Dangerous Side Effects from Acne Drug, But Still on the Market
February 22, 2010
BNET
By Jim Edwards
A New Jersey man won a $25 million verdict after he alleged that Roche (RHHBY.PK)’s acne drug Accutane gave him an inflamatory bowel disorder that required the removal of his colon.The verdict raises a question: If Accutane (generic name isotretinoin) has such dramatic side effects, why is it still on the market? The question is not trivial. Taking Accutane can kill you. Or, if you get pregnant, it can kill your baby. Literally. That graphic on the right is not me being sarcastic. It’s the actual graphic used on the top of the FDA’s official patient information sheet for this drug.
Here is an incomplete list of its side effects:
-miscarriages (patients must be on birth control when using it)
-birth defects (facial and nervous system deformities, mental retardation)
-increased internal skull pressure
-bone mineral density
-depression
-psychosis
-suicide
-aggressive or violent behaviors
-acute pancreatitis
-“unknown” cardiovascular consequences
-deafness
-hepatitis
-bowel disease
-excessive bone growth
-night blindness and sight loss
All this for a drug that cures acne. Even Roche gave up marketing this drug after the cost of lawsuits became greater than its profits. One is tempted to conclude that Accutane essentially functions as a poison that kills acne before it kills you, but only just.
Now, before my readers fire up their emails, I know this drug is not a cure for the minor zits accompanying adolescence. It’s a last resort for people who experience acne as an intractable, socially debilitating skin condition. These pictures of “Kelli,” who kept a photo blog of her Accutane experience, demonstrate that kind of medical misery that acne can bring in extreme cases. Her blog ends with her getting married — aw! — and looking lovely so only a real grinch would want this drug banned, right?
The problem is that an underclass of less-than-great generic companies is now churning out Accutane, much of it in the Third World where medical safety is less well regulated than it is in the U.S. Ranbaxy, (RANB.BO) the disastrous Indian generics maker that was named BNET’s Worst Drug Company of 2009, had two lots of generic Accutane recalled last year. And that was just in the U.S.
There are alternatives to Accutane. And acne is not a fatal disease. The FDA should look again at whether this drug’ benefits are worth the risks.
Click here for the full report
BPA Causes Aggression and Hyperactivity in Toddlers
February 16th, 2010
Natural News
By David Gutierrez
Prenatal exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) may increase aggressive behavior in toddler girls, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Researchers measured bodily levels of BPA in 249 pregnant women, then followed their daughters for two years. Children who had been exposed to the highest levels of the chemical before the 16th week of gestation had significantly higher scores on tests for aggression than girls of the same age with less exposure.
The study is the first to examine the effect of BPA on behavior in human children. It is consistent with the results of prior animal studies, which have also found that BPA can affect the brain and reproductive system. The National Toxicology Program concluded in 2008 that there was evidence to support the chemical’s effects on human children.
Because BPA mimics the effect of estrogen, which plays a critical role in the male brain during the 11th and 12th weeks of pregnancy, researchers believe that the chemical might be “masculinizing” the female brain.
“In the developing brain, timing is everything,” said neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine, author of The Female Brain.
“I’m worried that tiny amounts of this stuff, given at just the wrong time, could partly masculinize the female brain.”
Although the study found no change in male behavior and no increase in behavioral disorders among girls, scientists noted that the population effects may be much greater than those seen in the study. Michelle Macias, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, noted that children in the study came from predominantly well-educated families, which tend to have lower aggression and hyperactivity rates than the average. In addition, neurologist David Bellinger noted that a population can become more aggressive as a whole without there being strong observable effects in individual children.
The researchers intend to continue studying the children until the age of five.
Click here for the full report
Teenage Girls Live on Junk Food
February 11, 2010
Times Online
By Valerie Elliott
Teenage girls are eating a worse diet than they did ten years ago and putting their long-term health at risk, a national nutrition survey suggests.
Girls of secondary school age are not only living on junk food such as crisps, cakes, biscuits and fizzy drinks, but they are also smoking and drinking more than boys.
The pattern of consumption suggests that many girls are being influenced by fashion models. However, while girls aim to be slim, the study found that 37 per cent of teenage girls are overweight and 22 per cent are classified as obese. Among boys of the same age, 35 per cent are overweight but only 16 per cent are obese.
The preliminary findings of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, released yesterday, have made such depressing reading for health chiefs that civil servants have turned to social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo to see if 13 to 16-year-olds can be weaned on to healthy eating by their own friends.
