Sitting in the Bush, or Deliberate Idleness

In this essay, Sylvia Bowerbank describes wandering with her two dogs on her land on the edge of Beverly Swamp in Southern Ontario in an effort to cultivate Green habits and attitudes in her daily life

Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs fail to enhance healing of acute hamstring injuries treated with physiotherapy

The effects of two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), meclofenamate and diclofenac, in combination with physiotherapy modalities on the rate of healing of acute hamstring muscle tears were studied in a doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial. Forty-four of the 75 patients with this injury recruited were assessed and randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups: meclofenamate (100 mg 3 times a day), diclofenac (50 mg 3 times a day) and placebo. All patients received the same intensive physiotherapy treatment over the 7-day treatment period. Patient assessments were performed on days 1, 3 and 7 of the 7-day study period and included pain assessment (visual analogue scale), swelling measurement (thigh circumference measurement at the site of the muscle tear) and isokinetic muscle performance testing. Treatment produced a significant improvement in all measurements in all groups, but there was no difference in any measurement between groups. However, when only the more severe injuries were analysed, the reported pain score at day 7 was significantly lower in the placebo group than in either the  eclofenamate group or the diclofenac group (P < 0,05). Hence this study did not find any additive effect on the healing of acute muscle injuries when meclofenamate or diclofenac was added to standard physiotherapeutic modalities. The study therefore does not support the use of NSAIDs in the treatment of acute hamstring muscle injuries.S Afr Med J 1995; 85: 517-52

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of compounds from complex matrices

The aim of the work was to establish two methods for the analysis of 4 thyroid hormones and 18 plant toxins by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using electrospray ionisation (ESI). The developed and validated methods were then applied to samples, with a range of complex matrices, namely serum, simulated gastro-intestinal fluid, tablet formulation and plants, with sample preparation methods developed and validated for each. Thyroid disorders, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, are a common medical condition with diagnosis obtained via the analysis of thyroid hormones present within serum samples. Currently within the NHS analysis is performed using electrochemiluminescence to measure thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroxine and triiodothyronine. However, these methods have limited sensitivity and inaccuracies of 30% at the limit of detection. Therefore, diagnosis of hypothyroidism can often be missed with multiple medical visits being required. The developed method allows for the detection and qualification of 4 thyroid hormones, thyroxine, triiodothyronine, reverse triiodothyronine and diiodothyronine, using low resolution and high resolution mass spectrometry. The developed method showed significant improvements over the current NHS method with LOQs of 0.990 and precision of <3.8 %. A direct comparison between the development method and the current clinical method showed that the result obtained were comparable in terms of thyroid hormone levels detected. Allowing for LC-MS/MS to be a suitable, more reliable alternative for the detection and quantification of thyroid hormones. Plant toxins are a common cause of accidental poisoning with a range of symptoms including burns, nausea, convulsions, paralysis and even death. Many of the plants analysed in this study can be purchased from garden centres and online nurseries with little to no safety information provided. A method was developed for the analysis of 18 plant toxins, atropine, aconitine, capsaicin, cathinone, colchicine, coumarin, digitoxin, digoxin, hellebrin, 5-methoxypsoralen, 8-methpxypsoralen, psoralen, salvinorin A, scopolamine, solanine, strychnine, thujone and veratridine, based upon the plant availability. The developed method showed good linearity, r2 > 0.9952 and precision of <10.7 %. The analysis of the plant materials showed toxins consistent with information obtained from the head gardener at Alnwick Gardens, which holds the largest poison garden in the UK. A risk assessment for ingestion and dermal exposure was compared with the LD50 and it was found that Colchicum autumnale posed the greatest risk via ingestion with Atropa belladonna also posing significant risk via ingestion. The dermal risk was minimal; however, care should be taken in the case of dermal contact due to the presence of phototoxins present in plant such as Heracleum mantegazzianum