Claire and Dora Williamson had received a copy of Fasting for the Cure of Disease, Hazzard's publication. It purported to have resulted in remarkable recoveries for people who had found little help elsewhere. Hazzard was a natural salesperson who had spread her ideas to an international audience. She had published testimonials from success stories, and the sisters were impressed. A fan of natural cures, they checked in for the treatment on February 27, 1911.
They did not realize that, once there, they would not be able to just leave. In fact, they would be too weak to do so. They agreed to undergo the rigorous fasting, shedding weight to the point where they were nearly mere skeletons. As they grew weaker, Olson points out, they became more committed to the therapy. Suffering was a sign, they were told, that the treatment was working. Even when they became bedridden after two months, the doctor would not allow them to eat. At the same time, she secured their jewelry and land deeds, to "prevent others" from coming into their apartment to rob them. Then she moved them to her newly completed sanitarium, where they could communicate with no one. At that time, they weighed around 75 pounds each and were often delirious.
Claire managed to secretly find someone to send a telegram, but she eventually died, even as Margaret Convey, a faithful nanny, rushed there from Australia. Convey rescued Dora, now said to be insane, before she met the same fate. Dora had been on the treatment for four months, but with Convey's help, she regained her health and proved to be an effective witness—especially photos of her during the latter stage of the fasting cure--when the case came to trial in 1912—as murder. Hazzard was found guilty of manslaughter. The medical establishment removed her license during the legal proceedings, and she claimed that the verdict was just part of the persecution she had suffered all along. The Town Crier wrote that her gender had saved her from the verdict of murder.
During her appeal, two women and two babies died at her center. She spent only two years in prison, and in exchange for her leaving the country, the governor granted a pardon. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire, went to New Zealand, but eventually returned to Olalla, writes Iserson, and resumed her treatments. Arrested again when another man died, she was fined for violating medical practice. Since she kept no records, the number of people who died (or were intentionally starved to death) under her "care" cannot be estimated.
Oddly enough, Dr. Hazzard's book is available today on several Webs sites that tout her treatment as scientific and effective, but the Skeptical Inquirer assures readers that the claims Hazzard made for its health benefits are both vacuous and bogus.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
described 0.des.9992 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
The Frankford Curse
On June 20, Leonard Christopher was ordered to stand trial for the Dowd murder, since the evidence was deemed sufficient. Two women who knew him said they had seen him that night. One, Emma Leigh, said that he had walked into the alley behind the fish store around 1:00 A.M., and she heard a woman scream. She left with a man in a car (Newton says a date, the paper indicates it was a client picking her up), so she did not witness any other event. Linda Washington, the second woman, claimed to have seen Christopher leave the alley carrying his shirt over his arm and sporting a knife in a sheath hanging around his waist.
Christopher's defense attorney, Jack McMahon, stated that the witnesses had contradicted each other and their testimony would not stand up in court. Neither would the robbery charge, because Dowd's purse, while open, still had cash in it. It might simply have been dropped during the attack.
Defense Attorney Jack McMahon
Defense Attorney Jack McMahon
Despite the fact that the suspect had not been proven guilty, the residents of the Frankford Avenue area were relieved to know that someone had been caught. They felt certain that their neighborhood could return to normal. They were wrong.
Christopher, jailed without bond, was safely locked away on September 6, 1990, when Michelle Dehner was found murdered (Newton calls her Michelle Martin, as do later newspaper reports). She was 30 and lived in a fourth-floor efficiency apartment on Arrott Street, not far from Frankford Avenue. Once a suspect in the Durkin murder for having fought over a blanket, she was now officially off the suspect list. She was a victim.
The police, called to the scene that Saturday afternoon, found her lying on the floor. She had been stabbed 23 times in the chest and stomach. Once again, it appeared to be the work of the Frankford Slasher. There was no sign of forced entry, as was the case with the other indoor assaults, and no obvious murder weapon found at the scene or discarded nearby. This murder scene was only three blocks from where Carol Dowd had been killed, and it was on the same street as the 1989 murder of Theresa Sciortino.
Dehner/Martin was described in the Inquirer as a hard-drinking, paranoid loner, and was even called "Crazy Michelle" by people in the neighborhood. She was considered somewhat unconventional, sometimes barricading herself into her apartment and other times just tossing things out the window, no matter who might be standing below. Single and hard-edged, she frequented the same bars where the previous murder victims had often gone. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire A large blonde, she was often seen in sloppy sweatshirts and jeans, and spent her time wandering from one bar to the next. Sometimes she sold soft pretzels on the street, but usually she just drank all day. Neighbors indicated to reporters that she was not very friendly, and one person said that she did not often bathe. A day and a half before her death, she had left the bar with a white man (Newton says this was on the evening of September 6, but that's the day she was found murdered). In fact, people had seen her bring men home on several occasions.
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* Print
On June 20, Leonard Christopher was ordered to stand trial for the Dowd murder, since the evidence was deemed sufficient. Two women who knew him said they had seen him that night. One, Emma Leigh, said that he had walked into the alley behind the fish store around 1:00 A.M., and she heard a woman scream. She left with a man in a car (Newton says a date, the paper indicates it was a client picking her up), so she did not witness any other event. Linda Washington, the second woman, claimed to have seen Christopher leave the alley carrying his shirt over his arm and sporting a knife in a sheath hanging around his waist.
Christopher's defense attorney, Jack McMahon, stated that the witnesses had contradicted each other and their testimony would not stand up in court. Neither would the robbery charge, because Dowd's purse, while open, still had cash in it. It might simply have been dropped during the attack.
Defense Attorney Jack McMahon
Defense Attorney Jack McMahon
Despite the fact that the suspect had not been proven guilty, the residents of the Frankford Avenue area were relieved to know that someone had been caught. They felt certain that their neighborhood could return to normal. They were wrong.
Christopher, jailed without bond, was safely locked away on September 6, 1990, when Michelle Dehner was found murdered (Newton calls her Michelle Martin, as do later newspaper reports). She was 30 and lived in a fourth-floor efficiency apartment on Arrott Street, not far from Frankford Avenue. Once a suspect in the Durkin murder for having fought over a blanket, she was now officially off the suspect list. She was a victim.
The police, called to the scene that Saturday afternoon, found her lying on the floor. She had been stabbed 23 times in the chest and stomach. Once again, it appeared to be the work of the Frankford Slasher. There was no sign of forced entry, as was the case with the other indoor assaults, and no obvious murder weapon found at the scene or discarded nearby. This murder scene was only three blocks from where Carol Dowd had been killed, and it was on the same street as the 1989 murder of Theresa Sciortino.
Dehner/Martin was described in the Inquirer as a hard-drinking, paranoid loner, and was even called "Crazy Michelle" by people in the neighborhood. She was considered somewhat unconventional, sometimes barricading herself into her apartment and other times just tossing things out the window, no matter who might be standing below. Single and hard-edged, she frequented the same bars where the previous murder victims had often gone. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire A large blonde, she was often seen in sloppy sweatshirts and jeans, and spent her time wandering from one bar to the next. Sometimes she sold soft pretzels on the street, but usually she just drank all day. Neighbors indicated to reporters that she was not very friendly, and one person said that she did not often bathe. A day and a half before her death, she had left the bar with a white man (Newton says this was on the evening of September 6, but that's the day she was found murdered). In fact, people had seen her bring men home on several occasions.
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Mr. Ishizawa 4.rr. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
299. Japan Plans to Convert Its Frozen Funds.
Mr. Ishizawa again urged Tokyo on August 4, 1941 to buy materials from the Netherlands East Indies with Japanese funds available in Batavia. Since the attitude of the Dutch authorities had grown more hostile toward Japan because of the occupation of French Indo-China and the Japanese threat of moving into Thailand, he reiterated that speedy measures should be taken to procure the immediate export of vital materials. [1132] In view of the fact that the Japanese retaliatory order froze both the funds and the assets of the Netherlands, Mr. Ishizawa expected the Dutch to take even more drastic steps in return. He suggested, therefore, that the guilder funds be released without delay to be applied as payment for exports to Japan. Furthermore, Tokyo was requested to inform Ambassador Pabst that the Japanese order as well as the Netherlands measure, was to freeze only the funds, not the assets, of the other country. [1133] Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Although the freezing regulations of both countries were comprehensive measures, having no bearing on individual cases, nevertheless, on August 4, 1941 the Netherlands government filed a special request for the transfer of 500,000 yen Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire to the managers of the guild's branches in Japan. In order to preclude the Dutch from retaliating against Japanese banks in the Netherlands Indies, Mr. Ishizawa advised Tokyo to comply with their wishes regarding this transfer. Thus, in the future, when Japan was attempting the conversion of her frozen funds into exportable goods, such action would furnish a precedent for the Netherlands officials. [1134]
[1129] II, 1120.
[1130] II, 1121.
[1131] II, 1122.
[1132] II, Ibid.
[1133] II, 1123.
[1134] II, 1124.
203
PART C‑JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
(k) Japanese‑Thaiese Relations.
300. Japanese Intelligence Reports on Thailand.
On May 23, 1941 Tokyo was informed that Chinese residents in Thailand were still pro-American and pro‑British. For this reason, Mr. Shunsuke Asada, a Japanese Consul General in Bangkok, and the first secretary of the Japanese Legation in Thailand, advised Tokyo to send men acting as business agents, rather than representatives from the Nanking government, on a tour of inspection to win over the Thaiese. [1135]
301. Japan Attempts to Acquire Most of Thailand's Exports.
Since Japan was interested in Thailand's resources, reports in connection with Japan's prospects for acquiring various Thaiese mines were sent to Tokyo. [1136] On June 6, 1941 Mr. Asada suggested that inactive rice refineries belonging to Chinese operators be purchased with the view of forming a guild to secure a comprehensive export permit. This would be a means of reconciling the Chinese dealers in Thailand who would be allowed to do business with Chinese within Japanese occupied territories. [1137]
Foreign Minister Matsuoka on June 9, 1941 inquired as to Thailand's views concerning the subsidizing by Japan of a jointly‑managed Thai‑Japanese company which would ensure regular uninterrupted shipments of tin to Japan. [1138] Mr. Matsuoka was also maneuvering to obtain most of the tin ore mined in Thailand, and, with this in view, was attempting to purchase a two‑months' prospecting contract, with an arrangement that all the tin ore mined during that time would be sent to Japan. [1139]
Since it was necessary that Japan obtain guarantees for three staples, tungsten, tin, and rubber, Mr. Asada suggested on June 6, 1941 that the Mitsui organization, which was currently negotiating for the purchase of tin mines in Thailand, be encouraged by the Foreign Office to obtain an option for these mines. [1140]
302. Japan Sends Oil Experts to Thailand in Guise of Diplomats.
To investigate the current consumption of petroleum in Thailand, a member of the Japanese Government Planning Board, Juro Suzuki, and an official of the Fuel Bureau, Yosio Yosida, were sent in early June, 1941 to Bangkok with the official titles of Foreign Office Secretary and General Affairs Official. These men were also to instruct secretly other Japanese in the methods of petroleum consumption. However, Japan was uncertain as to Thailand's reception of its "experts" and directed Mr. Yasusato Futami, Japanese Minister to Thailand, to sound out Thaiese officials in this matter. [1141]
[1135] II, 1125.
[1136] II, 1126.
[1137] II, 1127.
[1138] II, 1128.
[1139] II, 1129.
[1140] II, 1130‑1131.
[1141] II, 1132.
204
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
303. Japanese‑Thaiese Petroleum Negotiations.
As for petroleum, on June 6, 1941 Foreign Minister Matsuoka agreed to supply the amount needed by Thailand, but declared that in the future Japan would demand the entire amount of Thaiese rubber and tin. Japan would agree to British‑Thailand petroleum negotiations only if these were on a small scale, and if Thailand would furnish Japan with as much as possible of 15,000 tons of tin ore a year. It was Japan's intention at this time to secure forty per cent of Thailand's tin production, and eventually the entire output. The amount of petroleum to be supplied by Japan for the month of June, 1941 would be decided later in view of the British. [1142]
304. Britain Supplies Oil to Thailand.
It was confidentially reported to Tokyo on June 6, 1941 that Great Britain had decided to furnish 6,000 tons of petroleum to Thailand. [1143] However, since business was suspended at this time, the British supply would be accepted by the Asia Petroleum Company and later reloaded. [1144]
Despite a Japanese decision that all matters pertaining to the supplying of petroleum to Thailand should be under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office, Mr. Matsuoka informed Minister Futami that Thailand had submitted a request to the Japanese navy for 12,000 tons of crude oil. The Thaiese government was to be advised that such requests, when not submitted to the Foreign Office, would not be considered by Japan. [1145]
305. Japan Mediates a Thailand‑French Indo-China Dispute.
In January, 1941 Japan had offered to mediate hostilities between Thailand and French Indo-China concerning the cessation of border territories, which Thailand had demanded. After several prolongations of the armistice, an agreement was signed in Tokyo on March 11, 1941, and later a treaty and two protocols were drafted. France was to cede some 25,000 miles of territory in French Indo-China, including the districts of Paklay and Bassac, and a large part of Cambodia, which were to be demilitarized.
During the negotiations for the ratification of the treaty, Japan asked on June 13, 1941 that Luang Songram Pibul, Prime Minister of Thailand, send Nai Pananow Wanitto, Chief of the Thaiese Trade Bureau, to Japan to assist the Foreign Office. [1146] As soon as Mr. Andre Roban, the French Plenipotentiary in French Indo-China, returned to his post, proceedings were to begin, [1147] since Thailand was anxious to have the ratification take place by June 27, 1941 at the very latest. [1148] The mediation treaty was to be presented to the Japanese Privy Council in Tokyo on June 18, 1941. Eventually, the Thailand‑French Indo-China treaty was signed on June 21, 1941 and the exchange of official documents was scheduled to take place on July 1, 1941. [1149]
[1142] II, 1130‑1131.
[1143] II, 1133.
[1144] II, 1134.
[1145] II, 1135.
[1146] II, 1136.
[1147] II, 1137.
[1148] II, 1138.
[1149] II, 1139.
