Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Symptoms of Not Knowing
A CDC study found that the vast majority of Americans (75%) don't know the signs of a heart attack, and only a few of those who do would know how to respond. Since heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the US, it's important to know the signs:
- Chest pain (usually squeezing or pressure)
- Pain in neck, shoulder, or jaw, arms or back
- Shortness of breath
- Others - nausea, cold sweat, light headedness.
Even if you're not sure a person with the signs is having a heart attack, call 911 immediately. Time to treatment is a top determinant of survival.
Speaking of not knowing, we really don't know what causes depression. Aside from the serotonin hypothesis, which is at best a gross oversimplification, and more likely a bad theory, research indicates that much of the effect of antidepressant medications may be placebo. The meta-analysis of numerous trials of the drugs found only marginal effects beyond placebo in all but the most severely depressed patients - a much smaller group indeed than those who take these drugs every day.
These results could well have some spectacular impacts on much of the field of health care, since so many patients are on antidepressants, and the costs are staggering. What if it's all a waste?
- Chest pain (usually squeezing or pressure)
- Pain in neck, shoulder, or jaw, arms or back
- Shortness of breath
- Others - nausea, cold sweat, light headedness.
Even if you're not sure a person with the signs is having a heart attack, call 911 immediately. Time to treatment is a top determinant of survival.
Speaking of not knowing, we really don't know what causes depression. Aside from the serotonin hypothesis, which is at best a gross oversimplification, and more likely a bad theory, research indicates that much of the effect of antidepressant medications may be placebo. The meta-analysis of numerous trials of the drugs found only marginal effects beyond placebo in all but the most severely depressed patients - a much smaller group indeed than those who take these drugs every day.
These results could well have some spectacular impacts on much of the field of health care, since so many patients are on antidepressants, and the costs are staggering. What if it's all a waste?
Labels: depression, drugs, education, health, health care, heart attack, heart disease, knowledge, medication, placebo, SSRI
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Little Green Men Get Stoned, Stupid, and Sick
OK, this is America, so they're probably a little more like, uhm, larger green men. And women. And children.
Hopkins researchers have found that a topical application of broccoli extract 'activates' protective enzyme systems which reduce the harmful effects of UV rays, while still allowing stimulation of vitamin D production (which is deficient in people using sunscreen all the time). The problem? Thus far, there is no way to make the stuff so it doesn't turn you green. I suppose some people would be in to that.
Speaking of good greens, in what may be a first, UCSD researchers have published an actual clinical trial which indicates that moderate doses of THC, via smoked marijuana, reduce induced neuropathic pain. The more trials like this that get done, the closer we can (hopefully) get to a sensible pot policy. I just wish the trial had been done in actual neuropathy patients, as opposed to induced healthy ones...it's not like it's a rare condition!
The ban on marijuana leads to depriving many people of needed treatments and improved lifestyle, but possibly even more serious is the poor quality of care received by elderly Americans. A UCLA study of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries found that they are only getting about 65% of the care they ought to be getting. This includes really basic stuff, like diabetic sugar control and eye exams - things that cost nothing to provide, relative to their enormous costs after failure. YET ANOTHER reason we need a serious national health coverage adjustment. Hillary's isn't the best ever, but it's the best anybody's got now.
Finally, some good/bad news. There's a line of evidence that more education delays Alzheimer's onset, and a study in the current issue of Neurology confirms this, but also finds that it's associated with a more rapid decline once incidence occurs. This could seem like a wash, but I'd much rather be healthy for longer and die quicker, than linger on longer, unable to think or remember or do anything, really.
----------------
Now playing: Fancy Fruit - Kvarnen Vs Carmen
via FoxyTunes
Hopkins researchers have found that a topical application of broccoli extract 'activates' protective enzyme systems which reduce the harmful effects of UV rays, while still allowing stimulation of vitamin D production (which is deficient in people using sunscreen all the time). The problem? Thus far, there is no way to make the stuff so it doesn't turn you green. I suppose some people would be in to that.
Speaking of good greens, in what may be a first, UCSD researchers have published an actual clinical trial which indicates that moderate doses of THC, via smoked marijuana, reduce induced neuropathic pain. The more trials like this that get done, the closer we can (hopefully) get to a sensible pot policy. I just wish the trial had been done in actual neuropathy patients, as opposed to induced healthy ones...it's not like it's a rare condition!
