veterinary medicine
oracknows | March 4, 2016Acupuncture is quackery.
As with naturopathy (a medical pseudo-"specialty" that embraces acupuncture and other so-called traditional Chinese medicine), when I write about acupuncture I like to start out with a provocative statement, a statement of—dare I say it?—judgment in order to shock new readers and let them know exactly where I'm coming from. Why I consider acupuncture to be quackery now, after years of not being sure, is simple and well documented in many posts on this blog. (Just type "acupuncture" into the search box if you don't believe me; here's an example.) Basically, I started…
tsmith | June 14, 2012This is the second of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Eileen Ball.
The beauty of dogs and cats as companions is that we don’t have to raise them to go out into the world and be successful. As pet parents we can set the household “rules” according to what works for us and get on with enjoying our pets; hopefully for many years. According 2011-2012 APPA National Pet Owners Survey cats have now surpassed dogs as the most common household pets in the United States. Despite this fact the same survey reports that in 2010 only 30% of US veterinary patients were cats. As a companion animal…
tsmith | September 30, 2010The Dog Zombie has an interesting post discussing women in vet med--and why there are so many. She notes that her school is only 12% male, versus more of an even distribution in med schools, and the recent discussion of gender imbalance in science blogging. This is interesting to me, as my personal vet is male, as are almost all of the vets we collaborate with for our research. Of course, the gender distribution of veterinarians in academia may well be more gender-balanced (or even male-skewed) than those currently in vet school or recently graduated.
DZ posits some possible reasons for this…
grrlscientist | July 1, 2010tags: vultures, Gyps species, conservation biology, endangered species, veterinary medicine, toxicology, physiology, evolutionary biology, pharmaceutical chemistry, epidemiology, mathematical modeling, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club
Only thirty years ago, tens of millions of White-rumped Vultures, Gyps bengalensis,
were flying the skies of Asia. They are now classified as Critically Endangered.
Image: Marek Jobda / rarebirdsyearbook.com [larger view]
A zombie is another name for The Walking Dead -- those who are lifeless, apathetic, or totally lacking in…
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Eyjafjallajökull, volcanic particulate material, ash clouds, airborne-particle deposition, respiratory physiology, respiratory toxicology, medicine, veterinary medicine, birds, avian health, bioassay, anatomy, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club
Figure 1: The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, photographed by a farmer in Iceland. This eruption sent massive billowing clouds of volcanic ash several miles into the atmosphere.
Image: Ãlafur Eggertsson (Newscom/Zuma) [larger view]
April is the peak month of spring migration for millions of birds, so the ongoing…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2008tags: Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, CJD, pathogenic mutation, prion protein gene
Image: Orphaned.
Mad Cow Disease, technically known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), is one of a group of transmissible diseases that destroy brain tissue, collectively known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). TSEs are an unknown agent(s) that act by damaging the structure of brain proteins known as "prions" (PREE ons). In turn, these damaged prion proteins damage other normal prions and together, they build up to collectively…
grrlscientist | April 21, 2008tags: Bonerol, humor, comedy, satire, streaming video
Erectile dysfunction is not just limited to humans. This amusing streaming video is a commercial for a new drug meant to solve doggie erectile dysfunction. Of course, if your dog ends up humping your leg for more than four hours at one go, it's time to take him to the vet -- watch it now while your boss is not looking! [0:45].