see pictures of rotting teeth, throat cancer, and indications of male impotence (erectile dysfunction) on cigarette packets they buy at the beginning of October. The Department of Health (DoH) says "The warnings illustrate the devastating effects that tobacco can have on health."

Written warnings were introduced in January 2003. The DoH says they have been a great success. It says over 90,000 smokers have been moved by written warnings and consequently called the NHS Smoking Helpline (Tel - (0800 169 0 169).

There are 1.9 million fewer smokers today in the United Kingdom, compared to 1982. However, the DoH says smoking is still the nation's biggest killer. In England alone smoking is responsible for the premature deaths of 87,000 people annually.

The DoH says it expects the graphic pictures should have an even bigger impact on both triggering smokers into action (to giving up) and putting off want-to-be smokers from ever starting. These visual warnings will be changed periodically, for maximum effect. Research suggests that smokers remember the negative effects for longer if they are exposed to images, compared to written sentences.

Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer said:

"I welcome the introduction of picture warnings on tobacco product packaging, which show smokers the grim reality of the effects smoking can have on their health. This will help to maintain the momentum of the increasing number of people who have given up smoking following England going smoke free in 2007. Written health warnings have encouraged many smokers to stop smoking. These new stark picture warnings emphasize the harsh health realities of continuing to smoke. I hope they will make many more think hard about giving up, and get the help they need to stop smoking for good."

The Department of Health, in a recent press release, quotes Michael Shepherd, 39, who was diagnosed with throat cancer two years ago. Michael hopes that the new warnings will help make smokers realize that the risks they are taking are real. He hopes that, unlike him, they can stop before it is too late.

Michael Shepherd said "Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I felt I was invincible. I was a big strong bloke working at a trade I loved; I had a huge circle of friends and money to spend. Now I'm on invalidity benefits, and live on state handouts. I hate it and would do anything to get back into work. All this has happened to me because of smoking. I never realized you could get cancer so young. The doctors saved my life, but what I've got now is a hard struggle. I will keep on and I will fight to get better, if only for my daughter's sake."

In 2001 Canada introduced graphic warnings. Official reports indicate that 31% of Canadian ex-smokers gave up because they had seen the pictures, and 27 per cent reported they had helped them to stay smokefree. The following countries use graphic warning on tobacco products - Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Venezuela, Thailand and Uruguay.

According to local NHS Stop Smoking Services around England, 350,000 smokers in the UK stopped smoking. If you are a smoker and wish to give up you can join them and find out more - order a free DVD which explains the different types of NHS support available to help smokers who want to quit - call 0800 169 0 169.

The images come from an image bank stipulated by the European Union. The warnings 'Smoking kills' and 'Smoking seriously harms you and others around you' will continue to be used on the front of tobacco packs.

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Should Ecstasy Be Downgraded? UK

Before the turn of the century ecstasy was a big headline puller and journalists wrote about it a great deal. Recently, however, cocaine and heroin have taken front stage. Just because ecstasy is not hitting the headlines as much as it used to may not necessarily mean it is not a dangerous drug and should consequently be downgraded. The declining popularity of the rave scene has lead to a drop in ecstasy interest. Hence, ecstasy's classification is being reviewed.

According to the Department of Health, 567,000 people under the age of 60 in the UK used ecstasy in 2006. 48% of them were aged 16 to 24. Experts say these figures indicate only a very 'slight' decline since the 1990s. Prices have dropped as well, from £25 in the early 1990s to approximately £5 today.

Official figures show that 246 people died as a result of consuming ecstasy during 2003 to 2007, compared to 28 from the beginning of 1998 to the end of 1999.

Experts say that from a clinical point of view ecstasy should never have been a Class A drug, like heroin - it should have been a class B if penalties are supposed to be in proportion to consumption risks and dangers.

The government is currently carrying out a review of ecstasy's category. Prof. David Nutt, who is soon to head the ACMD (Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs), has said ecstasy is not as damaging to health as heroin or cocaine, both Class A drugs. The ACMD will publish its report at the end of 2009.

The police, on the other hand, are mostly against changing ecstasy from Class A to Class B.

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Peers Versus Parents In Modern China

In metropolitan China, high school students' self-esteem depends more on good relations with peers than parents, a new UC Davis study shows. But the opposite is true for younger adolescents and young adults: Both base their self-esteem more on good relations with parents.

The study by Hairong Song, a doctoral candidate in psychology, Emilio Ferrer-Caja, an associate professor of psychology, and Ross Thompson, a professor of psychology, will be presented during a 1 p.m. (EDT) poster session on Thursday, Aug. 17, at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Boston. The title of the session is "Cognitive and Sociocognitive Development."

The UC Davis researchers surveyed 584 students ages 11 to 23 from Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The students filled out questionnaires that assessed the quality of their relationships with their mothers, fathers and peers. They also filled out self-evaluations that measured self-esteem.

