About medicine

Acne Drug Prevents HIV Breakout

2010-03-22T17:58:00.000+02:00

Janice E. Clements, Ph.D. (Credit: Image courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions)

Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a safe and inexpensive antibiotic in use since the 1970s for treating acne effectively targets infected immune cells in which HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, lies dormant and prevents them from reactivating and replicating.

The drug, minocycline, likely will improve on the current treatment regimens of HIV-infected patients if used in combination with a standard drug cocktail known as HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), according to research published now online and appearing in print April 15 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. “The powerful advantage to using minocycline is that the virus appears less able to develop drug resistance because minocycline targets cellular pathways not viral proteins,” says Janice Clements, Ph.D., Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs, vice dean for faculty, and professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“The big challenge clinicians deal with now in this country when treating HIV patients is keeping the virus locked in a dormant state,” Clements adds. “While HAART is really effective in keeping down active replication, minocycline is another arm of defense against the virus.”

Unlike the drugs used in HAART which target the virus, minocycline homes in on, and adjusts T cells, major immune system agents and targets of HIV infection. According to Clements, minocycline reduces the ability of T cells to activate and proliferate, both steps crucial to HIV production and progression toward full blown AIDS.

If taken daily for life, HAART usually can protect people from becoming ill, but it’s not a cure. The HIV virus is kept at a low level but isn’t ever entirely purged; it stays quietly hidden in some immune cells. If a person stops HAART or misses a dose, the virus can reactivate out of those immune cells and begin to spread.

The idea for using minocycline as an adjunct to HAART resulted when the Hopkins team learned of research by others on rheumatoid arthritis patients showing the anti-inflammatory effects of minocycline on T cells. The Hopkins group connected the dots between that study with previous research of their own showing that minocycline treatment had multiple beneficial effects in monkeys infected with SIV, the primate version of HIV. In monkeys treated with minocycline, the virus load in the cerebrospinal fluid, the viral RNA in the brain and the severity of central nervous system disease were significantly decreased. The drug was also shown to affect T cell activation and proliferation.

“Since minocycline reduced T cell activation, you might think it would have impaired the immune systems in the macaques, which are very similar to humans, but we didn’t see any deleterious effect,” says Gregory Szeto, a graduate student in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine working in the Retrovirus Laboratory at Hopkins. “This drug strikes a good balance and is ideal for HIV because it targets very specific aspects of immune activation.”

The success with the animal model prompted the team to study in test tubes whether minocycline treatment affected latency in human T cells infected with HIV. Using cells from HIV-infected humans on HAART, the team isolated the “resting” immune cells and treated half of them with minocycline. Then they counted how many virus particles were reactivated, finding completely undetectable levels in the treated cells versus detectable levels in the untreated cells.

“Minocycline reduces the capability of the virus to emerge from resting infected T cells,” Szeto explains. “It prevents the virus from escaping in the one in a million cells in which it lays dormant in a person on HAART, and since it prevents virus activation it should maintain the level of viral latency or even lower it. That’s the goal: Sustaining a latent non-infectious state.”

The team used molecular markers to discover that minocycline very selectively interrupts certain specific signaling pathways critical for T cell activation. However, the antibiotic doesn’t completely obliterate T cells or diminish their ability to respond to other infections or diseases, which is crucial for individuals with HIV.

“HIV requires T cell activation for efficient replication and reactivation of latent virus,” Clement says, “so our new understanding about minocyline’s effects on a T cell could help us to find even more drugs that target its signaling pathways.”

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Authors of the paper, in addition to Clements and Szeto, are Angela K. Brice, Sheila A. Barber and Robert F. Siliciano, all of Johns Hopkins. Also, Hung-Chih Yang of National Taiwan University Hospital.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

Journal Reference:

Gregory L. Szeto, Angela K. Brice, Hung-Chih Yang, Sheila A. Barber, Robert F. Siliciano, Janice E. Clements. inocycline Attenuates HIV Infection and Reactivation by Suppressing Cellular Activation in Human CD4+ T Cells. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2010; 201 (8): 1132 DOI: 10.1086/651277

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100319202528.htm

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Stupak Postpones News Conference - Prescriptions Blog - NYTimes.com

0bama 'confesses' to criminal activities to pass Socialist Medicine bill

2010-03-21T21:05:00.000+02:00

In his interview with Bret Baier, Barry 0bama confessed that he and his follow co-conspirators in Congress have engaged, and will continue to engage in illegal and unconstitutional behaviour to fraudulently “pass” the socialist medicine bill. Mr. 0bama admitted that they are not concerned about the “process”, only the end result. The problem with that attitude is that there is only one Constitutionally approved process for passing legislation. To publically declare that he and congressional Democrat/Socialists are not concerned about the process is to pubically declare that the Constitution doesn’t matter. Worse, it is an admission that they believe “the ends justifies the means” and that “any means necessary” is more important that following the law and complying with the Constitution. This is nothing less than a blatant confession by Mr. 0bama and Democrats have, are and will continue to blatantly violate the law in order to get their way.

[Via http://ldmartin1959.wordpress.com]

» About Those 'Racial Slurs:' Real News or Media Propaganda? - Big ...

Moments of Life

2010-03-17T09:40:00.000+02:00

Today I saw not of a 84 year-old diabetic European man meeting his arranged marriage wife of 64 years old who was admitted for schizophrenia and co-morbid Crohn’s disease, but I saw a loving husband sharing his moments of love with his dear wife of 42 years of marriage, over the few bits of chocolates and tea.

What I saw and experienced was LOVE.

Sometimes, demographics and pathologies are merely for statistical and medicinal use, least to say, the beauty of love and life are often taken for granted. Should we as doctors do as such?

[Via http://jingguo.wordpress.com]

Obama to Appear on Fox News - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com

Just some tidbits.

2010-03-17T00:59:00.000+02:00

[Via http://clouise91.wordpress.com]

Bungie trademarks Marathon name News | Xbox 360 | Eurogamer

Scienceroll.com: Weekly Introduction

2010-03-15T09:14:00.000+02:00

I would like to share my favourite and ongoing projects with you so I can give you a proper introduction to Scienceroll.com. You can also find me on Twitter or on Friendfeed.

For news and articles about the impact of web 2.0 on medicine and healthcare, please follow the Medicine 2.0 Friendfood room.

For news and articles about personalized medicine and genetics, please follow the Gene Genie Friendfeed room.

Medicine 2.0 University Course: This is the third semester of the first university course that focuses on web 2.0 and medicine for medical students. Now, almost 100 students attend the 20 slideshows through 10 weeks and they fill a survey out before and after the course.

Medicine 2.0 Collection: I maintain the biggest collection of links and posts focusing on web 2.0 and medicine.

Webicina.com is my service that aims to help medical professionals and patients enter the web 2.0 era by providing them with e-courses, consulting and personalized packages.

PeRSSonalized Medicine is a free tool that lets you select your favourite resources and read the latest news and articles in one personalized place. You can create your own “medical journal” and as we are totally open to suggestions, let us add the journals, blogs and websites that you would like to follow.

Scienceroll Search is a personalized medical search engine powered by PolyMeta search and clustering engine. You can choose which databases to search in and which one to exclude from your list. It works with well-known medical search engines and databases and we’re totally open to add new ones or remove those you don’t really like.

List of biomedical and scientific community sites: More than 30 communities with links, descriptions and screenshots.

List of Biomedical video sites: Almost 40 sites featuring scientific or medical videos and videocasts.

[Via http://scienceroll.com]

Google Roundup With News About Mobile, China, Buzz, and Rich ...

Health 2.0 News: Virtual patients, Design Challenge and the Future

2010-03-15T01:16:00.000+02:00

PatientsLikeMe Reports High Rate of Adverse Event Reporting Among Its Members (Pharma Marketing Blog): Patientslikeme will certainly play an important role in driving the pharma sector towards social media.

The 2010 DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge: The DiabetesMine blog presents this year’s Design Challenge in which innovations in diabetes can win prizes.

WebMD + Social Media, NOT! (Chilmark Research): WebMD wanted to take a step towards web 2.0, but didn’t do it in the best manner.

My name is Christopher. I have CF and was born in Novartis (Advertising and Health): A virtual patient promotes a new pharma-sponsored community site for patients dealing with cystic fibrosis. Does anyone think it’s a good idea?

Protecting Your Professional Image in the 21st Century (BiteSize Bio): A timely entry about why and how to be cautious online. Have you checked the settings of your Facebook or Twitter account recently?

Health care of the future? (Hans Oh’s eHealth Blog):

Checklists
Behavioral Economics
Patient Portals
Payment Innovations
Evidence-Based Decision Making
Accountable Care Organizations
Virtual Visits
Regenerative Medicine
Surgical Robots
Genetic Medicine

Quantified Self Business Models (The Quantified Self):

The session began with McCabe of ContagionHealth describing her company, whose first product is a social game that allows people to exchange exercise challenges. What on the surface looks like a fun diversion and micro-motivator is actually an insertion strategy for new tools of mapping human psychology and social influence, McCabe explained. The group is already experimenting with segmenting users (for instance, into “doms” and “subs” according to whether they prefer influencing or being influenced). This is invisible to the user, who sees only an invitation to play with their friends. Right now, McCabe and her partner Andrey Petrov hope to make money by licensing the platform to employee wellness programs.

[Via http://scienceroll.com]

Gibbs: By next Sunday, healthcare reform will be the 'law of the ...

finally it's friday

2010-03-12T17:58:00.000+02:00

I realise I complain a lot these days about work, hours, people, patients; you name it I’m complaining about it. I haven’t figured whether it’s orthopaedics, the department, the people, the patients or just me that is the cause of all the moaning. A pretty good guess would be a combination of everything.

But as the light begins to glimmer towards the end of these four months I feel the rose tinted glasses beginning to gloss things over. So before I forget it all, here’s a snapshot of what really was at times AWFUL-paedics.

First morning. Half past seven meeting. Rota shennaginans begin. JUST PICK A ROTA PEOPLE. (I felt like screaming then thought about first impressions and all that.) Then we stood awkwardly in a corner of the Trauma Meeting which was and still is Trauma for everyone involved not just the poor patients. Patient admitted in middle of meeting. Nurse appeared demanding fluids and a catheter. Didn’t know the drill so ran through and after a bit of fumbling, the demented fractured neck of femur (little did I know, a sight only to become all too familar) had a catheter in situ and I returned to a fraught trauma meeting, registrars being grilled, voices raised. I was thanking my lucky stars it was NOT me standing up presenting.

I survived that first day. Surprisingly in one piece.

Then came the first weekend on. I was just getting used to life without an SHO (senior house officer), my go-to-guy if you like, one up from me; when the shit hit the fan people. Big Time. One of the fractured NOFs (neck of femurs or hips to you non surgeons) took a turn for the worst and arrested. Thrown. In. At. The Deep. End. I guess it was autopilot. We went through the motions and she came back round. Well, in the loosest sense. Her heart beat returned but unfortunately little else about her did. But I am thankful to say that at least her family was at her side when she did pass on later that day.

I sat down to gather my thoughts and sort out the notes. But I was stumped. Floored. Staring into space. A tap on my shoulder brought me back but I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I cried. I scared the arrest team doc who appeared to be much more comfortable with arrests than emotionally labile house officers. I cried some more. Silent sobs. Washed my face. Questioned my decisions. My actions. And then bed 404 needed laxatives prescribed and I thought, “Thank goodness..that, my friends I can do.” Bed 409 had a sore belly, bed 432 had a sore leg, bed 236 wanted methadone (though preferably heroin if possible) and life continued. I thought I was broke. Done. Knackered. Never-going-to-function-again. But life goes on. Patient’s are always there needing one thing or another, never quite letting you get too self absorbed, keeping you in the real world.

Then the ICE came and the snow, oh and the ICE. And so we are in the middle of one of the coldest winters and I am where? You guessed it orthopaedics. One of the busiest winters yet for the unit. Great. It never stopped.

And now the ice has gone. There are busy days and quieter days, a bit like waves hitting the beach. Sometimes they come crashing down and you’re not sure whether you’ll come up. Sometimes they gently roll up, leaving you with time to go to the toilet, eat lunch and laugh.

I’m left with nights before it’ll be back to medicine. Thank goodness.

[Via http://thepurplecoat.wordpress.com]

What makes a nonprofit news org legit? Three other questions to ...

Inside the TV Wars: Mergers, Monoliths and Shady Backroom Deals

2010-03-12T09:42:00.000+02:00

Inside the TV Wars: Mergers, Monoliths and Shady Backroom Deals

Our media powerhouses aren’t ready to evolve, and they’re prepared to sabotage content, creativity and innovation to avoid doing so.

It’s important that people understand that what’s behind these media mergers is the Christian conservatives movement and the Republican Party. Because the Republican Party and the Christian conservatives have a master plan to control everything in this country and they are willing to kill their own families in kill children and murder them in the street in order to get what they want.

As I have said before, I was in communication with Gore Vidal before he died while he was living in Europe. And I have to tell you that Gore Vidal told me that his life with and threatened many times I the Republican Party and Christian conservatives who said they were going to kill him if you did not leave this country. Gore Vidal also explained to me that the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party and had a Jihad against the Jewish intellectuals and against intellectuals and scientists for many many years. And even explained that from his experience that he found the the Republican Party and the Christian conservatives actually got a kind of sexual pleasure or sexual enjoyment from the thought of killing the Jewish intellectual thought of killing intellectuals and the thought of killing a scientist. Because he said that he had never seen such hatred for science and Jewish intellectuals as he saw coming from the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party. And so he said that was one of the Main reasons the left the United States because he was afraid that the Christian conservatives were going to kill him. And then parade is on the around the country as a token of what he called their Jihad against the Jewish intellectuals of the United States.

And so consequently, the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party have declared a Jihad against creativity and against teachers and against Jewish intellectuals and against knowledge and again scientists. Because they hate everything the Christian conservatives hate every single kind of human being and every creation of God that has ever existed, unless that creation is strictly white and Christian and Republican and a man. Because that’s the only kind of God’s creation that the Christian conservatives and Republican party like are men who are white and Christian and Republican. Everyone else as far as the Christian conservatives, and Republican Party are concerned must die.

And so being a Jewish intellectual myself, and a scientist, I realize that it’s only a matter of time before, the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party come for me. Which is exactly why I have been as public and as outspoken as I have on the Internet. So that everyone will know that when the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party do break into my home and drag my body into the street and turn me alive and on fire while the Christian conservatives and their children dance around my burning body and sing happy songs of how they hate Jews and how they hate everyone in this world and how they are going to kill everyone in this world with your holy war a Jihad against humanity, that everyone in the world will know the Christian conservatives did this to me because they hate Jews and they hate intellectuals and they hate teachers and they hate knowledge and they hate scientists and they’re prepared to kill every single human being in the entire world to be able to get what they want.

As American citizens we have seen the creativity of the entertainment industry a much destroyed because the Christian conservatives refused to allow anything to be presented on TV that does not fit their extremely narrowminded and ethnocentric and egocentric hatred of everything in this world that is not white and Christian. Adolf Hitler used the same methods when he was forming is Nazi regime during World War II. He used the same methods of propaganda and mass murder of the the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party are employing now he used the same methods of control over the media services in Germany that the Christian conservatives are in fact using now.

That’s because the Christian conservatives every single one of them has a copy of Mein Kampf in their homes and every Republican Party member of the United States Congress reads Mein Kampf, which have a copy of in their offices. And they really every single month and swear allegiance to Mein Kampf above and beyond their duty as American citizens because they don’t care about the Constitution they care about Mein Kampf and establishing a new Nazi regime in these United States. And they will do so even if they have to destroy every single the creativity and kill every single intellectual Jewish and otherwise and murder every scientist in this country. The Christian conservatives will be the voice of God your under even if they have to kill God and Jesus Christ to do so.

And so like I’ve already explained, you can see how the quality of creativity has become completely soured and almost virtually destroyed in this country are the Christian conservatives of these United States. This is one of the reasons I refuse to do business with Rupert Murdoch and his television service known as DirecTV. Because Rupert Murdoch is using his service of DirecTV to promote his propaganda and spread his racial hatred of Jews and black Americans. Because Rupert Murdoch is known all over the entire world as someone who hates everyone in the entire world. He hates the royal family of England he would love to kill them. He hates everyone in this world and he wants to do everything he can to steal as much money as he possibly can because he doesn’t care if yes to kill his own children. He will get all the money he can. And he doesn’t care who has to kill in order to do that.

So consequently, that’s why I’m not using my DirecTV service and why I’m canceling it and why refuse to do business with anyone who is under the control of Rupert Murdoch. And if the Christian conservatives take over all the media services. I won’t be watching television anymore. But then I have over 1000 movies your I home that I’ve already recorded before, the Christian conservatives were able to destroy the media services in this country. So I don’t need TV if I don’t want to have to be I can watch any one of my movies that the Christian conservatives have not enabled to destroy. And no matter what the Christian conservatives do they will not win over me. The only way that the Christian conservatives will win in their attempt to destroy this country and to destroy the media services of this country and destroy America’s lives is over my dead body. And if that’s exactly what the Christian conservatives want. I don’t have any problem with that. Bring it on.

