Tag: medicine

My Last Supper

They do great work, but I am never happy when I have to go see a doctor or dentist. I’ve never really had a bad experience or anything, I just prefer to avoid medical clinics. Maybe I don’t like the idea that there’s something wrong with me. Anyway, tomorrow I am going to get my wisdom teeth out. I’m hoping to recover very quickly, but I know I’ll most likely be without solid food for a few days.

So Sharon came over tonight to help with my “last” supper:

"the kitchen sink" scrambleBanana Muffins

She calls it “the kitchen sink scramble,” because we basically put all the leftovers from the fridge in a skillet with some egg and cooked it. For dessert (okay okay, and as an appetizer) we had banana muffins. Yum!

I think what I’m most worried about is caffeine withdrawal. I probably won’t be allowed to drink Coke Zero or coffee or tea or anything like that. Withdrawal shakes and headaches, here I come!

Canadian man has no pulse!

Post ImageThis is one of those “wow that’s crazy” kind of stories. It seems a Canadian man from Quebec has received a new heart device called the “Heartmate II” and as a result, he no longer has a pulse:

The new mechanical heart, which is powered by batteries located in pouches on Mr. Langevin’s body, provides a continuous flow of blood so the patient has no pulse.

“Mr. Langevin happens to be the only individual currently living in Canada without a pulse and without a measurable blood pressure,” Dr. Cecere said Wednesday.

Apparently the device is longer lasting than other implants, with an estimated lifespan of up to ten years. The entire procedure cost about $100,000.

Pretty amazing.

Read: Globe & Mail

Does the Bush Veto matter?

Post ImageAs you have probably heard by now, US President Bush made the first veto of his presidency yesterday, rejecting legislation that would have expanded federal support for embryonic stem cell research. While I applaud his ability to make a decision and stick to it (something he has done throughout the last six years, for better or for worse) I think that his veto was a little short-sighted. The issue is a touchy one, no doubt, but there is lots of support for such research.

And if I understand things correctly, ignoring the political drama the veto has and will continue to create, it doesn’t really matter anyway. The result of Bush’s decision is that federal funding for such research will not happen any time soon, but that doesn’t prevent private research from taking place. Do some reading on the subject, and you’ll find that medical research is starting to undergo something of a revolution – from taking place only in huge labs and Universities to taking place almost everywhere thanks to recent technology advances, falling costs, and “open source” type methodologies. I think we’ll start to see more and more research happen in the unlikliest of places, without any need for federal funding.

That’s why I think the Bush veto doesn’t matter in the long run.

Read: NYTimes.com

Entrepreneurial Genes

Post ImageBad news for the business associations of the world who try to foster growth in small business – genetics make the entrepreneur, not environment, according to a recent study:

A study of identical twins by researchers in Britain and the United States suggests family environment has little influence because nearly half of a person’s propensity to be self-employed, or entrepreneurial, is due to genes.

The rate of entrepreneurs among twins is the same as in the general population. [Prof. Tim Spector of St Thomas’ Hospital in London] and his team found that identical twins increased the odds of their twins following the same path more than nonidentical twins, which suggests genes are important.

I always knew there was some special about me 😉

While I find this study and it’s conclusions very interesting, I try to keep an open mind. I don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that genetics determines everything. If they manage to isolate the gene(s) responsible however, I bet someone could turn that into a nice little business!

Read: CNET News.com

Brain cells fused with computer chips

Post ImageVia Scoble, I came across this story about European researchers who have developed “neuro-chips”, silicon circuits that have been fused with living brain cells. Seems that things are happening even faster than Ray Kurzweil predicted!

To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size. They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.

“They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip,” said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.

Scary or exciting? I say exciting. If they perfect this sort of thing, drug testing times could be greatly reduced, and neurological disorders could be corrected. Not to mention the fact that we might have the ability to put computing power in our heads! No more thinking when you need to perform a calculation.

Read: MSNBC

Tamiflu Frenzy

Post ImageIf you turn on the TV to CNN or another news station, you’ll no doubt see something on Wilma and something on Tamiflu. All of a sudden there seems to be widespread fear of an outbreak of avian flu, and as a result demand for Roche’s Tamiflu has skyrocketed. eBay was even forced to take down sales of the drug:

A spokeswoman for eBay said the auction, for Roche Holding’s flu medicine, had been stopped because the sale of prescription drugs was not allowed under the e-commerce company’s rules.

Europe has seen a surge in demand for Tamiflu on the Internet, following the confirmation of cases of avian flu in Turkey and Romania, and a suspected case in Greece.

Bids for a single course of treatment, comprised of 10 capsules, had reached 104 pounds ($174.61) by midday Thursday before the auction was canceled. Some 28 bids were received for the drug, which was advertised as located in Birmingham, England.

There are lots of news articles out there on Tamiflu if you take a look. I saw a report on Global News last night here in Edmonton that said Alberta has taken the lead in Canada in terms of stockpiling the drug. We apparently have so much Tamiflu on hand, that our health department has started evaluating which provinces to share with first. Maybe we should be sharing with Europe too.

Read: CNET News.com