The ban on marijuana leads to depriving many people of needed treatments and improved lifestyle, but possibly even more serious is the poor quality of care received by elderly Americans. A UCLA study of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries found that they are only getting about 65% of the care they ought to be getting. This includes really basic stuff, like diabetic sugar control and eye exams - things that cost nothing to provide, relative to their enormous costs after failure. YET ANOTHER reason we need a serious national health coverage adjustment. Hillary's isn't the best ever, but it's the best anybody's got now.
Finally, some good/bad news. There's a line of evidence that more education delays Alzheimer's onset, and a study in the current issue of Neurology confirms this, but also finds that it's associated with a more rapid decline once incidence occurs. This could seem like a wash, but I'd much rather be healthy for longer and die quicker, than linger on longer, unable to think or remember or do anything, really.
----------------
Now playing: Fancy Fruit - Kvarnen Vs Carmen
via FoxyTunes
Labels: aging, Alzheimers, broccoli, green, health care, Hillary, marijuana, medicare, neuropathy, neuroscience, quality, skin cancer, sunscreen, vitamin D
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Different Strokes: Drugs, Brains, and Fat Asses
Everything has side-effects, especially medications. Many are bad, some are good, and most come as a bit of a surprise.
A household item, so basic it's hard to even think of it as medicine, may turn out to be a powerful weapon against cancer: talc, when applied to the chest cavity, appears to greatly (and lastingly) stimulate production of the powerful anti-cancer hormone endostatin. Yay for baby powder!
On the downside (or possibly not, depending on how evil you are): those wheeled shoes that seem so popular these days, sending already-bothersome children (and frat boys...hi Mark!) careening down supermarket aisles at ever-increased velocity, appear to be linked to a rash of orthopedic injuries. Hah-hah!
In a recent study, US researchers found that a popular anti-hypertension drug, isradipine, seems to slow, and maybe even halt, the neurodegenerative process of Parkinson's disease. They found that young dopamine neurons used sodium gradients for their electrical activity, but older ones used calcium - a much more unruly and dangerous ion for cells - and that isradipine seems to force the cells to 'rejuvenate,' reverting to less-damaging sodium pump function. Aside from how awesome it'd be to really have a treatment for Parkinson's (to which I am rather strongly genetically predisposed), this discovery is bloody cool!
More good news for Parkinson's sufferers (at least in countries that aren't run by anti-science nimrods): researchers injected human neural stem cells into Parkinsonian monkeys, and found that they showed sustained improvement in symptomology. Awesome!!!
Drugs aren't the only things that have multiple surprising effects: Alzheimer's disease whipping-boy protein gamma-secretase (an enzyme responsible for production of AD's signature amyloid plaques) may not be a good place to target drug interventions. You see, it also acts as a potent tumor suppressor by lowering activity of epidermal growth factor receptor, which is implicated in skin cancer development. Bad as AD is, patients probably won't be lining up to get cancer instead.
Speaking of brains. Those of medical residents work better on more sleep, and patient care improves as a result. Well, OK, maybe not strictly as a result of more sleep, but certainly as a result of less overworked residents: a Yale study has found that patient care improved after the training program moved to the new 80-hour maximum week for residents.
And, last but not least, the Bad News. At least, for those looking for a quick-fix miracle diet pill, now that TrimSpa is ... errr ... not so hot anymore. We've all been awaiting the FDA study results on rimonabant, aka Acomplia, aka Zimulti, aka that-CB-1inhbitor-Michael-keeps-blabbing-about.
Well here's the thing: it seems to be fairly effective for weight loss (a promising but unthrilling 5% over placebo), but it has a very prominent side effect: depression and suicidal thoughts. I have to admit though, I'm not really impressed so far: people likely to be prescribed such a drug are likely to be highly sensitive about their self-esteem in the first place. If the drug doesn't work the almost-certainly advertised "miracles" they might get really disheartened. On the other hand, CB1 is rather profoundly linked to mood and cognition, and to motivation/executive functions, so that its inhibition could cause depression doesn't shock me one bit.
Hmmmmm......
A household item, so basic it's hard to even think of it as medicine, may turn out to be a powerful weapon against cancer: talc, when applied to the chest cavity, appears to greatly (and lastingly) stimulate production of the powerful anti-cancer hormone endostatin. Yay for baby powder!
On the downside (or possibly not, depending on how evil you are): those wheeled shoes that seem so popular these days, sending already-bothersome children (and frat boys...hi Mark!) careening down supermarket aisles at ever-increased velocity, appear to be linked to a rash of orthopedic injuries. Hah-hah!