205
306. Thailand Desires Continuation of Japanese Pressure on French Indo-China.
In a conversation with Mr. Futami a few days before the ratification by the French took place, Minister Pibul of Thailand had remarked that he would like to ascertain the Japanese attitude toward French Indo-China. Though he had assured the Prime Minister that there would be no change in the future policy of the Japanese government, the Japanese Minister believed that Mr. Pibul still was concerned lest Japan would weaken in exerting pressure on French Indo-China, and especially in its independent attitude toward Britain. However, on July 11, 1941 Mr. Futami informed Tokyo that the Prime Minister of Thailand, in a conversation with the Italian Minister, had raised a question as to why Japan did not advance to the north, since the pressure on the south had been alleviated. [1150]
307. Details of Japanese‑Thaiese Agreement.
Mr. Futami also reported that both Ambassador Hajime Matsumiya's proposal regarding political and economical cooperation between Japan and Thailand, and the understanding between Itaro Mizuno, of the Commercial Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, and Nai Wanitto, Acting Minister of Finance of Thailand, urged that economic problems be submitted for consideration by the various firms engaged in the business concerned. However, political problems still seemed to be under the jurisdiction of Nai Wanitto. [1151]
308. Japanese Interest in Survey of Thailand's Border.
On June 20, 1941 Mr. Futami inquired of Tokyo regarding the organization by Thailand of five scientific groups, two of which were being formed for land survey, one for meteorological observation, and two for surveying the Mekong and Mei Rivers. Suggesting an increase in Japanese representation in the groups, Mr. Futami asked for a declaration of policy in order that he might negotiate the matter with the Thaiese government. [1152]
309. Japanese Propaganda Activities in Thailand.
Plans were under way to establish a Japanese printing office in Bangkok, [1153] and 4,400 baht (Thaiese monetary unit) had been appropriated from secret intelligence funds for purchasing the Bangkok Chronicle. [1154] The proposed visit of the editor of the Bangkok Chronicle to Japan was viewed with suspicion by Minister Futami in a report of July 3, 1941, since the Japanese Minister felt that the editor was making the trip to collect information for the local British Minister from whom he had received 5,000 bahts. While admitting that the accuracy of this report was questionable, Minister Futami advised that great care should be exercised. [1155]
As to the purchase of the Bangkok Chronicle, Mr. Futami pointed out that the paper had only a very small circulation and not much influence among the Thaiese. As an organ of propaganda, the paper's effectiveness was uncertain. Furthermore, it would be necessary to study carefully the means and methods of controlling the news in the paper as well as supervising its editorial policy. [1156]
[1150] II, 1140.
[1151] II, 1141‑1142.
[1152] II, 1143.
[1153] II, 1144.
[1154] II, 1145‑1146.
[1155] II, 1147.
[1156] II, 1148.
206
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
310. British Opposition to Japanese Control of Thailand's Exports.
In a dispatch to Tokyo on June 23, 1941 Mr. Futami revealed that the British had suggested to Thailand that the amount of rubber to be furnished to Japan should be reduced to 25,000 tons a year. Although he had no intention of considering this proposal, Prime Minister Pibul had asked Minister Futami whether the Japanese government could be satisfied with 35,000 tons yearly.
Mr. Wanitto informed the Japanese Minister on June 21, 1941 that the British had no objection to Japan's having up to 2,000 tons of tin ore, to which Mr. Futami had replied that this would not be half the amount which Japan needed. Reference was also made at this time to the establishment of tin refining plants, but there was no indication of Thailand's making any definite proposal. Mr. Wanitto pointed out that, considering the nature of the tin industry in Thailand and the fact that the ore was secured from tin mines affiliated with British capital, there would be opposition to a joint Japanese‑Thaiese organization. [1157] Reports concerning the purchases of Thailand rubber by Germany, Britain and the United States continued to disturb Tokyo which desired these exports for its own use. [1158]
311. Estimated Value of Japanese‑Thaiese Exports.
Referring to previous Japanese‑Thaiese economic agreements, Mr. Futami estimated that according to the Japanese plan, Japanese products worth 130,000,000 yen would be exported to Thailand whereas Thailand's exports to Japan would reach the enormous sum of 208,000,000 yen. In view of this prospective unfavorable balance of trade, the Japanese Minister advised that Tokyo consider carefully how Japan would pay for all of these products. [1159]
312. British‑Thaiese Economic Agreement.
A resume of the prospective British‑Thailand agreement was sent to Tokyo on July 14, 1941. The minimum quantity of rubber to be sent to England was 18,000 tons, and although up to 30,000 tons in addition could be supplied, in no event was a total of 48,000 tons to be exceeded. In return, the Thailand government agreed not to use for re‑exportation any of the petroleum furnished by Britain. [1160] Although Britain had requested the Thailand government to withdraw the currency it now had in America, no definite conclusion had been reached.
313. Japan Fears British Influence in Thailand.
Although at the time of the Wanitto conversations in Tokyo, the Thaiese people had started celebrations and demonstrations, Minister Futami reported on July 12, 1941 that this excitement had abated. Because of the resumption of relations with Great Britain, Japan feared that Thailand would revive her principle of good will for all nations, and as a result, the relations between Japan and Thailand would suffer a setback. Mr. Futami pointed out that when Mr. Wanitto had first returned from Tokyo, Thaiese authorities had expected Japan to seize Singapore in the near future. But since that time, Thailand's offer of rubber to Japan had decreased in size from 38,400 tons to 30,000. [1161]
[1157] II, 1142.
[1158] II, 1149‑1151.
[1159] II, 1152.
[1160] II, 1153.
[1161] II, 1154.
207
314. American ‑Thaiese Proposals.
Minister Futami reported that Thailand had proposed to America that payment for its orders for several American‑made freighters and bombers, as well as the oil purchased from Britain, be made from funds Thailand had in America. In considering this proposal, the American government had in turn requested that Thailand not exclude Christianity, form no secret foreign trade agreement with a third country, and exchange intelligence with the United States. However, the American request had not been accepted by July 15, 1941. [1162]
315. Japan Plans to Offset British Influence.
Fearing that Thailand might resume her talks with Great Britain, Japan proposed to organize immediately a Japanese‑Thaiese commission. Mr. Futami was asked on July 16, 1941 to negotiate personally with Mr. Pibul with the view of working out a prospectus for joint Japanese‑Thaiese rights and interests. The Japanese commission was to consist of Mr. Futami as Chairman, the Military and Naval Attaches, and two first‑class diplomatic secretaries. Tokyo requested that Minister Pibul be made the chief Thailand negotiator, or that someone else amenable to Japanese influence be appointed. [1163]
316. Japan Expands Its Communications System in Thailand.
In conjunction with the Japanese policy of preparing communications facilities for use in case of emergency, Japanese representatives inquired on May 16, 1941 concerning the possibility of placing a radio transmitter in the consulate at Singora, [1164] but Tokyo decided at this time that the establishment of two‑way radio communication with Canton was impracticable from the viewpoint of secrecy. [1165] However, on July 21, 1941 negotiations for the expansion of Japanese communication were under way with the Thailand Communications Bureau. [1166]
317. Japan Informs Thailand of the Japanese‑French Agreement.
Realizing that Thailand would be concerned as to the purpose of the Japanese‑French Joint Agreement, Japan informed its Minister at Bangkok concerning the negotiations at Vichy. Prime Minister Pibul was to be informed of the agreement at 6:00 P.M. on July 24, 1941, two days prior to the publication of a statement announcing the agreement on July 26, 1941.
Because the people of Thailand would be very much affected by the publishing of the Japanese-French Joint Agreement, Japan felt that the significance of the pact should be minimized as much as possible by Prime Minister Pibul, who was to be assured that the joint understanding was not aimed at Thailand, and that the traditional friendship between Bangkok and Tokyo would not be affected. Furthermore, Japan had not lost its eagerness to cooperate in the economic development of Thailand, for it was giving Mr. Pibul advance information concerning the Japanese‑French Agreement as an indication of the intimacy of Japanese‑Thaiese relations. [1167]
According to Mr. Futami's report of his interview with the Prime Minister, Mr. Pibul expressed his deep appreciation at being privately informed of the Japanese‑French Agreement, which was acceptable to him, but had showed no surprise upon hearing the news. [1168]
[1162] II, 1155.
[1163] II, 1156.
[1164] II, 1157.
[1165] II, 1158.
[1166] II, 1159.
[1167] II, 1160.
[1168] II, 1161.
208
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
318. Japan Decides Not to Stop British‑Thaiese Agreement.
On July 26, 1941 it was learned that Britain had agreed to supply Thailand with petroleum in return for rubber, tin, and other products, and, thus, Japan's demands upon Thailand could not be carried out. If Japan insisted on the accomplishment of her original demands, however, it would be impossible for the British‑Thaiese negotiations to go through, and this would result in Thailand's calling on Japan for all of her requirements. For this reason Minister Futami thought it advisable not to hamper the negotiations between Great Britain and Thailand, although Japan would have to be satisfied with the 30,000 kilotons of rubber which Thailand was reserving for it, and would have to supply the deficiency by increasing the amount from French Indo-China. However, since the British‑Thaiese agreement was to apply for one year only, Japan was to reserve the right to demand Thailand's entire output of rubber and tin in the future. [1169] Tokyo replied that Mr. Futami could handle the matter as he desired, but that Tokyo must have at least 35,000 tons of rubber and at least 6,000 tons of tin. This was to be demanded without any compromise. [1170]
On July 15, 1941 Japan reiterated its demand that she be supplied with rubber and tin in exchange for the oil which Thailand needed. Japan also asked that definite assurance of a change of attitude on the part of the Thaiese government be made, [1171] and that Japan be guaranteed 35,000 tons of rubber and 6,000 tons of tin ore each year.
Pointing out discrepancies in the representations of Nai Wanitto, as compared with Japanese findings in regard to the amounts of tin ore and tin concentrate produced in Thailand, Foreign Minister Toyoda asked that an investigation be made. In any event, the Japanese were to demand at least forty per cent of the total amount. [1172]
319. Implementation of French‑Thaiese Treaty.
In answer to an inquiry from Tokyo on July 26, 1941 regarding a recent economic pact between Thailand and France, Minister Futami reported that an agreement, ratified at Saigon on July 19, 1941, was concerned with the circulation of money and the transfer of negotiable documents which had been provided for in the treaty signed in Tokyo between Thailand and French Indo-China. [1173]
320. Japanese Interests in Thailand Affected by American‑British Freezing of Funds.
Another diplomatic economic problem arose for the Japanese with the freezing of their funds in America on July 26, 1941. Regarded merely as an aspect of Thaiese diplomacy, rather than having been prompted by British authorities, was the guarantee of payment which the Thaiese National Bank demanded of the Japanese for shipment of certain materials to England. In case the British bank refused to purchase the material, the Yokohama Specie Bank was to be responsible for payment. [1174]
[1169] II, 1162‑1163.
[1170] II, 1164.
[1171] II, 1165.
[1172] II, 1166.
[1173] II, 1167‑1168.
[1174] II, 1169.
209
On July 28, 1941 Minister Toyoda replied that because of the recent fund‑freezing by England and the United States, he feared that Japan would be unable to purchase Thaiese products either in pounds or dollars. Since the need for Thaiese products was imperative, Thailand was to be asked to accept free yen as a provisional payment until the conclusion of the pending agreement on methods of payment. [1175]
Since the use of free yen might be prohibited, Minister Futami inquired concerning the possibility of bartering with Thailand. [1176] On July 30, 1941 he was instructed by Tokyo to settle for Thaiese goods in gold yen, and he was informed that Japanese proposals for methods of payment would be submitted later. [1177]
According to a report from the Japanese Minister in Bangkok on July 30, 1941, the National Bank of Thailand had disapproved any loans in bahts after the freezing of funds by Britain and the United States. Consequently, the Yokohama Specie Bank had been forced to postpone payment to banks in Hongkong, Shanghai, and other points. Calling on Minister Pibul, Mr. Futami warned that if this state of affairs were not remedied, a cessation of trade between Japan and Thailand would result.
The Japanese Minister reported to Tokyo that Thailand was tending to act in unison with Britain and the United States, and would eventually share in setting up a blockade against Japan. [1178] However, Minister Pibul agreed to a Japanese suggestion that there be an immediate revision of the Thailand currency law and a Japanese‑Thaiese agreement for payments. Stating that the cessation of Japanese‑Thaiese trade relations should be avoided, no matter what Great Britain did, on July 26, 1941 Prime Minister Pibul ordered his Finance Minister to devise a method of solution.
After several conferences with Japanese experts, it was agreed that Thaiese authorities would organize a secret loan association, comprised of three banks, which would grant to the Yokohama Specie Bank a credit amounting to 10,000,000 bahts. [1179] The period of the loan and the interest on it were to be decided on August 1, 1941 by Mon Chao Bibba, advisor to the Thaiese Finance Ministry, and Mr. Yoichi Fukuda, manager of the Yokohama Specie Bank. [1180] It appeared, however, that Thailand's Finance Minister had no intention of revising the currency law in carrying out the terms of payment, since he believed that it would be difficult to achieve uniformity of opinion within the Thaiese government,, And revision would require a considerable length of time. [1181]
Another conference on the morning of August 1, 1941 ended inconclusively since an agreement in regard to the rate of interest and a time limit on the loan could not be reached, [1182] but on August 2, 1941 Mr. Futami was able to report that an agreement for credit of 10,000,000 bahts had been reached during the afternoon. [1183]
[1175] II, 1170.
[1176] II, 1171.
[1177] II, 1172.
[1178] II, 1173.
[1179] 10,000,000 bahts was the equivalent at this time of approximately 3,600,000 dollars.
[1180] II, 1174.
[1181] II, 1175.
[1182] II, 1176.
[1183] II, 1177.
210
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
321. Japanese ‑Thaiese Rice Negotiations.
Following the completion of the Japanese‑Thaiese economic treaty, Mr. Rijuta Ono, Japanese financial advisor, informed his Finance Minister in Tokyo that the situation concerning the purchase of Thaiese rice was a bit confused. Since he felt the negotiations should be completed at once, he asked that instructions be sent to him. [1184] However, on the same day Minister Futami advised Tokyo against the sending of a technical expert to look over the rice, rice bran, oil and iron ore situation, since there was now no need to hurry negotiations with Thailand. He promised that Secretary Teiichi Suzuki would amplify this advice on his return to Japan on August 9, 1941. [1185]
322. Thailand Plans to Recognize Manchukuo.
The Japanese Foreign Office reported on July 29, 1941 that Thailand would recognize the Japanese‑sponsored government of Manchukuo on August 1, 1941. [1186] Since this did not take place as planned, Foreign Minister Toyoda, on August 2, 1941, asked that information relating to Thailand's recognition be forwarded from Bangkok. [1187]
Minister Futami replied on August 4, 1941 that recognition was being delayed because of the necessity of obtaining the Emperor's approval. The Ministers of Great Britain and the Netherlands had already asked the Thaiese authorities if there were any truth in newspaper reports concerning the recognition of Manchukuo, and they had been told that Thailand's action was nothing more than a friendly gesture toward Japan. The inquiries of the diplomatic representatives, according to Minister Futami, were not in the form of protests. [1188]
323. Japan Requests a Mutual Exchange of Ambassadors.
As early as June 13, 1941, it had been learned that the Japanese Legation in Thailand was soon to be raised in status to an Embassy. To strengthen the Japanese representation in Thailand, Japan ordered Mr. Ichihashi in London to start for his new post immediately. [1189] In addition, a new Japanese consulate was to be established in Singora, located on the Kra Peninsula near British Malay, for on July 17, 1941 Vice‑Consul Katsuno was instructed to look in Singora for suitable office and residence buildings! [1190]
A Japanese army officer, Major Voshihiko Osone, planned to operate from this consulate under the pseudonym of Saburo Goto, a fourth‑class diplomatic clerk. [1191] Keisuke Ito, a member of the Far Eastern Economic Research Bureau, was also slated to do intelligence work at Singora. [1192]
Since the matter of raising the status of the Thailand Legation to an Embassy was to be approved at the next regular meeting of the Japanese Privy Council, and was to be put into effect immediately thereafter, Mr. Futami was directed on July 3, 1941 to ask Prime Minister Pibul to
[1184] II, 1178.