The tactics are radical, but officials from the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health are dismayed that, despite all the healthy eating messages, only 7 per cent of girls are eating their “five a day” portions of fruit and vegetables and the average girl’s consumption is 2.8 portions.
Almost half of all girls are also failing to eat food rich in iron, such as cereals and red meat. A deficiency can lead to anaemia, which causes fatigue and lethargy and is a factor in some women failing to become pregnant.
Eleven per cent of girls aged 13 to 15 also admitted drinking alcohol every week, compared with 1 per cent of boys the same age, while 29 per cent of the young teenage girls said that they smoked cigarettes, compared with 16 per cent of boys.Dr Alison Tedstone, head of nutrition research at the agency, said: “Broadly, teenage girls don’t eat enough. Overall, they are a stand-alone group of the population whose diets are poor.”
An analysis of eating diaries found that the average teenage girl eats 54 grams of chips or fried potatoes every day while the average woman aged 19 to 65 eats just 40g. Each day the teenager also eats 14g of crisps or other salty snacks, 22g of sweets and choocolate, and 37g of cakes and biscuits.
The average older woman, however, will eat just 6g a day of crisps, 10g of sweets and chocolate, and 27g of cake and biscuits.
Researchers also found that teenage girls and boys were eating too much sugar and saturated fat. It is recommended that only 11 per cent of energy should come from food with sugars, yet secondary school age boys are consuming 16.3 per cent sugars a day and girls 15 per cent.
High levels of saturated fat which is linked to heart disease are also being eaten. The average recommended daily intake is 11 per cent, yet girls are eating 13.1 per cent a day and boys 12.7 per cent.
Dr Tedstone said she hoped that diets would improve as manufacturers reformulated products and lowered saturated fat and sugar content.
Click here for the full report
Air Pollution Can be Detrimental to Child’s IQ
February 5, 2010
Natural News
By David Gutierrez
Exposure to air pollution in the womb can significantly reduce a child’s IQ, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health in New York and published in the journal Pediatrics.
The researchers conducted the experiment on pregnant, non-smoking black and Dominican American women between the ages of 18 and 35 who were living in the New York City neighborhoods of Harlem, South Bronx or Washington Heights. The participants wore personal air monitors during pregnancy, providing the researchers accurate data on the women’s exposure to a class of air pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The participant’s children were then subjected to standardized IQ tests at age five.
“These results provide evidence that environmental PAHs at levels encountered in New York City air can affect children’s IQ adversely,” the researchers concluded.
PAHs are produced by the burning of fossil fuels and other organic materials, including tobacco. The major source of PAH pollution in urban areas is automobile exhaust.
The researchers found that after adjusting for other factors that might affect IQ, children of mothers who had high PAH exposure during pregnancy had IQ scores an average of 4.31 points lower than children of mothers with lower exposure. The difference in verbal IQ scores was even higher, with children of high-exposure mothers scoring an average of 4.61 points lower. This IQ difference is equivalent to that seen in children with low-level lead exposure.
“These findings are of concern because these decreases in IQ could be educationally meaningful in terms of school performance,” lead author Frederica Perera said.
High PAH exposure was defined as higher than the participants’ median exposure level, 2.26 nanograms per cubic meter. It was a comparative measure used for the purposes of the study only, and not linked to any health recommendations.
Previous research has already suggested that PAH exposure can cause cancer and damage the neurological and reproductive systems.
Click here for the full report
Infertility Can be Caused by Common Flame Retardant
February 2, 2010
Natural News
By S. L. Baker
So many US women have difficulty becoming pregnant that the fertility industry has become a huge business, raking in between three and five billion dollars a year. Now a new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives raises the possibility that a lot of women who can’t have babies could have flame retardant chemicals to blame — specifically, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are commonly found in an alarming number of household consumer products.
In a study involving over 200 women, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) discovered that women with higher blood concentrations of PBDEs took far longer to become pregnant than those with low amounts of the chemicals in their blood. In fact, for every ten-fold increase in blood levels of four PBDE chemicals tested, there was a 30 percent decrease in the odds a woman would conceive a child during a month.
