Read Heart Pill from Imperial College

Since May 2010, Imperial researchers have been recruiting 2,000 volunteers to participate in a study on a polypill. This polypill shall help people who have a heart condition and are at risk of stroke or heart attack. According the Reporter (Issue 220), Imperial's news magazine, the following aims are pursued:


-Reducing risk of cardiovascular problems by reducing blood pressure and lowering cholesterol,
-Combining medications in one,
-Enabling people in low-income countries to have access to cheap preventive medication,
-Allowing people easy preventive treatment.


The pill is to take once a day and contains aspirin in a low dose, a statin and blood pressure-lowering medication. Because of its all-in-one nature, it is expected to be much cheaper.


Seemingly, the cost effect is the main drive to this study. Generally, it is a noble intention, but hopefully people will not forget to live in such a way that heart medication is not needed in the first place.

Sozaboy?

The word 'Sozaboy' caught my attention as I was reading Felix, the Imperial College Student newspaper, published by the IC Student Union. Turns out that Sozaboy is the title of a book, written by Ken Saro-Wiwa and published in 1995. It is a shockingly realistic novel about the madness of war from the perspective of a young, naive Nigerian army recruit during the time of the Civil War (1967-1970) in Nigeria. The special language in which the book is written - called 'Rotten English' - gives the novel, touching upon already powerful, tragic topics such as genocide, war and human rights, effective messages and an extraordinary realism.

The author Ken Saro-Wiwa was not only a writer, but intellectual and human rights activist, fighting against multinational corporations which were after the oil of the Niger Delta. He was also one of the Ogoni people, decimated by genocide, which Saro-Wiwa denounced. In November 1995, he was hanged by Nigerian authorities after having been formally accused of inciting separation and riots. Informally though, the involvement of Royal Dutch Shell in the death of Saro-Wiwa is assumed and their innocence has not been proved fully.