Philippine Government Warns Against Geckos Treatments
Friday, 15 July 2011, Based on Red Orbit article and Wire Rreports
The Philippines government warned on Friday that using geckos to treat AIDS and impotence could put patients at risk.
Environmental officials expressed alarm about the growing trade in the wall-climbing lizards in the Philippines. An 11-ounce gecko reportedly sells for at least $1,160.
Geckos are reportedly exported to Malaysia, China and South Korea to be used as aphrodisiacs and as traditional medicine for asthma, AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis and impotence.
A health department statement said their use as medical treatments has no scientific basis and could be dangerous because patients might not seek proper treatment for their diseases.
"This is likely to aggravate their overall health and put them at greater risk," it added.
The statement said treatments for asthma are easily available and affordable, while there are antiviral drugs to control the progress of HIV.
Wildlife official Mundita Lim said her office asked law enforcers to look into the possibility that scammers may be trying to get involved in the trade because of the exorbitant prices being quoted online by buyers demanding geckos weighing at least 14 ounces.
She said geckos in the wild grow up to 7 ounces, and those in captivity grow only up to 10 ounces.
According to Lim, geckos are dried and pulverize to use as medicine, and there are anecdotal accounts of the saliva or internal organs being collected.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje warned that collecting and trading geckos without permit can be punishable by up to four years in jail and a fine of $6,900.
He said a health population of geckos is needed to regulate pests and maintain the fragile ecosystem.
Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
China launches rhino farm with South African rhinos
TIME magazine exposes plans for Chinese rhino ‘farming'
June 2011. TIME magazine has uncovered evidence of plans to 'farm' rhinos in Africa, in contravention of national and international legislation. The latest issue of TIME magazine reveals a secret plot in China to breed imported white rhinos commercially so that their horns can be used in so called traditional medicine-a scheme that would be in direct contravention of national and international laws, and which contradicts statements made in 2010 by Chinese officials at an international meeting and representatives of the traditional Chinese medicine industry.
Rhino farm
In March 2010, members of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies made a declaration saying they did not want their industry tainted by the use of endangered species parts or derivatives. Later that month, Chinese officials had affirmed to world governments at CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) that there were no intentions to permit rhino farming in the country, yet a TIME reporter uncovered detailed business plans by an ammunitions company to sell and market rhino horn pills, with an aim to generate a 60 million dollar profit annually.
Unintended consequences
Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC's expert on the rhino horn trade, said "The natural world is scarred with the unintended consequences of what those only interested in profit might consider ‘good business plans. The scale of the Chinese market is potentially so awesome, one miscalculation and we potentially could lose entire species, poached to meet the rising demand."
Rhino poaching spree
Asian demand for rhino horn is fuelling a rhino poaching spree in southern Africa, which has seen the number of animals illegally killed in South Africa alone rise to more than 333 in 2010 and shows no signs of abating.
The plan to profit commercially from the importation of live rhinos into China, as alleged by TIME, is also problematic for South African authorities who have reportedly allowed the exportation of 103 live white rhinos since 2007.
South Africa requires the importing country to have adequate legislation in place to ensure live rhinos will only be used for the purpose indicated on the CITES export and import permits to avoid parts and derivatives of live specimens being used commercially.
Rhino horn farming
TIME reveals that these rhinos may in fact find their horns whittled down by one kilogramme each year, using a "self-suction living rhinoceros horn-scraping tool", under a curious new patent application filed by a subsidiary company of the munitions manufacturer in June 2010.
"South Africa should impose a moratorium on all further exports of live rhinos, unless China can demonstrate that their intended use is compliant with the country's export policy.
"None of the live rhinos sent to China were for commercial purposes" says Milliken. "It appears that people are being misled."
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-china.html
June 2011. TIME magazine has uncovered evidence of plans to 'farm' rhinos in Africa, in contravention of national and international legislation. The latest issue of TIME magazine reveals a secret plot in China to breed imported white rhinos commercially so that their horns can be used in so called traditional medicine-a scheme that would be in direct contravention of national and international laws, and which contradicts statements made in 2010 by Chinese officials at an international meeting and representatives of the traditional Chinese medicine industry.
Rhino farm
In March 2010, members of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies made a declaration saying they did not want their industry tainted by the use of endangered species parts or derivatives. Later that month, Chinese officials had affirmed to world governments at CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) that there were no intentions to permit rhino farming in the country, yet a TIME reporter uncovered detailed business plans by an ammunitions company to sell and market rhino horn pills, with an aim to generate a 60 million dollar profit annually.
Unintended consequences
Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC's expert on the rhino horn trade, said "The natural world is scarred with the unintended consequences of what those only interested in profit might consider ‘good business plans. The scale of the Chinese market is potentially so awesome, one miscalculation and we potentially could lose entire species, poached to meet the rising demand."
