The Advances of Humane Science
Animal studies do not produce breakthrough innovative treatments. Instead, they inhibit creativity by encouraging researchers to retest the same old drugs in new animal experiments. Animal researchers continue to test popular medications, such as Prozac and Paxil, on rats, dogs, and monkeys who have been subjected to physical shocks and on mice, rats, and other animals who have been forced to swim, etc.—the list goes on and on. Researchers can complete an entire career without ever investigating a new treatment. In contrast, the following examples of breakthrough epidemiology and clinical investigations show the kinds of pioneering work that occur when animal testing is abandoned.
Exercise and Depression
A clinical study at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center has shown that exercise can be as effective as antidepressant use in treating mild or moderate depression. The researchers studied adults between the ages of 20 and 45 and found that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three to five times a week reduced their depressive symptoms by nearly 50 percent—a result comparable to antidepressant drug effects. Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, the director of UT Southwestern’s mood disorder research program, stated, “Numerous effective treatments for depression are available, yet many people don’t seek treatments for depression because of the negative social stigma still associated with the disease. Exercise may offer a viable treatment alternative, particularly as it can be recommended for most individuals.” Even more attractive is the possibility of treating depression without the side effects associated with taking mind-altering pharmaceuticals.25
The Power of Love
Findings from a Virginia Commonwealth University study suggest that loving support wards off depression in women but not in men. The study looked at 1,000 pairs of fraternal twins—thereby controlling for differences in genetics and childhood environments, while providing a statistically impressive sample size. The study’s lead author, Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler, a professor of psychiatry and human genetics, summarized the results by stating, “In women, social support was a robust predictor of risk for depression.” Furthermore, Kendler states, “Women who saw themselves as more loved and cared for and objectively well integrated in positive social groups were well protected against later episodes of major depression.” Conversely, men showed no significant correlation between social support and depression, suggesting that gender plays a key role in the development of the disorder—a fact that is hidden from researchers by the limitations of animal tests.26
Bright Research
Exposure to bright light can also be as effective as antidepressant drugs in treating some depressed patients, according to a statistical review of 20 rigorously designed studies published in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Dr. Robert N. Golden, professor and chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, stated that “the data are actually very impressive,” supporting the efficacy of treating depression with light. The positive effects noted in the studies were not limited to individuals suffering from seasonal affective disorder—depression that is linked to the darkness of the winter season. It remains to be seen how broad-spectrum light therapy most effectively works, but light therapy potentially offers an alternative to drug therapies and their side effects.27
Proven Herbal Remedy
An herbal extract of St. John’s wort proved more effective in treating depression than the popular antidepressant Paxil in a German clinical trial. Depressed patients were randomly assigned to receive either Paxil or the extract for six weeks. Half of the patients taking the extract reported improvements in their conditions, while only one-third of the patients taking Paxil reported improvements. Additionally, patients taking the St. John’s wort extract showed fewer side effects, including less stomach irritation. St. John’s wort has long been touted for its ability to improve the symptoms of mood disorders—thus, this study is a clear example of clinical science confirming knowledge that has been suggested by human observation.28
Those involved in “mainstream” science are increasingly realizing that traditional holistic and preventative cures are based on reliable medical knowledge. Instead of randomly testing substances on animals, scientists can study what different cultures, including our own, have long known. For example, derivatives of willow bark have been used medicinally for at least 2,000 years, and the pharmaceutical company Bayer used that knowledge to create the first-ever mass-produced drug—aspirin. In the same way, scientists today continue to discover breakthrough medications and supplements by tapping thousands of years of holistic medicinal knowledge. Animal research continues to be cruel and unnecessary.
25.HealthDay, “Exercise Can Ease Depression,” 30 Jan. 2005 <http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97
&u=/hsn/20050131/hl_hsn/exercisecanea.>.
26. HealthDay.
27. Nicholas Bakalar, “Therapy: Lighting Up a Life, Literally,” The New York Times 19 Apr. 2005.
28. Yahoo!News, “Herbal Remedy as Good as Drug for Depression: Study,” 11 Feb. 2005.