[1185] II, 1179.
[1186] II, 1180.
[1187] II, 1181.
[1188] II, 1182.
[1189] II, 1183.
[1190] II, 1184.
[1191] II, 1185.
[1192] II, 1186.
211
raise the status of the Thailand Legation in Tokyo to an Embassy at the same time. As soon as the Prime Minister acceded, Mr. Futami was to inform Tokyo immediately. In case of difficulty in finding a suitable ambassador, it was suggested that Thailand appoint its Minister to act as Charge d'Affairs at the same time that the Legation was raised to an Embassy. [1193]
Having already talked with the Prime Minister and having received his approval of the plan, Mr. Futami on July 14, 1941 reported that the Thaiese Departments of the Interior and Foreign Affairs were willing to accept the simultaneous and mutual elevation of Ministries to Embassies through an aide‑memoiré. [1194] On July 23, 1941 Thailand was advised to make the necessary preparations, since the Japanese Privy Council had just approved the raising of the status of the Japanese Legation in Thailand and Japan wished to effect the change immediately. [1195] A week later the appointment as Japanese Ambassador of Mr. Teiji Tsubokami, who had previously been associated with the Foreign Office, was approved by Thailand. 1196
Confidentially informing Minister Futami on August 4, 1941 that the Thaiese were delaying too long in selecting an ambassador, and advising him that Tokyo had postponed the appointment of Ambassador Tsubokami until reciprocal arrangements were made, Mr. Toyoda suggested that the Vice‑Minister of Defense, or some other appropriate person of high repute, be appointed to the Embassy in Japan. [1197] For various reasons, including the opportunity of removing a popular rival of Prime Minister Pibul from Thailand, Foreign Minister Toyoda thought it best to have the Defense Vice Minister sent as the first Thaiese Ambassador to Japan. Admiral Toyoda pointed out that if conditions in Thailand were such that he could not be spared for a long period, the Defense Minister could serve for as little as half a year until a relief could be selected. [1198]
[1193] II, 1187‑1188.
[1194] II, 1189.
[1195] II, 1190.
[1196] II, 1191‑1192.
[1197] II, 1193.
[1198] II, 1194.
212
Mr. Ishizawa again urged Tokyo on August 4, 1941 to buy materials from the Netherlands East Indies with Japanese funds available in Batavia. Since the attitude of the Dutch authorities had grown more hostile toward Japan because of the occupation of French Indo-China and the Japanese threat of moving into Thailand, he reiterated that speedy measures should be taken to procure the immediate export of vital materials. [1132] In view of the fact that the Japanese retaliatory order froze both the funds and the assets of the Netherlands, Mr. Ishizawa expected the Dutch to take even more drastic steps in return. He suggested, therefore, that the guilder funds be released without delay to be applied as payment for exports to Japan. Furthermore, Tokyo was requested to inform Ambassador Pabst that the Japanese order as well as the Netherlands measure, was to freeze only the funds, not the assets, of the other country. [1133] Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Although the freezing regulations of both countries were comprehensive measures, having no bearing on individual cases, nevertheless, on August 4, 1941 the Netherlands government filed a special request for the transfer of 500,000 yen Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire to the managers of the guild's branches in Japan. In order to preclude the Dutch from retaliating against Japanese banks in the Netherlands Indies, Mr. Ishizawa advised Tokyo to comply with their wishes regarding this transfer. Thus, in the future, when Japan was attempting the conversion of her frozen funds into exportable goods, such action would furnish a precedent for the Netherlands officials. [1134]
[1129] II, 1120.
[1130] II, 1121.
[1131] II, 1122.
[1132] II, Ibid.
[1133] II, 1123.
[1134] II, 1124.
203
PART C‑JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
(k) Japanese‑Thaiese Relations.
300. Japanese Intelligence Reports on Thailand.
On May 23, 1941 Tokyo was informed that Chinese residents in Thailand were still pro-American and pro‑British. For this reason, Mr. Shunsuke Asada, a Japanese Consul General in Bangkok, and the first secretary of the Japanese Legation in Thailand, advised Tokyo to send men acting as business agents, rather than representatives from the Nanking government, on a tour of inspection to win over the Thaiese. [1135]
301. Japan Attempts to Acquire Most of Thailand's Exports.
Since Japan was interested in Thailand's resources, reports in connection with Japan's prospects for acquiring various Thaiese mines were sent to Tokyo. [1136] On June 6, 1941 Mr. Asada suggested that inactive rice refineries belonging to Chinese operators be purchased with the view of forming a guild to secure a comprehensive export permit. This would be a means of reconciling the Chinese dealers in Thailand who would be allowed to do business with Chinese within Japanese occupied territories. [1137]
Foreign Minister Matsuoka on June 9, 1941 inquired as to Thailand's views concerning the subsidizing by Japan of a jointly‑managed Thai‑Japanese company which would ensure regular uninterrupted shipments of tin to Japan. [1138] Mr. Matsuoka was also maneuvering to obtain most of the tin ore mined in Thailand, and, with this in view, was attempting to purchase a two‑months' prospecting contract, with an arrangement that all the tin ore mined during that time would be sent to Japan. [1139]
Since it was necessary that Japan obtain guarantees for three staples, tungsten, tin, and rubber, Mr. Asada suggested on June 6, 1941 that the Mitsui organization, which was currently negotiating for the purchase of tin mines in Thailand, be encouraged by the Foreign Office to obtain an option for these mines. [1140]
302. Japan Sends Oil Experts to Thailand in Guise of Diplomats.
To investigate the current consumption of petroleum in Thailand, a member of the Japanese Government Planning Board, Juro Suzuki, and an official of the Fuel Bureau, Yosio Yosida, were sent in early June, 1941 to Bangkok with the official titles of Foreign Office Secretary and General Affairs Official. These men were also to instruct secretly other Japanese in the methods of petroleum consumption. However, Japan was uncertain as to Thailand's reception of its "experts" and directed Mr. Yasusato Futami, Japanese Minister to Thailand, to sound out Thaiese officials in this matter. [1141]
[1135] II, 1125.
[1136] II, 1126.
[1137] II, 1127.
[1138] II, 1128.
[1139] II, 1129.
[1140] II, 1130‑1131.
[1141] II, 1132.
204
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
303. Japanese‑Thaiese Petroleum Negotiations.
As for petroleum, on June 6, 1941 Foreign Minister Matsuoka agreed to supply the amount needed by Thailand, but declared that in the future Japan would demand the entire amount of Thaiese rubber and tin. Japan would agree to British‑Thailand petroleum negotiations only if these were on a small scale, and if Thailand would furnish Japan with as much as possible of 15,000 tons of tin ore a year. It was Japan's intention at this time to secure forty per cent of Thailand's tin production, and eventually the entire output. The amount of petroleum to be supplied by Japan for the month of June, 1941 would be decided later in view of the British. [1142]
304. Britain Supplies Oil to Thailand.
It was confidentially reported to Tokyo on June 6, 1941 that Great Britain had decided to furnish 6,000 tons of petroleum to Thailand. [1143] However, since business was suspended at this time, the British supply would be accepted by the Asia Petroleum Company and later reloaded. [1144]
Despite a Japanese decision that all matters pertaining to the supplying of petroleum to Thailand should be under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office, Mr. Matsuoka informed Minister Futami that Thailand had submitted a request to the Japanese navy for 12,000 tons of crude oil. The Thaiese government was to be advised that such requests, when not submitted to the Foreign Office, would not be considered by Japan. [1145]
305. Japan Mediates a Thailand‑French Indo-China Dispute.
In January, 1941 Japan had offered to mediate hostilities between Thailand and French Indo-China concerning the cessation of border territories, which Thailand had demanded. After several prolongations of the armistice, an agreement was signed in Tokyo on March 11, 1941, and later a treaty and two protocols were drafted. France was to cede some 25,000 miles of territory in French Indo-China, including the districts of Paklay and Bassac, and a large part of Cambodia, which were to be demilitarized.
During the negotiations for the ratification of the treaty, Japan asked on June 13, 1941 that Luang Songram Pibul, Prime Minister of Thailand, send Nai Pananow Wanitto, Chief of the Thaiese Trade Bureau, to Japan to assist the Foreign Office. [1146] As soon as Mr. Andre Roban, the French Plenipotentiary in French Indo-China, returned to his post, proceedings were to begin, [1147] since Thailand was anxious to have the ratification take place by June 27, 1941 at the very latest. [1148] The mediation treaty was to be presented to the Japanese Privy Council in Tokyo on June 18, 1941. Eventually, the Thailand‑French Indo-China treaty was signed on June 21, 1941 and the exchange of official documents was scheduled to take place on July 1, 1941. [1149]
[1142] II, 1130‑1131.
[1143] II, 1133.
[1144] II, 1134.
[1145] II, 1135.
[1146] II, 1136.
[1147] II, 1137.
[1148] II, 1138.
[1149] II, 1139.
205
306. Thailand Desires Continuation of Japanese Pressure on French Indo-China.
In a conversation with Mr. Futami a few days before the ratification by the French took place, Minister Pibul of Thailand had remarked that he would like to ascertain the Japanese attitude toward French Indo-China. Though he had assured the Prime Minister that there would be no change in the future policy of the Japanese government, the Japanese Minister believed that Mr. Pibul still was concerned lest Japan would weaken in exerting pressure on French Indo-China, and especially in its independent attitude toward Britain. However, on July 11, 1941 Mr. Futami informed Tokyo that the Prime Minister of Thailand, in a conversation with the Italian Minister, had raised a question as to why Japan did not advance to the north, since the pressure on the south had been alleviated. [1150]
307. Details of Japanese‑Thaiese Agreement.
Mr. Futami also reported that both Ambassador Hajime Matsumiya's proposal regarding political and economical cooperation between Japan and Thailand, and the understanding between Itaro Mizuno, of the Commercial Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, and Nai Wanitto, Acting Minister of Finance of Thailand, urged that economic problems be submitted for consideration by the various firms engaged in the business concerned. However, political problems still seemed to be under the jurisdiction of Nai Wanitto. [1151]
308. Japanese Interest in Survey of Thailand's Border.
On June 20, 1941 Mr. Futami inquired of Tokyo regarding the organization by Thailand of five scientific groups, two of which were being formed for land survey, one for meteorological observation, and two for surveying the Mekong and Mei Rivers. Suggesting an increase in Japanese representation in the groups, Mr. Futami asked for a declaration of policy in order that he might negotiate the matter with the Thaiese government. [1152]
309. Japanese Propaganda Activities in Thailand.
Plans were under way to establish a Japanese printing office in Bangkok, [1153] and 4,400 baht (Thaiese monetary unit) had been appropriated from secret intelligence funds for purchasing the Bangkok Chronicle. [1154] The proposed visit of the editor of the Bangkok Chronicle to Japan was viewed with suspicion by Minister Futami in a report of July 3, 1941, since the Japanese Minister felt that the editor was making the trip to collect information for the local British Minister from whom he had received 5,000 bahts. While admitting that the accuracy of this report was questionable, Minister Futami advised that great care should be exercised. [1155]
As to the purchase of the Bangkok Chronicle, Mr. Futami pointed out that the paper had only a very small circulation and not much influence among the Thaiese. As an organ of propaganda, the paper's effectiveness was uncertain. Furthermore, it would be necessary to study carefully the means and methods of controlling the news in the paper as well as supervising its editorial policy. [1156]
[1150] II, 1140.
[1151] II, 1141‑1142.
[1152] II, 1143.
[1153] II, 1144.
[1154] II, 1145‑1146.
[1155] II, 1147.
[1156] II, 1148.
206
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
310. British Opposition to Japanese Control of Thailand's Exports.
In a dispatch to Tokyo on June 23, 1941 Mr. Futami revealed that the British had suggested to Thailand that the amount of rubber to be furnished to Japan should be reduced to 25,000 tons a year. Although he had no intention of considering this proposal, Prime Minister Pibul had asked Minister Futami whether the Japanese government could be satisfied with 35,000 tons yearly.
Mr. Wanitto informed the Japanese Minister on June 21, 1941 that the British had no objection to Japan's having up to 2,000 tons of tin ore, to which Mr. Futami had replied that this would not be half the amount which Japan needed. Reference was also made at this time to the establishment of tin refining plants, but there was no indication of Thailand's making any definite proposal. Mr. Wanitto pointed out that, considering the nature of the tin industry in Thailand and the fact that the ore was secured from tin mines affiliated with British capital, there would be opposition to a joint Japanese‑Thaiese organization. [1157] Reports concerning the purchases of Thailand rubber by Germany, Britain and the United States continued to disturb Tokyo which desired these exports for its own use. [1158]
311. Estimated Value of Japanese‑Thaiese Exports.
Referring to previous Japanese‑Thaiese economic agreements, Mr. Futami estimated that according to the Japanese plan, Japanese products worth 130,000,000 yen would be exported to Thailand whereas Thailand's exports to Japan would reach the enormous sum of 208,000,000 yen. In view of this prospective unfavorable balance of trade, the Japanese Minister advised that Tokyo consider carefully how Japan would pay for all of these products. [1159]
312. British‑Thaiese Economic Agreement.
A resume of the prospective British‑Thailand agreement was sent to Tokyo on July 14, 1941. The minimum quantity of rubber to be sent to England was 18,000 tons, and although up to 30,000 tons in addition could be supplied, in no event was a total of 48,000 tons to be exceeded. In return, the Thailand government agreed not to use for re‑exportation any of the petroleum furnished by Britain. [1160] Although Britain had requested the Thailand government to withdraw the currency it now had in America, no definite conclusion had been reached.
313. Japan Fears British Influence in Thailand.
Although at the time of the Wanitto conversations in Tokyo, the Thaiese people had started celebrations and demonstrations, Minister Futami reported on July 12, 1941 that this excitement had abated. Because of the resumption of relations with Great Britain, Japan feared that Thailand would revive her principle of good will for all nations, and as a result, the relations between Japan and Thailand would suffer a setback. Mr. Futami pointed out that when Mr. Wanitto had first returned from Tokyo, Thaiese authorities had expected Japan to seize Singapore in the near future. But since that time, Thailand's offer of rubber to Japan had decreased in size from 38,400 tons to 30,000. [1161]
[1157] II, 1142.
[1158] II, 1149‑1151.
[1159] II, 1152.
[1160] II, 1153.
[1161] II, 1154.
