Volume 194 - Issue 12
In Other Journals
Author: Sophie McNamara
Med J Aust 2011; 194 (12): 663. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb03159.x
Published online: 20 June 2011
Published online: 20 June 2011
Oxford, give up your guns
A comment piece in The Lancet condemns Oxford University’s investment in the arms industry. The article comes three years after Reed Elsevier, publisher of the The Lancet, announced the sale of its arms exhibitions business in response to concerns from readers and authors. The Lancet comment piece, written by a student activist group called Oxford Anti-War Action, argues that Oxford can “no longer ignore the ethical implications of their investment”. Using a freedom of information request, the authors found that Oxford had invested £4.5 million through third-party funds in UK and US arms manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, between 2008 and 2010. The authors report that in June 2010, the university’s governing council decided against screening out arms companies from their investment portfolio.
Lancet 2011; 377: 1900-1901
Shot in the arm for melanoma treatment
Although vaccines are widely used in the prevention of infectious diseases, their role in treating metastatic cancer is less clear. But new American research has found that a melanoma vaccine improved response rate and progression-free survival among 185 patients with advanced melanoma. In the Phase III trial, patients were selected at random to receive either interleukin-2 (an immunotherapy drug), or interleukin-2 plus a peptide vaccine known as gp100:209-217 (210M). Tumour response was assessed every 6 weeks according to modified WHO criteria. Patients who received the vaccine had a tumour response rate of 16%, compared with only 6% for those who did not receive the vaccine. Patients receiving the vaccine also had a longer progression-free survival time and a longer overall survival time; however, the vaccine was associated with more toxic effects. The researchers said it was an “exciting time” for melanoma research, but cautioned that the vaccine can only be given to about half of melanoma patients because it has to match a patient’s tissue type.
New Engl J Med 2011; 364: 2119-2127
Superman needs his sleep
Men who want to feel as manly and virile as possible should perhaps just get in their pyjamas and tuck themselves into a cosy bed. A small American study looked at the effect of one week’s sleep restriction on testosterone levels in 10 healthy young men. The men spent 11 days in the lab, first for 3 nights of 10-hour bedtimes, followed by 8 nights of 5 hour bedtimes, with their serum testosterone levels measured every 15–30 minutes. When their sleep was restricted to just 5 hours a night, their daytime testosterone levels dropped by 10%–15%. By comparison, normal ageing is associated with a decrease in testosterone levels of 1%–2% a year.
JAMA 2011; 305: 2173-2174
Smoking risks persist
We all know it’s good to quit smoking, but new research shows that some of the health risks persist even decades after quitting. Using data from the Women’s Health Study, researchers examined the association between smoking and peripheral artery disease (PAD) among 39 825 women over a 12.7 year period. Smoking increased the women’s risk of developing PAD symptoms 10-fold. Former smokers had a markedly decreased risk of PAD compared with current smokers; however, even women who had abstained for more than 20 years still had double the risk of PAD compared with those who had never smoked. The study also found a dose-response relationship between smoking and PAD. The researchers said their study shows that quitting smoking substantially reduces the risk of symptomatic PAD, while the residual risk among former smokers highlights the need for smoking prevention.
Ann Intern Med 2011; 154: 719-726
Turning down the heat on pneumonia
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common condition which is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality, and significant health care costs. New research shows that adding dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, to the standard antibiotic therapy reduces the length of hospital stay among non-immunocompromised patients with CAP. In the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in The Netherlands, 304 patients were selected at random to receive either 5 mg dexamethasone or placebo for 4 days from admission.
Patients in the dexamethasone group had a median hospital stay of 6.5 days compared with 7.5 days for the placebo group; they also had better social functioning 30 days after admission to the hospital. The mechanism of action seems to be that the corticosteroid reduces the systemic inflammation which has been linked to much of the disease’s morbidity and mortality.
Lancet 1 June 2011 (Online)