“There have been numerous animal studies that have found a range of health effects from exposure to PBDEs, but very little research has been done in humans. This latest paper is the first to address the impact on human fertility, and the results are surprisingly strong. These findings need to be replicated, but they have important implications for regulators,” the study’s lead author, Kim Harley, said in a statement to the media. Harley is an adjunct assistant professor of maternal and child health and associate director of the Center for Children’s Environmental Health Research at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
PBDEs are a class of organobromine compounds found in foam furniture, electronics, fabrics, carpets, plastics and other common household items. They were commonly added to these and other products as flame retardants after the 1970s when new fire safety standards were implemented in the US.
So how big is the problem of homes contaminated by PBDEs? Unfortunately, it appears to be huge. The chemicals are known to leach out into the environment and accumulate in human fat cells. Previous studies have suggested that 97 percent of U.S. residents have detectable levels of PBDEs in their blood and that the levels in Americans are 20 times higher than in their counterparts in Europe.
The most prevalent form of PBDEs found in the blood of women participating in the UC Berkeley study were from a specific formulation known as a pentaBDE mixture. Both this kind of PBDE and another type, octaBDE, have been banned for use in several states — but they are still widely found in products manufactured before 2004.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally got around to addressing the danger of PBDEs at the end of 2009. Did the agency issue an urgent alarm about products containing the chemicals — even ban them outright to protect consumers? No. Instead, the EPA quietly announced an agreement with three major manufacturers of some forms of PBDEs to phase out production by 2013. Unfortunately, this is clearly too little too late to protect countless Americans from the potential danger of these contaminants.
“Although several types of PBDEs are being phased out in the United States, our exposure to the flame retardants is likely to continue for many years,” said the study’s principal investigator, Brenda Eskenazi, UC Berkeley professor of epidemiology and of maternal and child health at the School of Public Health. “PBDEs are present in many consumer products, and we know they leach out into our homes. In our research, we have found that low-income children in California are exposed to very high levels of PBDEs, and this has us concerned about the next generation of Californians.”
What’s more, the scientists pointed out in the press statement that there’s reason to be concerned about additional chemical contaminants in the immediate future. True, PBDEs are being phased out from consumer products — but they are being replaced with other potentially toxic compounds. “We know even less about the newer flame retardant chemicals that are coming out,” said Dr. Harley. “We just don’t have the human studies yet to show that they are safe.”
Click here for the full report.
Toxic Mercury Released Into the Air by Cement Factories
December 17, 2009
Natural News
By David Gutierrez
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is targeting cement plants in California as a major source of mercury and other toxic emissions.
The agency has issued new proposed regulations for Portland cement kilns that it says would reduce the cement industry’s mercury emissions by between 81 and 93 percent. Because a total of 90 percent of all airborne mercury emissions in California come from these kilns, the rule would have a significant and immediate impact on air quality in the state.
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is particularly dangerous to children and pregnant women.
“This regulation will help all Californians breathe easier, particularly the dozens of California communities neighboring cement kilns,” said Riverside high school student and American Lung Association representative Otana Jakpor, testifying before the EPA on the proposed rule. “It will reduce hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic chemicals that harm young people. And it will do so with technology that already exists. … As a young person who lives in an area with some of the worst air pollution in the country, I feel especially passionate about this.”
The toxic emissions in the cement industry come primarily from the burning of coal, petroleum coke or even industrial waste to produce the energy that powers the manufacturing process.
Scottish Youth Wins Fight for Vitamin D Recognition
December 7, 2009
Herald Scotland
By Kenny Hodgart
Move to raise awareness of link to multiple sclerosis
The NHS in Scotland is to launch an awareness campaign about the links between vitamin D deficiency and multiple sclerosis after being spurred into acting by Glasgow teenager Ryan McLaughlin.
Vitamin D, obtained from foods and through the action of sunlight on skin, is essential for maintaining healthy bones. A deficiency is also linked to incidence of MS, a disease that attacks the central nervous system.
Ryan’s mother, Kirsten, has had MS for three years, and Ryan, 14, has shown some symptoms of the disease, but the family only discovered the link earlier this year after a family holiday.
Ryan’s father, Alan, said: “We had been in Australia and within 48 hours of being there Kirsten, who was in a wheelchair, was up and about and doing tae kwan-do. We then looked into the research and discovered there was some evidence Vitamin D was the crucial link.
“Kirsten started taking supplements and she hasn’t had a relapse since. Ryan has had some symptoms too but supplements have made a real difference for him as well. We started the campaign at Ryan’s insistence.”
With backing from children’s author JK Rowling and the MS Society they petitioned Holyrood and have now obtained a commitment from the Scottish Government to issue guidance to all health professionals who work with pregnant women and young children.