207
314. American ‑Thaiese Proposals.
Minister Futami reported that Thailand had proposed to America that payment for its orders for several American‑made freighters and bombers, as well as the oil purchased from Britain, be made from funds Thailand had in America. In considering this proposal, the American government had in turn requested that Thailand not exclude Christianity, form no secret foreign trade agreement with a third country, and exchange intelligence with the United States. However, the American request had not been accepted by July 15, 1941. [1162]
315. Japan Plans to Offset British Influence.
Fearing that Thailand might resume her talks with Great Britain, Japan proposed to organize immediately a Japanese‑Thaiese commission. Mr. Futami was asked on July 16, 1941 to negotiate personally with Mr. Pibul with the view of working out a prospectus for joint Japanese‑Thaiese rights and interests. The Japanese commission was to consist of Mr. Futami as Chairman, the Military and Naval Attaches, and two first‑class diplomatic secretaries. Tokyo requested that Minister Pibul be made the chief Thailand negotiator, or that someone else amenable to Japanese influence be appointed. [1163]
316. Japan Expands Its Communications System in Thailand.
In conjunction with the Japanese policy of preparing communications facilities for use in case of emergency, Japanese representatives inquired on May 16, 1941 concerning the possibility of placing a radio transmitter in the consulate at Singora, [1164] but Tokyo decided at this time that the establishment of two‑way radio communication with Canton was impracticable from the viewpoint of secrecy. [1165] However, on July 21, 1941 negotiations for the expansion of Japanese communication were under way with the Thailand Communications Bureau. [1166]
317. Japan Informs Thailand of the Japanese‑French Agreement.
Realizing that Thailand would be concerned as to the purpose of the Japanese‑French Joint Agreement, Japan informed its Minister at Bangkok concerning the negotiations at Vichy. Prime Minister Pibul was to be informed of the agreement at 6:00 P.M. on July 24, 1941, two days prior to the publication of a statement announcing the agreement on July 26, 1941.
Because the people of Thailand would be very much affected by the publishing of the Japanese-French Joint Agreement, Japan felt that the significance of the pact should be minimized as much as possible by Prime Minister Pibul, who was to be assured that the joint understanding was not aimed at Thailand, and that the traditional friendship between Bangkok and Tokyo would not be affected. Furthermore, Japan had not lost its eagerness to cooperate in the economic development of Thailand, for it was giving Mr. Pibul advance information concerning the Japanese‑French Agreement as an indication of the intimacy of Japanese‑Thaiese relations. [1167]
According to Mr. Futami's report of his interview with the Prime Minister, Mr. Pibul expressed his deep appreciation at being privately informed of the Japanese‑French Agreement, which was acceptable to him, but had showed no surprise upon hearing the news. [1168]
[1162] II, 1155.
[1163] II, 1156.
[1164] II, 1157.
[1165] II, 1158.
[1166] II, 1159.
[1167] II, 1160.
[1168] II, 1161.
208
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
318. Japan Decides Not to Stop British‑Thaiese Agreement.
On July 26, 1941 it was learned that Britain had agreed to supply Thailand with petroleum in return for rubber, tin, and other products, and, thus, Japan's demands upon Thailand could not be carried out. If Japan insisted on the accomplishment of her original demands, however, it would be impossible for the British‑Thaiese negotiations to go through, and this would result in Thailand's calling on Japan for all of her requirements. For this reason Minister Futami thought it advisable not to hamper the negotiations between Great Britain and Thailand, although Japan would have to be satisfied with the 30,000 kilotons of rubber which Thailand was reserving for it, and would have to supply the deficiency by increasing the amount from French Indo-China. However, since the British‑Thaiese agreement was to apply for one year only, Japan was to reserve the right to demand Thailand's entire output of rubber and tin in the future. [1169] Tokyo replied that Mr. Futami could handle the matter as he desired, but that Tokyo must have at least 35,000 tons of rubber and at least 6,000 tons of tin. This was to be demanded without any compromise. [1170]
On July 15, 1941 Japan reiterated its demand that she be supplied with rubber and tin in exchange for the oil which Thailand needed. Japan also asked that definite assurance of a change of attitude on the part of the Thaiese government be made, [1171] and that Japan be guaranteed 35,000 tons of rubber and 6,000 tons of tin ore each year.
Pointing out discrepancies in the representations of Nai Wanitto, as compared with Japanese findings in regard to the amounts of tin ore and tin concentrate produced in Thailand, Foreign Minister Toyoda asked that an investigation be made. In any event, the Japanese were to demand at least forty per cent of the total amount. [1172]
319. Implementation of French‑Thaiese Treaty.
In answer to an inquiry from Tokyo on July 26, 1941 regarding a recent economic pact between Thailand and France, Minister Futami reported that an agreement, ratified at Saigon on July 19, 1941, was concerned with the circulation of money and the transfer of negotiable documents which had been provided for in the treaty signed in Tokyo between Thailand and French Indo-China. [1173]
320. Japanese Interests in Thailand Affected by American‑British Freezing of Funds.
Another diplomatic economic problem arose for the Japanese with the freezing of their funds in America on July 26, 1941. Regarded merely as an aspect of Thaiese diplomacy, rather than having been prompted by British authorities, was the guarantee of payment which the Thaiese National Bank demanded of the Japanese for shipment of certain materials to England. In case the British bank refused to purchase the material, the Yokohama Specie Bank was to be responsible for payment. [1174]
[1169] II, 1162‑1163.
[1170] II, 1164.
[1171] II, 1165.
[1172] II, 1166.
[1173] II, 1167‑1168.
[1174] II, 1169.
209
On July 28, 1941 Minister Toyoda replied that because of the recent fund‑freezing by England and the United States, he feared that Japan would be unable to purchase Thaiese products either in pounds or dollars. Since the need for Thaiese products was imperative, Thailand was to be asked to accept free yen as a provisional payment until the conclusion of the pending agreement on methods of payment. [1175]
Since the use of free yen might be prohibited, Minister Futami inquired concerning the possibility of bartering with Thailand. [1176] On July 30, 1941 he was instructed by Tokyo to settle for Thaiese goods in gold yen, and he was informed that Japanese proposals for methods of payment would be submitted later. [1177]
According to a report from the Japanese Minister in Bangkok on July 30, 1941, the National Bank of Thailand had disapproved any loans in bahts after the freezing of funds by Britain and the United States. Consequently, the Yokohama Specie Bank had been forced to postpone payment to banks in Hongkong, Shanghai, and other points. Calling on Minister Pibul, Mr. Futami warned that if this state of affairs were not remedied, a cessation of trade between Japan and Thailand would result.
The Japanese Minister reported to Tokyo that Thailand was tending to act in unison with Britain and the United States, and would eventually share in setting up a blockade against Japan. [1178] However, Minister Pibul agreed to a Japanese suggestion that there be an immediate revision of the Thailand currency law and a Japanese‑Thaiese agreement for payments. Stating that the cessation of Japanese‑Thaiese trade relations should be avoided, no matter what Great Britain did, on July 26, 1941 Prime Minister Pibul ordered his Finance Minister to devise a method of solution.
After several conferences with Japanese experts, it was agreed that Thaiese authorities would organize a secret loan association, comprised of three banks, which would grant to the Yokohama Specie Bank a credit amounting to 10,000,000 bahts. [1179] The period of the loan and the interest on it were to be decided on August 1, 1941 by Mon Chao Bibba, advisor to the Thaiese Finance Ministry, and Mr. Yoichi Fukuda, manager of the Yokohama Specie Bank. [1180] It appeared, however, that Thailand's Finance Minister had no intention of revising the currency law in carrying out the terms of payment, since he believed that it would be difficult to achieve uniformity of opinion within the Thaiese government,, And revision would require a considerable length of time. [1181]
Another conference on the morning of August 1, 1941 ended inconclusively since an agreement in regard to the rate of interest and a time limit on the loan could not be reached, [1182] but on August 2, 1941 Mr. Futami was able to report that an agreement for credit of 10,000,000 bahts had been reached during the afternoon. [1183]
[1175] II, 1170.
[1176] II, 1171.
[1177] II, 1172.
[1178] II, 1173.
[1179] 10,000,000 bahts was the equivalent at this time of approximately 3,600,000 dollars.
[1180] II, 1174.
[1181] II, 1175.
[1182] II, 1176.
[1183] II, 1177.
210
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
321. Japanese ‑Thaiese Rice Negotiations.
Following the completion of the Japanese‑Thaiese economic treaty, Mr. Rijuta Ono, Japanese financial advisor, informed his Finance Minister in Tokyo that the situation concerning the purchase of Thaiese rice was a bit confused. Since he felt the negotiations should be completed at once, he asked that instructions be sent to him. [1184] However, on the same day Minister Futami advised Tokyo against the sending of a technical expert to look over the rice, rice bran, oil and iron ore situation, since there was now no need to hurry negotiations with Thailand. He promised that Secretary Teiichi Suzuki would amplify this advice on his return to Japan on August 9, 1941. [1185]
322. Thailand Plans to Recognize Manchukuo.
The Japanese Foreign Office reported on July 29, 1941 that Thailand would recognize the Japanese‑sponsored government of Manchukuo on August 1, 1941. [1186] Since this did not take place as planned, Foreign Minister Toyoda, on August 2, 1941, asked that information relating to Thailand's recognition be forwarded from Bangkok. [1187]
Minister Futami replied on August 4, 1941 that recognition was being delayed because of the necessity of obtaining the Emperor's approval. The Ministers of Great Britain and the Netherlands had already asked the Thaiese authorities if there were any truth in newspaper reports concerning the recognition of Manchukuo, and they had been told that Thailand's action was nothing more than a friendly gesture toward Japan. The inquiries of the diplomatic representatives, according to Minister Futami, were not in the form of protests. [1188]
323. Japan Requests a Mutual Exchange of Ambassadors.
As early as June 13, 1941, it had been learned that the Japanese Legation in Thailand was soon to be raised in status to an Embassy. To strengthen the Japanese representation in Thailand, Japan ordered Mr. Ichihashi in London to start for his new post immediately. [1189] In addition, a new Japanese consulate was to be established in Singora, located on the Kra Peninsula near British Malay, for on July 17, 1941 Vice‑Consul Katsuno was instructed to look in Singora for suitable office and residence buildings! [1190]
A Japanese army officer, Major Voshihiko Osone, planned to operate from this consulate under the pseudonym of Saburo Goto, a fourth‑class diplomatic clerk. [1191] Keisuke Ito, a member of the Far Eastern Economic Research Bureau, was also slated to do intelligence work at Singora. [1192]
Since the matter of raising the status of the Thailand Legation to an Embassy was to be approved at the next regular meeting of the Japanese Privy Council, and was to be put into effect immediately thereafter, Mr. Futami was directed on July 3, 1941 to ask Prime Minister Pibul to
[1184] II, 1178.
[1185] II, 1179.
[1186] II, 1180.
[1187] II, 1181.
[1188] II, 1182.
[1189] II, 1183.
[1190] II, 1184.
[1191] II, 1185.
[1192] II, 1186.
211
raise the status of the Thailand Legation in Tokyo to an Embassy at the same time. As soon as the Prime Minister acceded, Mr. Futami was to inform Tokyo immediately. In case of difficulty in finding a suitable ambassador, it was suggested that Thailand appoint its Minister to act as Charge d'Affairs at the same time that the Legation was raised to an Embassy. [1193]
Having already talked with the Prime Minister and having received his approval of the plan, Mr. Futami on July 14, 1941 reported that the Thaiese Departments of the Interior and Foreign Affairs were willing to accept the simultaneous and mutual elevation of Ministries to Embassies through an aide‑memoiré. [1194] On July 23, 1941 Thailand was advised to make the necessary preparations, since the Japanese Privy Council had just approved the raising of the status of the Japanese Legation in Thailand and Japan wished to effect the change immediately. [1195] A week later the appointment as Japanese Ambassador of Mr. Teiji Tsubokami, who had previously been associated with the Foreign Office, was approved by Thailand. 1196
Confidentially informing Minister Futami on August 4, 1941 that the Thaiese were delaying too long in selecting an ambassador, and advising him that Tokyo had postponed the appointment of Ambassador Tsubokami until reciprocal arrangements were made, Mr. Toyoda suggested that the Vice‑Minister of Defense, or some other appropriate person of high repute, be appointed to the Embassy in Japan. [1197] For various reasons, including the opportunity of removing a popular rival of Prime Minister Pibul from Thailand, Foreign Minister Toyoda thought it best to have the Defense Vice Minister sent as the first Thaiese Ambassador to Japan. Admiral Toyoda pointed out that if conditions in Thailand were such that he could not be spared for a long period, the Defense Minister could serve for as little as half a year until a relief could be selected. [1198]
[1193] II, 1187‑1188.
[1194] II, 1189.
[1195] II, 1190.
[1196] II, 1191‑1192.
[1197] II, 1193.
[1198] II, 1194.
212
Monday, May 25, 2009
pill 3.pil.55519 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Using viruses to deliver DNA into cells is a common technique in gene therapy, but it risks triggering cancerous mutations. Instead, the researchers developed a new gene-delivery method that bundles the ring of DNA inside microscopic spheres made of a material called chitosan, which is extracted from shrimp shells.
These spheres, each about 100 nanometers across, also contain a second ring of DNA encoding a gene that controls where along the animals' chromosomes the insulin gene gets inserted. Previous research by Michèle Pamela Calos of Stanford University and her colleagues showed that none of the 370 possible insertion points trigger cancer.
Rather than injecting a dose of these microscopic spheres into the bloodstream, Cheung's team sprayed the spheres directly onto the gut lining using a modified endoscope, a tube-shaped tool that doctors use to look down a person's throat at their intestines. That way, the spheres only get absorbed by cells of the gut lining.
Cheung says that it might also be possible for patients to ingest the spheres in a drink or a pill.
In the experiments, the genetically altered K cells responded when the animals ate sugar by producing insulin with the same timing as a healthy pancreas. The K cells performed the new task for about five months. Because cells of the gut lining are constantly replaced, the treatment would have to be reapplied periodically, Cheung says.
Previous work by Cheung and his colleagues showed that mice engineered to have the altered K cells from birth remained alive and healthy after the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas had been destroyed. In separate experiments using mice with a juvenile diabetes–like condition in which beta cells are attacked by the animals' immune systems, Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire K cells were not attacked even when altered to produce insulin.
The team has begun testing the technique on pigs, whose intestines are very similar to human intestines.
These spheres, each about 100 nanometers across, also contain a second ring of DNA encoding a gene that controls where along the animals' chromosomes the insulin gene gets inserted. Previous research by Michèle Pamela Calos of Stanford University and her colleagues showed that none of the 370 possible insertion points trigger cancer.
Rather than injecting a dose of these microscopic spheres into the bloodstream, Cheung's team sprayed the spheres directly onto the gut lining using a modified endoscope, a tube-shaped tool that doctors use to look down a person's throat at their intestines. That way, the spheres only get absorbed by cells of the gut lining.
Cheung says that it might also be possible for patients to ingest the spheres in a drink or a pill.
In the experiments, the genetically altered K cells responded when the animals ate sugar by producing insulin with the same timing as a healthy pancreas. The K cells performed the new task for about five months. Because cells of the gut lining are constantly replaced, the treatment would have to be reapplied periodically, Cheung says.
Previous work by Cheung and his colleagues showed that mice engineered to have the altered K cells from birth remained alive and healthy after the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas had been destroyed. In separate experiments using mice with a juvenile diabetes–like condition in which beta cells are attacked by the animals' immune systems, Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire K cells were not attacked even when altered to produce insulin.
The team has begun testing the technique on pigs, whose intestines are very similar to human intestines.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
snag 9.sna.001002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins do their job with remarkable efficiency, but in rare individuals they can cause a painful muscle side effect called myopathy. Researchers report in an upcoming issue of the New England Journal of Medicine the discovery of a gene variant that places people at risk of this complication.