Rhino poaching spree
Asian demand for rhino horn is fuelling a rhino poaching spree in southern Africa, which has seen the number of animals illegally killed in South Africa alone rise to more than 333 in 2010 and shows no signs of abating.
The plan to profit commercially from the importation of live rhinos into China, as alleged by TIME, is also problematic for South African authorities who have reportedly allowed the exportation of 103 live white rhinos since 2007.
South Africa requires the importing country to have adequate legislation in place to ensure live rhinos will only be used for the purpose indicated on the CITES export and import permits to avoid parts and derivatives of live specimens being used commercially.
Rhino horn farming
TIME reveals that these rhinos may in fact find their horns whittled down by one kilogramme each year, using a "self-suction living rhinoceros horn-scraping tool", under a curious new patent application filed by a subsidiary company of the munitions manufacturer in June 2010.
"South Africa should impose a moratorium on all further exports of live rhinos, unless China can demonstrate that their intended use is compliant with the country's export policy.
"None of the live rhinos sent to China were for commercial purposes" says Milliken. "It appears that people are being misled."
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-china.html
Monday, June 28, 2010
Bee sting venom could provide treatment for arthritis
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7856017/Bee-sting-venom-could-provide-treatment-for-arthritis.html
Venom from bee stings could help to treat and even prevent arthritis, new research has suggested. Scientists have found that bee venom can control the harmful inflammation in joints that leads to rheumatoid arthritis. They have shown the venom contains molecules that cause an increase in natural hormones in the body that regulate inflammation.
It has raised hopes that bee venom can be used to develop new treatments that can help bring relief from the pain of arthritis and even prevent it from developing in the first place.
The findings helped to explain anecdotal reports of how patients who undergo bee sting therapy report improvement in their condition. Dr Suzana Beatriz Veríssimo de Mello, an associate professor in rheumatology who led the research at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, said bee venom caused increased levels of anti-inflammatory hormones called glucocorticoids.
She said: "Bee venom is a complex mixture of substances that are known to induce immune and allergic responses in humans. "Nevertheless, bee venom has been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis for centuries. However, the placebo effect has been described in studies investigating bee venom anti-inflammatory properties in arthritic patients.
"Our data shows that bee venom prevents the development of induced arthritis in rabbits through the action of glucocorticoids." Bee Sting Therapy, in which patients endure hundreds of stings by bees in the hope of getting better, is often used as a form of alternative medicine to treat a range of conditions such as asthma and multiple sclerosis. The new research is the first time a scientific explanation has been shown for the effect. Professor Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, warned that it may be some time before any clinical applications could be found.
He said: "Failure to have an adequate steroid response might allow rheumatoid arthritis to take hold, so the bee venom is a way of stimulating the body's natural steroids to respond to the auto-immune processes that causes rheumatoid arthritis. "However, knowing anecdotally that when some people with inflammatory arthritis are stung by bees their pain goes away for a short while is one thing; actually turning these early laboratory findings into a practical clinical application is quite another."
Venom from bee stings could help to treat and even prevent arthritis, new research has suggested. Scientists have found that bee venom can control the harmful inflammation in joints that leads to rheumatoid arthritis. They have shown the venom contains molecules that cause an increase in natural hormones in the body that regulate inflammation.
It has raised hopes that bee venom can be used to develop new treatments that can help bring relief from the pain of arthritis and even prevent it from developing in the first place.
The findings helped to explain anecdotal reports of how patients who undergo bee sting therapy report improvement in their condition. Dr Suzana Beatriz Veríssimo de Mello, an associate professor in rheumatology who led the research at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, said bee venom caused increased levels of anti-inflammatory hormones called glucocorticoids.
She said: "Bee venom is a complex mixture of substances that are known to induce immune and allergic responses in humans. "Nevertheless, bee venom has been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis for centuries. However, the placebo effect has been described in studies investigating bee venom anti-inflammatory properties in arthritic patients.
"Our data shows that bee venom prevents the development of induced arthritis in rabbits through the action of glucocorticoids." Bee Sting Therapy, in which patients endure hundreds of stings by bees in the hope of getting better, is often used as a form of alternative medicine to treat a range of conditions such as asthma and multiple sclerosis. The new research is the first time a scientific explanation has been shown for the effect. Professor Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, warned that it may be some time before any clinical applications could be found.
He said: "Failure to have an adequate steroid response might allow rheumatoid arthritis to take hold, so the bee venom is a way of stimulating the body's natural steroids to respond to the auto-immune processes that causes rheumatoid arthritis. "However, knowing anecdotally that when some people with inflammatory arthritis are stung by bees their pain goes away for a short while is one thing; actually turning these early laboratory findings into a practical clinical application is quite another."
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