Random Man says compare the following ...
Dear updaters
For those of us who didn't know, it appears that marijuana smoking may be bad for you.
The current Archives of Internal Medicine journal includes a free article describing a systematic review of the association of marijuana smoking withthe development of premalignant changes in the lung and lung cancer.
The resulting 19 studies included in the review found an association of marijuana smoking with increased tar exposure, alveolar macrophagetumoricidal dysfunction, increased oxidative stress, and bronchial mucosal histopathologic abnormalities compared with tobacco smokers or nonsmoking controls It can be accessed at:
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/
Dr Malcolm Dobbin
Senior Medical Adviser
Drugs Policy and Services
and the following
Dear Readers,
Thanks to Malcolm Dobbin for bringing Update readers' attention to this week's Archives of Internal Medicine. But the journal's brief, catchy, capitalized headline "The Association Between Marijuana Smoking and Lung Cancer" is contrary to their published article's findings for some reason.
In fact, the authors, after examining 19 rigorous studies, find that there was NO association between cannabis smoking and cancer.
So why would the journal imply in big letters that such an association exists?
The authors state: 'Therefore, we must conclude that no convincing evidence exists for an association between marijuana smoking and lung cancer based on existing data.' Many of us believe that there probably is an association between any smoked organic product and lung damage.
However, when 19 rigorous studies fail to show an association with cancer, we are entitled to conclude that the effect must be relatively small, and substantially less than the long accepted causation with tobacco.
The authors conclusions "is that physicians should advise patients regarding potential adverse health outcomes" of cannabis.
It would appear that politics even pervades peer reviewed journals.
Reefer madness is still with us! I note that the study and one of its authors were partially supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in America.
Further evidence of the disconnect between science and drug policy is that even the most serious scientists and clinicians in America still often use the slang term marijuana rather than the correct Latin cannabis or English Indian hemp.
Andrew Byrne ..
Mehra R, Moore BA, Crothers K, Tetrault J, Fiellin DA. The Association Between Marijuana Smoking and Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:1359-1367
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Koschitzke plays for the Scorpions
Emma Quayle
The Age
July 10, 2006
St Kilda's Justin Koschitzke back in the thick of it, with a custom-made helmet, in a comeback game with the Scorpions. Photo: Wayne Taylor
JUSTIN Koschitzke pushed aside some early-morning apprehension yesterday to find his first fresh match fitness and confidence in the VFL guernsey he expects to wear for the next few weeks.
Nine weeks after his skull was fractured, and his immediate and long-term future questioned, Koschitzke protected his head with a custom-made helmet and played in the ruck for the first half of the Casey Scorpions clash with the Northern Bullants.
Hesitant at first and keen to get his first contest done with, the star-crossed St Kilda player relaxed into the match and finished his half taking a few strong marks across half-back in the No. 73 jumper.
Koschitzke did not shy away from body contact, agitating Bullants player Ali Fahour by hurling him over the boundary line with a tough tackle.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Ouch !!
Richmond's Chris Newman has had surgery to repair a badly broken leg, but the Tigers are unsure whether he will be back for the start of next AFL season.
Newman last night had a rod inserted in his tibia and had his fibula realigned, after both bones were broken in a clash of legs with Collingwood's Leon Davis at the MCG yesterday.
'Plenty' of sex assaults on cruises: ex-security officer
July 4, 2006
Passengers on board the Pacific Sky cruise ship were encouraged to engage in binge-drinking while staff also ignored the use of drugs, a former P&O crew member claims.
Former security officer Jeff Dobjeckie will this week meet with lawyers for the coroner at the inquest into the death of Brisbane woman Dianne Brimble.
A naked Mrs Brimble was found dead on the floor of a cabin of the Pacific Sky less than 24 hours after she boarded the cruise liner on September 23, 2002, apparently from an overdose of the date rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or fantasy.
The body of the 42-year-old mother was found in a cabin belonging to four men, who are among eight men identified by police as being persons of interest.
A newspaper on Tuesday reports that Mr Dobjeckie, who was sacked by P&O in March for arguing with another crew member, will reveal that officers were told to turn a blind eye to drug use.
"We knew of people giving ecstasy to people, that sort of thing," he was quoted as saying.
"There was marijuana smoke coming out of the cabins but we just had to walk on past."
He said bar staff encouraged excessive drinking because they were paid commission for the amount of alcohol they sold.
"You had bar tenders depending on everyone at the Legends Bar and the Starlight Disco getting blind drunk so they could claim commissions," he said.