Economic Fact Sheet (Current as of March, 2010)

The United States currently has a national debt in excess of $12.5 trillion.
The interest on the national debt is now in excess of $11 trillion.
The operating budget for the United States government is now in excess of $43 trillion.
The members of the United States Congress stole $200 million from the Medicare fund, which was going to go for cost-of-living increases to Medicare recipients, so that the members of Congress could have their paper medical records converted to computerized medical records. The attitude by the members of Congress was that they didn’t care if they murdered American citizens as long as they get the medical protection they wanted.
The Christian conservatives and the Republican Party are taking the stand that they do not want American citizens to have any kind of healthcare the of healthcare is extended to anyone that the Christian conservatives or the Republican Party does not like. And this is based not on constitutional law or the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party being patriots. It’s based upon the Christian conservatives Republican Party demanding that the American government understand that no Christian conservative or Republican Party member will in any way ever support the US Constitution above their Christian religion and above their Christian Bible. And so as a result, their Christian Bible and Christian religion says that healthcare should not go to Hispanic Americans or black Americans or Jews or Muslims or gay Americans or Native Americans or anyone who is an immigrant that the Christian conservatives Republican Party just doesn’t happen to like.
And so as a result, the Christian conservatives Republican Party members are trying to commit mass murder in United States by denying health care to millions of American citizens who are in desperate need of medical attention. But the Christian conservatives Republican Party doesn’t really care about that because as far as they’re concerned if they have to walk through rivers of blood to make sure that their Christian religion and their Christian faith is supported more than the Constitution of these United States and the Christian conservatives will do just that.
The current level of unemployment in the United States is now over 9.7%.
The current cost for liquidating the national debt is now in excess of $40,000 per person, which means that every man woman and child in the United States would have to pay at least $40,000 to be able to liquidate the national debt.
When you look at the history of United States from the American Civil War until present day you find that the Republican Party and Christian conservatives were in total and complete control of the United States government every single time there was a financial crisis from the American Civil War to present day. And that basically means that all the policy decisions that were being made by the American government during these times when these financial catastrophes were taking place were being made strictly by Christian conservatives and the Republican Party . And of course that’s all public record.
As my financial analysis of the global economic system , in my see also section below, clearly shows, it was the Republican Party and the Christian conservatives under President Bush who gave the American banking industry $400 billion of taxpayer money and simply told the banking industry to use the money anyway they wanted to. And the banking industry did just that they use the money to pay for expensive gifts and presents and take vacations. To date, the banking industry has only paid back $30 billion out of the over $500 billion that was given to them by the American taxpayers.
The issues of profitability indexing, pursuant to profit margins and per unit costs and customer bases as they relate to compensation packages throughout the entire corporate sector have not been resolved. That basically means that most businesses are being held hostage by upper level management and executive employees in their own companies who are demanding more and more for their compensation packages. As a result of this most companies are having to readjust their per unit costs for their goods and services in such a way so that what they are doing is pricing their services and their products. So that mostly the upper class and the wealthy will be able to afford them. And this is being done so these companies and corporations can get as much money into their company as possible.
But they are in fact forgetting one of the major factors which is that while most of the money that any company gets comes from the wealthy are customers most of their day-to-day cash flow actually comes from the middle and lower income customers. This is true regardless of where that company exists. So as a result of this most of the companies in the corporate sector are operating on what is known as a cash poor basis. And this basically means that since they are pricing their goods and services in order to get the most money possible they are foregoing pricing their goods and services so they will be more affordable to the middle and lower income customers, which actually provide these companies with their day-to-day cash flow. And so as a result, these companies don’t have enough money to pay for employees or many of the other day-to-day costs that come up.
This factor has not been dealt with in any country in the world at this time. Furthermore, these companies are refusing to be honest about their financial reporting. They are constantly using and accounting,/statistical variance, which is .5%. And .5% variance is such a large variance pursuant to statistical and financial analysis that you can basically drive a moving van through the space. That is allocated for plus or minus error correction in the statistical analyses and financial analyses that are in fact done with .5% variance. This is why I have never used that level of variance statistically or financially. I’ve always used .05% variance because it is such a small variance that the statistical analysis of the profitability analysis cannot be falsified. It is true that using .05% variance does require an additional 100,000 to 200,000 calculations in order to be able to complete the analysis. But when you consider that the final product is incredibly more honest and reliable. It’s worth it.
The banking industry has turned cruel. For example here in Cleveland Ohio Keycorp is taking a lot of pride and threatening senior citizens and kicking them out of their homes so that they can foreclose on the property. This is happening all over Cleveland Ohio and KeyCorp actually is one of the most hated banks in the entire state of Ohio. But KeyCorp is not the only one who’s doing this practice. Because was really happening is that banks all over the United States are basically threatening senior citizens with foreclosure to the point where suicides are now escalating and accelerating at an alarming rate. So badly that the medical community is swamped by the number of suicide calls they are getting. And this is all happening because KeyCorp and other banks like KeyCorp are basically taking the attitude that they don’t care how many men and women and children they have to murder. They just want their money.
When you consider these kinds of factors are going on in the banking industry you realized that the other thing that’s happening is that senior citizens and homeowners are becoming incredibly sick. Do becoming physically ill as a result of the horrible attitude that KeyCorp in other banks like KeyCorp are pushing on the citizens. And there is no help for this at all.
Additionally, the medical community is helping with this because we have a hospital here in Cleveland Ohio called MetroHealth that basically is working hard. Just like KeyCorp to threaten senior citizens and have them thrown out of their homes. So that they can foreclose on the property. And basically kill the individuals. I have been personally threatened by KeyBank and MetroHealth and have recorded conversations proving that.
So MetroHealth does all these commercials where they’re talking about how good a hospital they are and yet they have been sued a number of times for Medicare fraud. They have also been sued by their own employees for unfair business practices. And they have lost doctors so badly because they don’t treat their doctors very well either. Nobody likes MetroHealth.
And for the record, it needs to be understood that my grandfather’s brother, Dr. ally Maschke, was the director of medicine at mount Sinai medical center here in Cleveland Ohio until his death. And my cousin, Dr. Victor Vertese, was also the director of medicine at mount Sinai medical center until his death. Additionally, my grandfather, Maurice Maschke, and his business partner, Mark Hanna, who founded the Hana mining company, which became the 3M company, basically built mount Sinai medical center in Cleveland. And in addition to that, my father, Maurice Maschke Junior, was on the Board of Trustees at Case Western Reserve University, University hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland clinic, and mount Sinai medical center until his death. And in addition to that, my father, Maurice Maschke Junior, and I., were partners and co-owners of pioneer linen supply company of Cleveland Ohio for 25 years until 1975 when we sold the company.
So given all of the foregoing as actual facts. The only reason that the accelerated growth has taken place is because certain industries in the United States have in fact been making money. Only because their industries are addressing sections of the population who are otherwise disenfranchised by most of the business sector. For example Tyco International is a business that specializes and fire prevention and warning systems and security systems. And of course they’ve done a really good job because people are scared to death and living in their homes and there are so many foreclosures going on that people are having to protect their homes because in most cities the number of police has dropped so badly because most cities are in a huge budget crisis. In Cleveland, Ohio, for example, the city went from 1,500,000 people down to approximately 400,000 people in only a matter of months. And conditions are so bad in Cleveland that Cleveland is now charging nine dollars a month just pick up our garbage.
So given those facts Tyco International for one example is making a lot of money because people are having to protect their homes because they can’t really, the police that much because the number of police has dropped so the greatly because of the budget crisis going on throughout the world and throughout the United States.
Additionally, when you look at a company like Microsoft, who reported a huge profit. This is because Microsoft isn’t doing really well. Because they’re not the only reason Microsoft made this huge profit was because their previous product, Microsoft Windows Vista was actually one of the worst programs and products Microsoft ever created. And so since it did so terribly in the market naturally Microsoft’s increased now is looking fantastic, which is not because if you analyze the overall productivity and effectiveness of Microsoft you will see that they are basically floundering under Steve Ballmer’s direction.
So again, it’s really easy for people to talk about how well the market is doing that the foregoing represents the actual facts of what’s going on in business. And as I said before, I have been studying the stock market since I was six years old. At age 6 I started studied the stock market at Prescott ball and turban here in Cleveland Ohio. With one of the partner broker’s, Bernie Towell, who was a personal friend of mine. And so every day for four hours every day and age 6 until age 16 I studied the stock market and learned economics and financial analysis . At age 16, while working and being a partner and co-owner of pioneer linen spy company in Cleveland, I did my first financial analysis and profitability analysis . It was done on the linen supply company’s of Cleveland Ohio. The analysis was so good that the results were used to program some computers at the time. And in 42 years and having been a financial analyst I’ve never once been wrong in any financial projection I’ve ever done. Not once. Just like I’m not wrong now.
In my financial analysis of the global economic system in my see also section below, I clearly show that the American market system was going to lose $800 trillion of market value in the third business quarter of 2009. I further substantiated this claim last January in January of 2009. When I explained that the American market system was going to take a huge hit in the third quarter and that it would come out to about $800 trillion of market loss. And that this was in fact in line with the Kondratieff wave . And in fact that’s exactly what did happen. Which means the analysts were wrong. And I was right.
So again, if you go ahead and look at all these factors without looking at all of the peripheral details than you are going to be responding to the information in a very symptomatic, or symptomatically oriented manner whereby you will behave to the information in an extremely reactionary way. By the like term, if you look at all of the information regarding economics throughout the entire global economic system in a problematically oriented manner you will be looking at the financial information in a more anticipatory manner. And much more pervasive rather than in a stereotypical or linear manner. And as a result, you will begin to understand that all of these different factors that I have brought forth in this article right now. Actually do justify what I’m saying that the American market system is on the verge of collapse. And that the economic system for Greece is about to go under. And that unemployment in Spain and France and England is running at almost 30%.
These do not make things look like they’re going good in the United States is basically doing nothing but lying about the economic they I went to school with most of the people who run a lot of these companies in the United States and who are working on Wall Street either went to school with them at Case Western Reserve why went to school with them at Fort Lewis college board went to school with them at southern Arizona school in Tucson Arizona. Or, I did business with them throughout my life.
So again, this is a reality check. And all I can say is, if you don’t believe what I’m saying that’s not a problem. Because you haven’t believe me, for 40 years, what I’ve been talking about all of these issues facing the economic system in the United States and the global economic system. So why would you believe me now?
But the fact is that just because you may not believe what I’m saying doesn’t mean that what I’m saying is not true. Simply means you are refusing or are not able to see the veracity in what I’m saying and that’s all it means.

The Christian Black Codes Of 1724:

Article 1

We want and understand that the law of the late King of glorious memory our lord and father, of the April 23rd 1615, be executed in our islands. We order to all our officers to chase out of our islands all the Jews who have established their home, to who, like to declared enemies of the Christian name, we order to get out within three months, from the day of publication of the law, on pain of confiscation of body and possessions.
Article 2

All the slaves who will be in our islands will be baptized and educated in the catholic, apostolic and roman church. Order the inhabitants who buy Negroes newly arrived to inform the governor and quartermaster of the islands within eight days the latest, on pain of arbitrary fines; that will give order to baptize and educate them in adequate time.
Article 3

We forbid public exercise of other religion than the catholic, apostolic and roman one; want that the contravening persons be punished as rebels and disobeying persons to our commandments. Forbid any assembly for this reason, we declare those one as illicit and seditious subject to the same pain, which will be the same even for the masters who let this done by his slaves.
Article 4

There will no commander to direct the Negroes, who is no of the catholic, apostolic and roman religion, on pain on confiscation of those Negroes against this masters who put a such commander and arbitrary punishment against the commanders who accept this job.
Article 5

We forbid our subjects of the so-called reformed religion to cause trouble either impediment to our other subjects, even to their slaves in the free exercise of the catholic, apostolic and roman religion, on pain of exemplar punishment.
Article 6

We enjoin, all our subjects, whatever function and condition they are, to observe the Sundays and holidays; which are kept to our subjects of catholic, apostolic and roman religion. Forbid them to work either to make their slaves work the appointed days, since midnight to other midnight, to culture the land, making sugars and any other work, on pain of arbitrary fine and punishment against the masters, and of confiscation of the sugars as well as the slaves that our officers will see working. [NB: all pretexts are good, to deprive the slaves of weekly rest and holidays.]
Article 7

We forbid them to hold Negroes market and any kind of goods the appointed days too, on same pain of confiscation of the goods on the market, and arbitrary fine against the merchants.
Article 8

Declare our subjects who are not of the catholic, apostolic and roman religion incapable to contact in the future any valid marriage. Declare bastards the children who will birth from these conjunctions, that we want to be held and reputed, we hold and repute for real cohabitation.
Article 9

Free men who had one or several children in their cohabitation, with their slaves, the master and him will be condemned to a fine of two thousand pounds of sugar. And if they are the slave masters with who they had the so-called children, we want that further the fine, they will be deprive of the slave and the children, and she and them be confiscated to profit of the hospital, without any possibility to be emancipated. This article is not valid when the man is free and he is not married to an other person during his cohabitation with the slave, will marry in the church rules his so-called slave, who will be emancipated by this mean, and the slave become free and legal.5in the black code of 1724 (Louisiana): no possible marriage between white and black, banning of celebrate mix marriages for the priests; no cohabitation between whites and blacks emancipated or free, and slaves.]
Article 10

The so-called solemnity prescribed by the edict of Blois and the declaration of the month of November 1639, for the marriages, will be observes as for free persons as slaves, with nevertheless that the consent of the slave’s father and mother be necessary, but only the master’s. [NB: the slaves who would be constrained to marry by their master have no legal mean to refuse.]
Article 11

Forbid very expressly the priest to proceed to slaves’ marriages, if they don’t have their masters’ consent. Forbid to the masters to use no compel on their slaves for marry them against their will.
Article 12

The children who will birth from marriages between slaves will be slaves and will belong to the masters of the slaves women and not to their husband’s one, if the husband and the wife have different masters.
Article 13

Want if the husband has married a free woman, the children as males as females follow their mother’s condition and be free like her in spite of their father’s servitude; and if the father is free and the mother slave, the children be slave too.
Article 14

The masters are required to bury in holy land in a cemeteries intended to this aim their baptized slaves; and for those who will die without receive baptism, they will be buried by night in some field close to where they’ll deceased. [NB: the black men "holy land" is quite different to the whites "holy land".]
Article 15

Forbid to slaves to carry offensive weapon, either big sticks, on pain of whip and confiscation of the weapons to the benefit of who will seize them; except only those who have been sent hunting by their masters, and will have their notes or know marks.
Article 16

Forbid also to slaves belonging to different masters to form a crowd by day or night on the pretext of wedding party or otherwise, either at one of their masters or elsewhere, and more less in big paths or place away, on pain of corporal punishment, which will not be less than whip and lily flower; in case of frequent repeat offense and others aggravate circumstances, will be able be punished of death, what we let to the judges arbitration. Enjoin our subjects to hunt for the contravening, and arrest them and lead them in jail, although they are not officers and there is no decree against them.
Article 17

The masters will be convinced to have let or tolerated such assemblies composed by slaved who don’t belong to them, will be condemned in their own and private names to repair any damage which will be done to their neighbors during these assemblies, in ten ecus fine for first time and twice for subsequent offense.
Article 18

Forbid the slaves to sell sugar canes for any reason or occasion, even with their masters’ permission, on pain of whip for the slaves, and of ten pounds for the masters who let this and the same for the buyers.
Article 19

Forbid them too to expose for sell in the market, either bring in the particular houses to sell any kind off foodstuff, even fruits, vegetables, firewood, grasses to feed animals and the products they made, without an express permission of their masters by a note or known marks, on pain of claims of the sold goods, without restriction of price by their masters.
Article 20

Want for this reason that two persons are in charge of each market to verify the foodstuff and goods that have been brought by the slaves, together the notes and known marks of their masters, the carry.
Article 21

Permit to all our subjects inhabitants of our islands to seize all the things they’ll find the slaves in charge when don’t have notes of their masters, either known marks, to be delivered very shortly to their masters, if the plantations are close of where the slaves will be surprised at committing offense; or else the things will be very shortly sent to the hospital to held in trust till the masters are informed.
Article 22

The masters will be obliged to make supply, per each week, their slaves aged of ten more for their food, with two pots and half, measurement of the country, of manioc flour, or three cassavas weighting two pounds and half each at least, or equivalent things, with two pounds of salted beef or three pounds of fish or anything else with same proportion; and the children, since they are weaned till ten years old, the half of provisions above. [NB: the mortality of black people was very important. They were poorly fed. The white people make them work out of their possibilities for more benefits.]
Article 23

Forbid them to give to the slaves sugar cane brandy for the provisions mentioned in previous article.
Article 24

Forbid them also to release themselves of the food and subsistence of their slaves, by letting them work some days of the week "to be self-employed"
Article 25

The masters will be obliged to supply each slaves every years two clothes or four alders of cloth, as so-called masters like. [NB: in fact, the masters don't care of clothing them.]
Article 26

The slaves who won’t be fed, clothed and maintained by their masters in accordance with what we have order by the presents rules will be able to give the opinions to general attorney and the memories in his hands, on what and automatically, if the opinions come to him from other persons, the masters will be prosecuted by his petition and without pay anything, what we want to be observed as the masters’ crimes and barbarian and inhuman treatments toward their slaves. [NB: the articles 30 and 31 quash purely and simply the good intentions of the article 26.]
Article 27

The infirm slaves by age, illness otherwise, either the illness is incurable or non, will be supported and will maintain by their master; and incase they would have neglected themselves them, the so-called slaves will be assigned to the hospital; the masters will condemned to pay six sols by day by days for the food and the maintain of each slave. [NB: the current practice is pure and simple desertion]
Article 28

Let us declare that the slaves can not have anything which is not belong to their master, and all come them by industry or liberality of other persons or otherwise whatever the way, is acquired in full property to their master, without the slaves’ children, their father or mother, their parents and any free or slave others can lay claim nothing by inheritance, provision of a will between living people or because of death. We declare the such provisions are useless, both all the promises or obligations which would be made, as being made by people legally incompetent to incline and to contract by their own.
Article 29

Let us want nevertheless that the masters are responsible of what their slaves will make by their commandment, and together for what they’ll will have managed and negotiated in the shops, and the particular kind of trade of which their masters will appoint them; and the case the masters didn’t give any order and didn’t appoint them, they will be responsible only for what will profit to them; and if nothing profit to the masters, the earning of this so-called slaves that their masters permitted them to have will be seized, after the masters will have deduced what will be owed to them; except if the earning is, all or a part of goods which the slaves have been permitted to trade for their own, on what their masters will take only by contribution of a sol for a pound with the other creditors.
Article 30

The slaves won’t have office neither commission with public functions, neither be constituted agents by others than their masters for manage neither administrate any shop, neither be arbitrators, experts or witnesses in civil and criminal matter. And in case they are listen as witness, their deposition will serve only for memories to help the judges to find out, but those depositions won’t be able to be used to have presumptions, neither circumstances, neither evidences.
Article 31

The slaves won’t be able to be litigant neither is in judgment in civil matter, in plaintiff or in defendant; neither be private party in criminal matter, except their masters to act and to proceed, and to prosecute for compensations for insults and excess their slaves have been subjected.
Article 32

The slaves will be prosecuted without the need the master get responsible but only in the case of complicity; and so-called slaves will be judged in first pending by ordinary judges and on appeal by the supreme council on the same pre-trial investigation of the case, with the same procedures than free persons.
Article 33

The slave, who hit his master, his mistress or his mistress husband or their children with contusion or bloodshed, or at the face, will be punished by death.
Article 34

And as for the immoderate language or assault which will be committed by slaves against free people, we want that it’s be severely punished, even by death if it’s necessary.
Article 35

The daylight robberies, even the horses, the mares, the mules, the oxen and the cows one which will be made by slaves, or by emancipated persons, will be punished by corporal pains, even by death if necessary.
Article 36

The robberies of sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, sugar canes, peas, millet, manioc, or others vegetables made by the slaves will be punished regarding the degree of robbery, by the judges, if they’ll be able if it’s necessary condemn them to be beaten by birch by the enforcer of the great justice, and marked by lily flower.
Article 37

The masters will be obliged, in case of robbery or other damage caused by their slaves, besides the slaves corporal pains, to right the wrong in their name, if they don’t prefer to abandon the slaves to the one who the wrong has been made; what they have to choose in three days, starting from the day of the sentence, otherwise they will be waned.
Article 38

The runaway slave who has been on the run during one month starting from the day his master will denounce him to justice, will have the ears cut off and will be marked by lily flower on a shoulder; if he re offends one more time starting from as well as the day of his of the denunciation, will have the ham cut off and will be marked by lily flower on the other shoulder; and the third time he will be punished by death.
Article 39

Emancipated people who will harbor in their house runaway slaves will be condemned for each one toward their masters in fine of three hundred pounds of sugar by retention day; and the other free people who help them in the same way, in ten pounds of fine for each day.
Article 40

The slave, punished by death on denunciation of his master, non accomplice of the crime for what he will have been condemned, will be appraised before the execution by two major inhabitants of the island who will be appointed automatically by the judge; and the price of appraisal will be paid to the master; and to satisfy for what, it will be fixed by the quartermaster for each head of Negroes who rights of the amount of money given by the estimation. It will be settled up for each so-called Negroes, and will be levied by the farmer of the western royal property to avoid charges.
Article 41

It is forbidden to the judges, to our prosecutors, and to the clerks to collect any tax in the criminal trial against the slaves, in pain of misappropriation of public funds.
Article 42

The masters will have the right, when they’ll estimate it’s necessary, to chain up the slaves and make beat them by sticks and ropes; defend them to torture them, neither make them member mutilations, on pain of confiscation of the slaves and very extraordinarily the masters will be prosecuted. [NB. The reality is that settlers bully, wound, torture, and kill.]
Article 43