In a recent study, US researchers found that a popular anti-hypertension drug, isradipine, seems to slow, and maybe even halt, the neurodegenerative process of Parkinson's disease. They found that young dopamine neurons used sodium gradients for their electrical activity, but older ones used calcium - a much more unruly and dangerous ion for cells - and that isradipine seems to force the cells to 'rejuvenate,' reverting to less-damaging sodium pump function. Aside from how awesome it'd be to really have a treatment for Parkinson's (to which I am rather strongly genetically predisposed), this discovery is bloody cool!
More good news for Parkinson's sufferers (at least in countries that aren't run by anti-science nimrods): researchers injected human neural stem cells into Parkinsonian monkeys, and found that they showed sustained improvement in symptomology. Awesome!!!
Drugs aren't the only things that have multiple surprising effects: Alzheimer's disease whipping-boy protein gamma-secretase (an enzyme responsible for production of AD's signature amyloid plaques) may not be a good place to target drug interventions. You see, it also acts as a potent tumor suppressor by lowering activity of epidermal growth factor receptor, which is implicated in skin cancer development. Bad as AD is, patients probably won't be lining up to get cancer instead.
Speaking of brains. Those of medical residents work better on more sleep, and patient care improves as a result. Well, OK, maybe not strictly as a result of more sleep, but certainly as a result of less overworked residents: a Yale study has found that patient care improved after the training program moved to the new 80-hour maximum week for residents.
And, last but not least, the Bad News. At least, for those looking for a quick-fix miracle diet pill, now that TrimSpa is ... errr ... not so hot anymore. We've all been awaiting the FDA study results on rimonabant, aka Acomplia, aka Zimulti, aka that-CB-1inhbitor-Michael-keeps-blabbing-about.
Well here's the thing: it seems to be fairly effective for weight loss (a promising but unthrilling 5% over placebo), but it has a very prominent side effect: depression and suicidal thoughts. I have to admit though, I'm not really impressed so far: people likely to be prescribed such a drug are likely to be highly sensitive about their self-esteem in the first place. If the drug doesn't work the almost-certainly advertised "miracles" they might get really disheartened. On the other hand, CB1 is rather profoundly linked to mood and cognition, and to motivation/executive functions, so that its inhibition could cause depression doesn't shock me one bit.
Hmmmmm......
Labels: Alzheimers, cancer, CB1, disease, drugs, fat, health care, hypertension, injury, kids, Parkinson's, rimonabant, science, stem cells, stupidity, weight-loss
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Quicky-linky: Because I'm Lazy
Work is definitely fun, but also exhausting. Some cool stuff I'll want to think about later, and anyone reading this should think about now...and discuss in the comments!
More good news for us coffee-fiends: men who drink four or five cups a day seem to have lower risk of developing gout. Gout sucks, and coffee is good, so I'm happy!
Shocking no one, researchers have found that MRSA is spreading fast in poor and underserved populations. The much-overhyped but still very deadly pathogen takes root in medical settings, and is likely to wreak more and more havoc on our health system, which really can't handle such things.
Epicatechin, a chemical found in chocolate, grapes, and tea, appears to improve memory function, especially when combined with exercise. Because I always need another excuse to eat those things!
Speaking of miracle drugs (or not), Michigan researchers have found that a chemical from the desert bush creosote may have potent anti-aging powers. So, Ponce de Leon was just looking for the wrong kind of thing!
UK researchers have discovered something that we all kinda knew already: men care more about how big their dicks are than women do. Also, there is nothing that can be done, contrary to the claims of at least 36% of the email in the universe, to enlarge them. They available options are more likely to mutilate than enlarge, and no one thinks a frankenschlong is sexy.
Finally - and speaking of dubious distinctions - American hospitals are much more likely to admit white kids for minor illnesses than black or Hispanic kids. Not only does this mean that minority kids are getting less 'aggressive' care, but it also represents an obvious source of unnecessary medical costs. Less 'aggressive' care, in terms of being admitted for minor stuff, may or may not be a bad thing in and of itself, but it's probably indicative of an underlying (and serious) disparity.
More good news for us coffee-fiends: men who drink four or five cups a day seem to have lower risk of developing gout. Gout sucks, and coffee is good, so I'm happy!
Shocking no one, researchers have found that MRSA is spreading fast in poor and underserved populations. The much-overhyped but still very deadly pathogen takes root in medical settings, and is likely to wreak more and more havoc on our health system, which really can't handle such things.
Epicatechin, a chemical found in chocolate, grapes, and tea, appears to improve memory function, especially when combined with exercise. Because I always need another excuse to eat those things!
Speaking of miracle drugs (or not), Michigan researchers have found that a chemical from the desert bush creosote may have potent anti-aging powers. So, Ponce de Leon was just looking for the wrong kind of thing!
