12
Terra Sigillata
Category archives for 12
On the Origin of Witches, Broomsticks, and Flying
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on October 31, 2009 This post appeared here originally on 31 October 2007 Have you ever wondered, perhaps on 31 October, why witches are depicted as riding brooms? The answer is alluded to by Karmen Franklin at Chaotic Utopia in her post as to why witches need to know their plant biology. The excerpts I’m about to give you…
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath win 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on October 7, 2009 Welcome visitors coming from a recommendation by Dr Carmen Drahl at C&ENtral Science, the blog of the American Chemical Society’s Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN): Terra Sig has a fantastic post about the chemistry prize. The money quote: “If I see electrons being pushed around, it’s chemistry.” Thank you for the kind words, Dr Drahl.…
Terra Sigillata cited as source for ABC News Michael Jackson story, sorta
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on July 7, 2009 While invoking my little-known real name, the ABC News Medical Unit shows its commitment to providing scientifically-objective and medically-valid commentary to the Michael Jackson circus. The post cited was from 26 June where I discussed the first Michael Jackson revelation that he had repeatedly been given the unusual opioid drug, meperidine, presumably for his chronic…
Michael Jackson: Cherilyn Lee, Diprivan® (propofol), and Myers’ Cocktail
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on July 1, 2009 Judging from the press inquiries I’ve had since 5 am EDT today, expect today’s focus in the Michael Jackson case to be on the anesthetic drug, propofol (Diprivan®). Last evening, California nutritionist and registered nurse Ms Cherilyn Lee gave an interview to Campbell Brown on CNN (and this AP exclusive report) describing Michael Jackson’s repeated…
Pediatric cancer patient checks in at age 55; beneficiary of Dr Charlotte Tan’s actinomycin D work
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on June 30, 2009 I love it when new readers stumble upon old posts. Such was the case when I received the following delightful comment from Seattle-based psychologist, Dr Gary Grenell, on my April 2008 post about the passing of Dr Charlotte Tan, a pediatric cancer chemotherapy pioneer: I was probably in one of her earliest actionmycin-D trial groups…
Death of Michael Jackson: How could Demerol (meperidine) cause cardiac arrest?
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on June 26, 2009 AOL’s celebrity gossip page TMZ.com was first yesterday to report Michael Jackson’s death, in part due to their direct line to one or more Jackson family members. They appear to have had another scoop today in referencing a family member who reported that Mr Jackson had received an injection of the opioid analgesic, Demerol (meperidine),…
Heroin Hits The Heartland
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on May 31, 2009 When one thinks of a heroin user, thoughts most often come to mind of a person living in squalor in a big metropolitan city or that of an artsy, poetic hipster (while there are many literary works on the life of heroin users, my all-time favorite is Basketball Diaries, an autobiographical account written by Jim…
University of Colorado student died of opium tea overdose
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on March 21, 2009 After writing this post, I came across Alex’s obituary and guestbook on Legacy.com. By all accounts, Alex was a great kid – loved and admired by many – an accomplished hockey player and musician with a love for the mountains. This could have been you or I, or worse, one of our own children. Breaking…
NIAAA’s ‘Rethinking Drinking’
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on March 9, 2009 I’m very proud today to see one of my formative professors, Dr Fulton Crews, quoted extensively in a USAToday article on a new, web-based alcohol awareness initiative, “Rethinking Drinking,” from NIH’s National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Division of Treatment and Recovery Research. While many associate heavy drinking with liver problems, it can…
Entheogen and hallucinogen, N,N’-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), identified as endogenous ligand for sigma-1 receptors
Posted by Abel Pharmboy on February 23, 2009 Welcome 4 March readers of The Daily Grail – please be sure to also click on the original post about the DMT article by my colleague, Laura Mariani. Thanks to Dave Munger & Co’s ResearchBlogging.org, I just found a fabulous neuroscience grad student blogger from Emory University: Laura E Mariani at Neurotypical? Doctor-to-be Mariani blogged…