What is science without compassion?
"Our generation's issue is food. We know there's a problem. There is no doubt whatsoever unhealthy food choices contribute to heart disease, cancer, not to mention backbreaking costs of healthcare and all kinds of personal tragedy. We are at this fork in the road. And the question is: shall we change course or not?"
- Neil Barnard
My darling younger sister who is currently studying to become a nurse at the Red Cross University in Stockholm, recently told me about this newly founded Swedish organization called 'Läkare för framtiden' or 'Doctors for the Future'. The organization was founded by a group of Swedish doctors and the main initiatior behind the organization is David Stenholtz (himself an M.D in oncology). Ofcourse I immediately became interested. Just the name in itself sparked my curiosity. The role model for the Swedish initiative is the American organization PCRM, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, with headquarters in Washington DC. Intreaged by this, I immediately went to the main organizations website in the U.S, I was overjoyed about their ethics and values and what drives them forward in science:
PCRM, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicinewas founded in 1985 by the physician Neal Barnard - who is still president - and currently has about 150 000 members, of which about 11 000 doctors.
PCRM promotes preventive medicine through innovative programs and has led the way for reforms of federal nutrition policies. The clinical research programs are breaking new ground in diabetes, cancer, and other serious conditions.
The PCRM oppose unethical human experiments. While great strides have been made in eliminating such experiments, problems remain. For example, children are still given synthetic growth hormone in experiments to make them taller, and both children and adults are exposed to unnecessary new drugs which have toxic effects.
The organization also promotes alternatives to animal research and animal testing and have worked to put a stop to gruesome experiments, such as the military’s cat-shooting studies, DEA narcotics experiments, and monkey self-mutilation projects. They also promote non-animal methods in medical education. Currently, more than three-quarters of all U.S. medical schools have dropped their animal labs for medical students.
I am so happy to share this knowledge with you because it is such a great source of information when it comes to nutrition, prevention of disease and health. I strongly believe that this is what science should be at present, and I am so happy some people feel the same.
And yey for the Swedish newly started organization, Go go go!!!
Check it out:
Sources:
http://www.pcrm.org/
http://www.pcrm.org/about/about/about-pcrm (11 minute video about what the PCRM do)
http://www.lakartidningen.se/Aktuellt/Nyheter/2013/10/Lakare-bildar-forening-for-kost-och-halsa/ (Swedish Doctors for the future)