UK researchers have discovered something that we all kinda knew already: men care more about how big their dicks are than women do. Also, there is nothing that can be done, contrary to the claims of at least 36% of the email in the universe, to enlarge them. They available options are more likely to mutilate than enlarge, and no one thinks a frankenschlong is sexy.
Finally - and speaking of dubious distinctions - American hospitals are much more likely to admit white kids for minor illnesses than black or Hispanic kids. Not only does this mean that minority kids are getting less 'aggressive' care, but it also represents an obvious source of unnecessary medical costs. Less 'aggressive' care, in terms of being admitted for minor stuff, may or may not be a bad thing in and of itself, but it's probably indicative of an underlying (and serious) disparity.
Labels: aging, chocolate, coffee, gout, health, health care, memory, MRSA, penis, penis size, science, sex
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
New Causes, Solutions, and Concoctions
Multiple Sclerosis is a degenerative autoimmune disease, causing severe pain and disability in its victims. Like other autoimmune conditions, its causes are unknown and treatments are scarce. Argentine researchers are reporting the results of a small cohort of MS patients (24), some of whom showed sign of parasitic infection and some of whom did not. The parasite hosts had much less severe MS symptoms and fewer relapses than did non-hosts. Similar to previous findings that intestinal parasites relieved Crohn's, this result is in support of a 'hygiene hypothesis' of autoimmune disorders: relatively unchallenged by our germ-free modern environment, our immune systems have started 'looking' for things to attack. Such as ourselves.
On a different (and mysterious) causal chain, a large sample study has found that men with gum disease are 63% more likely to suffer hard-to-treat pancreatic cancers. One idea is that this could be due to the inflammation of gum disease 'spreading' to other parts of the body, but that seems a bit far-fetched to me, in terms of cancer. The findings are really fascinating, but I can't help but wonder if there's not a confounding factor in the mix.
In to good news: Canadian researchers have found that the old, apparently safe, off-label (read: cheap) drug dichloroacetate (DCA) may be a potent cancer killer. The compound acts by reactivating cancer cells' mitochondria, which are normally shut off in favor of cellular metabolism glycolysis in cancer cells, and which subsequently initiate apoptosis of the unhealthy cells.
Business, union, and retiree leaders in one room, agreeing on something?!?! It seems so. The group met in Washington to send a message to the politicians: the time has come for universal health care. This needs to happen, and it needs to be done right (or it'll be a disaster akin to what we have now, only even harder to fix), and it needs to be done now. Neither side of the aisle in Congress or the White House has been really willing to step up yet, but hopefully this meeting will prompt them to do so.
Finally, everything you didn't want to know aboutmolecular gastronomy cooking-using-funny-tools-and-ingredients. I've never been to any of the places mentioned, but I get the idea, and am pretty much already bored with it. Like avant-garde art, there comes a point when you're just doing to be shocking, or contrary, or because you can.
For some I guess this is part of the fun, but for me I think it ends up detracting from the actual flavor of the food. Butterscotch bacon? Sounds awesome. Edible menus? Once, cool, twice, yawwwnnn. Soup in a pipette? No thanks.
On a different (and mysterious) causal chain, a large sample study has found that men with gum disease are 63% more likely to suffer hard-to-treat pancreatic cancers. One idea is that this could be due to the inflammation of gum disease 'spreading' to other parts of the body, but that seems a bit far-fetched to me, in terms of cancer. The findings are really fascinating, but I can't help but wonder if there's not a confounding factor in the mix.
In to good news: Canadian researchers have found that the old, apparently safe, off-label (read: cheap) drug dichloroacetate (DCA) may be a potent cancer killer. The compound acts by reactivating cancer cells' mitochondria, which are normally shut off in favor of cellular metabolism glycolysis in cancer cells, and which subsequently initiate apoptosis of the unhealthy cells.
Business, union, and retiree leaders in one room, agreeing on something?!?! It seems so. The group met in Washington to send a message to the politicians: the time has come for universal health care. This needs to happen, and it needs to be done right (or it'll be a disaster akin to what we have now, only even harder to fix), and it needs to be done now. Neither side of the aisle in Congress or the White House has been really willing to step up yet, but hopefully this meeting will prompt them to do so.
Finally, everything you didn't want to know about
For some I guess this is part of the fun, but for me I think it ends up detracting from the actual flavor of the food. Butterscotch bacon? Sounds awesome. Edible menus? Once, cool, twice, yawwwnnn. Soup in a pipette? No thanks.
Labels: autoimmune, bladder cancer, food, gum disease, health care, hygiene, molecular gastronomy, MS, parasites, politics, science
