2015 / 16 60,600
2014 / 15 56,400
2013 / 14 47,700
This Week
PIC OF THE WEEK
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
AUSTRALIA Researchers from the University of Queensland milk venom from a lace monitor lizard ( pictured ) as part of a study that suggests the poison could work as an anticoagulant . Venom from 20 lizard species was tested over three years and the findings were published in the journal Toxins . The results showed that the venom could be effective in preventing clots . “ You can ’ t predict where the next wonder drug is going to come from . It could come from something as unlikely as the Komodo dragon ,” said study co-author Associate Professor Brian Fry .
Journal Talk
Michael Woodhead
SNAPSHOT
Source : AIHW , Radiotherapy in Australia 2015-16 .
RADIOTHERAPY RATES More than 60,000 radiotherapy courses began in the last financial year , of which 2 % were part of emergency palliative care .
Radiotherapy courses started
2015 / 16 60,600
Supplement sector silent on glucosamine data
GLUCOSAMINE is still being spruiked by the supplement industry as the answer to stiff and painful joints in people with osteoarthritis , despite evidence showing that it ’ s no better than placebo .
And with older Australians forking out up to $ 40 from their pension for a month ’ s supply , you ’ d think the vendors would have an obligation to show some proof of efficacy for this so-called building block of joint cartilage .
Not so , according to a group of Dutch researchers , who spent a fruitless 18 months trying to prise individual patient data from the tight grip of the glucosamine triallists .
Writing in the Annals of Rheumatic Disease , Dr Jos Runhaar and colleagues , from the department of general practice at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam , say they embarked on their quest because they wanted to give glucosamine the benefit of the doubt . 1 Their aim was to challenge a 2010 BMJ meta-analysis of seven
2014 / 15 56,400
2013 / 14 47,700
high-quality trials that had concluded oral glucosamine was no better than placebo in reducing pain or joint space narrowing . 2 The Dutch researchers postulated there might have been hidden benefits of glucosamine among some subgroups of patients that were not apparent in smaller trials . They therefore set out to collate and analyse individual patient data from 21 clinical trials of glucosamine to look for these subgroup effects .
Despite repeated attempts to contact all of the glucosamine triallists , they were only able to obtain data from six of the 21 studies . In other words , two-thirds of the trial data were hidden from scrutiny . This was especially the case for industrysponsored studies .
Four trial organisers said they had been forbidden by the sponsor from releasing the data . The remainder either said they were not interested or never replied .
So much for ‘ open access ’. The reality is data transparency is still the exception
Most common reason
Breast cancer 47.2 %
Lung cancer 14.6 % rather than the rule — at least for complementary therapies .
“ Thus the full potential and use of completed clinical trials is not reached and only part of the clinical evidence is available to clinicians and patients , threatening the appropriateness of recommendations for clinical decision making ,” the Dutch reviewers concluded .
Interestingly , well-known data transparency advocate Dr Ben Goldacre has just reported in the BMJ that 96 % of top pharma companies have now committed to making individual patient data from their clinical trials available on request ( although their willingness to actually deliver varied considerably in practice ). 3 Nevertheless , it looks like the supplements industry has something to learn on transparency from Big Pharma . 1 . Annals of Rheumatic Diseases 2017 ; online . 2 . BMJ 2010 ; 341 : c4675 . 3 . BMJ 2017 ; online .
Intent
Prostate cancer 27 %
Lung cancer 10.8 %
• 58 % Curative
• 38 % Palliative ( 2 % were started within 24 hours )
• 1.1 % Prophylactic
“ They are difficult to treat wounds and maggots do a good job .”
Griffith University ’ s Frank Stadler says drones can deliver maggots to remote communities to treat diabetic ulcers .
“ It ’ s hard to get an arsonist interested in the possibilities afforded by a fire hose .”
Stanford University addiction specialist Professor Keith
Humphreys comments on President Trump ’ s refusal to declare a national emergency on opioid misuse .
“ Building the new medical centre is just not a matter of ‘ build and they will come ’, it ’ s ‘ build and they ’ ll stay ’.”
Mark Liebich , mayor of Weddin in NSW , says the local economy is losing
$ 13 million a year because people are travelling to other towns for medical services .
“ Luckily , the nurse manager at the school was proactive and called every one of those families , and they ended up with over 90 % of the kids vaccinated .”
Immunisation advocate Kate Fandry claims at one school in WA , one-quarter of families are failing to complete consent forms for teen MenW vaccination .
www . australiandoctor . com . au 18 August 2017 | Australian Doctor | 35