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musings on medicines from the Earth
Abel Pharmboy is the nom de plume of an academic researcher and educator who took his PhD in Pharmacology and Therapeutics and BS in Toxicology. He writes on natural product drugs and dietary supplements, academic career development, medical journalism and, occasionally, making and listening to music and, with the help of his colleague, Erleichda, wine appreciation.
"Why Terra Sigillata?" will tell you more about the origin of the blog name.
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Category: Infectious diseases
Denise Gellene in the New York Times is reporting this morning that Scottish physician, Sir John Crofton, passed away on 3 November at age 97. Crofton is best known for implementing a combination drug regimen to treat tuberculosis, the insidious...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 7:40 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Advertising
I never knew that Brooke Shields suffered from hypotrichosis.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:24 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: The Awesome Power of Natural Products
You might not care to explain this in great detail to the kids or other Harry Potter fans, but the legend does in fact come from the awesome power of natural products.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 12:02 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia
Yes, friends: this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry would not have been possible without the awesome power of natural products and the contributions of my natural products chemistry colleagues who provided Ramikrishnan, Steitz, and Yonath with the chemical tools for their work. "The ribosome is the target for about 50% of all antibacterial drugs to date, and the advent of high resolution structures of both ribosomal subunits has opened a large number of possibilities for [structure-based drug design] of new and effective drugs in the race against resistance development among bacterial pathogens."
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:02 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Shameless Self-Promotion
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. Understandably, my exclamation of "Holy shit!" did not make the cut.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 2:02 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Alternative medicine
The late pop icon now appears to have requested a common, normally-safe intravenous anesthetic drug employed daily in outpatient surgical procedures. While not a common drug of abuse, Diprivan (propofol) can provide euphoric and anti-anxiety effects. Most relevant to the Jackson case, it can cause a rare side effect called "propofol-infusion syndrome" characterized by potentially fatal disturbances to cardiac pacing and rhythm.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 7:00 AM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: The Awesome Power of Natural Products
For all of you parents of children with cancer, here's what your kids might be doing in 50 years.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 1:02 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Drugs of Abuse
Demerol® (meperidine) is not like other opioid analgesics; its active metabolite, normeperidine, is a well-known, paradoxical stimulant of the central nervous system and heart. Toxic concentrations can cause fatal seizures or cardiac arrhythmias leading to cardiac arrest. Michael Jackson's death may raise awareness of the risks posed by meperidine, a drug that is unnecessary when so many other opioid analgesics are available.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 6:02 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Drugs of Abuse
A excellent article on the front page of today's New York Times raises awareness of the flow of inexpensive heroin from Mexico to the suburban US.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:43 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia
A lesson could have been learned from the 1806 example of the German chemist and pharmacist, Friedrich Wilhelm Sertürner.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:55 AM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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