We demand to our officers to prosecute the masters and the commanders who will kill a slave under their power and leadership, and punish the murder regarding the atrocity of the circumstances; and in case the forgiveness it’s necessary, permit our officers to sent back the forgiven masters and commanders, without it’s needing letter of mercy from us.
Article 44

We declare the slaves be movable, and as such enter the community, can not be seize by mortgage, can be shared equally between co-heirs without possibility for one of them to take a part before the sharing neither birthright, neither to be reserved to their wife before death by the husband, and be subject of feudal or descendants retract, feudal and seigniorial rights, to the formalities of the decrees.
Article 45

We don’t want to deprive our subjects of the faculty to stipulate them proper to their persons and to their own folks by their side and lineage, as it’s the use for money and other movable things.
Article 46

In slaves seizures will be fulfilled prescribed formalities by our orders and customs for seizure of movable things. We want that the money which coming from to be distributed by order of the seizures, or, in case of ruin, a sol for a pound, after the privileged debts will have been paid, and generally that the slaves condition to be well-ordered in all matter, as the one of the others movable things, except these cases.
Article 47

Do not let them be seized and sold separately the husband and the wife with their under age of puberty children, if they are all under the power of the same master; we declare null seizures and separate sale which will be done of them, what we want to take place in voluntary alienations, on punishment against those who would do alienations to be deprived of the one or those they will have kept, who will be awarded to the acquirers, without they would pass to do any supplement of value. [In the practice the master can sell children separately of his parents and to bargain for separately the spouses.]
Article 48

Do not let them can therefore slaves working now in the sugar-refinery, indigo houses and plantations, age of fourteen years and overhead until sixty years, be seized for debts, otherwise as to will arise of the value of their purchase, or that the sugar-refinery or the indigo house or the plantation where they work would been seized really, we defend, hardly of nullity, to proceed by real seizure and adjudication by decree on the sugar-refineries and indigo houses neither plantations, without comprising in it the slaves of the aforesaid age and there working now.
Article 49

The judicial farmers of sugar houses, indigo houses or plantations really seized with slaves will have to pay the entire price of their lease: without the possibility to count as the fruits they perceive the slave children born during their lease.
Article 50

We want, nevertheless all contrary conventions that we declare null, that the so-called children belong to the seized part, if the creditors are satisfied or to the adjudicator if it intervenes a decree; and for that purpose mention, will be done in the last forepart notice before the interposition of the decree, the so-called children born the slaves since the real seizure; that in same notice mention will be done the deceased slaves since the real seizure in which they were counted.
Article 51

We want to avoid expenses and procedure lengths, that the giving away of entire value of the conjoined fund adjudication and slaves and what will proceed from the value of judicial leases, be done between creditors according to the order of their privileges and mortgages, without distinguishing what is for the fund value of what is for the slaves value.
Article 52

And nevertheless the feudal and seigniorial rights will be paid only in proportion to the funds price.
Article 53

It will be only admit to retire the ordered funds, the persons of noble lineage and feudal lords who retire the slaves who have been sold with these funds, neither the purchasers won’t be able to keep the slaves without the funds.
Article 54

We enjoin to noble guardians and burgesses, persons who rent usufruct and others enjoying of the funds to which are joined who work, to steer the appointed slaves as good paterfamilias without they would pass after their administration to give back the value of those who will be deceased or full-fashioned by illness, age or otherwise without their lack, and without they draw as to hold back as fruits to their profits born of slaves children lasting their administration; who we want be preserved and return to those who will be his masters and proprietors.
Article 55

The masters of twenty years old will be able to free their slaves by all actions between living persons or because of death, without they would to pass to give reasons of their emancipation, neither that they would need of opinion of their parents, though they would be minor of twenty five years. [Measures will come hereafter to penalize hardly the emancipation]
Article 56

Slaves who will have been done residuary legatees by their masters, or named executors of their testaments, or guardians of their children, will pass and will consider as free men. [It didn't ever has been any black guardian neither of mulatto of the whites, and of course, there hasn't been a black executor or half-breed of the white deceased masters.
Article 57

We declare their emancipation made in our island serve as them as place of birth in our island, and the emancipated slaves don't need our letters of naturalization to enjoy our natural subjects advantages in our kingdom, lands and countries of our obedience, even they born in foreign countries.
Article 58

We command the emancipated persons to respect singularly their ancient masters, their widows and their children; or else the insult they will have made to them be punished more severely than if it has been somebody else. We declare them franc and quit toward them of all other charges, services and useful rights that their ancient masters would like too pretend, both on the persons and properties and succession in quality of bosses.
Article 59

We grant to the emancipated persons the same rights, privileges and immunity, which enjoy the persons born as free, we want that merit of an acquired freedom produce in them, also as for their persons than for their goods, the same effects as the happiness of the natural freedom causes to our other subjects. [NB: a lot of restrictions will be added: no access to nobility, no access to the "whites class", no possibility to have a practice in magistrate and in the militia, no job which can make them meet, even far from, the juridical or judicial functions, etc.]
Article 60

We declare the seizures and fines, which have not particular destination by these present articles, belong to us, to be paid to those who are appointed to the collect of our incomes. We want nevertheless that the third of these so-called confiscation and fine be given to the hospital established in the island where they have been made. We ask the persons who hold our sovereign council established in Martinique, Guadeloupe, saint-Christopher, that they have to make read, publish and register these present articles, and keep and observe point by point in accordance with the form and the term of the content in them, without to agree on neither permit they are contravened in any way, in spite of all edicts, declarations and customs, we have departed and depart from by these present articles. Because it’s our good pleasure; in order to be firm and stable matter forever, we have made append our seal. Given in Versailles in the month of March sixteen eighty-five and our reign the forty-second. Signed Louis. Further, by the King, Colbert. Stamp Le Tellier. And sealed with the great green wax seal, in green and red silk shellac.

Bibliography: le Code Noir, Louis Sala-Molins, Presses Universitaire de France

The Christian Black Code Of 1724

The Christian conservatives and the Catholics don’t ever want to be responsible for the fact that since 78% of the United States is pro-life Christian that basically means that 78% of all the women and children murdered in the United States are killed by pro-life Christians and Catholics. It also means that Christians in United States are demanding that the world understand that to them being pro-life means killing, because while the Christian conservatives and Catholics are demanding that everyone understand they are pro-life. They are with their own actions, supporting a number of forms of killing, which means that they are NOT pro-life..

78% of all the women murdered in the United States are killed by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the children abused in the United States are abused by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the children murdered in the United States are murdered by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the murders that take place in the United States are committed by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the soldiers in the United States, who go out and kill are pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of the membership of the National Rifle Association, which support GUNS THAT KILL are pro-life Christians and Catholics .
Every single white supremacist group in the history of United States has always been white fundamentalist pro-life Christian. And these white supremacist groups are dedicated to killing anyone who is not white and Christian.
The Army of God is a white fundamentalist Christian group who is dedicated to murdering and killing every single nonwhite Christian in the United States.
78% of all the people who favor and support the death penalty meaning killing people for committing crimes are pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the ministers in the United States who carry firearms to church and are threatening to kill anyone who comes near the church was not white and Christian are pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the crimes against gay people in the United States are done by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
Every month between one and two transgendered females are murdered and every single one of these killings is done by pro-life Christian.
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who demand the right to own black Americans and to kill them whenever they wanted to during the signing of the Declaration of Independence .
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who took over the Republican Party during the battle of Washington and try to overthrow the United States government under president Hoover at the battle of Washington in 1932.
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who took over the Republican Party on the evening before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War . And who then used the Republican Party to hire John Wilkes Booth to murder Pres. Abraham Lincoln .

When you have all these forms of killing being supported by pro-life Christians and Catholics it’s easy to understand that the pro-life Christians and Catholics are demanding that everyone else be responsible for their own actions. But the white fundamentalist Christians and Catholics under no circumstances want to be responsible for anything they do because they are demanding that the entire world understand that to them being pro-life means killing, because that’s what they support killing. That’s why that those who claim to be pro-life are now becoming known as nothing more than, “Killers For Christ”. And of course it the white fundamentalist Christians and Catholics don’t like what I’m saying or want to take exception to what I’m saying they need to disprove every single item in this journal entry and my see also section below.

See Also:

Jesus Christ
The Sermon On The Mount
God
The Bible
The Ten Commandments
John The Baptist
The Burning Times
The Crusades
Joan Of Arc
The Children Of Lourdes
The Children of Fatima
The Spanish Inquisition
The American Civil War
Slavery
The Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth
The Christian Conservatives
World War I
Prohibition
The Great Depression
The Battle of Washington
World War II
The Korean War
The Vietnam War
Richard Nixon
Oliver North
The Iran-Contra Affair
The Gulf War
The Savings-And-Loan Crisis
Bill Clinton
The Balanced Budget Amendment
The Iraq War
The Kondratieff Wave
Profitability Analysis
Financial Analysis
Vance Packard
Laissez-Faire
Capital Punishment
Homophobia
Xenophobia
Racism
Prejudice
Bigotry
Fascism
Eugenics
White Supremacy
Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler
The Ku Klux Klan
The Army of God
US Domestic Violence Statistics
US Child Abuse Statistics
US Child Mortality Statistics
US Religious Demographic Statistics
Gay-Rights
Transgenderism
Women’s Rights
Pro-Choice
NRA
Oliver Wendell Holmes
The US Constitution
The Bill Of Rights
Recording Telephone Conversations
Treason
Sedition
How The Republicans Use The Constitution To Lie (article 1, section 6, subsection b) of The US Constitution
My Biographical Profile
My Philosophy Of Life
24 Hour Suicide And Crisis Help Center
How to stop a suicide
For Those Who Said I Never Knew Ronald Reagan, They Lied
My Encounter With Joan Baez
My Time Studying The Anasazi Indians
My 250 Million Variable Characteristic Hieroglyphic Language
My Tribute To Jim Varney
The Pebble And The Penguin
A Diamond On A Sea Of Glass
Regarding Me And My Journal
My Spinal Fusion And Me Doing 250 Situps
An Installment Notation of The Maschke Family History and Legacy
It’s A Crime
Hey God! You There? I’m Tired… Ok?
In The Midst Of Darkness The Smallest Spark Lights My Way…
I Wrote Something A Long Time Ago…
Kmart To Close Five More Ohio Stores
The Vanishing Of America
A Place Called Earth
How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down On The Farm
Sounds
Reality …
Second Gear
My Financial Analysis Of The Global Economic System
Adventures In Technocracy
An Explanation Of Vernacular Dynamics and Sequencing Regarding Various Forms of Advocacy
The Tortoise and the Hare
The Silent Seconds…
Quantum Mechanics And Newtonian Metaphysics
My Global Warming Research

For the record, I am pro-life. I do not support violence against, or the killing of any human being under any circumstances! And the only way that I ever deviate from that stand is that I do not believe that God has ever given any human the right to dictate to any woman how she is to arbitrate her life with the Almighty, and/or God. Therefore, I believe that all women deserve the right to choose for themselves the fate of their own bodies, pursuant to their relationship with the Almighty, and/or God. For an expanded explanation please see my article entitled: "Second Gear"

[Via http://nicolemaschke3.wordpress.com]

The Hockey News: Special Features: VIDEO: Bruins goaltending ...

Abortion amendments affect bills (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

2010-03-10T09:57:00.000+02:00

Four more bills dealing with child welfare and public health may be dead this session because of a Republican lawmaker’s effort to attach a controversial anti-abortion measure to them.

Abortion amendments affect bills (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:34:03 GMT

It’s like I’ve been saying all along the Christian conservatives, and Republican Party don’t leaving women’s rights. They also don’t believe in children’s rights, and we know that’s true because the Christian conservatives Republican Party never talk about women’s rights or children’s rights. They only talk about the rights of the fetus. And this is because the Christian conservatives, and Republican Party don’t in the damn about killing children and killing women. Because all they care about is getting that fetus. And if they have to murder their own wives in kill their own children. Just to make sure that they can get that fetus. They will do just that. And that’s why there’s no difference between the actions of the Christian conservatives and the Republican party. And the actions of the Nazis during World War II. Because the Nazis during World War II killing Jews and doing the exact same thing to women that the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party are mandating be done to women today. That is why you never hear Christian conservatives talking about women’s rights or children’s rights. Because they don’t care about women’s rights or children’s rights. The only care about getting that fetus and if they have to cut a woman open on the street and leader leading to death, the Christian conservatives will reach into that woman and steal that fetus and leave the woman dying on the street. Because that’s how much they hate women and how much they hate children. Because they don’t believe in children’s rights and I don’t believe in women’s rights. That’s why in all the news articles you have seen over the past 10 years. You are the ever see the Christian conservatives or the Republican Party ever talking about women’s rights or children’s rights.

Actions speak louder than words and the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party have shown by their own actions that they have a legacy of over 10 years, where they do not ever hardly talk about the woman having any rights or children having any rights at all. The only thing you ever hear the Christian conservatives Republican Party ever talking about the rights of the fetus. And that’s because they don’t care about women they don’t care about children. And if they have to take a woman and tied her to a post and cut her the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party. They are nothing but pieces of crap.

Like I’ve said before, what is it about giving women rights that the Christian conservatives Republican Party are so afraid of? What are the men of the Christian conservative movement and the Republican Party so terrified of that they will never give women equal rights? Why are the men of the Christian conservative, and Republican Party movements so terrified of women that they are willing the kill every single woman in the United States and steal her fetus. Rather than to give the women equal rights? How can any Christian conservative bastard ever claim to be an agent of God when they are mandating that women nothing more than treated like cattle and I that die in a world on the ground, so that the Christian conservative bastard man in that region decide that and steal the fetus with their hands. The leading of the women who are dying as a result of what they’re doing? How can that be called pro-life? How can certifying the millions of women will be March the did get camps and burned alive and fiery furnaces. Like the Jews were earned by the Nazis in World War II be considered pro-life?

The Christian conservatives Republican Party by their own are showing that they are nothing but monsters pieces of crap that they are not patriotic Americans. But that they are nothing more than a bunch of fascist Nazis who do not believe in women’s rights. And we know that’s true because they never talk about women’s rights. They only talk about the rights of the fetus. Because as far as the Christian conservatives Republican Party are concerned. The living host that carries that fetus is nothing to do is nothing but a piece of dark age. And they will kill every single woman including their own children in their own lives in order to make sure they can. It that fetus, because that’s exactly how much hatred the white fundamentalist Christian men and Republican party men have for women in these United States. That’s exactly what a bunch of filthy anti-American and anti-God crap bastards these Christian conservatives Republican Party people are.

And that’s by their own actions. They are the ones who are paying themselves to be people who hate women so badly that they are willing to Women Obama street and leave them to die. Just so that they can get that fetus, because that’s exactly what the Christian conservatives Republican Party people are suggesting with their open campaign of hatred and mass murder of women that they are perpetrating here in these United States. Every single day, and that they are perpetrating in their war against children of the United States. Like I said. Why is it that the Christian conservatives Republican Party people are so pro-life that they never talk about the rights of women or children? How can they be considered pro-life when they are in fact, mandating that women the burned alive and fiery furnaces and sent to death camps. Just so that the Christian conservatives Republican Party can get that fetus? And what is the difference between the Nazi movement of World War II and the actions of the Christian conservatives Republican Party today?

Economic Fact Sheet (Current as of March, 2010)

