Nuclear installations not the cause of cancer?
Article Abstract:
British researchers have published new evidence that suggests nuclear power plants are not causing increased mortality in children from leukemia and Hodgkin's disease. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood characterized by abnormal white blood cells. Hodgkin's disease is a cancer affecting the lymph glands; its cause has not been identified. Previous research had concluded that some aspect of Britain's two nuclear reprocessing plants probably had caused increased leukemia in children living nearby. Radioactivity levels did not appear to be the cause since they were low. The new research further weakens the link between radioactive emissions and childhood cancer because mortality from the cancers was very similar in areas near operating power stations and areas being considered as future power station building sites. This raises the question of what the operating plants and possible future sites have in common that could cause cancer. Power plants are often located in isolated coastal areas. One theory is that the sudden increase in population density when a power plant goes into operation favors spread of a virus that causes leukemia; newcomers to an isolated area may bring the virus in. Proponents of this theory believe that any isolated coastal area would show similar mortality rates for these diseases, regardless of whether a power plant existed or was being planned there. But other researchers note that there had been no sudden influx of people to the potential building sites, and still mortality was very similar to the areas around operating plants; this evidence does not support the viral infection theory.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1989
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Embryo research and abortion
Article Abstract:
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the process of uniting human eggs and sperm outside the body in a laboratory; if fertilization is successful the embryo is implanted into the uterus where it can develop into a fetus and progress through the phases of pregnancy. Recommendations of the Warnock Committee on IVF will be part of the British government's legislative program for the next parliamentary session. The committee has recommended that research on artificially fertilized human embryos be approved by a statutory body, and that embryos should not remain viable for more than 14 days (after which the nervous system begins to develop). The government should not accept this arbitrary limit because research past 14 days is likely to yield important medical information useful for improving human health. A statutory committee would provide enough control over experimentation to assure that the embryos would be treated with respect and used only when animal embryos could not provide satisfactory information. A related issue is the maximum gestational age at which abortions can be legally performed. There is evidence that the British government desires to reduce the time limit for abortion from 28 to 24 weeks of gestation (length of pregnancy). Moral issues concerning IVF and abortion are clearly linked, and anti-abortion activists are expected to react strongly to the Warnock recommendations.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1989
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Heart disease risks
Article Abstract:
A recent study claimed that poor health and environment during childhood is related to the geographic distribution of ischemic heart disease (IHD), in which the muscles of the heart do not receive enough oxygen. However, the British Regional Heart Study showed that the geographical distribution of IHD in the United Kingdom was not related to where individuals were born. Men living in Scotland had the greatest risk of IHD, while men living in southern England had the lowest risk, regardless of where they were born. Men living in the poorer regions of Britain had a higher risk of IHD compared to men living in the more affluent sections. Men who were born in the poorer parts of Britain and later moved to the more affluent areas had approximately the same risk of IHD as the men who always lived in the affluent sections. Men who were born in affluent areas and later moved to the poorer sections had a similar risk of IHD as the men who always lived there. Immigrants who moved to Britain acquired the same risk of IHD as the men living in the areas to which the immigrants moved. Other epidemiological studies of migrants showed the risk of heart disease t be dependent on the areas where people lived. Thus, environmental and cultural influences in adult life, not those in prenatal and childhood development, affect the risk of heart disease.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1989
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