TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer Everyone is exposed to BPA, but after hundreds of studies, there is no consensus about its safety. feeds.nytimes.com |
Vital Signs: Regimens: Massage Benefits Are More Than Skin Deep Researchers found that a single session of massage caused biological changes, like increases in oxytocin, a hormone associated with contentment. feeds.nytimes.com |
Female sexual dysfunction 'excuse by drug firms to sell pills' Pharmaceutical firms accused of trying to turn women's loss of desire into a condition treatable with pillsDrug companies are today accused of attempting to turn the loss of sexual desire that some women experience into a medical condition that can be treated by pills.Although drugs, from antidepressants to variants of Viagra, have been found ineffective, the companies are charged in an article in the British Medical Journal with inappropriately trying to create a market for pills to treat a condition that is as much psychosocial as biological, and which may need the intervention of a relationship counsellor as much as a doctor.Ray Moynihan, a journalist and lecturer at the University of Newcastle in Australia, argues in the BMJ that a variety of drug companies have tried to construct a scientific basis for medical treatment for women's loss of libido, running surveys that purport to find that it is widespread and devising ways to diagnose the condition.Extravagant claims have been made for the numbers of women affected, says Moynihan, who carried out his research for a new book called Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals.In 1999, it was claimed that 43% of women suffered from sexual dysfunction. Two of that survey's authors disclosed financial ties to the drugs industry.A 2005 survey funded by Pfizer, manufacturer of Viagra, concluded that a third of women in southern Europe lacked interest in sex and 40% in south-east Asia failed to reach orgasm. But, says Moynihan, the figures are grand totals. "When you look at the proportions of women experiencing these sexual difficulties 'frequently', the numbers collapse."Drug companies have produced questionnaires to enable clinicians easily to diagnose dysfunction in women – the latest being the "sexual desire screener" from Boehringer Ingelheim, which is promoted as giving a result in just a few minutes.The firms are also educating doctors in the problem: Moynihan says he discovered that Pfizer funded a half-day course for doctors across the US which claimed that up to 63% of women had sexual dysfunction and that testosterone and sildenafil (Viagra) might be helpful, along with behaviour therapy.Pfizer declined Moynihan's request for an interview but gave him a statement saying it had "conducted a number of studies over the past 15 years designed to understand the causes and nature of FSD [female sexual dysfunction] and its impact on women".The drugs, however, have not worked well. Boehringer Ingelheim's drug flibanserin – an antidepressant – was intended to help tackle a lack of desire.In the runup to licensing, one company expert said on TV this year that sexuality was "more about the brain" than anything else, while another said about 30% of women had the "desire disorder".But in June the drug failed to get the licence in the US after trials showed it worked no better than a placebo.In a commentary, Dr Sandy Goldbeck-Wood, a specialist in psychosexual medicine in Camden and Ipswich, said the loss of desire for sex made many women profoundly unhappy but it took a great deal for them to consult a doctor because of the embarrassment, shame or hopelessness they felt. "Faced with a woman in tears whose libido has disappeared and who is terrified of losing her partner, doctors can feel immense pressure to provide an immediate, effective solution," writes Goldbeck-Wood.It is not surprising if they reach for a pill or a patch, she says. "It is easy to see how the pressure for immediate solutions, combined with our biological bias and offers of research funding, leads to the kind of collaboration with the drug industry that has worked well for other illnesses, despite its relative inefficacy in this area." But women should not be left without help. "Many factors can contribute to low libido, few of them treatable with drugs," she writes."We owe these women something more respectful than ineffective medication or patronising false reassurance."Sexual healthHealthPharmaceuticals industryPfizerSexDrugsSarah Boseleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Employment tribunal hears of bizarre hoax phone call The director of Britain's Science Media Centre pretended to be a journalist investigating MP's staff expenses.Few people who are familiar with the small pond that is science journalism in the UK will have failed to gulp on reading about the ex-Labour MP Jim Devine and the unthinkable bullying he unleashed on his boss, Marion Kinley.Devine, who was an MP in Livingston, Scotland, before being done for fiddling expenses last year asked an acquaintance to make a fake call to Kinley and pretend to be a journalist investigating her financial affairs. The story gets darker with every step and you can read more about it here. Devine has since been ordered to pay Kinley ВЈ35,000.Though appalling from the off, it was not the top line that shocked many of my colleagues most. What came as a surprise was the revelation far down the story that the fake call in question was made by Fiona Fox, head of the Science Media Centre in London, a prominent venue for press conferences on all matters scientific and medical. Otherwise articulate people who read the story struggled to say more than three letters: WTF?I contacted Fox to ask her about the story and she provided a statement, which she has already sent on to a Scottish newspaper. It reads as follows:"I am pleased Miss Kinley has won her case and deeply regret being unwittingly drawn into this unpleasant saga. In a very, very small way I too was duped by this man. He had assured me that this kind of prank was part and parcel of the humour in his team and that his colleagues gave as good as they got. At that time I had no reason to doubt the integrity of a Member of Parliament who I got to know because of his public support for stem cell research during the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill in 2008."By phone, Fox explained that she knew Devine for around five weeks in 2008. A day after making the fake call - and leaving a message on Kinley's answerphone - Kinley called Fox, who admitted the hoax and apologised. Fox says: "I was a first class idiot." I doubt many will disagree.There are many wonderful things about being a science journalist. You get to spend your days interviewing highly intelligent people who have spent their lives wrestling with profound and fascinating questions about how the world works and all that is in it. Now and then a grim story crops up. This is one of them.Controversies in scienceIan Sampleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Harsh winter hit resident birds Resident British birds such as the robin struggled in the previous harsh winter, while migrating birds such as warblers benefited from leaving the country, according to the British Trust for Ornithology. news.bbc.co.uk |