The United States currently has a national debt in excess of $12.5 trillion.
The interest on the national debt is now in excess of $11 trillion.
The operating budget for the United States government is now in excess of $43 trillion.
The members of the United States Congress stole $200 million from the Medicare fund, which was going to go for cost-of-living increases to Medicare recipients, so that the members of Congress could have their paper medical records converted to computerized medical records. The attitude by the members of Congress was that they didn’t care if they murdered American citizens as long as they get the medical protection they wanted.
The Christian conservatives and the Republican Party are taking the stand that they do not want American citizens to have any kind of healthcare the of healthcare is extended to anyone that the Christian conservatives or the Republican Party does not like. And this is based not on constitutional law or the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party being patriots. It’s based upon the Christian conservatives Republican Party demanding that the American government understand that no Christian conservative or Republican Party member will in any way ever support the US Constitution above their Christian religion and above their Christian Bible. And so as a result, their Christian Bible and Christian religion says that healthcare should not go to Hispanic Americans or black Americans or Jews or Muslims or gay Americans or Native Americans or anyone who is an immigrant that the Christian conservatives Republican Party just doesn’t happen to like.
And so as a result, the Christian conservatives Republican Party members are trying to commit mass murder in United States by denying health care to millions of American citizens who are in desperate need of medical attention. But the Christian conservatives Republican Party doesn’t really care about that because as far as they’re concerned if they have to walk through rivers of blood to make sure that their Christian religion and their Christian faith is supported more than the Constitution of these United States and the Christian conservatives will do just that.
The current level of unemployment in the United States is now over 9.7%.
The current cost for liquidating the national debt is now in excess of $40,000 per person, which means that every man woman and child in the United States would have to pay at least $40,000 to be able to liquidate the national debt.
When you look at the history of United States from the American Civil War until present day you find that the Republican Party and Christian conservatives were in total and complete control of the United States government every single time there was a financial crisis from the American Civil War to present day. And that basically means that all the policy decisions that were being made by the American government during these times when these financial catastrophes were taking place were being made strictly by Christian conservatives and the Republican Party . And of course that’s all public record.
As my financial analysis of the global economic system , in my see also section below, clearly shows, it was the Republican Party and the Christian conservatives under President Bush who gave the American banking industry $400 billion of taxpayer money and simply told the banking industry to use the money anyway they wanted to. And the banking industry did just that they use the money to pay for expensive gifts and presents and take vacations. To date, the banking industry has only paid back $30 billion out of the over $500 billion that was given to them by the American taxpayers.
The issues of profitability indexing, pursuant to profit margins and per unit costs and customer bases as they relate to compensation packages throughout the entire corporate sector have not been resolved. That basically means that most businesses are being held hostage by upper level management and executive employees in their own companies who are demanding more and more for their compensation packages. As a result of this most companies are having to readjust their per unit costs for their goods and services in such a way so that what they are doing is pricing their services and their products. So that mostly the upper class and the wealthy will be able to afford them. And this is being done so these companies and corporations can get as much money into their company as possible.
But they are in fact forgetting one of the major factors which is that while most of the money that any company gets comes from the wealthy are customers most of their day-to-day cash flow actually comes from the middle and lower income customers. This is true regardless of where that company exists. So as a result of this most of the companies in the corporate sector are operating on what is known as a cash poor basis. And this basically means that since they are pricing their goods and services in order to get the most money possible they are foregoing pricing their goods and services so they will be more affordable to the middle and lower income customers, which actually provide these companies with their day-to-day cash flow. And so as a result, these companies don’t have enough money to pay for employees or many of the other day-to-day costs that come up.
This factor has not been dealt with in any country in the world at this time. Furthermore, these companies are refusing to be honest about their financial reporting. They are constantly using and accounting,/statistical variance, which is .5%. And .5% variance is such a large variance pursuant to statistical and financial analysis that you can basically drive a moving van through the space. That is allocated for plus or minus error correction in the statistical analyses and financial analyses that are in fact done with .5% variance. This is why I have never used that level of variance statistically or financially. I’ve always used .05% variance because it is such a small variance that the statistical analysis of the profitability analysis cannot be falsified. It is true that using .05% variance does require an additional 100,000 to 200,000 calculations in order to be able to complete the analysis. But when you consider that the final product is incredibly more honest and reliable. It’s worth it.
The banking industry has turned cruel. For example here in Cleveland Ohio Keycorp is taking a lot of pride and threatening senior citizens and kicking them out of their homes so that they can foreclose on the property. This is happening all over Cleveland Ohio and KeyCorp actually is one of the most hated banks in the entire state of Ohio. But KeyCorp is not the only one who’s doing this practice. Because was really happening is that banks all over the United States are basically threatening senior citizens with foreclosure to the point where suicides are now escalating and accelerating at an alarming rate. So badly that the medical community is swamped by the number of suicide calls they are getting. And this is all happening because KeyCorp and other banks like KeyCorp are basically taking the attitude that they don’t care how many men and women and children they have to murder. They just want their money.
When you consider these kinds of factors are going on in the banking industry you realized that the other thing that’s happening is that senior citizens and homeowners are becoming incredibly sick. Do becoming physically ill as a result of the horrible attitude that KeyCorp in other banks like KeyCorp are pushing on the citizens. And there is no help for this at all.
Additionally, the medical community is helping with this because we have a hospital here in Cleveland Ohio called MetroHealth that basically is working hard. Just like KeyCorp to threaten senior citizens and have them thrown out of their homes. So that they can foreclose on the property. And basically kill the individuals. I have been personally threatened by KeyBank and MetroHealth and have recorded conversations proving that.
So MetroHealth does all these commercials where they’re talking about how good a hospital they are and yet they have been sued a number of times for Medicare fraud. They have also been sued by their own employees for unfair business practices. And they have lost doctors so badly because they don’t treat their doctors very well either. Nobody likes MetroHealth.
And for the record, it needs to be understood that my grandfather’s brother, Dr. ally Maschke, was the director of medicine at mount Sinai medical center here in Cleveland Ohio until his death. And my cousin, Dr. Victor Vertese, was also the director of medicine at mount Sinai medical center until his death. Additionally, my grandfather, Maurice Maschke, and his business partner, Mark Hanna, who founded the Hana mining company, which became the 3M company, basically built mount Sinai medical center in Cleveland. And in addition to that, my father, Maurice Maschke Junior, was on the Board of Trustees at Case Western Reserve University, University hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland clinic, and mount Sinai medical center until his death. And in addition to that, my father, Maurice Maschke Junior, and I., were partners and co-owners of pioneer linen supply company of Cleveland Ohio for 25 years until 1975 when we sold the company.
So given all of the foregoing as actual facts. The only reason that the accelerated growth has taken place is because certain industries in the United States have in fact been making money. Only because their industries are addressing sections of the population who are otherwise disenfranchised by most of the business sector. For example Tyco International is a business that specializes and fire prevention and warning systems and security systems. And of course they’ve done a really good job because people are scared to death and living in their homes and there are so many foreclosures going on that people are having to protect their homes because in most cities the number of police has dropped so badly because most cities are in a huge budget crisis. In Cleveland, Ohio, for example, the city went from 1,500,000 people down to approximately 400,000 people in only a matter of months. And conditions are so bad in Cleveland that Cleveland is now charging nine dollars a month just pick up our garbage.
So given those facts Tyco International for one example is making a lot of money because people are having to protect their homes because they can’t really, the police that much because the number of police has dropped so the greatly because of the budget crisis going on throughout the world and throughout the United States.
Additionally, when you look at a company like Microsoft, who reported a huge profit. This is because Microsoft isn’t doing really well. Because they’re not the only reason Microsoft made this huge profit was because their previous product, Microsoft Windows Vista was actually one of the worst programs and products Microsoft ever created. And so since it did so terribly in the market naturally Microsoft’s increased now is looking fantastic, which is not because if you analyze the overall productivity and effectiveness of Microsoft you will see that they are basically floundering under Steve Ballmer’s direction.
So again, it’s really easy for people to talk about how well the market is doing that the foregoing represents the actual facts of what’s going on in business. And as I said before, I have been studying the stock market since I was six years old. At age 6 I started studied the stock market at Prescott ball and turban here in Cleveland Ohio. With one of the partner broker’s, Bernie Towell, who was a personal friend of mine. And so every day for four hours every day and age 6 until age 16 I studied the stock market and learned economics and financial analysis . At age 16, while working and being a partner and co-owner of pioneer linen spy company in Cleveland, I did my first financial analysis and profitability analysis . It was done on the linen supply company’s of Cleveland Ohio. The analysis was so good that the results were used to program some computers at the time. And in 42 years and having been a financial analyst I’ve never once been wrong in any financial projection I’ve ever done. Not once. Just like I’m not wrong now.
In my financial analysis of the global economic system in my see also section below, I clearly show that the American market system was going to lose $800 trillion of market value in the third business quarter of 2009. I further substantiated this claim last January in January of 2009. When I explained that the American market system was going to take a huge hit in the third quarter and that it would come out to about $800 trillion of market loss. And that this was in fact in line with the Kondratieff wave . And in fact that’s exactly what did happen. Which means the analysts were wrong. And I was right.
So again, if you go ahead and look at all these factors without looking at all of the peripheral details than you are going to be responding to the information in a very symptomatic, or symptomatically oriented manner whereby you will behave to the information in an extremely reactionary way. By the like term, if you look at all of the information regarding economics throughout the entire global economic system in a problematically oriented manner you will be looking at the financial information in a more anticipatory manner. And much more pervasive rather than in a stereotypical or linear manner. And as a result, you will begin to understand that all of these different factors that I have brought forth in this article right now. Actually do justify what I’m saying that the American market system is on the verge of collapse. And that the economic system for Greece is about to go under. And that unemployment in Spain and France and England is running at almost 30%.
These do not make things look like they’re going good in the United States is basically doing nothing but lying about the economic they I went to school with most of the people who run a lot of these companies in the United States and who are working on Wall Street either went to school with them at Case Western Reserve why went to school with them at Fort Lewis college board went to school with them at southern Arizona school in Tucson Arizona. Or, I did business with them throughout my life.
So again, this is a reality check. And all I can say is, if you don’t believe what I’m saying that’s not a problem. Because you haven’t believe me, for 40 years, what I’ve been talking about all of these issues facing the economic system in the United States and the global economic system. So why would you believe me now?
But the fact is that just because you may not believe what I’m saying doesn’t mean that what I’m saying is not true. Simply means you are refusing or are not able to see the veracity in what I’m saying and that’s all it means.

78% of all the women murdered in the United States are killed by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the children abused in the United States are abused by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the children murdered in the United States are murdered by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the murders that take place in the United States are committed by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the soldiers in the United States, who go out and kill are pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of the membership of the National Rifle Association, which support GUNS THAT KILL are pro-life Christians and Catholics .
Every single white supremacist group in the history of United States has always been white fundamentalist pro-life Christian. And these white supremacist groups are dedicated to killing anyone who is not white and Christian.
The Army of God is a white fundamentalist Christian group who is dedicated to murdering and killing every single nonwhite Christian in the United States.
78% of all the people who favor and support the death penalty meaning killing people for committing crimes are pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the ministers in the United States who carry firearms to church and are threatening to kill anyone who comes near the church was not white and Christian are pro-life Christians and Catholics .
78% of all the crimes against gay people in the United States are done by pro-life Christians and Catholics .
Every month between one and two transgendered females are murdered and every single one of these killings is done by pro-life Christian.
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who demand the right to own black Americans and to kill them whenever they wanted to during the signing of the Declaration of Independence .
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who took over the Republican Party during the battle of Washington and try to overthrow the United States government under president Hoover at the battle of Washington in 1932.
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who took over the Republican Party on the evening before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War . And who then used the Republican Party to hire John Wilkes Booth to murder Pres. Abraham Lincoln .

Jesus Christ
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The Burning Times
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John Wilkes Booth
The Christian Conservatives
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The Battle of Washington
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Richard Nixon
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The Iran-Contra Affair
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Bill Clinton
The Balanced Budget Amendment
The Iraq War
The Kondratieff Wave
Profitability Analysis
Financial Analysis
Vance Packard
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Capital Punishment
Homophobia
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Racism
Prejudice
Bigotry
Fascism
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White Supremacy
Mein Kampf
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Gay-Rights
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Women’s Rights
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How The Republicans Use The Constitution To Lie (article 1, section 6, subsection b) of The US Constitution
My Biographical Profile
My Philosophy Of Life
24 Hour Suicide And Crisis Help Center
For Those Who Said I Never Knew Ronald Reagan, They Lied
My Encounter With Joan Baez
My Time Studying The Anasazi Indians
My 250 Million Variable Characteristic Hieroglyphic Language
My Tribute To Jim Varney
The Pebble And The Penguin
A Diamond On A Sea Of Glass
Regarding Me And My Journal
My Spinal Fusion And Me Doing 250 Situps
An Installment Notation of The Maschke Family History and Legacy
It’s A Crime
Hey God! You There? I’m Tired… Ok?
In The Midst Of Darkness The Smallest Spark Lights My Way…
I Wrote Something A Long Time Ago…
Kmart To Close Five More Ohio Stores
The Vanishing Of America
A Place Called Earth
How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down On The Farm
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Reality …
Second Gear
My Financial Analysis Of The Global Economic System
Adventures In Technocracy
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[Via http://nicolemaschke3.wordpress.com]

Sony Japan priced Active Shutter 3D TV glasses and Infrared ...

Third Round of Swine Flu Possible?

2010-03-10T01:34:00.000+02:00

If you you thought we were done with the swine flu – guess again.

According to The Belleville News-Democrat -

The 2009 H1N1 flu season was predicted in early fall by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be of pandemic proportions. Some predictions estimated several thousand people would die from complications related to the infection, and health departments and schools held clinics to make sure the most vulnerable populations were vaccinated as soon as the H1N1 vaccine was available. “Those predictions did not materialize,” said Karen Kunsemiller, special projects coordinator at the St. Clair County Health Department. “There was a low severity of illness and fewer hospitalizations and deaths than originally projected.” In fact, only person in St. Clair County and one in Madison County died from complications from the H1N1 flu. About 12 percent of the population, or about 30,000 people, in St. Clair County received an H1N1 vaccination, Kunsemiller said. But officials say people shouldn’t let their guard down yet, in case there is a third round of swine flu. “The response was a little lower than we had hoped and demand has decreased as the number of cases declines,” Kunsemiller said. “Right now flu activity is categorized as sporadic. There has been a big decline in flu activity and we are still encouraging people to get vaccinated because we don’t know if there will be a third wave of the flu.”

Continue reading HERE.

[Via http://dummr.wordpress.com]

New Scribblenauts due out this autumn News | DS | Eurogamer

Bizarre thing found in my Blog Stats

2010-03-08T01:52:00.000+02:00

I’m not as obsessed with my blog stats as I used to be. I still tend to check them once or twice a month, week, day. WordPress shows you know what people were typing into google when they found your blog. So I know that a lot of you are looking for free MRCP questions, or stuff about testosterone or pregnant men. Today I came across something really bizarre:

‘How does a male doctor have sex with a female doctor?’

What? Now I’m fairly used to being asked ’so how do transsexuals have sex?‘ Clearly someone wishes to know how doctors have sex, so in the public-spirited nature of this blog I’ll let you into a secret. Sometimes when two doctors love each other very much indeed, or are drunk at the mess party, then they will decide to have sex. When they have sex it’s in just the same way that any other grown-ups have sex.Believe it or not Doctors have very similar anatomy to Other People.

Very rarely some doctors will find that they have sex with someone who isn’t a doctor or nurse. Very rarely they will have sex with so called ‘other people’ . This is usually difficult as Other People think that you can’ t discuss the traumatic details of todays bowel resection over dinner. The sort of joke that is hilarious to most doctors is considered ’sick’ by Other People. Although the anantomy might be the same dating Other People isn’t as easy as it seems.

[Via http://doctorz.wordpress.com]

'News From the Car Industry' - Laugh Lines Blog - NYTimes.com

another end...another beginning?

2010-03-05T17:52:00.000+02:00

I’ve been on and off psychiatric medications since…oh…1995 or 1996. I’ve been on Prozac, Paxil, Cymbalta, and a bunch of others that I’d need to try hard to remember. I’ve been on a single med to deal with depression, two meds to deal with depression and anxiety, a single med to control both depression and anxiety, and–most recently, on three meds: one for depression/anxiety, one for ADHD (!), and one to reduce the side effects (excessive sweating–I know, eww) of one of those other medications.

I’m a pretty bad patient, I guess. Not in counseling–I’m really good at getting counseled! I mean, I’m very smart, introspective, and articulate, and like most people (some deeper down than others) I like talking about myself and my life. But it’s been a while since I’ve been in talk therapy, and way longer since I feel I’ve benefitted much from it. Recently, I’ve resorted to a meds-only approach, partly in despair of finding a good talk-therapist, partly because it’s expensive to take meds (with co-pays up to $50 a month), see a psychiatrist to maintain the meds (at this point, that’s only one short visit every three months, at a co-pay of $30), and see a talk-therapist, the best of whom tend not to be covered by my insurance. (Plus, it seems to me that one visit per week is the absolute minimum frequency required for effective talk therapy, and that gets costly quick, especially if the therapist is “out-of-network.”)

No, I’m a bad patient when it comes to medications. Or, I should say that I’m very good for months at a time, but if I hit a snag (run out of medicine at a very busy time in my calendar, experience problems with my insurance company’s prescription coverage, etc.), it can sometimes derail my entire discipline. Even worse, I’m one of those who often un-medicates when things start feeling pretty good, only to believe in a couple weeks, months, or a year or two later that life when I was on meds was pretty (or at least relatively) sweet.

Part of the problem is that I’m very sensitive to how subjective the whole arena of mental health and mental illness can be. I’ve certainly never had a blood test or a brain scan or anything that demonstrated to me (or a doctor) in some “objective” (I know–huge problems with that word/concept) way that I do, in fact, have some problem in the way my brain/body handles emotions/thoughts, and that it might best be addressed by some particular treatment.

No, quite the contrary: every psychiatrist I’ve ever seen (not all that many–maybe a half-dozen total?) has scribbled me a prescription for something at the end of our first session together, based on nothing more sophisticated than a 5-, 10-, 30-minute interview or (oooh, high tech) a 5-, 10-, or 20- question, badly re-re-re-xeroxed worksheet about my mood, diet, sleep patterns, etc. (problems sleeping? YES, not getting pleasure from things you used to enjoy? YES, gaining/losing weight? uh, is there any other answer besides YES? feeling hopeless or helpless or guilty or sad or angry or unfocused? YES YES YES YES not usually YES!).

And, if that medication doesn’t work, all I have to do is say a discouraging word about it, and the prescription pad and stack of drug samples magically appear on the psychiatrist’s desk, and I get to choose from a menu of other, more-or-less similar drugs with other, more-or-less concerning side effects. Sometimes, the doctors even ask me what dosage I want! In the past, I’ve often compared the psychiatric profession to a drug vending machine, where pressing a series of buttons and swiping my debit card ($50–exact change only, please) dumps a month of pills into my eagerly outstretched hand. Forget the War on Drugs–the Mall of Drugs is what we white, middle-class, educated, suburbanites get to enjoy! I talk to my dealer and then continue on down to the corner pharmacy to pick up my next fix, and there’s not a narc in the country who gives a shit. (Pardon the coarse language, but I do get a little mad when I write about this because it’s a frustrating part of my personal life and, I think, a serious social problem on a larger scale.)

Like I was saying, I’m sensitive to the subjectivity of this stuff. What defines ADHD, depression, anxiety, and where’s the line between personality traits and illness? When is it best to learn to cope with sadness, lack of focus, and worry, rather than trying to medicate them? Is mental illness just like any other illness or injury, as my doctors and counseling-savvy friends keep telling me? Or is there something odd about a condition that can be a disease one day and a normal state of being the next, and then–maybe–a disease again in the future–all depending on the deliberations of the American Psychological Association? (BTW, the first link in that sentence will take you to a fascinating This American Life radio story about the APA’s 1973 decision to stop defining homosexuality as a psychological pathology, while the second link will take you to the APA’s website, where you can offer input on their revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness [DSM], the book that defines what is and isn’t mental illness.) After all, medical doctors don’t get together every 10-20 years to ask whether a broken arm should still be considered an “injury” or whether setting the broken bones and guiding the re-knitting process is a good way to treat that injury (making my friend’s favorite analogy–broken arm is to cast as depression is to anti-depressant medication–seem facile at best).

So, when I’m feeling all right–perhaps not when I’m doing great because then I don’t ruminate as much about whether my life is on the right path–I start to question my decision to use medication to treat my admittedly mild manifestation of depression, anxiety, and/or ADHD (that last one’s the newest one, but at the time I was pretty happy to try the diagnosis–any diagnosis sounds pretty good when you’re feeling fucked up but can’t figure out how you got that way or how to un-get that way) or whether it would be better, more responsible, more intelligent, more healthy, more Christian, more human to learn to cope in some non-pharmaceutical way, I don’t know: write poetry, read self-help books, meditate, do yoga, learn biofeedback, pray harder/more, take steam baths or ocean vacations, whatever.

So, while listening to This American Life’s story on the APA’s homosexuality definitions, the decision to un-medicate started to crystalize again in my head. Just listening to how social, political, relational the process of defining (or un-defining) mental illness is brought the whole mess back to the front of my mind…again…for the umpteenth time in the last 15 years.

After all, I’m feeling pretty good right now. Not great–I’m not even sure what it would mean to feel great. But I’m not unhappy–in fact, I would say that I’m often happy. At the same time, I feel generally disconnected, like I’m not maintaining or deepening my old friendships or making new ones, and although my brain tells me all the reasons why that’s a problem, I’m not feeling it. That is, not feeling the urgency or motivation to do better. And that lack of urgency or motivation is a general feature of my adult life. It lends itself nicely to another pervasive reality of my make-up: guilt. And the guilt helps me focus on my laziness, and that laziness seems manifest in a special way in my choice to “deal” with my mood issues with medicine rather than with learning, discipline, or conscious effort. (Plus, to go ahead and plunge fully into my cynicism about myself, it’s a heck of a lot easier to deal with my feelings of laziness and guilt by stopping my medication than by starting to be a better friend!)

So, I thought I had decided to stop medicating, but now that I’m writing about it, I’m not so sure. I decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons. For one, I wanted to have my own record of what I experience when I stop taking my medications. I know, in a logical, rational way, that I’ve forgotten exactly how I felt when I agreed to take the medicine, so maybe writing about the process will give me a kind of removable memory that I can plug back in later, when I’m taking meds again (knock wood) and thinking about going off. But, another reason–the reason why I thought to blog instead of just keeping a journal, because I’m really not that egotistical, honest!–is because I think this is an issue that lots of people in our culture are wondering about. Whether it’s journalist Ethan Watters writing about how America exports its conceptualization of mental illness, a similar mini-rant by Ian Bulloch in Adbusters, or the APA revising its own definitions of what constitutes mental illness, or yet another article about American psychiatrists overprescribing antidepressants (I chose the Psychology Today article linked here at random from a long Google search results list), this topic is out there in the cultural conversation, and I just thought I’d contribute my voice.

Who am I? I’m not a countercultural rebel like the folks at Adbusters, nor am I a shill of the pharmaceutical industry. I’m not a doctor, but I am a patient, so I’ve had some direct experience (and may well continue to have some experience) with the mental health profession/industry, and I think I’m able to share that experience in a thoughtful manner. I’m not looking to jump to any particular conclusion so much as to tell my own story of moderate or mild “mental illness” and the cultural, personal, and corporate contexts in which I make decisions about how to address that alleged illness.

