The Lancet Digest December 22nd 2007
Seasons greetings from The Lancet to all readers of TheLancetStudent.com
This week’s issue is actually a double issue, to give us poor Lanceteers some time to rest and recuperate over the holiday period. So the next Lancet Digest will come to you on Friday Jan 4.
Here’s a run-through of some of the highlights of this the last issue of 2007…
Uganda has been hit by a completely new subtype of the Ebola virus. Health workers are managing around 100 suspected cases of Ebola haemorrhagic fever as well as battling the fear and false rumours that are causing panic in the east African country. Zoe Alsop reports in World Report this week.
Also do read this week’s Correspondence in response to a Lancet Editorial about doctors’ white coats (we were sceptical that making doctors wear short sleeve shirts or coats in place of traditional long-sleeve white coats would reduce cross-infection in the clinical setting, however attractive it seems to the popular press). Some lively debate in response to our Sept 29 editorial, on both sides of the debate.
The long Editorial this week discusses the role of a Chief Scientist in relation to government - what is the remit of a Chief Scientist? A defender of health and science budgets or a touchstone for pulling together scientific evidence with government policy? In the UK, John Beddington, a distinguished population biologist, takes up his role as chief scientist to Gordon Brown’s government in 2008. He takes over, the editorial says, at a difficult moment for science policy in Britain.
On a lighter note, another Editorial comments on some recent findings concerning the components of dark chocolate;
Last month, a study in Circulation showed that dark chocolate that is rich in flavanols induced coronary vasodilatation and improved coronary vascular function in 11 heart-transplant recipients compared with patients taking a cocoa-free control chocolate. Other studies have also shown that dark chocolate has cardiovascular benefits.
But before we all rush to buy our festive supplies of dark chocolate, “There is a catch” states the Editorial. Some chocolate manufacturers remove the flavanols, which are bitter, from the darkened cocoa solids, so that even dark-looking chocolate can have no flavanol, and thus no health benefit. Consumers are also kept in the dark about the flavanol content of chocolate because manufacturers rarely label their products with this information. Moreover, even if falvanols are present the editorial warns, “The devil in the dark chocolate is the fat, sugar, and calories it contains.” To gain any health benefit those who eat a moderate amount of flavanol-rich dark chocolate would have to balance the calories by reducing their intake of other foods. But after all Christmas is nearly upon us, and The Lancet wouldn’t want to disappoint. The Editorial concludes: “Of course some would say that, in terms of food intake, the best and simplest health message would be to stay away from the chocolate and eat a healthy, balanced diet, low in sugar, salt, and fat, and full of fresh fruit and vegetables. We say: ‘Bah, humbug to that. Pass the chocolates.’”
Here are the headlines from the original research articles this week:
- Treatment with bevacizumab plus interferon improves progression-free survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma compared with interferon alone, and will provide a new first-line treatment option for patients with renal cancer.
- Colorectal surgery can be done safely without mechanical bowel preparation, and the practice is unnecessary and should be abandoned.
- And genetic research showing that all people who suffer from asthma, regardless of their genotype which was thought to influence the treatment they should receive, can safely receive corticosteroid therapy.
Are COX-2 inhibitors preferable to non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients with risk of cardiovascular events taking low-dose aspirin? This topical clinical question is discussed in a Review in this week’s issue.
And although published online several months ago, do read the Public Health Article: Non-physician clinicians in 47 sub-Saharan African countries
And also two Viewpoints relating to global health:
Genital herpes in Africa: time to rethink treatment
And Responding to HIV in Afghanistan
And finally - it wouldn’t be the end of the year without our Wakley Prize Essay, this year entitled: ‘Smoking the pipe of peace’ by Farrah Jasmine Mateen, about aboriginal people in Canada.
And another end-of-year custom at The Lancet, a special issue, this year called ‘Acute episodes’, an eclectic collection of original short stories relating to science, health and medicine from the past, present, and future.
Sorry that is such a long digest - but there’s a lot in this final, double-issue of 2007. Happy reading, and happy holidays.
Bookmark on delicious | Digg