The gene, called SLCO1B1, encodes a protein that shuttles compounds from the blood stream into the liver for processing. This cargo includes statins.
Properly deposited, these drugs then go on to decrease the levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol.
But people with the variant form of the gene make a version of this protein that transports statins poorly, leaving an excess amount in the blood stream, says study coauthor Rory Collins, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Oxford in England.
From there the story gets rather mysterious. “It’s still not clear how statins cause myopathy,” he says. But left to linger in the blood, statins seem to have that effect. “The mechanism is unknown.”
Collins and his colleagues suspected that statins were involved because a trial had shown that people getting high doses of a statin were 10 times as likely to develop the side effect as people receiving a low dose, Collins says. But since not everyone gets myopathy on high-dose statins, the scientists guessed that a gene — or a rogue form of one — might explain some of the risk.
Blood samples were collected from 192 of the trial volunteers between 1998 and 2001. Half the volunteers had myopathy, half did not. The statin used in the trial was simvastatin, marketed as Zocor. The scientists screened thousands of genes in these blood samples, and the one that stood out was SLCO1B1.
Genes often come in a variety of forms, resulting in the assemblage of slightly different proteins. The researchers found that among people taking high-dose simvastatin, those who carried one particular variant of the SLCO1B1 gene had four times the risk of myopathy compared with people carrying other forms of SLCO1B1. If a person carried two copies of this variant — one inherited from each parent — the risk shot up 17-fold, the researchers report.
“We’ve always suspected there are genetic differences,” says endocrinologist Robert Hegele of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario “It’s great that they did this study.”
Hegele estimates that roughly five to 10 percent of patients on statins report some muscle aches and pains at some point.
Collins and his team calculated that 18 percent of people with two copies of the gene variant who take a high does of statins would develop myopathy, while three percent of people who harbor only one copy and take the high drug dose would get myopathy.
Severe myopathy can damage muscles and even the kidneys. The researchers calculated that nearly two-thirds of the cases of myopathy in patients taking high-dose statins are attributable to the variant.
Doctors might avoid giving statins to people who have two copies of the variant and prescribe only low-dose statins for people carrying one copy, reasons physician Yusuke Nakamura of the University of Tokyo, writing in the same NEJM issue.
As an alternative, doctors might use the anti-cholesterol drug ezetimibe, sold as Zetia, which lowers LDL via a mechanism different from that employed by statins, Hegele says. Statins reduce cholesterol production in the liver, whereas Zetia inhibits cholesterol absorption in the intestines.
While doctors’ offices aren’t equipped to test for the gene, Collins says, the actual lab test for the variant is inexpensive. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire “The technology is straightforward. It would cost less than a dollar in a standard genetics lab,” he says.
The number of people in the United States taking statins nearly doubled from 2000 to 2005, rising from 15.8 million to 29.7 million, according to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey conducted by the federal government.
The gene, called SLCO1B1, encodes a protein that shuttles compounds from the blood stream into the liver for processing. This cargo includes statins.
Properly deposited, these drugs then go on to decrease the levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol.
But people with the variant form of the gene make a version of this protein that transports statins poorly, leaving an excess amount in the blood stream, says study coauthor Rory Collins, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Oxford in England.
From there the story gets rather mysterious. “It’s still not clear how statins cause myopathy,” he says. But left to linger in the blood, statins seem to have that effect. “The mechanism is unknown.”
Collins and his colleagues suspected that statins were involved because a trial had shown that people getting high doses of a statin were 10 times as likely to develop the side effect as people receiving a low dose, Collins says. But since not everyone gets myopathy on high-dose statins, the scientists guessed that a gene — or a rogue form of one — might explain some of the risk.
Blood samples were collected from 192 of the trial volunteers between 1998 and 2001. Half the volunteers had myopathy, half did not. The statin used in the trial was simvastatin, marketed as Zocor. The scientists screened thousands of genes in these blood samples, and the one that stood out was SLCO1B1.
Genes often come in a variety of forms, resulting in the assemblage of slightly different proteins. The researchers found that among people taking high-dose simvastatin, those who carried one particular variant of the SLCO1B1 gene had four times the risk of myopathy compared with people carrying other forms of SLCO1B1. If a person carried two copies of this variant — one inherited from each parent — the risk shot up 17-fold, the researchers report.
“We’ve always suspected there are genetic differences,” says endocrinologist Robert Hegele of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario “It’s great that they did this study.”
Hegele estimates that roughly five to 10 percent of patients on statins report some muscle aches and pains at some point.
Collins and his team calculated that 18 percent of people with two copies of the gene variant who take a high does of statins would develop myopathy, while three percent of people who harbor only one copy and take the high drug dose would get myopathy.
Severe myopathy can damage muscles and even the kidneys. The researchers calculated that nearly two-thirds of the cases of myopathy in patients taking high-dose statins are attributable to the variant.
Doctors might avoid giving statins to people who have two copies of the variant and prescribe only low-dose statins for people carrying one copy, reasons physician Yusuke Nakamura of the University of Tokyo, writing in the same NEJM issue.
As an alternative, doctors might use the anti-cholesterol drug ezetimibe, sold as Zetia, which lowers LDL via a mechanism different from that employed by statins, Hegele says. Statins reduce cholesterol production in the liver, whereas Zetia inhibits cholesterol absorption in the intestines.
While doctors’ offices aren’t equipped to test for the gene, Collins says, the actual lab test for the variant is inexpensive. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire “The technology is straightforward. It would cost less than a dollar in a standard genetics lab,” he says.
The number of people in the United States taking statins nearly doubled from 2000 to 2005, rising from 15.8 million to 29.7 million, according to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey conducted by the federal government.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
team 3.tea.o Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
It’s a case of mind over muscle, by way of machine. By electronically connecting a monkey’s forearm muscles to its brain, researchers gave a temporarily paralyzed monkey the ability to clench those muscles. http://Louis1J1Sheehan1Esquire.us
An electrode implanted in the monkey’s brain picked up the electrical signal from a single neuron, and the monkey learned to control the activity of that neuron to regain control of its wrist — even if the neuron was in a sensory rather than a muscle-controlling region of the brain.
It’s a powerful demonstration of the brain’s flexibility, and the first time that scientists have electronically linked a single neuron to an animal’s own muscles, researchers report in the Oct. 16 Nature.
Such an artificial connection could replace the electrical signals that nerves normally carry to muscles, but that, in people with paralysis, are blocked, the researchers suggest.
“We were interested in developing a potential treatment for paralysis, whether it’s from spinal cord injury or other injury,” says study coauthor Chet Moritz of the Washington National Primate Research Center in Seattle. The current experiment is only meant to show that such an electronic connection is possible, Moritz adds. More work is needed before the technology could be ready for use in people. "We are several years away if not several decades away."
But some scientists are skeptical of whether the new technique will ever be well suited for restoring motion in paralysis patients. In the experiments, the monkey only had to learn to control two muscles, which pushed and pulled its wrist in a motion like revving a motorcycle. Its arm was otherwise braced and immobilized.
In more natural situations, even simple motions require the coordinated control of a dozen or more muscles. Reach forward to press a button, and muscles in your torso, back, shoulder, upper arm, forearm and hand will all contract in concert.
With the approach from Moritz’s team, a patient would have to learn to control each muscle separately, and then consciously coordinate perhaps 20 or so muscles to achieve even one simple task. “That to me would be extremely complex and probably very difficult to train a subject to do,” comments Andrew Schwartz, a neurobiologist at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
Schwartz has previously connected a monkey’s brain to a robotic arm using a different technique that gave the monkey control over its arm that was more complex.
Schwartz’s team first watched the monkey’s brain activity while it used its own arm in a natural way. Decoding this neural activity allowed the researchers to later wire the monkey’s brain to a robotic arm that would adapt to the monkey, instead of making the monkey adapt to it. That way, the monkey could simply “will” the movement to happen without having to concentrate on contracting individual muscles.
All this decoding of brain impulses takes the computing horsepower of a modern desktop computer, though. The advantage of Moritz’s approach is that the signal from a single neuron can be interpreted by a much less powerful computer chip, perhaps one small and low-powered enough to implant into the animal’s — or a patient’s — body. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Moritz also suggests that his team’s approach could eventually control several muscles at once by electrically stimulating nerves in the spinal cord, rather than stimulating the muscles directly. Eventually the researchers hope to develop wireless electrodes that wouldn’t involve wires sticking out of the skull, Moritz says.
An electrode implanted in the monkey’s brain picked up the electrical signal from a single neuron, and the monkey learned to control the activity of that neuron to regain control of its wrist — even if the neuron was in a sensory rather than a muscle-controlling region of the brain.
It’s a powerful demonstration of the brain’s flexibility, and the first time that scientists have electronically linked a single neuron to an animal’s own muscles, researchers report in the Oct. 16 Nature.
Such an artificial connection could replace the electrical signals that nerves normally carry to muscles, but that, in people with paralysis, are blocked, the researchers suggest.
“We were interested in developing a potential treatment for paralysis, whether it’s from spinal cord injury or other injury,” says study coauthor Chet Moritz of the Washington National Primate Research Center in Seattle. The current experiment is only meant to show that such an electronic connection is possible, Moritz adds. More work is needed before the technology could be ready for use in people. "We are several years away if not several decades away."
But some scientists are skeptical of whether the new technique will ever be well suited for restoring motion in paralysis patients. In the experiments, the monkey only had to learn to control two muscles, which pushed and pulled its wrist in a motion like revving a motorcycle. Its arm was otherwise braced and immobilized.
In more natural situations, even simple motions require the coordinated control of a dozen or more muscles. Reach forward to press a button, and muscles in your torso, back, shoulder, upper arm, forearm and hand will all contract in concert.
With the approach from Moritz’s team, a patient would have to learn to control each muscle separately, and then consciously coordinate perhaps 20 or so muscles to achieve even one simple task. “That to me would be extremely complex and probably very difficult to train a subject to do,” comments Andrew Schwartz, a neurobiologist at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
Schwartz has previously connected a monkey’s brain to a robotic arm using a different technique that gave the monkey control over its arm that was more complex.
Schwartz’s team first watched the monkey’s brain activity while it used its own arm in a natural way. Decoding this neural activity allowed the researchers to later wire the monkey’s brain to a robotic arm that would adapt to the monkey, instead of making the monkey adapt to it. That way, the monkey could simply “will” the movement to happen without having to concentrate on contracting individual muscles.
All this decoding of brain impulses takes the computing horsepower of a modern desktop computer, though. The advantage of Moritz’s approach is that the signal from a single neuron can be interpreted by a much less powerful computer chip, perhaps one small and low-powered enough to implant into the animal’s — or a patient’s — body. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Moritz also suggests that his team’s approach could eventually control several muscles at once by electrically stimulating nerves in the spinal cord, rather than stimulating the muscles directly. Eventually the researchers hope to develop wireless electrodes that wouldn’t involve wires sticking out of the skull, Moritz says.
Monday, April 13, 2009
secrete 8.sec.1123 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
t seems preposterous that thrill seeker James Bond would have too few of anything, but new research suggests he may have a deficit of dopamine receptors.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG
Earlier work has suggested that a propensity for risky behaviors, like driving fast cars, gambling and drinking, is influenced by dopamine, one of the brain’s chemical messengers. Now a team of researchers led by neuroscientist David Zald has confirmed in humans a link between “novelty-seeking personality traits” and dopamine receptors. The team’s results appear in the Dec. 31 Journal of Neuroscience.
“Risk seeking is a basic characteristic that varies widely among people,” says Zald, of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Of risk seekers, Zald says: “They get bored quickly with the same old, same old and turn to things like drug use, whiskey and sex. These exciting things have a lot of pull for them.”
Nerve cells excrete and detect dopamine to communicate with the rest of the brain. The chemical controls diverse brain functions — motor control, sleep and pleasure have all been linked to dopamine signaling. A nerve cell detects dopamine released from other nerve cells or from itself through proteins on the outside of the cell called dopamine receptors, which come in many varieties. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Many of the first experiments linking dopamine and thrill seeking were in rodents. The brains of novelty-seeking rodents — so named because the rats and mice spend more time exploring a new environment than do their complacent littermates — are less able to regulate the amount of dopamine in the brain. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire But equating a rodent sniffing around a new home to a person engaging in high-risk behavior like cocaine use is a stretch, the researchers point out.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG
To get a better idea about dopamine regulation in thrill-seeking humans, Zald’s team asked 34 healthy adult men and women a battery of questions to determine whether the people were prone to engage in risky behavior. Among other things, the subjects were asked whether they enjoy exploring new situations, make decisions rashly, buy expensive things and feel unconstrained by rules. The higher the score on the novelty-seeking scale, the greater the drive for novelty — which often leads to risky behavior.
Using PET, or positron emission tomography, to scan the volunteers’ brains, the researchers could track the location of an injected chemical that binds to two kinds of dopamine receptors, D2 and D3. The tracer signaled the presence of the dopamine receptors. Subjects who scored higher on the novelty-seeking scale had significantly fewer dopamine receptors in the ventral midbrain region.
Marcus Munafò of the University of Bristol in England calls the new research “very interesting” and says that such studies will lead to a better understanding of individual differences in temperament, which may explain why some people are more prone to engage in destructive behaviors.
When some receptors bind dopamine, they prevent the cells they reside on from releasing more of the chemical in what’s called a negative feedback loop. Since risky people have fewer of these dopamine-dampening receptors, they have fewer checks on dopamine levels. “When stimulated, high novelty seekers release more dopamine, and get a greater reinforcement,” says Zald.
Although this study offers an intriguing explanation for how different brains reward risk taking, Munafò points to an unanswered question. “Something this study can't tell us is how these differences between high and low novelty-seeking individuals arise. They may be due to inherited differences, or developmental differences, or even due to the effects of living a novelty-seeking lifestyle. We'll need more research to answer these questions.”
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Comments 3
* I have an insatiable curiosity which keeps me at the bleeding edge of technology and science.
I am always on the lookout for new, exciting, fascinating ideas and advances.
Things never move fast or far enough for me. However I am a home body, and would never consider bungee jumping or sky diving.
I am also not into drugs of any type (wouldn't take a chance on ruining my finest toy, - my brain). So stay away even from such risks.
So something in this article does not ring true to me.
Heinz Gf. Matuschka Heinz Gf. Matuschka
Jan. 6, 2009 at 7:18pm
* "Nerve cells excrete and detect dopamine to communicate with the rest of the brain." Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Surely they 'secrete' dopamine. Excreting it would be messy.
Rick Lesniak Ralph
Jan. 1, 2009 at 9:06am
* I'd like to point out that novelty seeking isn't necessarily the same as engaging in self-destructive behavior or even taking risks. I seek novelty in relatively safe ways by reading a lot of science articles, doing volunteer work in which I meet new people, and reading a lot, for example. Police officers may be taking risks and getting thrills too, but we'd hardly want to discourage that, would we? No, self-destructive behavior requires another trigger besides too few dopamine receptors, I think. Just an opinion, mind you, but I suspect there's a teensy-weensy bit of environmental influence in there too.