He also said he had seen "plenty" of sexual assaults during his 10 years onboard cruise ships.
Mr Dobjeckie said he was also outraged that four men of interest into Mrs Brimble's death were allowed back into their cabin, where the Brisbane woman died, while the Brimble family were not allowed to get clothes from their cabin.
He said his story could be backed up by current and former P&O workers, adding that he would tell all to the coroner.
On Friday, he will fly from the Gold Coast to meet with counsel assisting the coroner Ron Hoening.
The inquest into Mrs Brimble's death, being held before Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge, resumes on July 24.
AAP
Passengers on board the Pacific Sky cruise ship were encouraged to engage in binge-drinking while staff also ignored the use of drugs, a former P&O crew member claims.
Former security officer Jeff Dobjeckie will this week meet with lawyers for the coroner at the inquest into the death of Brisbane woman Dianne Brimble.
A naked Mrs Brimble was found dead on the floor of a cabin of the Pacific Sky less than 24 hours after she boarded the cruise liner on September 23, 2002, apparently from an overdose of the date rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or fantasy.
The body of the 42-year-old mother was found in a cabin belonging to four men, who are among eight men identified by police as being persons of interest.
A newspaper on Tuesday reports that Mr Dobjeckie, who was sacked by P&O in March for arguing with another crew member, will reveal that officers were told to turn a blind eye to drug use.
"We knew of people giving ecstasy to people, that sort of thing," he was quoted as saying.
"There was marijuana smoke coming out of the cabins but we just had to walk on past."
He said bar staff encouraged excessive drinking because they were paid commission for the amount of alcohol they sold.
"You had bar tenders depending on everyone at the Legends Bar and the Starlight Disco getting blind drunk so they could claim commissions," he said.
He also said he had seen "plenty" of sexual assaults during his 10 years onboard cruise ships.
Mr Dobjeckie said he was also outraged that four men of interest into Mrs Brimble's death were allowed back into their cabin, where the Brisbane woman died, while the Brimble family were not allowed to get clothes from their cabin.
He said his story could be backed up by current and former P&O workers, adding that he would tell all to the coroner.
On Friday, he will fly from the Gold Coast to meet with counsel assisting the coroner Ron Hoening.
The inquest into Mrs Brimble's death, being held before Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge, resumes on July 24.
AAP
Monday, July 03, 2006
Rabbit Man to get lots of cuddles in jail
Rabbit mutilator jailed
Leonie Lamont
July 3, 2006
Jailed ... Brendan Francis McMahon.Photo: Peter Rae
A Sydney financier has been jailed for 16 months for "the worst case" of aggravated cruelty against animals.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, of Tamarama, will have to spend at least 12 months in jail for his torture, mutilation, and alleged sexual offences against 17 rabbits and a guinea pig.
The magistrate, Ian Barnett, said a strong message should be sent to the community that people such as McMahon could not escape responsibility for their actions by the fact they were psychotic at the time.
"In my view this is one of the worst case scenarios of aggravated cruelty to animals," he said.
He accepted McMahon had a lifelong cannabis addiction and, before and during the offences against the animals, had a $125 a day addiction to methamphetamine (also known as ice).
"In my view there is community outrage at this matter and someone should not be allowed to commit such offences of aggravated cruelty against animals and say 'Well I had been using ice at the time. I have been taking cannabis most of my life.'
"My view is ... this is not acceptable."
The dead or dying animals, some skinned, were allegedly found in and around McMahon's York Street office between July and early August last year.
McMahon ran a financial planning and mortgage brokerage, Meares-McMahon Capital, with Jason Meares, the brother of the swimsuit designer Jodhi Meares, former wife of James Packer.
Leonie Lamont
July 3, 2006
Jailed ... Brendan Francis McMahon.Photo: Peter Rae
A Sydney financier has been jailed for 16 months for "the worst case" of aggravated cruelty against animals.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, of Tamarama, will have to spend at least 12 months in jail for his torture, mutilation, and alleged sexual offences against 17 rabbits and a guinea pig.
The magistrate, Ian Barnett, said a strong message should be sent to the community that people such as McMahon could not escape responsibility for their actions by the fact they were psychotic at the time.
"In my view this is one of the worst case scenarios of aggravated cruelty to animals," he said.
He accepted McMahon had a lifelong cannabis addiction and, before and during the offences against the animals, had a $125 a day addiction to methamphetamine (also known as ice).
"In my view there is community outrage at this matter and someone should not be allowed to commit such offences of aggravated cruelty against animals and say 'Well I had been using ice at the time. I have been taking cannabis most of my life.'
