In article <00ff01be1d84$8cd042e0$3802bcc3@eleanor-tom>, dated Tue, 1
Dec 1998 at 23:31:20, John Caldwell <[log in to unmask]> writes
>Is anyone on the list aware of any evidence for such a connection, and if so
>could you pass on the details?

Further to my original reply I only just remembered to check BBC News
Online.

Wednesday, November 11, 1998 Published at 11:27 GMT

Doctors warn on sheep dip

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid%5F211000/211513.stm

By Environment Correspondent Alex Kirby 

People exposed to organophosphate (OP) sheep dips can suffer "genuine
and often very severe symptoms", according to new research.

A report by the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists says
sufferers must be taken seriously and treated sympathetically by
doctors.

The report follows the establishment of a working party early last year
at the request of the then Chief Medical Officer.

It set its own terms of reference: to advise on the clinical management
of patients with the symptoms of chronic OP exposure, and to review any
new evidence about them. 

The group heard about symptoms including excessive tiredness, headaches,
limb pains, disturbed sleep, poor concentration, mood changes, and
thoughts of suicide.

It was also told that patients felt strongly they had not been looked
after properly by hospitals and doctors.

Cause still unknown

Crucially, though, it did not look at the way that OPs do their damage,
saying only that "further studies will be needed to understand the cause
of these symptoms".

OPs are ferociously strong pesticides, derived from the nerve gases used
by the Nazis in the World War II.

>From 1976 until 1992, sheep farmers were obliged by law to use them to
eradicate pests from their animals.

Even those who took the precautions recommended (such as wearing
protective clothing) say they were often ill after dipping.

The report criticises the care available to sufferers with the
conclusion: "Existing clinical services do not, in the main, provide
satisfactory management."

It urges doctors to take patients seriously and to be open-minded.

GPs should usually be responsible for sufferers, according to the
report, and it may be helpful to set up groups of specialists to form
"centres of excellence".

Professor John Newsom-Davis, chairman of the joint working party, said:
"I hope that this report will result in greatly improved medical care
for those unfortunate sufferers from OP sheep dip exposure and that it
will prompt further research."

Committee member Professor David London said: "We found there was a
large group of people who were getting symptoms having been exposed to
organophosphate sheep dip and the management of these people was really
not very satisfactory."

Chief medical officer Professor Liam Donaldson said: "The working
party's recommendations will be of considerable interest to a number of
government departments."

He said the report would now be studied carefully by the Committee of
Toxicity's Working Group on Organophosphates, and would be sent to
relevant expert committees for further consideration

Professor Donaldson said he had also asked the Department of Health to
open immediate discussions with the directors of the National Poisons
Information Service on the report's recommendations that specialist
advice should be set up in areas where it currently does not exist.

Improved support for GPs who have patients sufferng from related
illnesses should be discussed, Professor Donaldson added.

"Government funded research is already under way to establish
scientifically whether there is a link between prolonged low-level
exposure to OP sheep dips and ill health," he said.

Critics see flaws

The OP Information Network is in touch with almost 700 sufferers. It
sent material to the working party, but decided not to give oral
evidence.

OPIN's Liz Sigmund said: "We are unhappy with this report, because it
did not look at how the symptoms are caused.

"Nor does it address the problem that many GPs just do not know the
symptoms of chronic OP poisoning.

"And some of our contacts know that several of its recommendations -
like using antidepressants above a very low dosage and techniques to
improve memory and speech - are not just useless. They can be positively
harmful."

OPIN is also "very concerned" that the working party did not look at
reported cases of problems among children of farming families. It knows
of 22 such children.

Ms Sigmund said: "They have severe cognitive and behavioural problems.
They could have been caused by direct exposure to OPs.

"Or they might be the consequence of damage in the womb, or even of
genetic damage to the father. We just do not know".

OPs are no longer compulsory for dipping sheep. But they are used in
other products such as some flypapers, flea collars for animals, and
anti-lice shampoos for use on children's heads.

OPIN says it knows of at least one sufferer from OP poisoning who was
prescribed eyedrops containing OPs, to treat suspected glaucoma.

Dr Bob Davies, a consultant psychiatrist practising in Somerset, has
seen many OP sufferers over the last five years.

Dr Davies, himself a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, says
the report is "not bad, but weak".

"They held their hearings behind closed doors and they did not look at
how the damage is caused. That is a fundamental weakness.

"The key to understanding OPs is to know how they hit the brain at the
most basic level".

"It is not a psychiatric problem. It is a chemical one." 

Although some farmers are calling for a blanket ban on OPs, Larry Cooke
of the National Farmers Union said this would not be practical unless
something else was available to eradicate pests from sheep flocks.

He said that if pests were allowed to proliferate it would have dire
consequences for sheep farmers and result in animals having to be put
down.
-- 
Chris Salter (Vice Chairman)             Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network
                    Registered Charity No. 1064177
          <URL:http://www.zynet.co.uk/ott/polio/lincolnshire/>
     Web Site & Vice Chairman Email: [log in to unmask]
           Honorary Secretary Email: [log in to unmask]
        Member of the British Healthcare Internet Association


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%