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  • From: "Ron & Ritchie Laymon" <laymon.1 AT osu.edu>
  • To: <Monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [monkeywire] Fw: Lab chimps show same stress symptoms as tortured human
  • Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 23:06:50 -0400


----- Original Message -----
From: Robin Russell
To: poetwill AT sbcglobal.net
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 5:16 PM
Subject: Lab chimps show same stress symptoms as tortured human
http://www.poetwill.org/primates_usage.htm
Lab chimps show same stress symptoms as tortured human
Published Date: 03 August 2008

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech/Lab-chimps-show-same-stress.4352535.jp

By Jeremy Watson

CHIMPANZEES subjected to laboratory experiments suffer similar levels of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as humans who have been tortured,
according to a new study.

The study, which will be presented to a scientific conference in Edinburgh
tomorrow, will fuel calls for a Europe-wide ban on the use of primates in
medical and pharmaceutical trials.

An assessment of the behaviour of 116 chimps involved in animal research
found that 95% displayed at least one of the distinctive patterns of
behaviour that humans show when suffering from PTSD.

Now living in a primate sanctuary in the US, the chimps showed symptoms of
depression, anxiety and compulsive behaviours not observed in wild
populations.

The study was carried out by American physician Hope Ferdowsian, who will
deliver the findings to an international primate conference at the Edinburgh
International Conference Centre.

Ferdowsian, who has evaluated the mental condition of human torture victims,
said: "The high prevalence of mental disorders we observed in these
chimpanzees offers a new reason to support proposals to stop using great apes
in laboratory experiments.

"We now know that a chimpanzee's mind and emotional well-being are affected
by experimentation in ways that parallel the psychological trauma experienced
by victims of torture and other forms of abuse."

Experimentation on chimpanzees is still allowed in the US, although there is
a ban already in place in the UK.

But Ferdowsian, director of research policy at the Physician's Committee for
Responsible Medicine, insisted that the findings would apply to all primates,
including monkeys.

Around 3,000 monkeys are still used for scientific trials - mainly for
research into human diseases such as Parkinson's, schizophrenia, obsessive
compulsive disorder, HIV and strokes - every year in the UK because of
similarities in brain physiology.

Last year, more than 800 monkeys died in laboratory experiments in Scottish
research centres.

Around Europe, 10,000 primates are used in experiments every year but some
members of the European Parliament are pressing for a ban.

One supporter of a ban is Scottish MEP David Martin, who called for the
development of alternatives.

"It is the failure to develop and validate modern non-animal tests that
perpetuates the reliance on out-dated animal experimentation, and when these
procedures are carried out on our closest animal relatives, people are
rightly appalled," he said.

A spokesman for the campaign group Advocates for Animals said: "There is huge
political and public support for a European ban on the use of great apes and
Dr Ferdowsian's research makes an already strong case unanswerable."

The full article contains 428 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday
newspaper.
Page 1 of 1


a.. Last Updated: 02 August 2008 8:34 PM
b.. Source: Scotland On Sunday
c.. Location: Scotland



  • [monkeywire] Fw: Lab chimps show same stress symptoms as tortured human, Ron & Ritchie Laymon, 08/06/2008

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