Older children, young adults, older people and women of child-bearing age are particularly susceptible to low levels. Many women begin pregnancy with low stores of the vitamin.
A written response from Holyrood’s petitions committee stated there was an “urgent need” to put a plan in place following evidence that a lack of vitamin D, in conjunction with a specific gene variant, may increase the risk of the disease.
The McLaughlins were urging the Government to commit to providing free vitamin D supplements to all pregnant and breastfeeding women and introduce supplements in the form of fortified milk and other drinks in schools.
The Government had already ruled out such commitments, but a written response following Thursday’s committee hearing said: “There is a need to educate women about the importance of taking vitamin D supplement when pregnant and the importance of giving their children a vitamin D supplement until the age of four.
“The Scottish Government will agree a co-ordinated programme of action with NHS Health Scotland.”
Ryan said: “I was shocked there had not been publicity around this before. We wanted there to be more awareness of the link and more research into how much of a problem it is in Scotland.
“These actions will make a big difference … it will go a long way to giving Scots children some protection against the disease and give parents proper advice.”
Click here for the full report
Harmful Chemicals Found in Many Pregnant Women
December 7, 2009
Organic Consumers Association
The “Earliest Exposures” study, a research project conducted by Washington Toxics Coalition in collaboration with the Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center and the Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition found pregnant women’s bodies were polluted with chemicals found in consumer products. This first-of-its kind study investigated the living environment of nine fetuses through testing the blood and urine of the nine mothers taking part in the biomonitoring study. Tests measured the levels of five chemical groups, including phthalates, mercury, perfluorinated compounds or “Teflon chemicals,” bisphenol A (BPA), and the flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A.
The women, all in their second trimester, were all found to have BPA, phthalates, mercury, and “Teflon chemicals” in their bodies. Cause for concern is that these toxic chemicals, known to disrupt development and hormonal systems cross the placenta and are absorbed by the fetus. They not only hinder fetal development, but the growing fetus has limited ability to detoxify these foreign substances.
Of the more than 80,000 chemicals found in consumer products today, only approximately 200 have been tested for safety since the inception of The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. Until more strict regulations govern the use of ingredients in consumer products, consumers can take an active role in lowering their toxic exposure. Start by purchasing Phthalate and BPA free products, switching from flame retardant clothing and bedding to organic, and substituting conventional body care for third-party certified organic body care.
Karen Ciesar, Founder and Formulator of Trillium Organics states, “I am sadly not surprised at these findings. The pervasiveness of petrochemicals in the modern world makes avoiding exposures a task which requires research and vigilance. Luckily, there are many non-profit organizations dedicated to informing consumers, some of my favorites are; SafeCosmetics.org (searchable database of cosmetic safety), Healthystuff.org (searchable database of family product safety), HealthychildHealthyworld.org, a comprehensive and informative site about environmental exposures, OrganicConsumers.org (an activist website about all issues surrounding Organic, food, personal care and fibers). It takes some time and effort to find safe products for your family, but every green purchasing choice you make increases your child’s chance at a healthy future in a greener world.”
Trillium Organics has recently been endorsed by the Organic Consumers’ Association as a “brand to trust” in their recent BUYcott campaign. Trillium Organics has been a leader in the movement for clean, safe personal care since 1994.
Click here for the full report
Back Pain During Pregnancy Reduced With Acupuncture
November 25, 2009
Natural News
By E. Huff
The unique circulatory network that exists between the mother and her developing child is delicate, leading many prenatal health providers to shy away from prescribing any pharmacological methods of intervention to alleviate the lower back pain associated with pregnancy. Since drugs carry heavy side effects for both mother and child, researchers have continued to investigate safer, simpler, more natural methods of mitigation.
Dr. Shu-Ming Wang of the Yale School of medicine suggests that simple, inexpensive acupuncture treatments offer a drug-free method of easing common back and pelvic pain in pregnant women and may help stave off perpetual chronic back pain throughout their lives.
Three groups of women were included in the study; one group receiving real acupuncture, the second group receiving acupuncture in “sham” points, and the third group receiving nothing but self-care. Eighty-one percent of the women in the legitimate acupuncture group experienced a 30 percent or greater reduction in pain while only 59 percent in the phony acupuncture group experienced such results. Of the group receiving no treatment, 47 percent indicated reduction in pain.
