Limitations of the scientific basis for the management of air quality in urban New Zealand.

As enumerated by Ministry for the Environment, planned reductions in levels of air pollution in New Zealand sufficient to allow compliance with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality will save, in a cost-effective manner, numerous lives per year. However, as indicated by careful study of the literature and of the methods employed to perform the relevant calculations, such claims are flawed. Instead of a precise number of deaths avoided, small changes in regional life expectancy are a more likely tangible consequence of compliance and, as such, are better suited to assisting calculation of the associated benefits and costs. Some basic data relevant to communities and regions potentially susceptible to the effects of 'poor quality' or inclement air are provided. These support the view that urban air pollution as officially measured and normally encountered in New Zealand nowadays probably has comparatively small substantive mortality consequences.

Homeopathic prescribing for chronic conditions in feline and canine veterinary practice.

INTRODUCTION: The peer-review literature contains no controlled clinical research of homeopathy in cats and very little in dogs. MAIN OBJECTIVE: To collect clinical outcomes data systematically from individualised homeopathic treatment of cats and dogs that would help to inform controlled research in feline and canine homeopathy. METHODS: Twenty-one homeopathic veterinary surgeons recorded data systematically from consecutive feline and canine patients over a 12-month period. Records included: date; patient and owner identity (anonymised); medical problem treated; whether new or follow-up (FU) appointment; chronic or acute condition; owner-assessed clinical outcome (7-point scale, range -3 to +3) compared with first appointment. RESULTS: Data from 400 cats comprised a total of 372 individual chronic problems, of which 270 had FU assessment. Data from 1504 dogs comprised a total of 1408 individual chronic problems, of which 1070 had FU assessment. In both species, 22% of FUs in chronic cases received conventional medicines concurrently. In cats, 117 different chronic medical conditions in total were treated with homeopathy. Five of those conditions included ≥20 cases, in which owner-reported outcomes (in decreasing rank order of frequency) were: dermatitis (69.6% patients with +2 or +3 outcome, 0% patients with -2 or -3 outcome); renal failure (57.1%, 14.3%); overgrooming (57.1%, 7.2%); arthritis (80.0%, 0%); hyperthyroidism (66.7%, 0%). In dogs, of 301 different chronic medical conditions treated in total, those most commonly recorded (≥20 cases) were: dermatitis (66.2% with +2 or +3 outcome, 5.4% with -2 or -3 outcome); arthritis (80.2%, 0.8%); pyoderma (75.8%, 0%); colitis (85.2%, 0%); fear (31.6%, 0%); epilepsy (63.6%, 4.5%); otitis externa (72.7%, 0%); diarrhoea (68.2%, 0%); urinary incontinence (73.7%, 0%); aggression (57.1%, 0%); spondylosis (81.0%, 0%); lymphoma (40.0%, 6.7%). CONCLUSIONS: A programme of controlled research in veterinary homeopathy for these feline and canine conditions is clearly indicated.