Medicine
oracknows | July 30, 2008With all the negativity around this blog lately, thanks to the continued moronic antics of the anti-vaccine contingent, which have irritated me more than they do usually, so much so that I can't recall a time since Jenny McCarthy's "Green Our Vaccine" anti-vaccination-fest nearly two months ago that they've been so flagrant in their lies, I thought it was time for some good news for a change. Fortunately, by way of the latest issue of The Lancet, some good news showed up in the form of a study. This study, reported late last week by the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration, a…
sb admin | July 29, 2008I frequently get questions by email or by comment. If it's simple, I might fire off an answer. If it's about a personal medical problem, I either don't answer, or send a standard disclaimer to seek medical care. If it's a really interesting question, I blog. Today, I blog.
The question regarded the ubiquitous commercials for erectile dysfunction treatments (see this excellent post for an overview of the topic of ED drugs). As anyone who has a TV knows, the commercials always have the pleasant warning of "if you have an erection lasting more than four hours, seek immediate medical help…
oracknows | July 28, 2008You know, I think I've found a bride for Steve Wilson.
You remember Steve Wilson, don't you? He's the local "investigative reporter" in my hometown who recently did a truly awful "report" (it actually makes me cringe to call it a "report," but I couldn't think of anything else to call it) a couple of weeks ago, in which he regurgitated just about every anti-vaccine talking point about mercury and thimerosal there is out there. I hadn't seen anything like it, ever (at least not that I can recall). So bad was it that I feared the hyperconcentrated stupid might lower my blog bud PalMD's IQ by a…
sb admin | July 24, 2008Our Scibling PhysioProf has launched the opening salvo in what may turn out to be a rather bloody flame war. In the interest of actually gaining something from this other than venting my own anger and frustration, I will beg your indulgence here as I explain why my colleague is so utterly misguided.
PhysioProf (hereafter referred to as "PP") is a researcher at a medical school, and teaches medical students (no secrets here...I'm not outing anyone, just re-stating facts already in evidence). According to my sources who know such things, both PP, and his/her blog partner DrugMonkey, write…
drorzel | July 22, 2008
'Theology in Life' :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, Views and Jobs
"Benedictine's new "Theology in Life" certificate program includes one class each in the theology of freedom, justice, love, and science, respectively. Majors will go on to take upper-level courses in areas including sacramental theology, the New Te
(tags: academia religion humanities social-science science education)
Brigham And Women's Hospital - Press Releases
"researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) designed a pre-clinical course for Harvard Medical School students to enhance…
oracknows | July 22, 2008I've gone on record as saying more times than I care to remember that there is no such thing as "alternative" medicine. There is only medicine. Indeed, the only reason any medicine is considered "alternative" is (1) it is on a scientific basis incredibly improbable and/or it comes from a pre-scientific "healing" tradition; (2) its efficacy is unproven in scientific studies and clinical trials; (3) its efficacy has been tested in randomized clinical trials and found wanting; or (4) a combination of (1) plus one or more of the other three. Of course, one argument that I have made before is that…
neurophilosophy | July 21, 2008This morning I attended a talk about the research behind, and clinical applications of, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). I've written about BCIs many times in the past; they monitor the electrical activity of the brain, either invasively by means of implanted electrodes, or non-invasively by means an electroencephalogram cap, and this activity is analyzed and used to drive a peripheral device, such as a prosthetic limb, or a computer.
Nevertheless, it was an interesting talk, as it featured prominent researchers in the field, and included an application that was hitherto unknown to me. It…
neurophilosophy | July 20, 2008
If you're at all familiar with Ben Goldacre's Bad Science blog and Guardian column, you'll have some idea of what his talk was about - debunking nutritionists, the multi-billion dollar industry nutritional supplement industry they have built, and the overblown claims about the benefits of various food products.
Title: Food, Fads & Fantasies
Abstract: We are frequently bombarded with very specific claims on food and health by the media, the food supplement pill industry, the "functional foods" industry, and the new unregulated "nutritionists". Diet is undoubtedly one of many important…
terrasig | July 20, 2008[Posted originally on 19 July but updated to include more information on BiDil]
DrugMonkey alerted me to this gem at Light-skinned-ed Girl on a company called GenSpec Labs who are marketing, African American-, Hispanic-, and Caucasian-focused vitamin supplements.
Seriously. I thought this was a link to The Onion.
The GenSpec promotion is a completely asinine and repulsive marketing exploitation of a concept that, surprisingly, often has some pretty good science behind it. But it's also very typical of the dietary supplement industry to take a little science and come up with some snake oil…
neurophilosophy | July 19, 2008The keynote Speaker for the Human Mind and Behaviour theme is Pierre Magistretti of the Brain-Mind Institute at Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne in Switzerland.
Title: Looking Inside Your Brain
Abstract: Prof. Magistretti will outline current brain-imaging technology and explore the ethical and societal implications of how, in addition to conventional medical diagnostic applications, it might be sed. He is professor of Neuroenergetics and Cellular Dynamics at the Brain Mind Institute.