After only one week, 37 percent of the women receiving genuine acupuncture treatment were pain free compared to 22 percent in the fake group and only 9 percent in the self-care control group. Those who received veritable acupuncture treatment also experienced a significant improvement in mobility and function compared to the other two groups.
Though not all women remained free of pain in the weeks following the study, researchers indicate that longer-term treatments may produce more sustained relief. Further study is also needed to verify characteristically why some women respond more favorably than others to acupuncture treatment.
Acupuncture continues to make inroads into mainstream medicine due to its veritable effects on reducing pain. Studies conducted on a wide cross-section of pain conditions have seen favorable results, leading the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to support acupuncture as a viable treatment option.
From fibromyalgia and chronic headaches to cramps and arthritis, alternative and complementary doctors are witnessing excellent results in prescribing this inexpensive treatment option for their patients’ ailments rather than pharmaceutical drugs.
Toxins Affect Baby Still in Womb
November 17, 2009
Sphere.com
By Andrew Schneider
It is one of the worst nightmares for a mother-to-be: She’s poisoning the baby in her belly, and there is little she can do about it.
Now new research out Tuesday has put hard numbers to those fears, showing that chemicals from everyday products contaminate women’s bodies, and that their children enter the world already exposed to known toxics.
Nine women from California, Oregon and Washington participated in the first-of-its-kind study and had blood and urine samples taken during their second trimester of pregnancy.
The results showed that even in the womb, children aren’t safe from known toxins. The researchers found 13 toxic chemicals in the bio-fluids of the pregnant women. Their report showed that:
• Bisphenol A, used to make polycarbonate plastic and the lining for food cans, was found in the urine of each woman. An artificial estrogen, it has been shown to be harmful to fetal development. In adults, low-level exposure to BPA can cause decreased sperm production, early onset of puberty, chromosome damage in female ovaries, and a variety of behavioral changes.
• Every test subject had at least two and as many as four perfluorinated compounds in her blood. These “Teflon chemicals” are used to create stain-protection products and non-stick cookware and are classified as a likely human carcinogen; in tests on laboratory animals, they have been shown to cause liver, thyroid, pancreatic, testicular and mammary glad tumors.
• Mercury, known to harm brain development, was in the blood of every woman in the study.
• Breakdown products – phthalate monoesters – of at least four phthalates were in the urine of all nine women. Used as plasticizers and fragrance carriers in numerous consumer products, phthalates are linked to reproductive problems and asthma.
The report further noted that research has proven that toxic chemical exposure has been linked to serious health problems like asthma, childhood cancers, diabetes, infertility and learning disabilities. “Yet the degree to which children are exposed to toxic chemicals before they enter the world is still being discovered.”
The Environmental Protection Agency and scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have repeatedly shown that exposure to toxic chemicals before birth and during infancy have the most serious and irreversible consequences.
However, the report does not offer a correlation between the levels of the chemicals found in the mothers and any health problems their newborns were expected to encounter.
“We cannot say with certainty whether these particular babies were harmed by the toxic exposures in the womb,” Schreder said in an interview late Monday. But “we do know that they were exposed during the very most vulnerable time in their lives to chemicals associated with cancer, learning disabilities and infertility.”
Most of the mothers were stunned by the results of the testing.
“I was surprised. The levels were much higher than I expected them to be,” said Alex Rosenstein, a Realtor from Issaquah, Wash. “And this is just from living what I consider to be a normal life.”
Amy Ellings, a public health nutritionist from Olympia, said: “The government’s role is to protect the public from hazards like these. The FDA should be much more active in keeping these persistent chemicals out of our food and packaging.”
To that end, the groups that produced the report, echoing calls from other public health and environmental activists across the country, say that immediate steps must be taken to eliminate the use of persistent toxic chemicals — those that build up in our bodies or are passed on to the next generation. They also want manufacturers to create consumer products using only chemicals fully tested for safety.
Congress has called for a full revamping of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the law that attempts to control the manufacturing of hazardous chemicals in this country. At recent House and Senate hearings on the EPA law, lawmakers heard testimony stating that out of 80,000 chemicals believed to be in use today, only 200 (including most of the compounds found in the pregnant women) had ever been comprehensively tested for health hazards.
For the West Coast researchers, their findings only underscore how little information the public has on toxic contamination before birth.
“Our study cannot answer these very important questions,” Schreder said. “But it opens a window to view the serious threats faced before entering the world — threats that could affect health and well-being for a lifetime.”