Earlier work has suggested that a propensity for risky behaviors, like driving fast cars, gambling and drinking, is influenced by dopamine, one of the brain’s chemical messengers. Now a team of researchers led by neuroscientist David Zald has confirmed in humans a link between “novelty-seeking personality traits” and dopamine receptors. The team’s results appear in the Dec. 31 Journal of Neuroscience.
“Risk seeking is a basic characteristic that varies widely among people,” says Zald, of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Of risk seekers, Zald says: “They get bored quickly with the same old, same old and turn to things like drug use, whiskey and sex. These exciting things have a lot of pull for them.”
Nerve cells excrete and detect dopamine to communicate with the rest of the brain. The chemical controls diverse brain functions — motor control, sleep and pleasure have all been linked to dopamine signaling. A nerve cell detects dopamine released from other nerve cells or from itself through proteins on the outside of the cell called dopamine receptors, which come in many varieties. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Many of the first experiments linking dopamine and thrill seeking were in rodents. The brains of novelty-seeking rodents — so named because the rats and mice spend more time exploring a new environment than do their complacent littermates — are less able to regulate the amount of dopamine in the brain. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire But equating a rodent sniffing around a new home to a person engaging in high-risk behavior like cocaine use is a stretch, the researchers point out.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG
To get a better idea about dopamine regulation in thrill-seeking humans, Zald’s team asked 34 healthy adult men and women a battery of questions to determine whether the people were prone to engage in risky behavior. Among other things, the subjects were asked whether they enjoy exploring new situations, make decisions rashly, buy expensive things and feel unconstrained by rules. The higher the score on the novelty-seeking scale, the greater the drive for novelty — which often leads to risky behavior.
Using PET, or positron emission tomography, to scan the volunteers’ brains, the researchers could track the location of an injected chemical that binds to two kinds of dopamine receptors, D2 and D3. The tracer signaled the presence of the dopamine receptors. Subjects who scored higher on the novelty-seeking scale had significantly fewer dopamine receptors in the ventral midbrain region.
Marcus Munafò of the University of Bristol in England calls the new research “very interesting” and says that such studies will lead to a better understanding of individual differences in temperament, which may explain why some people are more prone to engage in destructive behaviors.
When some receptors bind dopamine, they prevent the cells they reside on from releasing more of the chemical in what’s called a negative feedback loop. Since risky people have fewer of these dopamine-dampening receptors, they have fewer checks on dopamine levels. “When stimulated, high novelty seekers release more dopamine, and get a greater reinforcement,” says Zald.
Although this study offers an intriguing explanation for how different brains reward risk taking, Munafò points to an unanswered question. “Something this study can't tell us is how these differences between high and low novelty-seeking individuals arise. They may be due to inherited differences, or developmental differences, or even due to the effects of living a novelty-seeking lifestyle. We'll need more research to answer these questions.”
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Comments 3
* I have an insatiable curiosity which keeps me at the bleeding edge of technology and science.
I am always on the lookout for new, exciting, fascinating ideas and advances.
Things never move fast or far enough for me. However I am a home body, and would never consider bungee jumping or sky diving.
I am also not into drugs of any type (wouldn't take a chance on ruining my finest toy, - my brain). So stay away even from such risks.
So something in this article does not ring true to me.
Heinz Gf. Matuschka Heinz Gf. Matuschka
Jan. 6, 2009 at 7:18pm
* "Nerve cells excrete and detect dopamine to communicate with the rest of the brain." Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Surely they 'secrete' dopamine. Excreting it would be messy.
Rick Lesniak Ralph
Jan. 1, 2009 at 9:06am
* I'd like to point out that novelty seeking isn't necessarily the same as engaging in self-destructive behavior or even taking risks. I seek novelty in relatively safe ways by reading a lot of science articles, doing volunteer work in which I meet new people, and reading a lot, for example. Police officers may be taking risks and getting thrills too, but we'd hardly want to discourage that, would we? No, self-destructive behavior requires another trigger besides too few dopamine receptors, I think. Just an opinion, mind you, but I suspect there's a teensy-weensy bit of environmental influence in there too.
bisphosphonates 8.bio.223 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Some drugs meant to build bone for people with osteoporosis could increase the risk of developing a devastating jaw infection, a new study suggests. Even short-term use of some osteoporosis drugs may raise the risk of the jaw disease, called osteonecrosis. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO The results appear January 1 in the Journal of the American Dental Association.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Drugs called bisphosphonates — which include the widely prescribed alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva) and risedronate (Actonel) — are taken orally and commonly prescribed to combat osteoporosis, a disease that is marked by weak bones and affects over 10 million people in the United States. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Jawbone disease is “absolutely rare, and one of the least likely bones to get infected,” says study coauthor Parish Sedghizadeh, a dentist and researcher at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Over the last several years, Sedghizadeh and other dentists at the University of Southern California noticed a rise in the number of patients who came in with the unusual and hard-to-treat jaw infection. “All of a sudden, we saw this raging epidemic of jawbone infections,” prompting the researchers to scrutinize the electronic medical records of dental patients at USC.
From sifting through thousands of such records, the researchers found that nine of 208 current USC patients — or four percent — who were taking or had taken bisphosphonates for any amount of time in the past five years also had jawbone necrosis diagnoses. Of the 13,522 control patients not taking the bone-building drugs, none were diagnosed with jawbone necrosis.
But Aliya Khan, a doctor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, points out that four of the nine patients found by the new study to have jaw necrosis had “additional risk factors,” including cancer, diabetes and steroid treatment. “From this study it cannot be concluded that the alendronate was a causal factor in the development of osteonecrosis,” says Khan, who has consulted for drug companies including Merck. “We need to obtain prospective, good quality data” on the causes and incidence of jaw osteonecrosis.”
Clinical trials involving more than 17,000 patients and conducted by Merck, the maker of alendronate, found no reports of jaw osteonecrosis, according to a statement released by the company in 2007.
However, Sedghizadeh says that these trials have not been evaluated in any peer-reviewed journal, and may not have had adequate dental oversight. “Better, larger studies are really needed to clarify the risk,” Sedghizadeh says.
All of the nine patients with jawbone necrosis developed it after undergoing a dental procedure, such as a tooth extraction, that exposed the jawbone to bacteria in the mouth. In early 2008, Sedghizadeh coauthored a separate report showing that biofilms, communities of bacteria, had invaded the jawbone of four osteonecrosis patients who were taking bisphosphonates. Once situated in the jawbone, these dense lawns of bacteria coat the bone and slowly destroy it.
In response to a 2005 request from the FDA, Merck now includes the following statement with Fosamax prescriptions: “Osteonecrosis of the jaw, generally associated with tooth extraction and/or local infection, often with delayed healing, has been reported in patients taking bisphosphonates.”
Researchers don’t yet know why these bone-building drugs may leave patients vulnerable to jawbone infections. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO Sedghizadeh’s guess is that the drugs may change the surface characteristics of the jawbone, making the bones a more hospitable place for bacteria to land and stick.
Until more data are collected, Sedghizadeh recommends that patients on these bone-building drugs be classified as “at-risk” for developing jawbone infections after dental procedures. Minimizing the bacteria in the mouth with extensive antibacterial mouth rinses for weeks before and after a tooth extraction may decrease jawbone infections in these patients, Sedghizadeh says.
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Comments 1
* Given the work with human forms vitamin K2, the menaquinones, especially MK-7 and MK-4, in addition to magnesium + vitamin D + other mineral supplements, it is hard to understand why anyone uses bisphosphonates for osteoporosis. This story confirms earlier news about bisphosphonate associated, fulminant osteonecrosis of the jaw. Bisphosphonate drugs merely interfere with bone turnover, not reconstructiong bone minieralization like vitamins and minerals although the article seems to overemphasize the bacteria, a part of the pathological sequelae, rather than focus on drug related initiation. Seems a clear case a (p)harmaceutical pushed in preference to a superior natural answer.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Drugs called bisphosphonates — which include the widely prescribed alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva) and risedronate (Actonel) — are taken orally and commonly prescribed to combat osteoporosis, a disease that is marked by weak bones and affects over 10 million people in the United States. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Jawbone disease is “absolutely rare, and one of the least likely bones to get infected,” says study coauthor Parish Sedghizadeh, a dentist and researcher at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Over the last several years, Sedghizadeh and other dentists at the University of Southern California noticed a rise in the number of patients who came in with the unusual and hard-to-treat jaw infection. “All of a sudden, we saw this raging epidemic of jawbone infections,” prompting the researchers to scrutinize the electronic medical records of dental patients at USC.
From sifting through thousands of such records, the researchers found that nine of 208 current USC patients — or four percent — who were taking or had taken bisphosphonates for any amount of time in the past five years also had jawbone necrosis diagnoses. Of the 13,522 control patients not taking the bone-building drugs, none were diagnosed with jawbone necrosis.
But Aliya Khan, a doctor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, points out that four of the nine patients found by the new study to have jaw necrosis had “additional risk factors,” including cancer, diabetes and steroid treatment. “From this study it cannot be concluded that the alendronate was a causal factor in the development of osteonecrosis,” says Khan, who has consulted for drug companies including Merck. “We need to obtain prospective, good quality data” on the causes and incidence of jaw osteonecrosis.”
Clinical trials involving more than 17,000 patients and conducted by Merck, the maker of alendronate, found no reports of jaw osteonecrosis, according to a statement released by the company in 2007.
However, Sedghizadeh says that these trials have not been evaluated in any peer-reviewed journal, and may not have had adequate dental oversight. “Better, larger studies are really needed to clarify the risk,” Sedghizadeh says.
All of the nine patients with jawbone necrosis developed it after undergoing a dental procedure, such as a tooth extraction, that exposed the jawbone to bacteria in the mouth. In early 2008, Sedghizadeh coauthored a separate report showing that biofilms, communities of bacteria, had invaded the jawbone of four osteonecrosis patients who were taking bisphosphonates. Once situated in the jawbone, these dense lawns of bacteria coat the bone and slowly destroy it.
In response to a 2005 request from the FDA, Merck now includes the following statement with Fosamax prescriptions: “Osteonecrosis of the jaw, generally associated with tooth extraction and/or local infection, often with delayed healing, has been reported in patients taking bisphosphonates.”
Researchers don’t yet know why these bone-building drugs may leave patients vulnerable to jawbone infections. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO Sedghizadeh’s guess is that the drugs may change the surface characteristics of the jawbone, making the bones a more hospitable place for bacteria to land and stick.
Until more data are collected, Sedghizadeh recommends that patients on these bone-building drugs be classified as “at-risk” for developing jawbone infections after dental procedures. Minimizing the bacteria in the mouth with extensive antibacterial mouth rinses for weeks before and after a tooth extraction may decrease jawbone infections in these patients, Sedghizadeh says.
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Comments 1
* Given the work with human forms vitamin K2, the menaquinones, especially MK-7 and MK-4, in addition to magnesium + vitamin D + other mineral supplements, it is hard to understand why anyone uses bisphosphonates for osteoporosis. This story confirms earlier news about bisphosphonate associated, fulminant osteonecrosis of the jaw. Bisphosphonate drugs merely interfere with bone turnover, not reconstructiong bone minieralization like vitamins and minerals although the article seems to overemphasize the bacteria, a part of the pathological sequelae, rather than focus on drug related initiation. Seems a clear case a (p)harmaceutical pushed in preference to a superior natural answer.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
pain 9.pai.11123 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Acupuncture, the ancient Chinese practice of sticking needles into a patient at specific points to relieve pain and treat other conditions, seems to alleviate pain just barely better than sticking needles into nonspecified parts of the body, a new analysis shows. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Researchers in Denmark came to this conclusion, which they report in the Feb. 7 British Medical Journal, after analyzing 13 studies in which people received real acupuncture, sham acupuncture or standard pain treatments such as drugs. http://Louis1J1Sheehan1Esquire.us
The studies enrolled 3,025 people in all. In each, the participants were randomly assigned to get one of the three therapies. Decreases in pain, if any, were recorded using standard pain scales.
On average, people getting acupuncture or sham acupuncture — in which needles are stuck into body areas not targeted by acupuncturists — sensed a clear decrease in pain, whereas those getting standard care sensed considerably less improvement. http://Louis1J1Sheehan1Esquire.us People getting real acupuncture reported a little more pain relief than those getting the sham needle sticks, but this slight difference was insignificant from a clinical perspective, says study coauthor Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, a physician and epidemiologist at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.
The value of acupuncture in this meta-analysis might have been diluted somewhat by the study design, says physician Adrian White of the University of Plymouth in England. http://Louis1J1Sheehan1Esquire.usFor example, some of the studies in this analysis centered on sore backs and knee pain from osteoarthritis, areas in which acupuncture has a positive track record, he says. But the overall value of acupuncture for pain might have been lessened by the inclusion of studies of people with headaches, a group in which acupuncture hasn’t performed well, he says.
Of course, he concedes, “this was done because acupuncturists argue they can treat any kind of condition.”
Acupuncture purports to hit key spots along channels called meridians that run throughout the body. But the narrow difference in the findings of sham needle sticks and real acupuncture raises the question of how acupuncture works.
The placebo effect, in which patients get some benefit from a fake treatment because they assume it is real, probably plays a role in acupuncture and may explain some of the sham acupuncture benefit, says Andrea Furlan, a physician and pain researcher at the University of Toronto and the Institute for Work & Health, also in Toronto. But the placebo effect is unlikely to account for all the pain reduction, she says. “There might be physiological changes” brought on as needle sticks affect the nervous system, she says.
The experience of undergoing the ritual of acupuncture also influences the therapy’s effectiveness, she says. “Belief is a big part of this,” says Furlan, a trained acupuncturist who no longer practices.
Only a few decades ago, most Western doctors had little regard for acupuncture. Now, that viewpoint is more mixed. Insurance companies in some countries even reimburse for its costs — for certain health problems.
“Complimentary or alternative therapies often provoke a division into believers and nonbelievers,” says Hróbjartsson. “That is also the case with acupuncture, though in acupuncture, in my view, a strict division is too simplistic. There are moderate skeptics and moderate believers.”
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Comments 4
* Carroll Cristie, I should have come back to the page sooner. I think one must conclude that if there is no difference between sham and experimental treatment, but both are different than the "standard" control, that there is a confounding factor. It would be more fruitful to investigate the nature of the apparently beneficial therapeutic environment, interaction, or conditioned response in order to understand it, study it, and if appropriate later incorporate it into other treatment with scientific evidence of efficacy. If we can identify the other factors that can contribute to a beneficial response then we can take advantage of them in providing improved care to our patients. We must also hold all of our treatments up to the same standards. If a treatment is not better than placebo it should not be offered. This should apply equally to pharmaceuticals, and other treatments, conventional or not.