"This study suggests that high school is a period of special challenge to Chinese adolescents because of the competitive academic pressures they face. High school is a time when many Chinese adolescents experience intense pressures from parents to perform well in school," Thompson said.

"Even in a society that traditionally emphasizes family ties, enhanced by the government's one-child policy, competition to get into the best universities may be causing high-schoolers to turn to their peers for support and affirmation."

Source:
Claudia Morain
University of California - Davis

Leishmaniasis Parasites Evade Death By Exploiting The Immune Response To Sand Fly Bites

Cutaneous leishmaniasis, a disease characterized by painful skin ulcers, occurs when the parasite Leishmania major, or a related species, is transmitted to a mammalian host by the bite of an infected sand fly. In a new study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, scientists have discovered L. major does its damage by not only evading but also by exploiting the body's wound-healing response to sand fly bites, as reported in the August 15 issue of Science.

"This work changes the textbook picture of the life cycle of the leishmaniasis parasite, identifying the inflammatory cell known as the neutrophil as the predominant cell involved during the initiation of infection," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

Employing advanced microscopy techniques, which allowed real-time imaging of the skin of living mice infected with L. major, NIAID collaborators Nathan C. Peters, Ph.D., and Jackson Egen, Ph.D., found that the neutrophils - white blood cells that ingest and destroy bacteria - play a surprising role in the development of the disease.

Neutrophils were rapidly recruited out of the circulating blood and into the skin of infected mice, where they swarmed around the sand fly bite sites and efficiently engulfed the parasites. But unlike many other infectious organisms that die inside neutrophils, L. major parasites appear to have evolved in a way to evade death, actually surviving for long periods of time inside the neutrophils. Eventually the parasites escape from neutrophils and enter macrophages, another immune cell population in the skin, where they can establish long-term infection.

"Parasites transmitted by sand flies to mice lacking neutrophils have more difficulty establishing an infection and surviving. This demonstrates the importance of neutrophils at the site of an infected sand fly bite and suggests the unexpected path taken by the parasite from sand fly to neutrophil to macrophage is a critical component of this disease," says Dr. Peters.

In addition, says Dr. Egen, the study reveals how neutrophils leave locally inflamed blood vessels and move into tissues; provides new information on the movement of these immune cells within damaged tissue environments and upon contact with pathogens; and provides video images revealing active neutrophil entry into areas of damaged skin.

Notes:

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The Nation's Medical Research Agency - includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

Reference: NC Peters et al. In vivo imaging reveals an essential role for neutrophils in leishmaniasis transmitted by sand flies. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1159194 (2008).

News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.

Source:
Linda Perrett
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Intermittent Preventive Treatment For Malaria In Schoolchildren Also Improves Attention Span

In treating malaria in schoolchildren in Africa, the use of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) not only lowers the prevalence of anemia but also improves attention span in the children. These conclusions, published in an Article released on July 11, 2008 in The Lancet, could help guide future interventions in this and similar settings.

Malaria, a major cause of death and disease around the world often affects children, but its consequences on health and education during the school age years is poorly understood. Historically, standard treatments and chemical prevention methods have been effective, and are associated with lower rates of malarial parasite infection, severe anemia (a major symptom of malaria) and malaria related deaths. This results in reduced school absenteeism.

Though these therapies and methods might largely be effective, they may be too expensive to effectively implement in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, subclinical infections are common in the population, making directed therapies difficult. An alternative therapy, intermittent preventive treatment involves mass distribution of a full course of anti-malarial treatment, regardless of the infection status of each individual.

To investigate the effects of IPT on the biological and educational effects of malaria, Dr. Sian Clarke, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK, and colleagues performed a randomized controlled trial on children between the ages of 5 and 18 years from 30 primary schools in an area of Western Kenya with high malaria transmission rates.

IPT was administered to 2,604 children, composed of three treatments of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in combination with amodiaquine at four month intervals. Meanwhile, a group of 2,302 students received a placebo. The children were evaluated for anemia, defined as a hemoglobin concentration below 110g/L. A reduction in malaria occurrence was associated with IPT after 12 months. That is, prevalence of parasite presence was <5% in the IPT group in comparison with 39.7% in the placebo group. Additionally, anemia levels decreased, and the prevalence of anemia was 6.3% in the IPT group in comparison with 12.6% in the placebo group. Finally, in classroom-based tests of sustained attention, IPT group participants showed significant improvement in comparison with students in the placebo group. This effect, however, showed no effect on educational achievement or hyperactive-compulsive behaviors.

The authors conclude with a statement about the potential benefits of this new treatment if used in new policy in these areas. "The pronounced effects of the IPT intervention on anemia and malaria parasitemia, and the effect on sustained attention, highlight the issue of the continued, and often unrecognized, malaria burden among school-aged children in Africa and the potential of school-based programs for tackling the problem. Our findings also illustrate the possible gains of integrating malaria control into broader school health programs."

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