|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events
|
AFTER IRAQ, BUSHIES PLAN WORLD WAR THREE Japanese "defense force" practices amphibian landings in Southern California. Target: China. Chris Reed reports from Tokyo. The FBI and the Myth of Fingerprints: Cockburn and St Clair trace the final downfall of "100 per cent certainty" on fingerprint matches What's a miner's life worth? Do we hear $230 and seventy six cents? Jeffrey St Clair on Big Coal's lethal auction, courtesy of the Bush administration. ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
|
January 21/22, 2006 Ralph Nader Jason Leopold Joanne Mariner January 20, 2006 Brian J. Foley Richard Gott Joshua Frank Pierre Tristam Bernstein /
Allegretto Elizabeth Schulte Website of
the Day
January 19, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Bill Simpich Kevin Alexander
Gray Sam Husseini Sam Smith Monica Benderman Winslow T.
Wheeler Website of the Day
January 18, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Norman Solomon Jonathan M.
Feldman Michael Carmichael Paul D'Amato Cynthia McKinney Norman Finkelstein Website of the Day
January 17, 2006 M. Shahid Alam John Ross Tariq Ali Michael Donnelly Amira Hass Doug Giebel Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Mike Stark Werther
John Walsh Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Roger Burbach Norman Solomon Robert Jensen Sam Husseini Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
January 14 / 15, 2006 Alexander Cockburn JoAnn Wypijewski James Petras Ron Jacobs Brian Cloughley Marianne McDonald Bruce Tyler Wick Fred Gardner Flavia Alaya Gary Leupp Dr. Susan Block Nicole Colson Jeffrey Kolakowski Missy Comley
Beattie Charles Thomson St. Clair /
Walker / Vest Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
January 13, 2006 Ralph Nader Leonard Weinglass Amira Hass Chris Kutalik
/ Jennifer Biddle Lawrence R. Velvel Dave Lindorff Mike Whitney David Price
January 12, 2006 Jennifer Van
Bergen Jeremy Brecher / Brendan Smith Lawrence R.
Velvel Ralph Nader / Robert Weissman Jackie Corr Jared Bernstein Russell D.
Hoffman Aubrey Streit Clancy Sigal Website of the Day
January 11, 2006 Kevin Zeese Ray McGovern Allan Maass
/ Joe Allen Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Annie Murphy Allan Lichtman Ramzy Baroud Joshua Frank Kathleen and
Bill Christison Website of
the Day
January 10, 2006 Uri Avnery Saul Landau Noam Chomsky Brian J. Foley Lenni Brenner Ronan Sheehan Paul Craig
Roberts
January 9, 2006 Behzad Yaghmaian George Bisharat Dave Lindorff Norman Solomon Christopher Brauchli Aharon Shabtai Andrew Cockburn
January 7 / 8, 2006 Lawrence Velvel James Petras J.L. Chestnut Mike Ely Andrew Wilson Lila Rajiva William Cook Ramor Ryan Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff Peter Montague Ron Jacobs Neve Gordon Fred Gardner Josh Mahon Dr. Susan Block Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
January 6, 2006 José
Pertierra Joe Allen Winslow T. Wheeler John Bomar Jason Leopold Norman Solomon Robert Pollin
January 5, 2006 Scott Boehm Zoltan Grossman Heather Gray Haninah Levine Pierre Tristam Remi Kanazi Gilad Atzmon Kathleen and
Bill Christison
January 4, 2006 Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Huibin Amee
Chew Pat Williams Linda Milazzo Nick Dearden James Petras Website of
the Day
January 3, 2006 James Ridgeway Laith al-Saud Dick J. Reavis Joshua Frank Rochelle Gause Missy Comley
Beattie Paul de Rooij
January 2, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Clancy Sigal Cindy Sheehan Alexander Cockburn
Dec. 31 / Jan. 1, 2005/6 Patrick Cockburn Alexander Cockburn Ralph Nader James Petras Peter Montague J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Vijay Prashad P. Sainath James Brooks Eileen E. Schell Christopher
Brauchli Jo Guldi Fred Gardner Ben Tripp St. Clair /
Walker / Pollack Poets Basement Website of
the Weekend
December 30,2005 Evo Morales Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Dave Lindorff Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Brian Concannon Sandra Lucas T.W. Croft Website of
the Day
December 29, 2005 Norman Solomon Missy Comley
Beattie Dave Zirin Kevin Zeese Derrick O'Keefe Sam Bahour Macdonald Stainsby Bill &
Kathleen Christison Website of the Day
December 28, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Lila Rajiva Amira Hass Joshua Frank David Swanson Richard Thieme Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
December 27, 2005 Evan Jones Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Gideon Levy David Swanson Norman Solomon
December 26, 2005 Lawrence R.