This was a long entry, I know, but I wanted to do some work to establish my project here. Of course, if I don’t decide to go off these meds, maybe this blog will founder a bit–at the very least, it’d have to be re-purposed. But if I do, then I’ll continue to write here, as often as the mood (uh-oh) strikes me. Warning: I’m one for starting blogs and then letting them languish after a few initial entries. But I’ve been looking for an outlet for more personal, focused writing, so maybe I’ll do the work needed to make this blog “it.”

Thanks for reading–I welcome your comments, now and always.

[Via http://nomorepharmanet.wordpress.com]

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Reconciliation by force

2010-03-05T00:58:00.000+02:00

ObamaCare via forced reconciliation in the Congress is bad public policy.

The Senate Bill will fund a huge expansion of abortion funding in the United States.

Note this “reconciliation” process is not the right vehicle and the President and the Democrats know it’s not been used for this type of expansion of government ever before. Don’t believe the Democrat’s line that it’s a tool that ‘the Republicans have used in the past for their agenda so we can too.’’

What we can do.

If you have a Democratic Representative write them. Specifically and clearly even bluntly tell them that if they vote for the reconciled bill that you will certainly vote Republican in the fall and vote for any other available Democrat in the primary elections coming up very soon. This is especially true if your Representative is a “maybe”. (I’ll try to post any stories I can find about the current “handicapping” on the hill as I find them. I’d appreciate leads to this if you find any.)
If you have a Republican Representative write them to thank them for their principled stand.

Speaker of the House Pelosi says that it’s the right thing to do:

“But the American people need it, why are we here? We’re not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress.”

She’s wrong. We don’t need it for ethical considerations for life and for government intrusion into our finances and our healthcare.

As to the politics and the minds of the American voter this is a wasteland of Government intervention that won’t work. Those voters who don’t know this already will soon find out. We will respond in the Congressional elections this fall. The Wall Street Journal says it better than me:

The goal is to permanently expand the American entitlement state with a vast apparatus of subsidies and regulations while the political window is still (barely) open, regardless of the consequences or the overwhelming popular condemnation. As Mr. Obama fatalistically said after his health summit, if voters don’t like it, “then that’s what elections are for.”

In other words, he’s volunteering Democrats in Congress to march into the fixed bayonets so he can claim an LBJ-level legacy like the Great Society that will be nearly impossible to repeal. This would be an unprecedented act of partisan arrogance that would further mark Democrats as the party of liberal extremism. If they think political passions are bitter now, wait until they pass ObamaCare.

See the whole essay printed in yesterday’s WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704625004575089362731862750.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

See also two other good news article in the same edition: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703862704575099561273510680.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1&

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704486504575097991322077542.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1&

[Via http://deliberateengagement.wordpress.com]

Latest Bunning News | Mother Jones

Deja Vu

2010-03-03T09:22:00.000+02:00

Scene 1:

An interview between a patient and a medical student:

P: Where are your from, Jing?

MS: Malaysia.

P: owh, that’s a fantastic place! i’ve been to ….. …..*continues on*

MS: *agreeing and chipping in from time to time*

P: well, I just came around from out of town too not so long ago. And I do know a few of medical students and they are cool! We’d went out a few times having quite some fun too!!

MS: I see. That must be interesting to get to know medical students.

P: Yes they do! We’d hang out at times. Why don’t you give me your contact and maybe we can go out together sometime?

MS: Err.. yeah *hesitantly*

*GP intervenes*

Scene 2:

P: Hi, I am XX. I wanna chat with you.

MS: Hi, I am Jing. What do you wanna talk about?

P: Oh, just wanna chat with you. Can I?

MS: Yeah sure. That’s not a problem.

P: Are your the new nurse here?

MS: nope. I’m a medical student actually.

P: owh that’s great! *continues on chatting*

MS: *provides appropriate replies*

During midway of conversation,

P: Where are you from?

MS: Malaysia. How bout you?

P: I am from Malaysia too! I’m from Kuching…

*Chat continues on about the good malaysian food around*

P: I should have your contact. So when we are free we can go out. Dont worry, I am fine.

MS: I’m sorry. I can’t give you that. That’s the policy that I have to follow.

P: oh.. okay then.. *before being interrupted by the staff nurse*

Call it coincidence, but it did happen.

The first scene was merely nothing. A perfectly constructed trap by the simulated patient during the rigged interview aimed only at that particularly goody good boy medical student who’d never said no to patients. Abruptly stopped intentionally by the GP who was assessing the interview, only to have the medical student be told to be firm and learn when to say no. Though phone numbers might not be exchanged. A promise is a promise. Hence to break it would be a sin.

Scene 2: A perfect re-enactment of the previous encounter. The only difference is. The patient is for real. The setting is real, right within the wards in front of the nurses office. And this time. I have learnt. What’s more its a bipolar patient!! You’d never want a mentally ill patient to be too good friends with you.

[Via http://jingguo.wordpress.com]

AllHipHop.com Daily News - : UPDATE: Guru Surgery Successful; Full ...

Hitler abortion poster sparks anger in Poland (Daily Telegraph)

2010-03-03T00:58:00.000+02:00

A Polish anti-abortion group has sparked controversy by using pictures of Hitler and a bloody and torn foetus in a billboard campaign designed to ensure Poles adhere to the country’s strict abortion laws.

Hitler abortion poster sparks anger in Poland (Daily Telegraph)

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:38:10 GMT

Okay. On the one hand we have the pro-life movement, comparing people who are trying to protect the woman’s free rights to have her choice of what to do with her own body. And to have free will which God gave to her, being compared to the Nazi movement under Adolph Hitler in World War II. And yet at the same time, the reality is that it is not pro-choice people who are in fact acting like Nazis. And attempting to set up Inquisition’s where women will be put on trial if they do not bear children. The pro-life movement is the one who is in favor of setting up Inquisition’s and death camps for women to be murdered if they don’t bear children, not the pro-choice people.

So this really shows that the pro-life people just don’t understand the dynamics of what a woman goes through when she becomes pregnant. If the pro-life people actually understood the dynamics of what happens to a woman’s body and what happens to her psychology when she becomes pregnant they would never be behaving the way they are.

All you have to do is to be really sensitive and be around the woman when she is becoming pregnant. And in the very first stage of pregnancy. Like the first 10 days to two weeks. You need to pay attention, because what you’re saying is, the woman being overloaded with hormonal imbalance. In addition to tremendous amounts of social information that she has to sort through to try to figure out what to do regarding her own condition. And the tendency is to react to what is going on, rather than to respond. But the intelligent thing to do is to respond.

In the halfway house where I worked years ago, when a woman would come in to the house. The first thing we would do is to simply let her alone. I joke, because what we used to do was to get her a small pint of chocolate ice cream. And let her go watch TV for a while. Invariably, within 24 hours they would sometimes panic. And need to make a decision right away and in the house where I work. We attempted to help the women to realize they did not have to rush to a decision this very instant that what they really needed to do was just let themselves acclimate to the changes that were taking place in her body. And so we simply took care of her for the first two weeks of her pregnancy, so that she could find some grounding. Then, invariably they had a much better understanding of the direction they want to go.

For anyone to think that two women are the same when they become pregnant is crazy. Because they’re not you can’t apply one standard answer to every single woman, because every single woman is different. As I’ve repeatedly said, I am both pro-life and pro-choice at the same time and I have no problem with that position. Because I am pro-life, because I do not believe in violence against or the killing of any human being. And I do not consider the fetus a human being, I consider the fetus of potential human being, but not a human being because they are not out here walking around. They are inside growing. And so as a result, my position personally and spiritually. Between me and the creator is that my first responsibility is to the life that is out there walking around. And that if I take care of that life. She will in turn be able to take care of what’s inside of her.

So, I realize that the pro-life people are so hysterical that as far as they’re concerned they have to make sure all women lockstep like an army and do exactly what they’re told. But that’s not what makes a woman work women operate on chemistry and perceptions and feelings that most men under no circumstances have any clue as to the dynamics of. If more men actually understood women, we would have less women being beat up and murdered every year.

So for the pro life movement to continually compare the pro-choice people to not seize when in reality it is the pro-life movement who in fact, is doing everything they can to set up Inquisition throughout the entire world where women will be tried for crimes of not giving birth is so beyond absurd it’s ridiculous. This is yet again, the hysteria of the pro-life movement demanding that everyone put up and shut up and do exactly what the pro-life movement tells them to like they are the rule of law and the rule of the creator here on Earth, which is not true for anyone to think that the pro-life movement is the rule of law from the creator here on Earth, that person probably needs to go stick their head in the ground for the next six or 700 years. The pro-life people are not the rule of law, and they are not the rule of the creator here on Earth. Because if they say they are. I’d like to know when the creator came down and gave them permission to speak for the creator or for the Almighty. Because I sure don’t see any instructions in any of the holy books anywhere in the world all through history ranting the pro-life people specific rights over the creator so that they alone can speak for the creator. I don’t see that written anywhere.

I realize that with my age coming up on 60 in dealing with the health issues I’m dealing with that I’m probably going to and the dying without actually seeing women at the kind of respect and dignity that they really deserve. Because I realize that the pro-life movement is so hysterical that they have no problem killing two thirds of the women in the entire world to make sure that the remaining women will put up and shut up and do exactly what they’re told, which is not giving women respect. You want to respect the woman all you need to do is put up and shut up and not say a single word and walk up right next to her. Not in front of her or in back of her or on top of her or underneath her right next to her and simply do one thing was really hard for most people to do. But that’s what most women have told me they want more than anything for someone to walk up right next to them and simply do one thing, which is to simply be their friend.

But doing that is really hard, because the pro-life movement doesn’t care about being a friend of women in only cares about demanding that women put up and shut up and do what they’re told. Just like the Utah legislature the day after Marie Osmond finds that her son has taken his life. Utah legislature because they are so bright. And that’s a joke of course, because they’re not decide that it’s a great time to start arbitrating how they want to make women criminals if they have a miscarriage. I mean, they could chose a worse time to bring up the subject like that. When one of their leading citizens in their state is suffering so bad these idiots in Utah, should never be talking about this right now. The entire state of Utah needs to put up and shut up and start showing as much compassion as they can to the Osmond family and Marie Oz because, whether anyone Utah wants to pay attention or not she happens to be one of the leading citizens in that state and she’s one of the leading citizens in this country. The Osmond family has given more to this country as far as entertainment and social value than a tremendous amount of people that have ever lived in this country.

So the pro-life movement really doesn’t get what women need very much. Because every time you give the pro-life movement a chance to show how much they know about women all they do is show how much they can tell women what to do. They don’t show that they really understand women at all. But I have to admit that yes, with me pushing 60 this year, the likelihood is that I will die and never see women being given the kind of respect or the dignity that they have deserved ever since the beginning of humanity that women will continue to be mistreated and abused by the pro-life movement who thinks that they know exactly what women are supposed to do and they’ll kill every woman in this world if they have to to make sure that women understand what their duty is as far as the pro-life people will define. Because women according to the pro-life people must be put up and shut up and told exactly what they are allowed to do because they should never be allowed to have free will, and they should never be allowed to have equal rights, and they should never be allowed to be treated with dignity. That’s how the pro-life people look at women.

And so for years I’ve been campaigning and working using my writing ability to try to speak out for the dignity women don’t get and three years. The pro-life people who are so hysterical have so much money and a huge organization to spread all the propaganda they want. Pretty much drown me out. So I am probably going to have to get used to the fact that I will die. And do so without ever realizing the thing I’ve been working for most of my life, which is to try to get some dignity and respect for women. Because the Christian conservatives and the pro-life people don’t want women respected they want women to put up and shut up and do exactly what they’re told and bear children. Just like they want their cows on their farm to give milk. Because that’s all the light people see women as livestock put them in cages. Hit them with cattle prods, feed them and demand for them to give birth on cue. Like there nothing but livestock. That’s how the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party treat women.

And so of course it makes absolutely no sense of course, for at the Christian conservatives and the pro-life people to be comparing the pro-choice people who actually want to give women a little dignity a little space of little respect like were the Nazis. How can we be not these figures were trying to give them some respect, because were trying to celebrate their free will and their personal choice. It’s not us who are trying to set up Inquisition’s it’s not us who are advocating putting a woman to death and the death Because she miscarried a child. It’s not us who are setting up laws to make women criminals because they refused to behave like livestock and to give children and bear children, like cows give milk it’s the pro-life people who are doing that. Not us. It’s still all they have more money and they have a huge propaganda machine and just like Adolf Hitler. If you tell lies enough to a group of people. Before long that group of people will believe that the lies are true. And that’s exactly what the Christian conservatives and Republican Party are doing. They’ll lie as much as possible to brainwashed everyone into believing that women need to the beat across the face and beaten into the ground and told there nothing but livestock and they will bear children on cue and if not they’ll be put to death and death camps. And that anyone who opposes what the Christian conservatives are demanding is actually anti-God. And of course we, the intelligent people, know that’s not true.

So I understand that I’m taking a really unpopular point of view here. It’s okay, I don’t know how many women have been so brainwashed today that they will look at what I’m writing and see me as nothing but a dumb jerk were a dumb stupid bastard. I don’t know how many people of the Republican Party hate me but I’m sure most of them do. Just like I’m sure most of the Christian conservatives hate my guts. But then they always have.

But I’m not really taking this position, because I’m trying to make friends taking this position, because in my heart. And in my soul. I know it is the correct thing to do, because I know, the creator whatever creator it might be, whether it’s energy or whatever would never want to see things here on Earth mistreated and disrespected the way the Christian conservatives and Republican Party mistreat and disrespect women. Just the way the Christian conservatives and Republican Party hate and disrespect Jews and how they hate Muslims and how they hate Hispanic Americans and Native Americans and black Americans and liberals and Democrats and Catholics and how they hate every single type of person in the entire world. Unless that person is white and fundamentalist Christian and Republican because those are the only type of people in the entire universe that the Christian conservatives and Republican people like they don’t like any single living human being in the entire world they hate everyone. The only people they don’t hate are white male Christians who are Republicans. They don’t like anyone else they never have and they never will in the matter what you do you can’t force or induce the Christian conservatives and Republican Party to like anyone because they will never liked anyone because they hate everyone they hate every single thing God made except white male Christians who are Republicans. That’s the only thing that the Republican Party and Christian conservative like they ate everything else they hate women they hate children they hate everything in this world, because all they like are white men who are Christian and Republican.

And of course if I’m wrong, then the Christian conservatives and Republican Party need to change their behavior, because the way they behave is exactly that way they behave showing hatred and contempt for everything as soon as that child is born outside of the mother as soon as a child is born the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party are the first ones to turn their back on that child. Because they don’t care of the child born. They only want to make sure it gets for us, and it is born. They don’t care they won’t even give any money they will give any attention they don’t care about it at all. That’s what we have so many children throughout the entire world starving to death. Because the Christian conservatives don’t give a damn about the child was born that you want to make sure it’s born so that they can sit there and felt their chests and say that they were right and they made everyone else do what they wanted.

And that’s sad. Because nobody wins with that kind of horrible treatment of other people. Nobody wins. But like I say, I am a realist. And I have to understand that because I am just one small insignificant voice in this world that the Christian conservatives and the Republican Party will simply wait until I die. And then they will mount a tidal wave of vengeance setting up Inquisition’s all the world, because when I’m no longer here to put myself between them in the abuse they are heaping on women than no probably just kill everyone else so that they can continue mistreating women as much as possible.

What most people don’t really understand nor do they believe is that when I died for those five minutes in 1968. I did see the creator. Of course no one will ever believe me when I say that so that’s why I stopped saying it years and years ago. No one believed me. No one believed that I actually was there, but I was and no one wants to even know how angry the creator was back then and how horrible we as human beings were behaving to each other. But they were and they still are that angry, but everybody thinks they know more than everyone else. And even Iowa the really great and varied the big brain knows that the amount of stuff I really know is so small could probably fit on the head of a pin compared to the vast universe of information and knowledge. That’s beyond all of us.

Anyhow, it’s going on, 8 PM. So I’m going to make something to eat. And I will continue trying to fight for women’s rights. To my dying breath, the very last breath I take. I will continue doing everything I can to try to protect women and to help them to attain the respect and dignity that is being denied them by so many different groups all over the world. And I don’t do this because I want anyone to say thank you. I simply do it because I know in my heart. It is the correct thing to do.

There are times when I really wonder. When I finally to step over and die whether or not. I’ll be sorry that I couldn’t have done more.

Life is choices. It’s all of this. We all have the choice every single second week in either respect women and love them and treat them with dignity. Or we can behave like the pro-life people and figure out ways we can set up Inquisition is to put them on trial for not doing what we tell them to. And that’s not respecting women as treating them criminals for simply women being women. And that’s not respect, if I could die. If my death this very instant would stop the abuse and mistreatment of women throughout the world and stop the Republican Party and Christian conservatives from abusing and mistreating in maligning women and stop their hatred of everything in the world. If my death would do that. I would have no problem this very second going. Not one bit. And I know I don’t want to die, but the same time. I would be happy to give my life at any given second justice he women finally get the respect they been deprived for centuries. I would have no problem with that at all. Because I know in my heart and my soul the when I die probably just gonna go back to the creator or wherever it is I came from. And so as far as I’m concerned, I’m going to go doing everything I can to help people who are not getting respect and dignity to get the respecting the dignity and the freedom to is justly deserved.

I’ve always live by the rule that it doesn’t really matter whether are you a cop was what you’re after. It only matters that you try.

I hope some of the pro-life people will take a small hiatus and think about their behavior. The last thing that Marie Osmond and all of the other millions of wonderful women throughout the entire world needs right now, who are suffering terribly with the loss of their children. The very last thing they need is all the hatred and all the fighting that we seem to do. It would really be nice if we as a human population could just simply stop and start showing some of these women a kind of love and compassion and dignity and respect that they really deserve. That would be, that would be fantastic.

Annotations Regarding Non-Pro-Life Activities Of The Republican Party And The Christian Conservatives And The Catholics Of The United States:

78% of all the women murdered in the United States are killed by pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the children abused in the United States are abused by pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the children murdered in the United States are murdered by pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the murders that take place in the United States are committed by pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the soldiers in the United States, who go out and kill are pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of the membership of the National Rifle Association (The NRA ), which support GUNS THAT KILL are pro-life Christians and Catholics.
Every single white supremacist group in the history of United States has always been white fundamentalist pro-life Christian. And these white supremacist groups are dedicated to killing anyone who is not white and Christian.
The Army of God is a white fundamentalist Christian group who is dedicated to murdering and killing every single nonwhite Christian in the United States.
78% of all the people who favor and support the death penalty meaning killing people for committing crimes are pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the ministers in the United States who carry firearms to church and are threatening to kill anyone who comes near the church was not white and Christian are pro-life Christians and Catholics.
78% of all the crimes against gay people in the United States are done by pro-life Christians and Catholics.
Every month between one and two transgendered females are murdered and every single one of these killings is done by pro-life Christian.
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who demand the right to own black Americans and to kill them whenever they wanted to during the signing of the The Declaration of Independence.
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who took over the Republican Party during the battle of Washington and try to overthrow the United States government under president Hoover at the battle of Washington in 1932.
White fundamentalist Christians were the ones who took over the Republican Party on the evening before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War. And who then used the Republican Party to hire John Wilkes Booth to murder President Abraham Lincoln.