"My view is ... this is not acceptable."
The dead or dying animals, some skinned, were allegedly found in and around McMahon's York Street office between July and early August last year.
McMahon ran a financial planning and mortgage brokerage, Meares-McMahon Capital, with Jason Meares, the brother of the swimsuit designer Jodhi Meares, former wife of James Packer.
Inner-ear mystery solved
14 March 2006
Belle Dumé is science writer at PhysicsWeb
Why is the cochlea in our ears shaped like a spiral? According to new work by scientists in the US, the spiral shape makes us more sensitive to low frequency sounds. Daphne Manoussaki of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, together with Emilios Dimitriadis and Richard Chadwick at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, have calculated that the spiral shape can affect the wave mechanics that take place inside the cochlea. It increases the strength of vibrations produced by sound waves, especially at low pitch (Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 088701).
The cochlea is a small seashell-shaped organ in the inner part of the ear where sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses. These are then sent to the brain as electrical signals. The human cochlea occupies a volume of about 1 cubic centimetre and operates at frequencies between 20 hertz and 20 kilohertz. It can detect sounds over a range of 120 decibels.
Scientists have long wondered whether the cochlea's coiled-up shape plays an important role in how it processes sound. Although intuition said it should, theoretical models did not support the idea. The new work by Manoussaki, who is an applied mathematician, and colleagues has now shown that the spiral shape probably increases hearing sensitivity to low frequency sounds by as much as 20 decibels.
When we hear something, the incoming sounds are transmitted via the tympanic membrane (or eardrum) to the basilar membrane, which runs along the length of the cochlea. The sound waves then cause the basilar membrane to vibrate. Manoussaki and co-workers looked at the equations that describe the mechanical interaction between this membrane and its surrounding fluid. In this way, they were able to describe how the amplitude of the membrane's movement changes across the width in each section of the spiral tube.
The scientists found that the spiral shape makes the membrane deflect more towards the outside of the cochlea wall and less towards the inside. This difference in the membrane's motion, which is effectively a tilt about a line running along its centre, increases with increasing radius of curvature and so enhances hearing sensitivity. "Since low frequency sounds are processed where the spiral curvature is greatest – at the apex of the cochlea - the effect will be more important for low-frequency sound waves," explains Manoussaki.
The spiral structure may have developed because animals use low-frequency sounds, which travel the furthest of all sound waves, for communication and survival. The US team will now try to confirm its results by comparing cochlea in different mammals.
Belle Dumé is science writer at PhysicsWeb
Why is the cochlea in our ears shaped like a spiral? According to new work by scientists in the US, the spiral shape makes us more sensitive to low frequency sounds. Daphne Manoussaki of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, together with Emilios Dimitriadis and Richard Chadwick at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, have calculated that the spiral shape can affect the wave mechanics that take place inside the cochlea. It increases the strength of vibrations produced by sound waves, especially at low pitch (Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 088701).
The cochlea is a small seashell-shaped organ in the inner part of the ear where sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses. These are then sent to the brain as electrical signals. The human cochlea occupies a volume of about 1 cubic centimetre and operates at frequencies between 20 hertz and 20 kilohertz. It can detect sounds over a range of 120 decibels.
Scientists have long wondered whether the cochlea's coiled-up shape plays an important role in how it processes sound. Although intuition said it should, theoretical models did not support the idea. The new work by Manoussaki, who is an applied mathematician, and colleagues has now shown that the spiral shape probably increases hearing sensitivity to low frequency sounds by as much as 20 decibels.
When we hear something, the incoming sounds are transmitted via the tympanic membrane (or eardrum) to the basilar membrane, which runs along the length of the cochlea. The sound waves then cause the basilar membrane to vibrate. Manoussaki and co-workers looked at the equations that describe the mechanical interaction between this membrane and its surrounding fluid. In this way, they were able to describe how the amplitude of the membrane's movement changes across the width in each section of the spiral tube.
The scientists found that the spiral shape makes the membrane deflect more towards the outside of the cochlea wall and less towards the inside. This difference in the membrane's motion, which is effectively a tilt about a line running along its centre, increases with increasing radius of curvature and so enhances hearing sensitivity. "Since low frequency sounds are processed where the spiral curvature is greatest – at the apex of the cochlea - the effect will be more important for low-frequency sound waves," explains Manoussaki.
The spiral structure may have developed because animals use low-frequency sounds, which travel the furthest of all sound waves, for communication and survival. The US team will now try to confirm its results by comparing cochlea in different mammals.
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