Velvel Lance Olsen Ben Terrall Scott Boehm Charlie Ehlen Tom Kerr
December 24/25, 2005 Aleander Cockburn James Petras Ralph Nader Lila Rajiva Fred Gardner Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff Gary Leupp Saul Landau John Chuckman Dr. Susan Block St. Clair / Vest / Pollack
/ Donnelly Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
December 23, 2005 John Ross Chris Floyd Lawrence Mishel
/ Ross Eisenbrey Joanne Mariner Eric Johnson-Debaufre Ray McGovern J. L. Chestnut,
Jr. Website of
the Day
December 22, 2005 Ingmar Lee Elisa Salasin Christopher
Brauchli Robin Blackburn Evelyn Pringle Amira Hass Francis A.
Boyle Stew Albert Website of
the Day
December 21, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Lila Rajiva Joshua Frank Dave Zirin Ramzy Baroud Sonia Nettnin Ben Saul Jonathan Cronin Patrick Cockburn Website of
the Day
December 20, 2005 Jackie Corr Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Michael Donnelly Gian Paulo
Accardo Pierre Tristam Norman Solomon Sen. Robert Byrd Dave Lindorff Website of the Day
December 19, 2005 Mike Marqusee Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs John Blair Gideon Levy Kevin Zeese Missy Comley Beattie Don Santina Website of the Day
December 17 / 18, 2005 Cockburn /
St. Clair Gabriel Kolko Susan Alcorn Werther Ralph Nader Patrick Cockburn Fred Gardner Dave Lindorff Ned Sublette Lee Sustar Jason Leopold Laura Carlsen Jeff White Ray McGovern Chris Floyd William Loren Katz Rose Miriam
Elizalde Greg Moses Heather Gray Alison Weir St Clair /
Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of
the Day
December 16, 2005 Tom Kerr Mark Engler John Bomar Patrick Cockburn Pierre Tristam William S. Lind Cyril Neville Robert Jensen Saul Landau Website
December 15, 2005 Oren Ben-Dor Stan Cox Joshua Frank Ben Terrall Patrick Cockburn Monica Benderman Walter A. Davis Vijay Prashad Website of
the Day
Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Lawrence R. Velvel Wayne Garcia John Sugg Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Alan Maass April Hurley, MD Kevin Alexander
Gray
December 13, 2005 Stephen T.
Banko, III Patrick Cockburn Laura Carlsen Karl Grossman Niranjan Ramakrishnan Kevin Zeese Norman Solomon Michael G.
Smith Stew Albert Bob Dylan Phil Gasper Website of
the Day
December 12, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Lawrence R.
Velvel Jessica Stewart George Bisharat Nate Mezmer Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Alison Weir Seth Sandronsky Patrick Cockburn Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn Landau / Hassen Ralph Nader Linn Washington, Jr Bill Christison Mike Ferner Elizabeth Schulte Neve Gordon / Yigal Bronner Linda S. Heard Ingmar Lee Ray McGovern John Chuckman John Ryan Dick J. Reavis Christopher
Brauchli Behzad Yaghmaian Aseem Shrivastava John Ross Ben Tripp St. Clair / Pollack / Vest
/ Despair Poets' Basement Website of the Week
December 9, 2005 Linn Washington,
Jr. Dave Zirin
/ Mike Stark Patrick Cockburn Alexander Cockburn Lila Rajiva Gary Leupp Jason Leopold Bruce K. Gagnon Andrew Cockburn Website of the Day
December 8, 2005 Kathy Kelly James Petras William S.
Lind Laura Carlsen Justin Akers Thomas Graham, Jr Norman Solomon Tariq Ali /
Robin Blackburn Website of
the Day
December 7, 2005 John Ryan Gary Leupp Fran Quigley Jeremy Brecher
/ Brendan Smith Joshua Frank William W.
Morgan Dave Lindorff Patrick Cockburn Harold Pinter Website of
the Day
December 6, 2005 Ron Jacobs Patrick Cockburn Yifat Susskind Mike Whitney Pat Williams Paul Craig
Roberts Website of
the Day
December 5, 2005 John Walsh Brian Cloughley Mokhiber /
Weissman Robert Jensen Norman Solomon Peter Rost, MD Lila Rajiva Website of the Day
Alexander Cockburn Lawrence R.
