Hope you got some rest this weekend, because today’s dose has the strangest story of sleepwalking you’ve ever heard. There’s also further controversy brewing around both alternative medicine and the diabetes drug Avandia. Oh, and there’s some other junk (DNA, that is).
— GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) allegedly pressured journal editors to not print an online editorial that suggested unrecognized risks from the diabetes drug Avandia, according to the European Heart Journal (EHJ). GSK research chief Moncef Slaoui reportedly wrote to EHJ staff that the piece, by Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steve Nissen, was “rife with inaccurate representations and speculation that fall well outside the realm of accepted scientific debate.” (Pharmalot)
— British heir-in-waiting Prince Charles’ alternative medicine charity announced it was being shut down on Friday. In a statement, the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health said the closure had been planned for months, though it had been garnering even more controversy recently over a former staff member who was arrested for fraud allegations. (The Great Beyond)
— Researchers have discovered that a type of transposon known as a retroelement — often thought of as nothing more than ‘junk’ or ‘selfish’ DNA — can drive the development of cancer. In analyzing Hodgkin’s lymphoma cells, the study authors found that retroelement segments had become activated and were promoting the transcription of a cell growth factor. (For more on this story, stay tuned for the May episode of the Nature Medicine podcast, which is due to go live on Thursday.)
— The man who allegedly claimed he had explosives on a US-bound flight from Paris last week has since suggested that his erratic behavior might be the result of taking Ambien. Experts say, however, that Derek Stansberry’s actions were inconsistent with the sleep medication’s known side effects, which can include driving and even cooking while ‘asleep,’ because Stansberry seemed to be aware of his situation. (CNN)
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