There are varieties of known and well studied causes of conditioned responses, such as salivating in Pavlov's dogs which are not caused by the inciting factor (the bell ringing) but rather, are caused by the conditioning of the dog. (And one wouldn't conclude that the correct response to the dog's hunger would be bell ringing instead of feeding). This type of conditioning explains the physiologic response to stimuli such as packaging, pill color, the interaction with the caregiver, and probably the results of this study. Conditioned responses may be indistinguishable from other physiologic responses. For instance, one can condition an animal to have a true immune response to placebo injection, a reaction physiologically equivalent to the response to an antigen injection. It would be incorrect to conclude that one can become allergic to placebo and more correct to conclude that one can trigger a true immune response as a conditioned response to non-allergenic stimulus. It is exactly this bias and confounding effect that a placebo is designed to control for, and it is the reason that a placebo-controlled study is less bias prone than a "no treatment" or "standard treatment" control group study.
Steven Zeitzew Steven Zeitzew
Apr. 2, 2009 at 11:04am
* In reply to both Sven G and Bone Doc's comments, the article also states: "...whereas those getting standard care sensed considerably less improvement." Does this mean people should see standard pharmacological treatment for what "it really is"?
Many drugs which are currently used in hospital care do not have a clear mechanism of action. Not understanding these mechanisms nor having solid proofs does not negate a particular therapy.
Carroll Christie Carroll Christie
Feb. 8, 2009 at 7:17am
* The reason these experiments are designed to compare acupuncture with sham acupuncture is to control for confounding factors (the scientific justification of using a placebo group). The fact that there is no difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture is scientific evidence that there is no therapeutic effect of acupuncture whatsoever and that acupuncture is equivalent to the placebo (sham acupuncture) in this experiment. This experimental result is therefore evidence that there is no therapeutic effect from acupuncture and that the observed effects are due to confounding factors. One must therefore conclude that there is not sufficient evidence of efficacy with acupuncture to justify the known risks of that treatment.
When you stated, "Acupuncture purports to hit key spots along channels called meridians that run throughout the body" you neglected to note that there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that these channels or meridians even exist. This study does not raise "the question of how acupuncture works", it is evidence that acupuncture does not work.
Steven Zeitzew Bone Doc Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Feb. 4, 2009 at 3:39pm
* I predicted this (acupuncture is just barely more efficient than sticking needles randomly as an anesthetic), in that causing a lot of little pain will release endorphins and thereby soothe pain systemically. This really is nothing new, but hopefully coming from a reputable source people will finally see acupuncture for what it is. :)
Good show!
Researchers in Denmark came to this conclusion, which they report in the Feb. 7 British Medical Journal, after analyzing 13 studies in which people received real acupuncture, sham acupuncture or standard pain treatments such as drugs. http://Louis1J1Sheehan1Esquire.us
The studies enrolled 3,025 people in all. In each, the participants were randomly assigned to get one of the three therapies. Decreases in pain, if any, were recorded using standard pain scales.
On average, people getting acupuncture or sham acupuncture — in which needles are stuck into body areas not targeted by acupuncturists — sensed a clear decrease in pain, whereas those getting standard care sensed considerably less improvement. http://Louis1J1Sheehan1Esquire.us People getting real acupuncture reported a little more pain relief than those getting the sham needle sticks, but this slight difference was insignificant from a clinical perspective, says study coauthor Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, a physician and epidemiologist at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.
The value of acupuncture in this meta-analysis might have been diluted somewhat by the study design, says physician Adrian White of the University of Plymouth in England. http://Louis1J1Sheehan1Esquire.usFor example, some of the studies in this analysis centered on sore backs and knee pain from osteoarthritis, areas in which acupuncture has a positive track record, he says. But the overall value of acupuncture for pain might have been lessened by the inclusion of studies of people with headaches, a group in which acupuncture hasn’t performed well, he says.
Of course, he concedes, “this was done because acupuncturists argue they can treat any kind of condition.”
Acupuncture purports to hit key spots along channels called meridians that run throughout the body. But the narrow difference in the findings of sham needle sticks and real acupuncture raises the question of how acupuncture works.
The placebo effect, in which patients get some benefit from a fake treatment because they assume it is real, probably plays a role in acupuncture and may explain some of the sham acupuncture benefit, says Andrea Furlan, a physician and pain researcher at the University of Toronto and the Institute for Work & Health, also in Toronto. But the placebo effect is unlikely to account for all the pain reduction, she says. “There might be physiological changes” brought on as needle sticks affect the nervous system, she says.
The experience of undergoing the ritual of acupuncture also influences the therapy’s effectiveness, she says. “Belief is a big part of this,” says Furlan, a trained acupuncturist who no longer practices.
Only a few decades ago, most Western doctors had little regard for acupuncture. Now, that viewpoint is more mixed. Insurance companies in some countries even reimburse for its costs — for certain health problems.
“Complimentary or alternative therapies often provoke a division into believers and nonbelievers,” says Hróbjartsson. “That is also the case with acupuncture, though in acupuncture, in my view, a strict division is too simplistic. There are moderate skeptics and moderate believers.”
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Comments 4
* Carroll Cristie, I should have come back to the page sooner. I think one must conclude that if there is no difference between sham and experimental treatment, but both are different than the "standard" control, that there is a confounding factor. It would be more fruitful to investigate the nature of the apparently beneficial therapeutic environment, interaction, or conditioned response in order to understand it, study it, and if appropriate later incorporate it into other treatment with scientific evidence of efficacy. If we can identify the other factors that can contribute to a beneficial response then we can take advantage of them in providing improved care to our patients. We must also hold all of our treatments up to the same standards. If a treatment is not better than placebo it should not be offered. This should apply equally to pharmaceuticals, and other treatments, conventional or not.
There are varieties of known and well studied causes of conditioned responses, such as salivating in Pavlov's dogs which are not caused by the inciting factor (the bell ringing) but rather, are caused by the conditioning of the dog. (And one wouldn't conclude that the correct response to the dog's hunger would be bell ringing instead of feeding). This type of conditioning explains the physiologic response to stimuli such as packaging, pill color, the interaction with the caregiver, and probably the results of this study. Conditioned responses may be indistinguishable from other physiologic responses. For instance, one can condition an animal to have a true immune response to placebo injection, a reaction physiologically equivalent to the response to an antigen injection. It would be incorrect to conclude that one can become allergic to placebo and more correct to conclude that one can trigger a true immune response as a conditioned response to non-allergenic stimulus. It is exactly this bias and confounding effect that a placebo is designed to control for, and it is the reason that a placebo-controlled study is less bias prone than a "no treatment" or "standard treatment" control group study.
Steven Zeitzew Steven Zeitzew
Apr. 2, 2009 at 11:04am
* In reply to both Sven G and Bone Doc's comments, the article also states: "...whereas those getting standard care sensed considerably less improvement." Does this mean people should see standard pharmacological treatment for what "it really is"?
Many drugs which are currently used in hospital care do not have a clear mechanism of action. Not understanding these mechanisms nor having solid proofs does not negate a particular therapy.
Carroll Christie Carroll Christie
Feb. 8, 2009 at 7:17am
* The reason these experiments are designed to compare acupuncture with sham acupuncture is to control for confounding factors (the scientific justification of using a placebo group). The fact that there is no difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture is scientific evidence that there is no therapeutic effect of acupuncture whatsoever and that acupuncture is equivalent to the placebo (sham acupuncture) in this experiment. This experimental result is therefore evidence that there is no therapeutic effect from acupuncture and that the observed effects are due to confounding factors. One must therefore conclude that there is not sufficient evidence of efficacy with acupuncture to justify the known risks of that treatment.
When you stated, "Acupuncture purports to hit key spots along channels called meridians that run throughout the body" you neglected to note that there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that these channels or meridians even exist. This study does not raise "the question of how acupuncture works", it is evidence that acupuncture does not work.
Steven Zeitzew Bone Doc Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Feb. 4, 2009 at 3:39pm
* I predicted this (acupuncture is just barely more efficient than sticking needles randomly as an anesthetic), in that causing a lot of little pain will release endorphins and thereby soothe pain systemically. This really is nothing new, but hopefully coming from a reputable source people will finally see acupuncture for what it is. :)
Good show!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
food 5.foo.1.0 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire. High concentrations of a chemical used in the production of well-known nonstick surfaces have turned up in people living near a Teflon-manufacturing plant in West Virginia. The data emerge from the first government-sponsored epidemiological study of the chemical, known both as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and C-8. http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/purposeforporpoise
Since 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency has been investigating potential risks of this very persistent compound. Once in the environment, it doesn't appear to break down—ever. Trace amounts have shown up in the blood of most U.S. residents tested, although EPA has yet to identify the source. The agency has posted information on its Web site indicating that "PFOA can cause developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals," including cancer. http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/purposeforporpoise
One source of PFOA in blood that DuPont researchers have all but ruled out is Teflon-coated cookware. In a new study, researchers found that PFOA residues were "not detected in over 40 extraction tests on nonstick cookware under test conditions simulating cooking and prolonged food or consumer contact." That same study, in the June 1 Environmental Science & Technology, did find leaching of PFOA from certain stain-guard treatments of carpeting and upholstery, suggesting that some consumer products might be notable environmental sources of the chemical.
The new study measured blood concentrations of PFOA in 326 people from four communities in southeastern Ohio, across the river from DuPont's Teflon-making Washington (W.Va.) Works facility. Average blood concentrations of PFOA in the communities ranged from 298 to 369 parts per billion (ppb). These amounts are more than 60 times those found in most people, notes study leader Edward A. Emmett, a physician and toxicologist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In general, the new study by Emmett's team found that PFOA concentrations in an individual's blood tended to be about 105 times that in the water that the person had been drinking.
Owing to the limited number of people examined for the study, the researchers made no effort to look for a possible elevation in rates of cancer or birth defects among the study volunteers, Emmett says. However, his team did look for, and failed to find, an increased incidence of liver, kidney, or thyroid disease. Finding no indication of liver disease in these people "may be somewhat comforting" because lab rats treated with PFOA develop liver toxicity before developing liver tumors.
Water wells serving all four communities are contaminated with PFOA from the Teflon plant, notes EPA. Indeed, the agency possesses data from DuPont indicating PFOA contamination for more than 2 decades in the water supplies serving several West Virginia and Ohio communities. Although two of the Ohio communities are close enough to the plant to be affected by air emissions of the chemical, if they occur, blood concentrations of PFOA were actually a bit higher in people from the more-distant communities. This observation argues strongly "that the major source of the C-8 [PFOA] in the residents' bodies is the contaminated water," Emmett says. Further strengthening that conclusion, his team found that people who regularly drank bottled, cistern, or spring water had a median blood concentration of only 55 ppb PFOA in their blood.
At an Aug. 15 town hall meeting, Emmett told residents of the four Ohio communities: "I urge parents within the study area to consider taking appropriate measures to reduce C-8 levels in their children's blood," such as by switching to bottled water for all drinking, cooking, and tooth brushing. Owing to the pollutant's capability of causing problems such as birth abnormalities in lab animals, Emmett advised "the same precaution for pregnant women and women of child-bearing age who may wish to become pregnant."
The Little Hocking (Ohio) Water Association provides tap water to an Ohio water district including most of the people who participated in Emmett's study for more than a year. This water association had asked DuPont to provide PFOA-free water to people living near the Teflon plant, notes Robert L. Griffin, general manager of the water association. The Teflon maker refused to do so, he says, until just hours before Emmett reported his team's new PFOA data to the four communities with residents in the study.
DuPont has pledged to supply coupons for free bottled water to the 4,300 Ohio households that Griffin's company serves. Griffin says DuPont has agreed to supply this water—for drinking and cooking only—until the Teflon maker builds a water-treatment facility that can filter PFOA from the local drinking water.
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Enlargemagnify
DuPont has agreed to buy bottled water for some 12,000 residents whose tap water is contaminated with a pollutant from the company's Teflon-making factory.
Water worries
The Little Hocking water district and five others nearby—serving some 80,000 people—have turned up PFOA groundwater pollution linked to DuPont's Teflon operations. Little Hocking's 12,000 customers have the most-polluted tap water and are the only ones now slated to get the bottled-water coupons.
In a report to the company's customers, last year, Griffin reported that his water association had "learned... [that] DuPont, in the late 1980s or early 1990s, established a 'community exposure guideline' for C-8 of 1 ppb." EPA has also cited that internal-company guideline. Currently, no state or federal limit exists for the pollutant, Griffin notes, although West Virginia has published a recommended guideline for PFOA in water of 150 ppb. Although PFOA contamination from the Teflon-manufacturing plant affecting the other five water districts do not exceed 1 ppb, Griffin says that Little Hocking tap water "has been as high as 7.2 ppb." His company decommissioned one well because it was producing water with 18.6 ppb, and Griffin told Science News Online that a known plume of PFOA in groundwater could eventually taint the district's wells with significantly higher concentrations of the chemical.
EPA has charged DuPont with knowing about its PFOA-water-pollution problem for decades but neglecting to report it to EPA. The company has argued that it had no legal obligation to do so. Last year, EPA charged that DuPont's failure to report the PFOA pollution of water outside its plant and substantial concentrations of the Teflon chemical in workers' blood violated the Toxic Substances Control Act (SN: 7/31/04, p. 78).
This past Feb. 28, a judge approved a $107.6 million settlement of a 3-year-old class action suit against DuPont by residents near the Washington Works over the water pollution. As part of that accord, the company agreed to build "state-of-the-art water treatment systems" for the water districts—including Little Hocking.
DuPont also pledged to provide the same technology or its equivalent to residents in the affected communities who rely on private wells as their sole source of drinking water. The settlement also will fund an independent study to see whether PFOA is toxic to people and to conduct long-term health monitoring of residents that had received water from the six tainted community-water systems.
Data to date
A person's body readily absorbs PFOA but doesn't readily excrete it, says Tim Kropp, a toxicologist with the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group that has been unearthing documents on the health effects and environmental fate of nonstick chemicals. PFOA's half-life in the body is 4.4 years. What that means, Kropp says, is that even if no additional PFOA exposure occurred, the body "would take about 2 decades to get rid of about 99 percent of it."
In Emmett's study, among people living near the DuPont plant but not working there, young children and older adults tended to have the highest body burdens of the pollutant. For instance, although the median PFOA concentrations was 320 ppb in women and 346 ppb in men, the median among children under 6 was around 500 ppb, and concentrations in some 25 percent of them exceeded 800 ppb. Similarly, the median for people over 60 was 500 ppb but many had blood concentrations "in the thousands," Emmett says. That's bad news, he said at the town hall meeting in Ohio, because these are the most physically vulnerable segments of society.
Another apparent at-risk group: people who eat lots of homegrown produce. Emmett's team found that among Little Hocking water users, those who ate no homegrown fruits and vegetables had median PFOA concentrations of 295 ppb. However, those eating up to 20 servings per week of garden produce had median concentrations of 420 ppb, and the value climbed to 469 ppb for those who ate even more home-grown fruits and veggies.
Whatever the reason for this association, he notes, from a public health standpoint, it's worrisome. That's because physicians and nutritionists typically urge people—especially children and the elderly—to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Concludes Emmett, West Virginia's "so-called 'safe level' of C-8 of 150 ppb in water may need revision" in light of the high concentrations of this pollutant showing up in people exposed to concentrations of only 2 to 7 ppb. With the body's accumulation of the pollutant witnessed in this study, one might expect ingestion of water tainted with 150 ppb PFOA to result in blood concentrations of around 15,000 ppb, says Emmett, "and we simply don't know those levels are safe." Indeed, he adds, his study can't confirm that even the much-lower concentrations seen in Little Hocking residents are safe.
