The obvious scatological humor will be left alone. Guys, you know what I mean. (Girls who were outnumbered by your brothers, you too.)
I started to blog this article because the forehead-smacking tone of the revelation that the gut might relate to the brain was a bit too much for me. On closer examination, it looks like the misplaced drama … Continue reading..
Today’s translation from medspeak to English: Inflammatory white blood cells and inflammatory nerve cells, in relation to CRPS.
Here’s what the jargon means.
// ed. note: my comments and clarifications are picked out by those two slashes and the contraction for “editorial notation.”
This article is well-intended, but egregiously judgmental and woefully ignorant:
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/02/137540700/after-50-years-remembering-hemingways-farewell
If it weren’t for the inane babble puzzling over why Hemingway lived so intensely, this line would be the Winner of The Most Fatuous Statement award: “…in January 1961 he told his wife, Mary, that he could no longer write a single good sentence. And Hemingway would only … Continue reading..
Pluripotent stem cells (that is, the kind that could be turned into many different types of tissue) were successfully grown from urine:
http://f1000.com/11427957?key=khstst6kwbn437f
This is a little weird even for me, but intriguing as hell.
It’s normal for a tiny number of cells from the draining parts of the urinary system to wash away in urine. Throwing off … Continue reading..
This article discusses the role of the peptide CDB3 in modulating the specific calcium channel signals that transmit chronic pain:
This article says it’s a “novel” peptide, but last I heard, CDB3 was a cannabinoid, one of a couple hundred constituents derived from a medicinal plant cultivated for thousands of years, being researched by the likes of Prof. … Continue reading..
I’m delighted to get my hands on an article about a study done by a nurse. Prof. Sullivan, RN and her team say, “Effects of premature birth can reach into adulthood.”
Do you know why this is, logically, a candidate for the Department of the Blitheringly Obvious?
It has to do with fetal development. In a healthy pregnancy … Continue reading..
A valid diagnosis is necessary to getting appropriate alopathic (that is, conventional Western) medical care. (This is why “House” is such a popular show: there’s a lot of inherent drama in wrong diagnoses, because they can lead to chaos, suffering and hideous deaths.) Unfortunately, fully 20% of those who seek ongoing care don’t get one.
No pressure.
The … Continue reading..
Next Big Future: Gene therapy reverses type 1 diabetes in mice with 78% success rate
Intriguing approach: providing gene therapy to both protect and rebuild the Islets of Langerhans, which means blocking the T cells from the islet cells without compromising them otherwise.
For an early trial of a complex therapy, this is rather brilliant and very promising. … Continue reading..
I’m too jetlagged to do this justice, but it’s an intriguing look at the way we solve 3-D problems with, and without, using our hands to work out solutions.
I can’t resist candidates for the Dept. of the Blith. Obv.: Many geriatric patients receive an incorrect dementia diagnosis. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110531084629.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmind_brain+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Mind+%26+Brain+News%29
The final diagnosis was determined by postmortem autopsies examining structures and changes in the brain, which are pretty definitive.
Most dementias are currently incurable, and only some can even be managed. So why does this matter? Two reasons: the clinical … Continue reading..