When you have all these forms of killing being supported by pro-life Christians and Catholics it’s easy to understand that the pro-life Christians and Catholics are demanding that everyone else be responsible for their own actions. But the white fundamentalist Christians and Catholics under no circumstances want to be responsible for anything they do because they are demanding that the entire world understand that to them being pro-life means killing, because that’s what they support killing. That’s why that those who claim to be pro-life are now becoming known as nothing more than, “Killers For Christ”. And of course it the white fundamentalist Christians and Catholics don’t like what I’m saying or want to take exception to what I’m saying they need to disprove everything that follows, and every single item in my see also section below.

Meds Foto

2010-03-01T17:47:00.000+02:00

I mostly love the design of Medication.

[Via http://healthplans2.wordpress.com]

England Expects: UKIP News review 28 Feb

Example Disease of Europe and rest of Wordl.

2010-02-26T09:16:00.000+02:00

CLICK NOW TO GO TO GREATEST DRUGSHOP

Each year, millions of Americans are afllicted with conditions attributed to cardiovascular disease. Of these cases, many adults are experiencing a new conservative approach to treatment involving exercise, diet and the use of simple prescription medications. Of the medication choices, healthcare professionals are turning to the use of Plavix, as a platlet cluster blocking agent. Understanding the use of Plavix, in the risk of cardiovascular disease, the side effects and contraindications of Plavix use, will assist patients with making a more educated healthcare choice in terms of treating cardiovascular disease.

Plavix, manufactured by Sanafi – Synthelaba, is a drug commonly used in patients who have experienced a recent cardiovascular event. As a prescription used to prevent the cluster or clotting of platelets, Plavix is believed to significantly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and other coronary artery events. With dosing as simple as one, 75 milligram tablet per day, Plavix is an easy and safe alternative to the other therapeutic cardiovascular drugs on the market.

As with most FDA approved medications, the use of Plavix, in the treatment of acute cardiovascular conditions, does not come without side effects and contraindications. For patients with a sensitivity to aspirin, Plavix may produce similar results in response to treatment of the cardiovascular condition. Additonal side effects may also include increased bleeding, loss of vision and gastrointenstinal pain. When symptoms are persistent and do not dissipate, consultation with a physician is recommended however most common side effects will generally disspate through the course of treatment. In addition to these dissipating side effects, patients using Plavix may also experience respiratory distress, depression, rash and urinary tract infections. When these symptoms present, consultation with a physician may be necessary.

For women who are pregant or may become pregnant, the use of Plavix is not recommended. As a Category B drug, it is not clearly known what role Plavix may play in terms of fertility and the implications on a fetus. Additionally, the use of Plavix in the cardiovascular patient, including those patients who presently suffer from a blood clotting disorder, is not recommended as Plavix provides similar effects to that of aspirin; a thinning blood.

As with any cardiovascular treatment, the primary goal is to reduce the risk of a cardiac event, which may lead to death. When considering a cardiovascular program, diet and exercise are vitally important. In addition to controlled diet and exercise, the use of prescription medications will provide the most optimal treatment outcomes. For information regarding Plavix use, visit www.plavix.com and consult a cardiovascular specialist.

[Via http://healthplans2.wordpress.com]

News Ticker: Abbey Road, Linda Stein, Prince, All Points West ...

The Plague

2010-02-26T01:46:00.000+02:00

What a week! And it’s only Thursday. Besides the usual and expected problems of running out of paint, losing things, losing volunteers, people being late, lack of hot water, lack of space, and just general chaos that exists when 25 people share the same living space, we have had a plague descend on our house. Literally.

We started off with 25 volunteers. One of them got either mono or strep throat the day before they were supposed to leave and had to drop out last minute, which left us with 24. Yesterday (Wednesday), two of the volunteers started feeling bad after lunch time at the placement, so I sent them home to sleep, which left us with 22. Later that evening, one of the two said that he was really not feeling good, so I had to take him to the hospital, where it turned out that he had a gastrointestinal infection. They gave him an IV and prescribed a bunch of medicine.

Today (Thursday) morning, 7 more volunteers said that they weren’t feeling well and had been vomiting all night, so Ana Maria took all seven of them to the clinic, with the group leader who opted to stay with them, while I took the rest of the volunteers to the placement, which left me with 14. After at the placement a few hours, a few of the other volunteers were not feeling well. One of them took a pill which she turned out to be allergic to, and started having a reaction. I had to rush her to the ER with another volunteer who wanted to come with her, which left 12 at the placement. While I was at the ER, I got a call from the placement saying that two more of the volunteers were feeling sick and wanted to go home. From the ER, I arranged our bus to take them home, and Ana Maria took them to the clinic.

I headed back to the placement when the girl with the allergy was safely at home and treated, and only had about a half-hour left of time to work. When I got back there, I discovered two more people sitting out, and one working despite having thrown up a few times. So I had the bus take everyone home. On the bus, one of the people who had been sitting out started shaking a lot, so when I got home I took her to the clinic too, leaving only 9 healthy people.

Some thoughts:

I got to witness 3 different IVs in less than 24 hours. I hate needles, and I hate hospitals.
When I was in the ER with the girl with allergies, the friend that came with left his shirt back at the placement, because it was hot. Nearly every person there asked me if we had just come from the beach. One person took me aside and told me that it wasn’t proper for my friend to be walking around without a shirt.
I was sitting in the waiting room, sitting cross legged, when a lady told me to put my feet down. I did, assuming she wanted me to not get the seat dirty, but it turned out she was concerned that I wasn’t being ladylike.
What were they sick with? There are a few exceptions, but I think it was a reaction to something they ate combined with the fact that they had been partying hard all week, not sleeping well, dehydration, and spending every day in the hot sun. Moral of the story? Get lots of sleep, drink lots of water, and wear clean underwear when you leave the house, just like mommy said.

[Via http://aliinperu.wordpress.com]

Peace Walker was originally MGS5 News | PSP | Eurogamer

New Zealand Pharmacy Ethics in Relation to Homeopathy in the Wake of Homeopathy Report

2010-02-24T01:38:00.000+02:00

Earlier this year I wrote a post (along with fellow Sciblogger Grant) concerning the sale of homeopathic remedies in pharmacies. Monday night saw the release of England’s Science and Technology Committee’s “Evidence Check 2″ report on Homeopathy (also ably covered by Grant). One of the issues covered by the report is that of pharmacy responsibilities regarding sale of these remedies. Essentially the report recommended that sales continue but with adequate disclaimers stating that there is no scientific evidence that homeopathic products work beyond the placebo effect.

I see this as a compromise between commercial freedom to sell safe, though not necessarily effective, products and patient informed consent. It’s reasonable even if I disagree that it is ideal. Regardless, I thought it was a good excuse to look once again at our own pharmacies and see how the selling of scientifically unsupported remedies aligns with their professional responsibilities.

Enquiring into this area I was directed to the Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics for pharmacists. The Pharmacy Council seems to fill the function of professional association and regulatory body for pharmacists their functions including:

prescribe the qualifications required for scopes of practice within the profession, and, for that purpose, to accredit and monitor educational institutions and degrees, courses of studies, or programmes

and

consider the cases of health practitioners who may be unable to perform the functions required for the practice of the profession

Perusing the Code of Ethics (which may be found Here) I found a number of sections that I feel should preclude pharmacists from selling homeopathic remedies in good conscience. In order to try and represent the spirit of the code as accurately as possible I have included here both the relevant over-arching Principles that pharmacists should strive for as well as the Specific Obligations that I feel make my point (any emphases are mine).

The first principle is one of patient autonomy:

Principle 1: Autonomy

The pharmacist shall promote patient

self-determination, respecting the

patient’s right to understandable

information, privacy, and confidentiality

1.4 Professional services

Where the patient is seeking or receiving, from the

pharmacist or from other personnel for whom he or

she has responsibility, any professional service or

intervention, the pharmacist must ensure that the

patient is provided with credible, understandable

information about reasonably expected results,

outcomes or effects of the service or intervention, any

risks of receiving the service or intervention, and any

insufficiency of evidence about the efficacy of the

service or intervention, to allow the patient to make

an informed choice.

This to my reading implies that should pharmacists sell homeopathic remedies they are obligated to inform the patient of the lack of scientific underpinnings for the use of the remedy. One of the objections I have run into regarding the sale of these remedies in pharmacies is that they are commercial enterprises and are within their rights to sell products regardless of their medicinal value. This is partially true but these remedies are specifically sold to treat symptoms, not as entertainment, confection or cosmetic. The Code has several entries covering this aspect the first of which is:

1.5 Independent information

The pharmacist must ensure that their advice is

independent of personal commercial considerations.

Does this not imply that the sale of unscientific medicines should not be undertaken simply because it make financial sense? We will return to this point later.

The next Principle covers patient needs:

Principle 2: Beneficence

The pharmacist shall optimise medicines

related health outcomes for the patient

according to their concerns, needs,

cultural values and beliefs

2.2 Quality use of medicines

The pharmacist must provide scientifically-based,

unbiased medicines information to healthcare

providers, patients and the community in order to

optimise medicines related health outcomes.

My reading of this point leads me to understand that any information provided regarding pharmacy products must have scientific backing and moreover must not be biased by the pharmacist’s own views. Any such information regarding homeopathy must therefore be negative.

But, what if the pharmacist is not asked for this information? After all, I do not usually go in asking for a lecture if I already think I know what I need. I think the next obligation covers this instance:

2.8 Involvement in sale of medicines and other

therapies

The pharmacist must be involved and intervene in the

sale of any medicine, complementary therapy, herbal

remedy or other healthcare product whenever this is

necessary to ensure a reasonable standard of

pharmaceutical care.

Scientifically speaking homeopathy should not be considered to encompass a “reasonable standard of pharmaceutical care”.

The next Principle of relevance concerns fairness:

Principle 4: Justice

The pharmacist shall practise fairly and

justly and promote family, whanau and

community health

4.4 Commercial interests not to override good

practice

The pharmacist must ensure that commercial interests

are not permitted either to override the independent

exercise of their own professional judgement on

behalf of a patient or to compromise the standard of

care provided by them or to affect their cooperation

with other healthcare providers.

Once again the issue of financial gain over patient care is addressed with commercial interests coming off second best when the standard of care is concerned.

The next Principle is one I feel is of especial importance when the reputation of pharmacists in the wider community is considered and their self representation in the media is a factor (remember, they’re the health professional you see most often). This is trustworthiness, pharmacists are seen as, and promote themselves as, first and foremost medical professionals not business interests. The sale of homeopathic medicines is antithetical to this position and undermines their credibility in this regard, in direct contraction to the Code of Ethics as follows:

Principle 7: Trustworthiness

The pharmacist shall act in a manner

that promotes public trust in the

knowledge and ability of pharmacists

and enhances the reputation of the

profession

7.7 Non-medical goods and services

The pharmacist must not purchase or sell from a

pharmacy any product or service which may be

detrimental to the good standing of the profession or bring the profession into disrepute.

If the sale of scientifically worthless remedies such as homeopthy does not do this I don’t know what would, perhaps offering Therapeutic Touch?

Finally the Principle of dignity undermines the pharmacist’s sale of unsupported medicines:

Principle 8: Dignity

The pharmacist shall provide

information about professional services,

medicines and healthcare products in a

dignified manner without making

exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims

8.4 Medicines not ordinary articles of

commerce

A pharmacist must only participate in promotional

methods that do not encourage the public to equate

medicines with ordinary articles of commerce.

If the previous examples of why remedies should not be sold with the sole purpose of earning money for the pharmacist this should put that argument to rest. The sale of medicines (which many people consider homeopathy to be) should not be equated with ordinary articles of commerce. This puts the lie to arguing that these remedies are simply another commodity to be bought and sold like chewing gum regardless of therapeutic value.

8.8 Evidence of efficacy

The pharmacist must only promote to a potential

purchaser that any medicine, complementary therapy,

herbal remedy or other healthcare product associated

with the maintenance of health is efficacious when

there is credible evidence of efficacy.

This last obligation explicitly refers to promotion of a therapy to a patient by the pharmacist which I don’t think any reputable pharmacist would do for homeopathy but arguably the presence of the product in the store constitutes an implicit promotion of it to potential customers. This point goes back to the principle of trustworthiness, the public trusts the pharmacist to stock efficacious products. To include unscientific therapies among their wares undermines and betrays this trust. Perhaps I am naive to think so but I think the Pharmacy Council’s own Code of Ethics backs me up when I say that we should hold pharmacists to a higher standard than your average shop owner.

Jack Benny--Videos

2010-02-22T01:53:00.000+02:00

Rochester’s on strike too

Jack Benny Part 1

Jack Benny Part 2

How Jack Benny found Mary Livingston

Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too

Jack Benny vs. Groucho 1955

Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Jack Benny Kills Mel Blanc

Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too Rochester’s on strike too

Rochester’s on strike too Related Posts On Pronk Palisades

[Via http://raymondpronk.wordpress.com]

Erick Erickson: "We've got Fox News" | Video Cafe

He kainga no te ururoa, he kainga no te kereru te ngahere

2010-02-19T09:16:00.000+02:00

The ocean is the home of the shark, and the forest is the home to the wood pigeon.

Kia ora from Aetearoa again! Two week of lecture block is now over!! For the past fortnight, everyday was filled with lectures and lectures and lectures! Without fail it would be from 830 to 4 or 5 at times. Basically we recapped a number of CVS,Respi and MSK pathologies but with more clinical orientation. Hence medicine was making more sense. And amongst the interesting lectures were Maori and Pacific Health. Thus the title of this post: came across this when we we being briefed about the protocols of visiting Orakei Marae. That’s the sort of HQ for one of the Maori clan over here in Auckland. We had two and half days of lectures and language classes solely on this area. It was interesting to acknowledge that the Pakeha ( Europeans) actually admit that they had and are being racist yet they did nothing much about it! Ironic to the title, the Pakeha’s oblivious to such, being originally an immigrant themselves, they have taken over Aetearoa by cunning mischiefs and sheer force, reducing the Maori and the Pacific to just the minority and yet claiming the land as their own. Doesn’s that just sound too familiar??

Other than that, life’s good. Having mini excursions around town. And for next week, the real medicine begins! Will be starting a 6 week run (Postings are known as runs here) on Psychiatry! hohoho!

Wish me the best!

[Via http://jingguo.wordpress.com]

Peggle and Peggle Nights on Euro PSN News | PS3 | Eurogamer

Does personality type affect success in medical school?

2010-02-19T01:54:00.000+02:00

Training to become a doctor is a long, frequently arduous process: pre-med, pre-clinical years, clerkships, and finally residency and possibly fellowship before one can finally set up practice independently. Most people who make it into med school eventually finish, at least in the U.S., but despite the best efforts of the admissions offices, many students struggle to get through, and others do not find life as a physician as satisfying as they had supposed.

Enter the personality test. This study reports on how the Big 5 personality traits affect performance in medical school. Unsurprisingly, students who scored high in measures of conscientiousness did well in both their basic science and clinical training, while extraverts improved substantially once the focus shifted to patient care. In further confirmation of the obvious, openness and agreeableness were found to be beneficial, and neuroticism harmful to academic performance.

This NY Times summary of the paper suggests a personality test in lieu of MCATs for applicants. As much as an awesome improvement that would be to the application process, it seems redundant: college transcripts offer a pretty easy way to screen for conscientiousness, and the interview gives adcoms the chance to weed out folks that lack social skills. Plus, the neurotic fraction of pre-meds would obsess over the “right” answers anyway, ultimately defeating the utility of the test.

A better use of personality tests in medicine could be in choosing a potential specialty. People tend to cluster in fields where they like their colleagues or the lifestyle, with the result that specialties develop personalities of their own. Orthopedic surgeons have a reputation as jocks, since it’s a field to which young athletes are frequently exposed. Pediatricians are frequently women who want a family-friendly specialty, or, according to one pediatrician I know, short men. This guide to choosing a specialty breaks down the major fields by Meyers-Briggs type, and the results seem pretty spot-on: as an INTJ, I like puzzles but am not detail-oriented; the book suggests people of my temperament do well in problem-solving specialties like neurology, pathology, and internal medicine.

Ultimately, I don’t think personality type is that important. In my (limited) experience, success in medical school seems to depend on: i) liking people, and ii) being willing to do the work. Oh wait, that’s…extraversion and conscientiousness. I guess personality is destiny after all.

[Via http://evidenced.wordpress.com]

Jerry Jones on Miles Austin: He's going nowhere | Dallas Cowboys ...

Childhood Games

2010-02-17T09:04:00.000+02:00

It’s reading week. I figured I’d try to catch up on 2 weeks worth of neglected neuro, but it’s hard to focus when there’s a cliff around the corner and an epiphany in my rearview.

I’ll explain what that means.

3rd year is creeping up faster than I expected; electives, tracks, getting ”P-I-M-P-ed” and the whole shabang. It’s time to decide what I really want to do for the rest of my life. And that’s not even the hard part …fighting to get there will be. Like those couple of months before May 15, I think I’m approaching another junction in life that involves putting as much unmitigated, naive ambition as possible into a small, unforgiving metal cage, and watching it swirl viciously around on itself, biting and clawing tooth and nail, until some parties, unfortunately enough, perish under the pressure…unmatched so to speak. Ugh.

Truthfully, it’s probably not going to be that bad. Not like undergrad. Or the Olympics (haha, they’re on TV right now, broadcasting from Vancouver!, if you’re wondering about the awkward allusion …another source of distraction from neurology). Still, the whole idea of having to strategize that hard again, just to assure oneself of a non-ambiguous future, makes it feel like Darwin doesn’t let up. Ever. (There’s an R4 match in medicine too..fantastic).

How to do what elective when, how to look good in front of program directors, how to behave at learning-time vs. audition-time, how to book at more than one site so you can guarantee yourself multiple interviews when CaRMS rolls around, how diversify your experience enough to seem well trained in all medicine but also dedicate the impossible 6weeks to ’holy grail’-ing …yadda yadda yadda

Too many strategies, too little brain space, almost no time. – That’s the cliff around my corner.

I guess it would help if I had a starting point and actually knew what ‘grail’ of a specialty I was chasing. Stupidly though, I have no idea. They always say you can at least pick between surgical and medical in your first two years…something about this inherent ‘dichotomy’ in any group of med students. Seriously? Maybe this means I’m actually Palestinian-Israeli (sorry, should watch the PC here, I just couldn’t find any other flagrant, contradictory analogies for my surg and med inclinations).

In all seriousness, I really don’t know what I’m going to do. I told EZ the other day, when I was walking with him to the bus stop, that every field has its ‘bread and butter’ and I’m not sure I want to eat carbs for the rest of my life.

His response (apart from ‘you should do anaesthesia – hands of a surgeon, mind of an internist… paid per hour to do sudoku…pretty sweet’) was that I should figure out who I am and go from there…ie the whole ”what fits best with your personality”-argument. It’s a good point, and I have given it thought, especially over the summer. I just never come up with useful, definitive conclusions.

To hazard at lame cliches, I feel like I don’t know who I am.

That was the epiphany I mentioned earlier. Lame, I know. So lame. But it’s true.. we went on a ski trip to Sunshine/LL and I spent a lot of time with the usual group. The only thing different was that a couple of non-PC jokes (Asian vs. Canadian athletes in the Olympics) came up over hot chocolate by the TV. Normally, I’m the one cracking the jokes, and I don’t mind, but since that pre-Christmas blunder at Avenue over discussions of MJ, I’m more than hesitant in my interpretation of ‘joking’. Maybe that’s why I’ve never melded completely with the group? Inherently, I’m different… not just the skintone or eyes (haha, I’m not turning this ‘who am I and what kind of doctor should I become?’ into a totally unrelated discourse on racial identity a la Asian North American Literature no, I just mean that I don’t have the same commonality of experience as most people who surround me …and as a consequence, I don’t really know how to put a finger on my ‘personality’?…hard to explain).