"This study shows that workers are not the only population at risk from PFOA," says Jane Houlihan, who is vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group. "Even trace amounts in water pose risks to residential communities—especially their children and seniors."
Dupont: little concern
In a statement issued by DuPont, its Washington Works manager Bill Hopkins said: "We want to provide residents of the Little Hocking community with the same assurance we have given our own employees—that based on research of DuPont and [others], no human health effects are known to be caused by exposure to PFOA." Hopkins acknowledged in the statement that Emmett's study "raises important questions" about the long-term implications of these exposures. However, he said that DuPont is confident that such issues will be resolved by an independent science panel that was created earlier this year as part of the lawsuit that it settled with area residents.
In February, the company began its own health study of residents near the Teflon factory, probing for signs of any PFOA-triggered disease.http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/purposeforporpoise
It complements a company study of workers already under way at the Washington Works facility. The first wave of findings from the workers study, reported by the company in January, found no hint of PFOA-related liver disease or cancer. The only apparent adverse impact: a 10 percent elevation in total cholesterol (mostly due to a rise in the so-called bad, low-density lipoprotein fraction) and a rise in blood triglycerides. Both of these changes were seen only in very heavily exposed individuals, people with blood concentrations of PFOA greater than 1,000 ppb.
Finally, DuPont notes that PFOA exposure to community residents should begin falling. The company says it has cut PFOA releases from its Washington Works by 98 percent over the past 6 years and is "aggressively installing" the water-treatment facilities it promised as part of the class-action settlement earlier this year. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.
Since 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency has been investigating potential risks of this very persistent compound. Once in the environment, it doesn't appear to break down—ever. Trace amounts have shown up in the blood of most U.S. residents tested, although EPA has yet to identify the source. The agency has posted information on its Web site indicating that "PFOA can cause developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals," including cancer. http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/purposeforporpoise
One source of PFOA in blood that DuPont researchers have all but ruled out is Teflon-coated cookware. In a new study, researchers found that PFOA residues were "not detected in over 40 extraction tests on nonstick cookware under test conditions simulating cooking and prolonged food or consumer contact." That same study, in the June 1 Environmental Science & Technology, did find leaching of PFOA from certain stain-guard treatments of carpeting and upholstery, suggesting that some consumer products might be notable environmental sources of the chemical.
The new study measured blood concentrations of PFOA in 326 people from four communities in southeastern Ohio, across the river from DuPont's Teflon-making Washington (W.Va.) Works facility. Average blood concentrations of PFOA in the communities ranged from 298 to 369 parts per billion (ppb). These amounts are more than 60 times those found in most people, notes study leader Edward A. Emmett, a physician and toxicologist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In general, the new study by Emmett's team found that PFOA concentrations in an individual's blood tended to be about 105 times that in the water that the person had been drinking.
Owing to the limited number of people examined for the study, the researchers made no effort to look for a possible elevation in rates of cancer or birth defects among the study volunteers, Emmett says. However, his team did look for, and failed to find, an increased incidence of liver, kidney, or thyroid disease. Finding no indication of liver disease in these people "may be somewhat comforting" because lab rats treated with PFOA develop liver toxicity before developing liver tumors.
Water wells serving all four communities are contaminated with PFOA from the Teflon plant, notes EPA. Indeed, the agency possesses data from DuPont indicating PFOA contamination for more than 2 decades in the water supplies serving several West Virginia and Ohio communities. Although two of the Ohio communities are close enough to the plant to be affected by air emissions of the chemical, if they occur, blood concentrations of PFOA were actually a bit higher in people from the more-distant communities. This observation argues strongly "that the major source of the C-8 [PFOA] in the residents' bodies is the contaminated water," Emmett says. Further strengthening that conclusion, his team found that people who regularly drank bottled, cistern, or spring water had a median blood concentration of only 55 ppb PFOA in their blood.
At an Aug. 15 town hall meeting, Emmett told residents of the four Ohio communities: "I urge parents within the study area to consider taking appropriate measures to reduce C-8 levels in their children's blood," such as by switching to bottled water for all drinking, cooking, and tooth brushing. Owing to the pollutant's capability of causing problems such as birth abnormalities in lab animals, Emmett advised "the same precaution for pregnant women and women of child-bearing age who may wish to become pregnant."
The Little Hocking (Ohio) Water Association provides tap water to an Ohio water district including most of the people who participated in Emmett's study for more than a year. This water association had asked DuPont to provide PFOA-free water to people living near the Teflon plant, notes Robert L. Griffin, general manager of the water association. The Teflon maker refused to do so, he says, until just hours before Emmett reported his team's new PFOA data to the four communities with residents in the study.
DuPont has pledged to supply coupons for free bottled water to the 4,300 Ohio households that Griffin's company serves. Griffin says DuPont has agreed to supply this water—for drinking and cooking only—until the Teflon maker builds a water-treatment facility that can filter PFOA from the local drinking water.
access
Enlargemagnify
DuPont has agreed to buy bottled water for some 12,000 residents whose tap water is contaminated with a pollutant from the company's Teflon-making factory.
Water worries
The Little Hocking water district and five others nearby—serving some 80,000 people—have turned up PFOA groundwater pollution linked to DuPont's Teflon operations. Little Hocking's 12,000 customers have the most-polluted tap water and are the only ones now slated to get the bottled-water coupons.
In a report to the company's customers, last year, Griffin reported that his water association had "learned... [that] DuPont, in the late 1980s or early 1990s, established a 'community exposure guideline' for C-8 of 1 ppb." EPA has also cited that internal-company guideline. Currently, no state or federal limit exists for the pollutant, Griffin notes, although West Virginia has published a recommended guideline for PFOA in water of 150 ppb. Although PFOA contamination from the Teflon-manufacturing plant affecting the other five water districts do not exceed 1 ppb, Griffin says that Little Hocking tap water "has been as high as 7.2 ppb." His company decommissioned one well because it was producing water with 18.6 ppb, and Griffin told Science News Online that a known plume of PFOA in groundwater could eventually taint the district's wells with significantly higher concentrations of the chemical.
EPA has charged DuPont with knowing about its PFOA-water-pollution problem for decades but neglecting to report it to EPA. The company has argued that it had no legal obligation to do so. Last year, EPA charged that DuPont's failure to report the PFOA pollution of water outside its plant and substantial concentrations of the Teflon chemical in workers' blood violated the Toxic Substances Control Act (SN: 7/31/04, p. 78).
This past Feb. 28, a judge approved a $107.6 million settlement of a 3-year-old class action suit against DuPont by residents near the Washington Works over the water pollution. As part of that accord, the company agreed to build "state-of-the-art water treatment systems" for the water districts—including Little Hocking.
DuPont also pledged to provide the same technology or its equivalent to residents in the affected communities who rely on private wells as their sole source of drinking water. The settlement also will fund an independent study to see whether PFOA is toxic to people and to conduct long-term health monitoring of residents that had received water from the six tainted community-water systems.
Data to date
A person's body readily absorbs PFOA but doesn't readily excrete it, says Tim Kropp, a toxicologist with the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group that has been unearthing documents on the health effects and environmental fate of nonstick chemicals. PFOA's half-life in the body is 4.4 years. What that means, Kropp says, is that even if no additional PFOA exposure occurred, the body "would take about 2 decades to get rid of about 99 percent of it."
In Emmett's study, among people living near the DuPont plant but not working there, young children and older adults tended to have the highest body burdens of the pollutant. For instance, although the median PFOA concentrations was 320 ppb in women and 346 ppb in men, the median among children under 6 was around 500 ppb, and concentrations in some 25 percent of them exceeded 800 ppb. Similarly, the median for people over 60 was 500 ppb but many had blood concentrations "in the thousands," Emmett says. That's bad news, he said at the town hall meeting in Ohio, because these are the most physically vulnerable segments of society.
Another apparent at-risk group: people who eat lots of homegrown produce. Emmett's team found that among Little Hocking water users, those who ate no homegrown fruits and vegetables had median PFOA concentrations of 295 ppb. However, those eating up to 20 servings per week of garden produce had median concentrations of 420 ppb, and the value climbed to 469 ppb for those who ate even more home-grown fruits and veggies.
Whatever the reason for this association, he notes, from a public health standpoint, it's worrisome. That's because physicians and nutritionists typically urge people—especially children and the elderly—to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Concludes Emmett, West Virginia's "so-called 'safe level' of C-8 of 150 ppb in water may need revision" in light of the high concentrations of this pollutant showing up in people exposed to concentrations of only 2 to 7 ppb. With the body's accumulation of the pollutant witnessed in this study, one might expect ingestion of water tainted with 150 ppb PFOA to result in blood concentrations of around 15,000 ppb, says Emmett, "and we simply don't know those levels are safe." Indeed, he adds, his study can't confirm that even the much-lower concentrations seen in Little Hocking residents are safe.
"This study shows that workers are not the only population at risk from PFOA," says Jane Houlihan, who is vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group. "Even trace amounts in water pose risks to residential communities—especially their children and seniors."
Dupont: little concern
In a statement issued by DuPont, its Washington Works manager Bill Hopkins said: "We want to provide residents of the Little Hocking community with the same assurance we have given our own employees—that based on research of DuPont and [others], no human health effects are known to be caused by exposure to PFOA." Hopkins acknowledged in the statement that Emmett's study "raises important questions" about the long-term implications of these exposures. However, he said that DuPont is confident that such issues will be resolved by an independent science panel that was created earlier this year as part of the lawsuit that it settled with area residents.
In February, the company began its own health study of residents near the Teflon factory, probing for signs of any PFOA-triggered disease.http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/purposeforporpoise
It complements a company study of workers already under way at the Washington Works facility. The first wave of findings from the workers study, reported by the company in January, found no hint of PFOA-related liver disease or cancer. The only apparent adverse impact: a 10 percent elevation in total cholesterol (mostly due to a rise in the so-called bad, low-density lipoprotein fraction) and a rise in blood triglycerides. Both of these changes were seen only in very heavily exposed individuals, people with blood concentrations of PFOA greater than 1,000 ppb.
Finally, DuPont notes that PFOA exposure to community residents should begin falling. The company says it has cut PFOA releases from its Washington Works by 98 percent over the past 6 years and is "aggressively installing" the water-treatment facilities it promised as part of the class-action settlement earlier this year. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
pfa 4.pfa.00010002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Mechanicsburg man seeks PFA against former cop
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
BY MATT MILLER
Of Our Cumberland County Bureau
Former Harrisburg police officer Leslie Brown's ex-lover testified Tuesday that the ex-cop stalked him for months after he ended their affair last January.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
Brown, who resigned from the police force in October, flattened tires on his vehicles and committed petty vandalism at his Mechanicsburg home, William T. Holloway told Cumberland County Judge Kevin A. Hess during a hearing on his request for a protection from abuse order.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
Brown drove past his house hundreds of times, left threatening messages and once vomited on his back door, Holloway said.
Holloway presented surveillance photographs and testimony from two neighbors who said Brown had been on his property, even though he said he repeatedly told her to stay away.
Some photos showed Brown, 39, of Hampden Twp., in her police uniform.
Brown denied harassing Holloway. She admitted leaving him notes, sometimes asking to renew their romance, but insisted her contacts were benign.
Hess didn't believe her.
"This is bizarre behavior that would cause fear in any normal person," the judge said.
Hess granted the PFA, barring Brown from having contact with Holloway for three years.
If she violates the order, she could go to jail.
Holloway, 55, who is separated from his wife, said he sought a PFA on the advice of Harrisburg police.
Holloway said he began filing complaints with Mechanicsburg police last spring about the alleged harassment.
Harrisburg police became insistent about him securing a PFA when Brown, a 13-year veteran of the city force, resigned Oct. 23, Holloway said.
"I was told ... that I should be watching my back," he said.
Holloway said Brown left him phone or text messages -- including one that read "You better hide" -- and repeatedly called and hung up.
Under questioning by Brown's attorney, Jacob Jividen, Holloway conceded he had no proof Brown was behind some of the vandalism.
But Holloway said she kept harassing him after he sought the PFA, even though his PFA petition triggered a temporary order barring contact.
He said that within the last few days he received an unsigned note that read, "I still love you," that he believes was from Brown.
Brown, who works as a hospital medical technician, claimed that after their break-up, Holloway deliberately showed up at places she frequented.
"Did you ever make any threats to [Holloway's] life or safety?" Jividen asked.
"No," Brown said.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
Hess, however, said he concluded that Brown is "in total denial of the situation."
MATT MILLER: 249-2006 or mmiller@patriot-news.com
©2009 Patriot-News
© 2009 PennLive.com All Rights Reserved. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
BY MATT MILLER
Of Our Cumberland County Bureau
Former Harrisburg police officer Leslie Brown's ex-lover testified Tuesday that the ex-cop stalked him for months after he ended their affair last January.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
Brown, who resigned from the police force in October, flattened tires on his vehicles and committed petty vandalism at his Mechanicsburg home, William T. Holloway told Cumberland County Judge Kevin A. Hess during a hearing on his request for a protection from abuse order.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
Brown drove past his house hundreds of times, left threatening messages and once vomited on his back door, Holloway said.
Holloway presented surveillance photographs and testimony from two neighbors who said Brown had been on his property, even though he said he repeatedly told her to stay away.
Some photos showed Brown, 39, of Hampden Twp., in her police uniform.
Brown denied harassing Holloway. She admitted leaving him notes, sometimes asking to renew their romance, but insisted her contacts were benign.
Hess didn't believe her.
"This is bizarre behavior that would cause fear in any normal person," the judge said.
Hess granted the PFA, barring Brown from having contact with Holloway for three years.
If she violates the order, she could go to jail.
Holloway, 55, who is separated from his wife, said he sought a PFA on the advice of Harrisburg police.
Holloway said he began filing complaints with Mechanicsburg police last spring about the alleged harassment.
Harrisburg police became insistent about him securing a PFA when Brown, a 13-year veteran of the city force, resigned Oct. 23, Holloway said.
"I was told ... that I should be watching my back," he said.
Holloway said Brown left him phone or text messages -- including one that read "You better hide" -- and repeatedly called and hung up.
Under questioning by Brown's attorney, Jacob Jividen, Holloway conceded he had no proof Brown was behind some of the vandalism.
But Holloway said she kept harassing him after he sought the PFA, even though his PFA petition triggered a temporary order barring contact.
He said that within the last few days he received an unsigned note that read, "I still love you," that he believes was from Brown.
Brown, who works as a hospital medical technician, claimed that after their break-up, Holloway deliberately showed up at places she frequented.
"Did you ever make any threats to [Holloway's] life or safety?" Jividen asked.
"No," Brown said.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
Hess, however, said he concluded that Brown is "in total denial of the situation."
MATT MILLER: 249-2006 or mmiller@patriot-news.com
©2009 Patriot-News
© 2009 PennLive.com All Rights Reserved. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
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