The News Review:

- Healthy diet can ease pain of arthritis
- Stem Cell Treatment For Brittle Bones In The Womb
- Financial Ties Are Cited as Issue in Spine Study

Healthy diet can ease pain of arthritis
Republican – MassLive.com – The Republican – MassLive.com – Jan 30, 2008
Many individuals with rheumatoid arthritisconsider complementary alternative therapies to helpalleviate pain. If you do use caution. Many of thetherapies touted on the Internet lack the clinical researchsupporting their efficacy. To get started on the right pathhere are a few complimentary treatment options you and yourhealth care team may consider: mega-3 fats from seafood (salmon tuna and herring) maybe helpful in managing the inflammation associated withrheumatoid arthritis in conjunction with the heart-healthbenefits they offer. Adequate amounts of vitamin C (oranges tomatoes and darkgreen vegetables) and vitamin E (whole grains nuts seedsand green leafy vegetables) should be consumed. Since theyare already an inherent part of a varied diet additionalsupplementation above taking a traditional dailymultivitamin with minerals is not needed. Anti-inflammatory foods and spices like onion garlicclove ginger and turmeric may someday prove helpful inreducing inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritisalthough clinical research supporting their use remainsinsufficient.

Stem Cell Treatment For Brittle Bones In The Womb
Science Daily – Science Daily (press release) – Jan 30, 2008
Professor Fisk who now heads the new $66m UQ Centre for Clinical Research said the work held potential for improving treatment of other disabling conditions such as muscular dystrophy and congenital brain diseases. Brittle bone disease or steogenesis imperfecta* (I) as the inherited disease is known affects babies whilst they are inside their mother’s womb. This is because collagen one of the main building blocks for bone fails to develop properly. The disease is detected by DNA testing or ultrasound before birth and leads to weak bones and stunted growth. The team led by Professor Nicholas Fisk transplanted specially manipulated stem cells into 14 day old mouse fetuses that had I.

Financial Ties Are Cited as Issue in Spine Study
New York Times – Jan 30, 2008
Instead of serving as objective gatekeepers who can screen out potentially harmful or ineffective new devices or drugs some medical experts say clinical researchers with conflicts may have incentives to overstate the value of a new product for patients. For better or worse doctors in this country frequently have financial ties to the companies whose devices or drugs they recommend to patients. But in the case of the Prodisc clinical trial as with any clinical research the doctors were supposed to be acting not as advocates for the product but as objective scientists studying whether the disk was safe and effective enough to be widely sold and used in the United States. “The surgeons themselves are guilty of being insufficiently critical of products and techniques they are developing” said Dr. Deyo a medical professor at regon Health and Science University. “More people are interested in getting on the gravy train than on stopping the gravy train.