Velvel Rev. William Alberts Saul Landau Ralph Nader Paul Craig
Roberts Mike Whitney Allan Lichtman Dave Lindorff Brian Concannon,
Jr. Fred Gardner Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Carol Wolman St. Clair /
Vest / Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
December 2, 2005 Stan Goff Mike Ferner Christopher Brauchli Niranjan Ramakrishnan Manuel Talens Peter Phillips J.L. Chestnut,
Jr. Website of
the Day
December 1, 2005 John Walsh,
MD Ron Jacobs Jenna Orkin Joshua Frank Tiffany Ten
Eyck Missy Comley Beattie Eli Stephens Elaine Cassel Website of
the Day
Subscribe Online
|
Weekend
Edition Pot Shots"Metabolic Syndrome" is to "Clinical Depression" as Acomplia is to ProzacBy FRED GARDNER Even before Eli Lilly began selling Prozac in 1988 the company was selling the concept of "clinical depression" -the alleged disease that Prozac allegedly cures, or mitigates the symptoms of. Lilly also began educating doctors and the public about "selective serotonin reuptake inhibition," the mechanism by which Prozac allegedly works. Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third-largest drug company, is pursuing a similar strategy as it seeks approval to market a drug called Acomplia to treat a condition called "metabolic syndrome." In recent years Sanofi has been educating doctors and the public about "metabolic syndrome" (high glucose levels, obesity, and other risk factors for diabetes) and Acomplia's mechanism of action, which involves blocking the body's own (endo-) cannabinoid system. Acomplia is the drug formerly known as Rimonabant. Before that it was simply SR141716, the SR standing for "Sanofi Recherche." It was developed in 1995 as an "antagonist" drug for use by researchers studying the endocannabinoid system. (By administering a drug that blocks specific receptors, scientists can infer the receptors' functions.) Sanofi soon realized that its cannabinoid antagonist could be marketed as a weight-loss drug, dubbed it rimonabant, and undertook a series of clinical trials. Approval by the FDA and the European Medicines Agency is pending. The New Scientist devoted a feature story to Acomplia Dec. 10, that undoubtedly inspired some readers to buy Sanofi stock. "If what has been made public from the clinical trials is anything to go by," writes Diane Martindale, "rimonabant has almost miraculous powers, helping people to control their appetites, shrink their waistlines and banish many of the metabolic problems associated with being too fat. And that's not all. Rimonabant has also been successfully tested as an aid to quitting smoking and might even be useful in treating alcoholism and other addictions ... No wonder many industry analysts are backing it to become the first blockbuster drug of the 21st century ... "All four obesity trials are now complete. Sanofi has only published one set of results, from the halfway point of a two-year European study involving 1507 volunteers, but if the results are replicated in all the trials, the drug looks like a winner ... "Investment banker JP Morgan predicts that sales will reach $5 billion a year by 2010, which would make rimonabant one of the highest-grossing drugs of all time. Curiously, however, Sanofi-Aventis does not intend to market rimonabant for weight-loss or smoking cessation, preferring to cast it as a heart medication on the back of the cardiovascular benefits of curbing metabolic syndrome and giving up cigarettes. Nor is Sanofi interested in trying to get the drug approved for alcohol abuse or other drug addictions, despite successful tests in alcoholic rats. This could make good business sense, since US health insurance companies rarely pay for anti-obesity drugs but will cover the cost of cardiovascular medication. And the regulatory agencies tend to be extra critical of weight-loss medications. But even if it is marketed only as a medication for heart disease, the drug could be huge." Martindale quotes weight-loss specialist Louis Aronne singing Acomplia's praises in a familiar cadence: 'This is the first effective treatment for the metabolic syndrome with weight loss as a side effect,' he says. (Just as Prozac was the first effective treatment for clinical depression without fatal overdose as a side effect.) Another expert, Jason Halford, is quoted: "'This is good news for heart disease,' he says (sic). 'Cardiologists are looking for drugs to manage smoking and obesity, two things they can't do with existing heart disease drugs.'" Things have changed since Prozac was introduced -the corruption of the system by which drugs are evaluated and approved has been widely exposed- and the New Scientist's Acomplia piece devotes some space to those expressing misgivings. "People in the obesity trials tended to reach a plateau after about 34 weeks, and if they stopped taking the drug, they regained all the lost weight," Martindale notes. "Sanofi-Aventis thinks that people will be able to continue taking the drug indefinitely, but some obesity experts are wary." Also on the adverse side of the ledger: Acomplia was found to increase blood pressure even as it facilitated weight loss. Some 40 per cent of Sanofi's test subjects dropped out during the first year of the obesity trials. "Some complained of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness and headaches, as well as mood disorders including anxiety and depression," according to the New Scientist. California doctors who monitor cannabis use by large numbers of people fear that Acomplia, used longterm, may induce seizures and exacerbate or cause tumors, among other