For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
The World Health Organsation (WHO) says that affordable and effective treatment against malaria should be available by about 2006. More than one million people, mostly children under the age of five are killed each year by malarial parasites. The new treatment is based on the plant qinghaosu, or sweet wormwood, which Chinese doctors have recognized for centuries as having anti-malarial properties. Another component of the new treatment, pyronaridine, was also first developed in China and has been proven effective in treating malaria in the Hunan and Yunan provinces, according to WHO. The new medicine could be taken as a single tablet dose and appears to be well tolerated by most patients. there’s also a big problem with forging of these pills, as the plant only produces the drug when grown in parts of china.
A recent UK scientific study on the efficacy of sun creams says that although they help prevent sunburn, lotions fail to block out the harmful ultraviolet rays which can cause the skin cancer. Sun block could give sun worshippers a false sense of security.
Burns specialist Professor Roy Sanders said that the only way to really protect the skin is to stay in the shade at the hottest times of the day or cover up with hats and T-shirts.
According to Professor Sanders, one in 68 of the present UK adult population will be diagnosed with malignant melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer – at some point in their life. By 2010, however, that figure will have risen to one in 50.
Skin cancer can be caused by two types of ultraviolet light, the short, energetic wavelengths of light in the sun’s rays. UVA penetrates the skin most deeply and can suppress the immune system and damage cells. UVB also damages skin cells. The ‘factor’ rating on a bottle of sun block refers to the level of protection against UVB, historically considered the greater danger. A little-known one to four star system – normally printed on the back of bottles – indicates the level of protection against UVA.
The BBC recently showed a programme outlining the results of a viewer’s poll stating the top 50 things they thought everyone should do in their life.
The top 5 things were as follows:
What would your top 5 things be? Write in and tell the Beetle.