Think of it this way, in terms of the games you used to play as a child. To a certain degree (ugh, getting all philosophical, sorry), the games define your culture of ‘growing up’, who you are, your paradigm and personality. They probably unwittingly define what types of people you gravitate toward and what activities/positions/responsibilities you’re most content with later in life (ugh, desperately trying to draw some med-career-relevance from this disjointed ramble). So childhood games…what kind of person am I, and will I like prescribing more than cutting?

Well, I’m not the small-town kid who raced to the hockey rink every Saturday morning, went camping with my family in the summertime, sped around on a skidoo in the winter, hiked or fished a lot, drank tons of beer when I first got into university, rode in the back of my dad’s pickup, or ran around the park with my huge golden retriever…etc

I’m also not the kid who lived in the white mansion with regal black roof at the top of the hill (sorry, looking at too many facebook pictures of SP’s Harvard friends.. makes me a little queasy to be honest). I never wore pastel polos and overpriced childrens’ khakis, rode family horses, ate meals prepared by a live-in chef, spent summers in the hamptons, or subconciously looked down at poor, ethnic kids and addressed them as “they“. I never played with golf clubs, antique porcelaind dolls, or stocks.

I’m definitely not the chirpy, happy, eternally-overly-optimistic, glasses-wearing, church-fellowship-going, studies-4-months-before-any-major-exam Asian crew (yes, ironic *see above about racial identity). My parents also failed to beat me into a piano prodigy, chess champ, badminton star, or 21-year-old physics PhD.

So what am I? Where’s my personality? And what career should I pick accordingly? Perhaps there’s some specialty out there perfect for the indecisive, confused, and lonely. Those kids used to play with popsicle sticks, chopsticks, bake-able Fimo, and elastic bands, trying to construct a makeshift lollipop spinner like the electric ones at Walmart, which their mom wouldn’t buy because it seemed like a waste of hard-earned post-doc salary. When the spinner failed, those kids resorted to building tiny bird-nest models with toothpicks and cotton balls. There must be a field/residency that corresponds to this category of childhood game. A specialty both thoughtful and practical; cerebral and sort-of hands-on. Something few can understand or master, because all the doctors practicing it refuse to fit properly into a predefined group.

Shit. I just described pathology.

[Via http://maikossurprise.wordpress.com]

EIF teams with Media Guardian TV Festival | News

Dopamine made me do it!

2010-02-15T09:15:00.000+02:00

…well, sort of.

Ever notice your friends smoke cigarettes when they drink, but not when they’re sober? Ever wonder why? Like everything else, there is a motivating factor. Nicotine and alcohol share addictive properties but in combination the effect elevates pleasure centers x2!

Heres how: Smoking in combination with drinking increases levels of the “do-all” neurotransmitter dopamine. Elevation of dopamine effects a collection of neurons within the striatum, a subcortical part of the forebrain, called the nucleus accumbens. In turn the nucleus accumbens mediates the pleasure center of our brain. Alcohol and nicotine, as well as other drugs of abuse, increase dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, which is a key reinforcing aspect of addiction.

While one part of our brain is pleasuring itself, another is experiencing a game of push and pull.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is a naturally occurring enzyme that breaks down monoamine neutrotransmitters such as dopamine. MAO inhibition is a property of nicotine and alcohol and when consumed together the buildup of dopamine ensures a more pleasurable outcome.

Now, this is definitely not a reason to start smoking cigarettes while you’re drinking. The side effects of the drug combination include hypertensive crisis i.e. high blood pressure, tachycardia, hypomania, seizures, hepatoxicity just to name a few.

And now you know.

By Keyana Azari

[Via http://keyana.wordpress.com]

Saturday Morning News and Views « The Confluence

Science & Soul: Book Review: Signs of Life - How Complexity Pervades Biology

2010-02-15T01:35:00.000+02:00

Richard Sole and Brian Goodwin compiled a book detailing the applications and seemingly inescapable presence of complex systems in the biological sciences in their pioneering book Signs of Life: How Complexity Pervades Biology. Now let me begin by saying that this is not light reading and probably not for everyone. That is not to say you need a science background to understand this book. The authors did a wonderful job of separating the technical science and math from the main themes of the book and use a multitude of pictures, diagrams, graphs, charts, and figures to detail their thesis.

Signs of Life

Scientists have long reconstructed systems and analyzed their individual parts to understand how they fit together with regards to the whole. It has worked wonderfully for some time. However, now scientists are realizing that in nearly every field of biology from cellular and molecular biology to ecology and physiology that analyzing the parts of the whole simply does not yield predictable behavior. Why do certain stem cells become skin cells and others become neurons if they have the same genome? Why do some creatures seem to hold up an entire ecosystem if only a small percentage of animals actually eat these species? Sole and Goodwin begin by explaining how nonlinear interactions between individuals form complex systems. This understanding of complex systems and the emergent behavior, that is, behavior that cannot be performed by individual units but can be performed by the system as a whole, can offer us novel ways of approaching these deep problems of biology. Sole and Goodwin show us how issues once considered inexplicable, are now being unraveled and explained with complex systems biology.

Grade: A-

[Via http://scienceguy288.wordpress.com]

Michael Wolff: Not News (but Good to Be Reminded): The Internet Is ...

PODCAST - The WEIGHT of the Nation

2010-02-12T17:39:00.000+02:00

Episode 4 takes a look at the state of our nations health, and discovers that the best place to get a view is by looking in our own mirror! Learn why the health care system will continue to fail, and how your personal choices can not only improve your own quality of life, but reduce MY tax burden!

Running time : 14:58

[Via http://dysfunctionalparrot.wordpress.com]

Microsoft dates Halo: Reach, XBL Game Room | News

On the run-12Feb10

2010-02-12T09:02:00.000+02:00

Cancer Causes Cancer!

Well, that was the headline we should have gone with. It is of course a hat tip to the Daily Mail, a tabloid publication that is desperate to tell the UK population that just about everything causes cancer. (I found that website by googling ‘cancer causes daily mail’, which is in itself quite a neat headline. Unfortunately I think we’re closer to curing cancer than curing the Daily Mail. Oh well.)

So, we know that tumours have this nasty habit of sending out malignant cells into the rest of the body. They break off from the primary site and get into the blood and lymphatic systems, occasionally washing up in convenient organs where they can settle down and create new tumours, or metastases. This is partly why cancer is so difficult to cure: you can cut out the original malignant growth, zap it with X-rays and take all sorts of evil drugs (‘evil’ because they are designed to kill cells, and you’re made up of cells; and discrimination between the cancer cells and normal cells is a huge problem); but if one metastatic cell survives, you have to start all over again. And if it’s managed to find a home deep in a bone, or the brain, or somewhere equally inaccessible, it’s game over.

It turns out things are even worse than that. Circulating tumour cells, if they find their way back to their original ‘home’, can actually stimulate growth of the original cancer. Nasty. As the authors say,

Tumor self-seeding could explain the relationships between anaplasia, tumor size, vascularity and prognosis, and local recurrence seeded by disseminated cells following ostensibly complete tumor excision.

‘Ostensibly complete tumor excision’—that’s right, because no matter how good your surgeon is, you can never be sure you’ve cut every last bit out; or that some cells haven’t already gone walkabout.

The good news is that certain cytokines derived from the tumour, IL-6 and IL-8, act to attract the circulating cells, and that they get back in via the matrix metalloproteinase collagenase I (MMP-1) and fascin-1 (it’s the actin cytoskeleton again! These guys get everywhere). If we can find a way to selectively block these pathways we should be able to start thinking about appropriate therapeutic approaches. Gentlemen (and ladies), start your (grant-writing) engines.

Kim, M., Oskarsson, T., Acharyya, S., Nguyen, D., Zhang, X., Norton, L., & Massagué, J. (2009). Tumor Self-Seeding by Circulating Cancer Cells Cell, 139 (7), 1315-1326 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.11.025

Twitter storm

It’s been pretty hectic on the twittertubes this week. Following a random conversation at the Scholarly Kitchen I suggested writing papers in 140 characters would be a wheeze. I turned it into a competition, and we had an amazing response. Check back on Monday to find out who’s the lucky winner of a bag of f1000 swag.

Badger Wars

I don’t have a lot to say about badger culling to prevent/reduce bovine TB (except maybe to say that killing vermin with a high-powered rifle and decent ’scope is one of the most humane ways of doing this).

I just like the sound of a ‘randomized badger culling trial’. Oh, and when someone ‘explains’

This trial was undertaken in very specific circumstances and it could be misleading to extrapolate the findings to any future control program.

you can be pretty sure there’s a vested interest or extreme prejudice somewhere. Even when the trial shows that there’s no economic benefit.

Jenkins, H., Woodroffe, R., & Donnelly, C. (2010). The Duration of the Effects of Repeated Widespread Badger Culling on Cattle Tuberculosis Following the Cessation of Culling PLoS ONE, 5 (2) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009090

Valentine’s Day

Just a reminder to all you chaps out there—it can’t hurt to buy some flowers, even if you don’t want to buy into the whole commercialization thing. A nice dinner doesn’t cost you much either, and could pay dividends in the romance stakes. But at the very least, show you really care by getting checked out:

Take a test for #Valentine’s Day. Sexual health appointments across Lincolnshire within 48 hours. Call 01522 539 145

It gets pretty lonely up there in Lincolnshire. Have a good weekend, and I hope it’s full of lovehearts and kisses. Failing that, a beer or three can have much the same effect.

[Via http://blog.f1000.com]

What News Stories Are 'Awesome'? - The Learning Network Blog ...

A Chinese man has not cut his hair in 60 years

2010-02-10T09:32:00.000+02:00

A Chinese herbal medicine practitioner has not cut his hair for 60 years and keeps it in a bag on his back.

Peng Fu, 79, of Suining, started to grow his hair when he started to learn traditional Chinese medicine at the age of 20.

“From then on to now, 60 years, I have never once cut my hair,” he told West China City Daily.

“My hair started to turn white 10 years ago, but I have not lost much.”

Peng says he loves his long hair so much that he won’t let anyone else touch it, although he admitted he rarely washes it.

He started tossing it into a bag and carrying it on his bag to make his life easier. At the last measurement, his hair was 8ft 10ins (2.7m) long and weighs nearly 9lbs (4kg).

Peng makes a living by digging up herbal medicines from the mountains and selling them in markets.

bron: queerwabbit.blogspot.com [27-1-2010]

[Via http://wocview.wordpress.com]

Gearbox: Developers can take risks with DLC | News

crossed wires

2010-02-10T01:00:00.000+02:00

When I’m at work, I’m all there. It’s all consuming. It swallows me up, whole. When I’m on 12 day blocks, I’ll wake bolt up right thinking of Mrs S’s chest pain or Mr T’s blood pressure. Did I hand them over to the night team, did I finish their work up properly, did I do my best for them? I still haven’t gotten to grips with the fact that each decision is perhaps just one of hundreds in the day for me but may be THE one for the patient. Just because I order tests, stick in drip lines, listen to hearts day in day out; for most of the patient’s in the hospital it’s a time of firsts, from being seen on ward rounds to being taken to theatre. Hospitals are alien. I need to remember just how scary each step can be when you’ve got no idea what’s happenning to you or what the diagnosis might be. And when patients’ get angry, throw a rude comment in my direction and when families demand to know facts and figures, they’re often scared. It is scary and it’s unknown.

“It’s hard. There’s all these wires, all these tubes, all these medicines, all these new words, all these explanations but I just want to know what’s happening.”

I wonder if you ever loose the worry, the waking-bolt-up-right-in-the-night moments, the image face of a patient on a knife edge or the pain etched on the faces of their loved ones. I’m not sure you do. But somehow I think you must become more at peace with your decisions in light of years of experience. At least I hope you do. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure it would be a pretty unbearable exsistence.

[Via http://thepurplecoat.wordpress.com]

Brian Williams Jokes About NBC's Late Night Problems, Slow Jams ...

Insulin Can Now Be Made Cheaply from Flowers

2010-02-08T09:51:00.000+02:00

Safflower Wiki Commons

In 1922, Canadian scientists isolated insulin for the first time. Now, over 80 years later, our neighbors to the north are helping diabetics again by devising the cheapest way yet to produce insulin. This advance could significantly reduce the expense of treating the disease, which currently costs the US $132 billion dollars a year.

To create the cheap “prairie insulin,” scientists at the University of Calgary genetically engineered the human gene for insulin into the common plant safflower. Once the gene activates, the flower begins producing insulin faster than traditional methods that utilize pigs, cows, yeast, or bacteria.

This is the first instance of a plant producing the insulin, and it does so prolifically, to the tune of 2.2 pounds of insulin per acre of flowers. At that rate, 25 square miles of safflower could produce enough insulin for the world’s entire diabetic population.

[Via http://bensoncheng.wordpress.com]

Perez Hilton: Even More True Blood Casting News For Season Three!

Amazing Skeptical Smackdown of Homeopathy!

2010-02-08T01:34:00.000+02:00

(Hat tip to Phil over at Skeptic Money for passing this little gem along )

Below is some footage from a BBC show called Dragon’s Den, where would-be entrepreneurs make a sales pitch to the assembled judges about why their idea is worth funding. In this case, a homeopathic doofus pitches his “miracle water” to them using the standard alt-med, “natural is good” woo-woo, with disastrous results. What follows is, to me, an excellent example of in-your-face skepticism in action – with the perfect combination of hard questioning, demands for evidence & research, and moral outrage. Take a look…

[Via http://skepticalteacher.wordpress.com]

National Tea Party Convention Kicks Off | Digital News Report

School Wrestling Tournaments - Health Guidelines

2010-02-05T17:54:00.000+02:00

Although the risk of MRSA as posed to athletes is high, wrestlers are at an even higher risk. High school wrestlers are at a high risk for MRSA due to direct contact with the mats. For those who attend tournments, their risk of contracting MRSA increases 16 fold. Health officials are urging all schools to practice precautions in order to prevent further spread of MRSA and other skin infections, such as pimples and boils. Those who carry MRSA are estimated to be in the millions so caution is strongly encouraged. For further information, see:

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100130/Wrestlers-are-at-higher-risk-for-skin-infections-than-other-athletes.aspx

[Via http://brewnstir.wordpress.com]

Steam News

Urgent Care Providers Tout Benefits of A-Claim Medical Payment Solution

2010-02-03T17:15:00.000+02:00

News Release

February 3, 2010

Media Contact: Billy Quarles, 803-264-5779

Urgent Care Providers Tout Benefits of A-Claim Medical Payment Solution

Carrollton, Texas – The American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine (AAUCM) has begun a sponsorship of the A-Claim™ medical payment solution that includes discounts on A-Claim for all AAUCM members.

A-Claim (www.A-Claim.com) is a proprietary medical payment solution developed by Preferred Health Technology Inc. (PHT) of Carrollton, Texas, that is changing the way physicians, hospitals and other health care providers are paid. The system simply and securely verifies patients’ insurance eligibility, provides real-time copayment and deductible responsibilities for each patient, adjudicates insurance claims, and accepts credit, debit or prepaid cards for payment at the time of service, before the patient leaves the office.

By knowing what a patient owes and securing payment at the time of service, physicians can streamline billing procedures, lower collection costs and accelerate cash flow. Patients can authorize payment immediately and avoid sending checks through the mail. Studies show that health care providers collect only about 50 percent of their charges from patients who leave the office without paying.

Franz Ritucci, M.D., AAUCM president, said, “The AAUCM continually seeks out companies that provide valuable products and services tailored to the specific needs of urgent care. We are pleased to have developed this relationship with A-Claim. AAUCM members now have discounted access to A-Claim’s medical payment solutions, giving them the opportunity to utilize A-Claim’s valuable services in their practices.”

A-Claim’s patent-pending technology works with all major insurance plans and any medical office’s practice management or EMR system. It is available for a low monthly subscription fee and minimal transaction charges.

“A-Claim allows the office staff to simply swipe a patient’s insurance card to verify immediately whether the patient is eligible for insurance benefits and to determine the amount of any copayment, coinsurance or unmet deductible the patient will owe,” said Mary Dees Griffith, president of PHT. “This is more important than ever as more patients switch to high-deductible insurance plans and pay more out of pocket for medical services.

“We are pleased that the AAUCM has recognized the benefits A-Claim offers its members and their patients. We look forward to helping members receive accurate and timely payments for the services they provide.”

About PHT

Preferred Health Technology Inc., headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, provides electronic payment and transaction-processing services to the health care industry. Its parent company operates one of the largest health care insurance data center sites in the world in support of Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Federal Employee Program and Medicare Advantage health plans, as well as other private health plans.

About the AAUCM

The AAUCM represents physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who practice urgent care medicine in various clinical settings throughout the United States. The AAUCM’s purpose is to contribute to the field of urgent care medicine in the areas of professional growth, scientific and medical research, and medical education, all to improve the overall quality of medical care.

[Via http://aaucm.wordpress.com]

News to know: Apple, Obama's budget, Chrome, Google App Store ...

As it comes

2010-02-03T01:40:00.000+02:00

All you can do is laugh when your first day back starts, not with “Welcome!”, but with “So, the innervation of the gastrointestinal tract can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic…”

We are neck deep into week two with a whole case already behind us and no signs of slowing down. Maybe it’s the love and holiday vibes persisting, but I’m actually finding it kind of nice. The expectations of us are so high; to read so much, to learn so much, to condense so much, that even if you only achieve half of what you’re supposed to do you’ve still done a ton of work. I’m happy to just get through it.

I’ve got a different perspective this year and it’s much rosier.

[Via http://shesmedicallyblonde.wordpress.com]

Developers release 3G-friendly VoIP iPhone apps | iLounge News

Looking Within: How X-Ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound, and Other Medical Images Are Created, and How They Help Physicians Save Lives

2010-02-01T17:42:00.000+02:00

Anthony Brinton Wolbarst, “Looking Within: How X-Ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound, and Other Medical Images Are Created, and How They Help Physicians Save Lives”

University of California Press | 1999-11-16 | ISBN: 0520211820 | 219 pages | PDF | 85,3 MB BOOK DESCRIPTION

A hundred years ago, a doctor had no way to look within the body of a patient other than to slice it open. That changed radically at the turn of the century, with the discovery of X-rays. X-ray and other forms of diagnostic imaging technology developed slowly but steadily from then until the 1970s, at which point a revolution occurred. Made possible largely by the availability of powerful but inexpensive computers, the rapid and widespread adoption of computed tomography (CT) and, a decade later, of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) greatly expanded the power of clinical imaging, and even changed the ways in which physicians view and think about the human body.This unique guide explains how the principal imaging devices work and how they help physicians save lives. It gives readers a grasp of the major medical technologies that might come to play important roles in their lives, and it provides succinct, easy-to-understand, and reliable explanations for those who wish to explore the issues of the associated benefits, costs, and risks in an informed manner. In nonspecialized language, Looking Within discusses how X-ray, fluoroscopic, CT, MRI, positron emission tomography (PET), ultrasound, and other medical pictures are created, and explores the essential roles they play in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. It should be of interest to patients and their friends and loved ones, and to those who are simply curious about this vitally important, exciting, and cutting-edge branch of medicine. Its brief but clear descriptions of how these essential tools work should also be of value to health care providers in supporting and educating their patients.