adverse effects. Two weeks ago Tod Mikuriya, MD, was browsing the web for continuing medical education classes (doctors are obligated to earn 25 credits over four years) and came upon an expensively produced presentation on "The Endocannabinoid System: A Novel Therapeutic Target for the Management of Multiple Cardiovascular Risk Factors." The class consisted of talks by Sanofi-funded doctors at a Sanofi-funded symposium, culminating in a pitch for that promising new treatment, rimonabant. Instead of applying for his 2.5 credits, Mikuriya fired off an email to the FDA warning that, theoretically, blocking the CB1 receptor system could bring on or make worse every medical condition for which cannabis provides relief. He included the master list of conditions that California patients have reported treating efficaciously with cannabis. Mikuriya got a reply stating that his concern had been forwarded to a review officer -none other than David Graham, MD, the brave FDA staffer who defied his bosses to tell the Senate the truth about Vioxx! A Kinder, Gentler Antagonist? GW Pharmaceuticals has bred a plant strain rich in THCV (tetrahydrocannabivarin) that it hopes will provide a natural antagonist drug without the liabilities of Sanofi's synthetic. GW is the British pharmaceutical company that in 2005 won conditional approval in Canada to market a plant extract called Sativex as a treatment for pain caused by multiple sclerosis. Anecdotal evidence from seed collectors suggested that strains high in THCV had notably "clearer" and "faster" effects than high-THC strains, and GW decided to sponsor a pharmacological study by Roger Pertwee, MD, of the University of Aberdeen. Pertwee determined that THCV strongly antagonizes anandamide -one of the body's own cannabinoids- while hardly antagonizing the plant cannabinoid THC! "The discovery that THCV was a neutral antagonist at the CB1 and then the CB2 receptor was a complete surprise," according to GW chairman Geoffrey Guy, MD. "It is therefore unlikely to be psychoactive at all in humans. Even more intriguing was the fact that THCV antagonizes THC far less than endogenous (anandamide) or synthetic cannabinoids." It appears that the cannabis plant contains and makes available to the body a choice of drugs and the body uses those it needs to achieve a balanced state (homeostasis). "If the body is producing endocannabinoids in excess, it can use the plant cannabinoid THCV to achieve homeostasis," Guy observes. "If the endocannabinoid system needs a boost, the THC provides it (while the THCV shuts down the endocannabinoid system, giving it a rest as it were). The key to relief, apparently, is not high cannabinoid levels but proper gradients." GW has developed a strain with a cannabinoid content of 85% THCV and 15% THC. (It may not be possible for a plant to express 100% of its cannabinoid content as THCV.) Guy says, "the possibility exists (yet to be demonstrated) that the extract might inhibit the endogenous cannabinoids whilst maintaining basic cannabinoid tone through the effects of THC (albeit less potently than when unopposed by THCV). More pharmacology is underway and we hope to take this extract into man this year." GW's goal is a preparation that curbs hunger but does not drive tumor formation, exacerbate MS cases, lower seizure thresholds or produce anxiety and depression. "You want a drug that takes the edge off, not one that hits you like a ton of bricks," says a GW researcher who hopes that Sanofi's campaign to educate doctors and the public about metabolic syndrome will create a market for his company's kinder, gentler cannabioid-antagonist drug. ¡Coca-Cola, lo de mucho mas! "Metabolic syndrome" is defined in Sanofi's ad campaign as "a cluster of risk factors: decreased 'good' cholesterol; elevated blood pressure, triglycerides [fat molecules in the blood] and glucose levels; and a widening waistline." These symptoms are more tangible than those said to define "clinical depression," but both so-called illnesses, by their very terminology, confuse cause and effect. "Malnutrition" would be a more accurate term for the condition Sanofi wants doctors and patients to treat with Acomplia. "Loneliness" and "insecurity" are more accurate and meaningful terms for the condition corporate medicine would have us treat with SSRIs such as Prozac. More realistic terminology would point all concerned towards prevention strategies. Nothing could be further from the interests of the drug companies. The cruel contradictions of corporate medicine were described matter-of- factly in the New York Times's Jan. 9-12 series on diabetes. Hospitals lose money educating patients on how to control the disease and make money on amputations and other procedures required as the disease worsens. One in eight adult New Yorkers now suffers from diabetes, as do some 21 million Americans. Immigrants develop diabetes at high rates soon after exposure to the U.S. diet By coincidence, the Wall St. Journal ran a front-page piece Jan. 11 about the popularity of Mexican Coca-Cola, which contains cane sugar rather than corn syrup, and comes in glass rather than plastic bottles. Could it be that corn syrup is less digestible than cane sugar, i.e., a cause of "metabolic syndrome?" You know it is! Fred Gardner is the editor of O'Shaughnessy's
Journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical Group. He
can be reached at: fred@plebesite.com
|
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair                           Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org. |