Magistretti began his talk by emphaising that despite major developments of neuroimaging techniques…
sb admin | July 17, 2008by Susan F. Wood, PhD
Recently the New York Times and RHRealityCheck reported on a leaked internal proposed regulation that calls for more and different enforcement of anti-discrimination provisions for health care providers. The provisions are forms of conscience clauses that do not allow discrimination in hiring or promotion of health care workers who do not wish to perform abortion or sterilization (or indeed in the reverse, no discrimination against those who do perform abortions or sterilizations) in federally funded settings.
The draft regulation goes into detail outlining the history…
j7uy5 | July 15, 2008
href="http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/restless_legs/restless_legs.htm">Restless
Legs Syndrome has been more in the public eye lately.
I understand this is because of aggressive direct-to-consumer
advertising. I'm not much of a consumer, so I haven't seen
the ads, but people tell me about them.
Whatever you think of DTC advertising, RLS is real, and it is a
significant problem for some people.
Years ago, it was discovered that RLS can be alleviated for some people
with carbidopa/levodopa. But that was an off-patent medicine.
When patented medicines [Requip (ropinirole) and…
clock | July 14, 2008Monday - the day when PLoS Medicine and PLoS Biology publish new articles, among others, these:
Persistent Leatherback Turtle Migrations Present Opportunities for Conservation :
Highly migratory marine animals routinely cross international borders during extensive migrations over thousands of kilometers, thus requiring conservation strategies with information about habitat use and movement patterns. Critically endangered leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the eastern Pacific have suffered a severe population decline in recent years. In this study, we present the largest multi-year…
revere | July 12, 2008We've had occasion to discuss the boondoggle, Project Bioshield a number of times (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here). Maybe I should have said, quite a number of times. REally, though, it's hardly worth mentioning. Via the Clinician's Biosecurity Briefing, this:
The Project BioShield Act, passed in 2004, gives HHS "authorities to expedite research, development, acquisition, and availability of priority medical countermeasures for public health emergencies caused by terrorist attacks." This Congressionally mandated report covers progress on the uses of those authorities for the…
tfk | July 11, 2008One of the joys of Bay Area living is the unusual headlines in the paper. To whit: Alameda County pot clinics can now sell hashish:
The main changes to the ordinance, however, involve proposals that came during the ordinance's two-year review.
The one change will allow licensed dispensaries in unincorporated Alameda County to carry hashish, more commonly called hash, a more concentrated and potent form of cannabis. No dispensary, however, can carry more than 1.5 pounds of the product at a given time. Some medical marijuana users prefer hashish due to its potency and variety of ways it may…
oracknows | July 8, 2008Having lived in Ohio for eight years and married a woman from the Toledo area, I had come to think that Ohioans had more common sense. I guess I was wrong.
On the other hand, I should have realized that I was wrong. After all, Ohio is home to The Ohio State University Center for Integrative Medicine and the Cleveland Clinic Department of Integrative Medicine. So much for hard-nosed Midwestern skepticism, I guess. My only consolation as a University of Michigan graduate is that Ohio seems to be trying to surpass Michigan for promoting woo in academia. Or it would be were it not that a major…
sb admin | July 3, 2008Orac was kind enough to pollute my inbox with the latest idiocy from the journal that has never met a crank it didn't like. As Orac says, "Medical Hypotheses [is] the journal where the editors encourage the authors to make shit up."
Before I tell you about the latest "hypothesis", let me give you an idea of what kind of thinking goes into this publication. The latest issue has an editorial that argues that it is the "maverick" scientist who makes the real scientific breakthroughs, and that teamwork is only for the "modestly talented".
Not that there's anything inherently wrong with being…
oracknows | July 1, 2008Yesterday, I was depressed. Today I'm a little irritated.
I'm irritated because I came across a study from a couple of weeks ago that's actually a really cool study that applies actual science to the question of how diet and lifestyle changes might alter biology to improve health. It's exactly the sort of study that can apply help understand how diet affects health. It's a study by Dean Ornish, who's widely known for his advocacy of a lifestyle-driven approach to treating atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and producing evidence in the early 1990s that such a lifestyle alteration could…
revere | June 29, 2008We take for it granted that technology can be used to tag objects in various ways, useful and otherwise. The anti-theft devices used on retail clothing stores are a familiar example. Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) are used for this purpose as well as for security access. I have a device like that on my windshield for automatic highway tolls on the turnpike. Hospitals also have a strong interest in keeping track of lots of items like pharmaceuticals, equipment or even ordinary sponges used in surgery. Counting and keeping track of sponges is routine so none are inadvertently…
oracknows | June 26, 2008
Sigh.
He's baaack. Yes, that dualism-loving Energizer Bunny of antievolution nonsense, that "intelligent design" apologist neurosurgeon whose nonsense has driven me time and time again to contemplate hiding my head in a paper bag or even a Doctor Doom mask because of the shame of knowing that he is also a surgeon, that physician who denies that an understanding of evolution is important to medicine and who just doesn't know when to quit, Dr. Michael Egnor, is back to embarrass me yet again. It's been a long time--months, actually--and, quite frankly I found the break from his specious…