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[Via http://kushtripathi.wordpress.com]

Bracknell Blog: Paid for News Can Work

Dame Gracie Field - an honorary Brimmin?

2010-02-01T00:55:00.000+02:00

Whilst researching Dame Hilda Lloyd for our list of great Brummie women, I came across this article in the Times Higher. What a peculiar story. Highly appropriate for here as it links two of the women on our list (Hilda Lloyd and Jane Bunford) and creates an intriguing connection with the fabulous Gracie. We may not be able to claim her as a great Birmingham Woman, but if the story is true, she certainly left her mark on the city in a more direct way than we might have predicted!

[Via http://brimmin.wordpress.com]

Did Steve Jobs Scare Google, Microsoft, Nintendo & Adobe With The ...

Senator John Kyl reports Democrats likely to pursue nuclear option in Senate

2010-01-29T08:00:00.000+02:00

Breitbart has audio of John Kyl on the Hugh Hewitt show Thursday night. (H/T ECM)

Kyl says the Democrats will try to pass Obamacare with 51 votes:

This is kind of breaking news. As you say, we’re just hearing it. We haven’t been formally advised, but we have it on relatively good authority. And this would be what they call the nuclear option. This would be we can’t do it with 60 votes, because now we have a new Senator from Massachusetts, so we’ll do it with 51. Now it’s called the nuclear option, because it really upsets all of the tradition and precedent within the Senate which on a really big bill on the magnitude of health care, would always have strong bipartisan support, and therefore the 60 vote requirement really doesn’t matter.

They’ve learned nothing from the election of Scott Brown, and their other setbacks.

[Via http://winteryknight.wordpress.com]

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Fox News: Sources close to O'Keefe say ...

The Future of Medical Education in Canada (FMEC): A Collective Vision for MD Education - The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) - 28 January 2010

2010-01-29T00:56:00.000+02:00

The Future of Medical Education in Canada (FMEC): A Collective Vision for MD Education – The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) – 28 January 2010

“Just as Abraham Flexner’s report did 100 years ago, The Future of Medical Education in Canada (FMEC) project looks at how the education programs leading to the medical doctor (MD) degree in Canada can best respond to society’s evolving needs. In turn, the FMEC project is rooted in the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s (AFMC’s) articulated social accountability mission for medical schools.

Health care has become increasingly complex and faces enormous challenges in providing quality care to diverse populations. An important need has developed for a cohesive and collective vision for the future of medical education in Canada. While Canada’s Faculties of Medicine are leaders in medical education, continually adapting to changing expectations and requirements, the physician of the future requires skills that will involve further adaptations and reforms to our medical education system.

The 10 FMEC recommendations for MD education (also known as undergraduate medical education) are grounded in evidence and emerge from a broad and rigorous consultative process. They are as follows:

1. Address Individual and Community Needs

2. Enhance Admissions Processes

3. Build on the Scientific Basis of Medicine

4. Promote Prevention and Public Health

5. Address the Hidden Curriculum

6. Diversify Learning Contexts

7. Value Generalism

8. Advance Inter- and Intra-Professional Practice

9. Adopt a Competency-Based and Flexible Approach

10. Foster Medical Leadership

They are accompanied by five enabling recommendations that will facilitate the implementation of the FMEC recommendations:

A. Realign Accreditation Standards

B. Build Capacity for Change

C. Increase National Collaboration

D. Improve the Use of Technology

E. Enhance Faculty Development”

…continues in the document

[Via http://kinwahlin.wordpress.com]

Day 2, Non-Apple News - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Seriously? 2nd Pregnant Man!

2010-01-27T17:52:00.000+02:00

This amazes me. I’m transgendered and can not wrap my own head around this. Pregnant Man and his transgendered husband are expecting. Ok so I had to put my 2 cents in on this. Cause from my own personal view I can not imagine doing this. I have such a problem with being female I can not begin to think I would do this. EVER. I’m planning to have my stuff yanked out. Hopefully in May!

It brings me to a question. How can you be pregnant and still be male? I’m all about gender being fluid. But to me pregnancy on the complete feminine end of that spectrum. To me it’s a maternal thing. I guess I can’t understand this.

To me, this is good and bad for the community. It brings an awareness to the community, but not all press is good press. This man and family just like the last pregnant man will face a lot of ridicule. I will see how the world reacts to it.

[Via http://sethisaboy.wordpress.com]

Fox News Tops Cable Ratings - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

Day 19 ~ 19th January, 2010

2010-01-27T01:52:00.000+02:00

Today I have finally gotten around to talking about GlucaGen, unfortunately this is due to the fact I had to use it this morning. I woke up this morning and noticed that James was sweaty and hadn’t moved when the alarm clock went off. I grabbed the meter and checked his level – 1.2mmol/L. I loudly said his name and shook him and got no response. I then grabbed the GlucaGen box that lives beside the bed and administered the injection. Around 10 mins later James’s level was thankfully heading upwards.

This little orange box contains a lifesaving injection of glucagon. There is a syringe of saline, and a vial of powder. This is used when a person with diabetes is unconscious or cannot have glucose orally. It works by causing the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose and release it into the bloodstream, raising blood glucose levels.

The first time I ever used this injection I was so worried! I read the information in the box, injected the saline into the vial, shook it up to mix, drew it back up into the syringe, got rid of the air bubbles and looked at James’s leg…..

looked at it….

looked at the huge needle in my hand….

and looked at his leg again.

I knew that I had to give the injection, but I was worried about hurting him. Then I finally realised that he was unconscious, he wouldn’t feel it and that the injection wouldn’t make things worse. So I did it. A few minutes later James came to.

Since then, I have unfortunately had to give this lifesaving injection a number of times.

Caring sometimes involves doing things that will hurt the one you love, so that you ultimately save their life.

[Via http://acaringproject.wordpress.com]

Economic news headlines | Money Supply | FT.com

Anti Aging Benefits from Omega 3!!!

2010-01-25T17:30:00.000+02:00

In a recent study published by UCSF, research has shown omega-3 fatty acids may slow biological Aging. We already knew omega-3s help fight belly fat and over all body inflammation but how know anti- aging would be added to the list? The study was focused on patients with established cardiovascular disease and found it is a very strong possibility “omega-3 fatty acids may protect against cellular aging in patients with coronary heart disease”. In addition to the positive effects of omega-3’s individuals who took a daily multivitamin saw similar anti-aging effects on cellular turnover and re-growth. The test run on study participants were repeated after 5 years. A prescription grade omega-3, such as the Zone Omega Rx carried by execuSlim, is an excellent tool to help fight aging, belly fat, heart disease and stress. Stop by the office to pick up your prescription grade omega-3’s today only $50.00 + Tax. Call Today 310.657.0366!

Journal of the American Medical Association

2010, Volume 303, Issue 3, Pages 250-257 “Association of Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acid Levels With Telomeric Aging in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease” Authors: R. Farzaneh-Far, J. Lin, E.S. Epel, W.S. Harris; Elizabeth H. Blackburn; Mary A. Whooley

[Via http://executiveer.wordpress.com]

openSUSE News » openSUSE Weekly News, Issue 107 is out!

Links from the Weekend

2010-01-25T01:00:00.000+02:00

* Slate devotes a column to criticizing the U.S. military-based approach to Haitian emergency relief. There’s some attempts at push-back, with varying success, in the MetaFilter thread, particularly about the specifically helpful capacities of the ships that have been sent there,but what can you say about facts like these:

Air-traffic control in the Haitian capital was outsourced to an Air Force base in Florida, which, not surprisingly, gave priority to its own pilots. While the military flew in troops and equipment, planes bearing supplies for the Red Cross, the World Food Program, and Doctors Without Borders were rerouted to Santo Domingo in neighboring Dominican Republic. Aid flights from Mexico, Russia, and France were refused permission to land. On Monday, the British Daily Telegraph reported, the French minister in charge of humanitarian aid admitted he had been involved in a “scuffle” with a U.S. commander in the airport’s control tower. According to the Telegraph, it took the intervention of the United Nations for the United States to agree to prioritize humanitarian flights over military deliveries.

Meanwhile, much of the aid that was arriving remained at the airport. Haitians watched American helicopters fly over the capital, commanding and controlling, but no aid at all was being distributed in most of the city. On Tuesday, a doctor at a field hospital within site of the runways complained that five to 10 patients were dying each day for lack of the most basic medical necessities. “We can look at the supplies sitting there,” Alphonse Edward told Britain’s Channel 4 News.

The much-feared descent into anarchy stubbornly refused to materialize. “It is calm at this time,” Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command, admitted to the AP on Monday. “Those who live and work here … tell me that the level of violence that we see right now is below pre-earthquake levels.” He announced that four—four, in a city of more than 2 million—aid-distribution points had been set up on the sixth day of the crisis.

* Some good news: the IMF claims it is “pursuing” the total elimination of Haiti’s foreign debt. And some terrible news: by one estimate (highlighted by Marginal Revolution) a full 8% of Haiti’s population may be orphaned children.

* 11 Things You Didn’t Know About Pinball History.

* From the comments: The Five Dials tribute to David Foster Wallace.

* David’s Cross’s The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret has been picked up by the BBC. My friend Bill posted a clip from the pilot not long ago, which he played at his recent show at Raleigh.

* Fan art gone terribly wrong/terribly right: Seinfeld Star Wars.

* Auto-appendectomy in the Antarctic: a case report. (Thanks Neil!)

* Via Ezra Klein, I see Tom Toles has somehow gotten hold of the Democratic playbook.

* Glenn Greenwald has a balanced piece largely in favor of the Citizens United v. FEC. Others are saying this decision may give foreign multinational corporations the right to participate in the American political process. Citizens United is by all appearances the first major domestic political crisis of the ’10s, and it came early; if I had sway in the progressive blogosphere I would suggest we devote ourselves to demanding the introduction of a constitutional amendment that reverses this decision by modifying or eliminating corporate personhood. That fight would not be easy—as Matt points out the total spending on Senate campaigns in 2004, $400 million, was just 17% of the marketing budget of a single American bank, which means our already corporatist ruling class would have every possible incentive to ignore such a campaign—but I don’t see much choice; it’s hard to imagine any sort of functional democracy existing in America while Citizens United remains in full effect.

* Republicans believe that Obama’s problem is that he’s pushing so much government intervention in the economy. That’s undoubtedly part of the story. But Obama’s larger difficulty is that he’s pushing so much change at a time when filibuster threats are so common that it requires 60 Senate votes to pass almost everything — and the minority party won’t provide the president votes on almost anything. We are operating in what amounts to a parliamentary system without majority rule, a formula for futility. Steve Benen has a post on the filibuster reform recently proposed by Tom Harkin here.

* Are Republicans “irrationally exuberant” about November? God, I hope so.

* For what it’s worth Obama’s poll numbers continue to match Reagan’s, and he beats nearly all comers in 2012. The one possible exception is the affable, if politically odious, Mike Huckabee, who beats Obama 45-44 in a PPP poll. And it was Huckabee himself who predicted just this week Obama will win again in 2012.

* NASA says 2000-2009 was the hottest decade on record. Good thing climate change is a myth.

* The immortal Neil Gaiman is profiled in the New Yorker.

* The last days of Philip K. Dick.

* And if my estimates are correct, we could hit Peak Crayola as soon as 2018.

[Via http://gerrycanavan.wordpress.com]

Poker News in Brief Jan. 18-24, 2010

44-D's LIVE Blogging: "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief"

2010-01-22T09:13:00.000+02:00

Posted by: Audiegrl

As you may have heard, tonight’s multi-network 2-hour “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” telethon is being held to raise funds in the wake of the devastating earthquake last week. In part of our continuing coverage of Haitian relief efforts, 44-D’s will be live streaming and blogging the program tonight, Friday, January 22, at 8pm ET. Please feel free to join us to help promote awareness of this important cause.

The two-hour commercial-free telethon will be featuring the following performers and participants:

[Via http://the44diaries.wordpress.com]

Advancing the Story News with numbers

We Need a God Who Can Teach Us How to Be Old

2010-01-22T01:53:00.000+02:00

Here is a conversation between the main character/narrator and a dying Jesuit hagiographer:

“I have not yet found a God to teach me how to be old,” I said. “Have you?”

“Shhh, not so loud. The nuns must not know in what a spiritual state I am. Yes, yes, I have found Him, and He is the very best of company. Very calm, very quiet, but gloriously alive. We do, but He is. Not in the least a proselytizer or a careerist, like His sons.”

Not really an amazing book, but a book with amazing sections, writing, and ideas. And it’s not just because I’m a chaplain. Truly, we need a god who can teach us how to be old.

[Via http://tasersedge.wordpress.com]

Obama: Seat Scott Brown and Health Care Next Steps - George's ...

THE FUTURE OF INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE

2010-01-20T09:31:00.000+02:00

he future of Health Care is a subject that has been under intense speculation and debate in recent times across different forums. For the first time ever, Ergonomidesign have made it possible to actually experience the future of Health Care. Following the launch at the Medica/ Compamed trade fair in Germany, Nov. 18-20, Ergonomic design will present and demonstrate a future application that brings together 40 years of design experience in the Life Science industry. Combining a fully functioning prototype with a well resolved service-ecosystem, Ergonomic design will demonstrate “The Future of Integrated Health Care”. The application- “Helping Hands” (a Natural User Interface developed on a MS Surface table) enables an experience of how we will manage our health in the future. The concept combines the benefits of ubiquitous computing with a merger of Health Care services with Internet service providers. This merger gives rise to an exciting ‘ecosystem’, one that will bring cure to our doorstep or literally to the palm of our hand. Much like the mobile ‘app-world’, pharmacies would be able to sell a variety of Health Care devices containing embedded software that synchronizes with relevant devices and our body automatically. By the year 2015, vast amounts of personal data will constantly be uploaded in real-time to the “Cloud” – for others to use, share and benefit from. Through embedded sensors in our clothes, wrist watches, necklaces, shoes etc. it will be possible to constantly monitor our biometric data. These vast amounts of data pushed to the Cloud, is accessible to a network of ’smart objects’ e.g. mobile devices and ’smart’ homes, furniture and environments. Our biometric data will be accessible everywhere, constantly – to us and those who we have granted admission, e.g. our doctors, family and relevant networks. The Cloud also allows constant access to contacts and services in our vast directory of doctors, fellow-patients and other daily health-care programs such as diet, exercise and prescription medicine. The experience comprises lucid scenarios, personas and a working prototype. It has been developed by the Ergonomic design Life Science Team, including interaction designers, design strategists, graphic designers and health care professionals. Their challenge is to envision a complex future and develop user friendly solutions for the world to understand and use. By “The Future of Integrated Health Care” the designers have created an experience that combines intuitive gestural interactions with well-resolved service scenarios for the Life Science industry. ( Source: dexigner.com )

[Via http://5magazine.wordpress.com]

Haiti: News roundup, one week after earthquake Boing Boing

Marrow Drive for 8-month old son of National Semiconductor Employee

2010-01-20T01:19:00.000+02:00

Barry Pham, the 8-month old son of National employee Linh Truong, is fighting for his life. He has been through chemotherapy for biphenotypic acute leukemia and is now in need of a bone marrow transplant to survive. His family members have all been tested, and unfortunately, there is no match.

Linh and her entire family have been working tirelessly to get as many people tested to see if they might be the one to save Barry’s life. To help her, National is partnering with the Asian American Donor Program (AADP) to hold marrow drives for Barry and others in need of transplants. We are hosting a drive at National THIS Thursday, 1/21 from 11am – 2pm at the Cafe Store. We are expecting over 150 employees, their family and friends to participate. Any of you are welcome to come – just let me know.

As you can imagine, Barry’s story has touched us all and I promised Linh I would do whatever I could to find more possible donors for Barry and others like him. I am emailing today asking you to consider holding a drive at your company.

We will make holding a drive easy for you!

-There is no cost to your company or your employees

-The test is painless and takes only 10 minutes (a simple mouth-swab)

-The Asian American Donor Program provides and covers the cost for the kits, staff and materials

-National has created marketing materials that can be revised and used to promote the event

-We would be happy to send some volunteers to help with the drive if needed

-Possible attendance by Linh, Barry’s mom

-People of all ethnic backgrounds are encouraged to participate

-Participants become part of the National Marrow Registry

Attached is a flyer that we are using to promote our drive that has more information. I also attached some of the materials provided by the Asian American Donor Program.

Please let me know if there is a chance you can join us in this effort to save Barry and others like him!

Joan Scott

Director of Community Relations

(408) 721-6437

[Via http://firstthursdays.wordpress.com]

Tiger Woods in Mississippi latest: Daily News says it's true ...

Clomid: Tell Me About It

2010-01-18T09:07:00.000+02:00

Okay, first things first, here is my general disclaimer: This information is not to be interpreted as expert advice. I am only speaking from my personal knowledge and experience. As always, please speak to your physician and pharmacist about your medical questions and concerns. Second, credit for the inspiration of this posting goes to mrsowens1216 from YouTube. For anyone wanting to find someone relatable out there on your TTC journey, MrsO is a super sweet gal who I found one night and am following on her TTC journey. I am going to embed her first vlog at the bottom of this posting if you are interested in meeting someone else on this journey.

My articles on TTC and Clomid always are continuously searched and read, so I know there are a lot of you out there looking for information on Clomid. Some of you are not yet to the stage where you need Clomid, but maybe are starting to research it as your first option. I have taken a couple pictures for you who are wondering what it is going to look like, and how big it is. I always have a problem with large pills, but fortunately my tablet is nice and smaller sized. I take the generic, clomiphene citrate, manufactured by Par Pharmaceuticals. MrsO described it well when she said it reminded her of taking an uncoated asprin. In the picture above you can see its size along with my prenatal vitamin and vitamin D tablet.

Your first month will probably begin with a 50 mg dose. This dosage raised my progesterone from almost non-existant to 4. The next month my doctor increased my dosage to 100 mg and that did the trick for getting my progesterone levels up to +30. Now I am on my third month and she stuck with the same dosage. Most pharmacies only keep the 50 mg tablet in stock, so if your dosage is increase you take more than one pill to add up to your dosage. The cost for my 10 tablets (100mg every day for 5 days) was $17.97 through my husband’s insurance.

My perscription’s insert lists Clomid’s major side effects as stomach upset, bloating, abdominal/pelvic fullness, hot flashes, breast tenderness, headache and dizziness. Personally for me the worst side effect is the breast tenderness! Way bad! Second would be hot flashes. I thought I was coming down with the flu the first time I experienced a hot flash. I would go from sweating hot to freezing cold a couple minutes later. This is an unusual side effect for me since I am ALWAYS cold. And then I would have to say I get extremely moody on Clomid. One blogger said that Clomid’s real name should be CloMood and I couldn’t agree more. It turned me into an angry PMS monster and then a teary, blubbering mess on cycle day 1. But I can handle the side effects for up to six treatments if it leads to a baby. A last note, my side effects were much more noticeable on the 100 mg dose versus the 50 mg dose.

I have to close this post (I’m totally procrastinating doing my homework, but I can’t put it off any longer). If you have taken Clomid or are currently on Clomid please share your side-effect experience to other readers and the dosage that you were on. Thanks to all my readers! Don’t forget to subscribe or add me to your blogroll.

Such a sweetheart, MrsOwens1216

[Via http://autonomousblogger.wordpress.com]

Snyder won't seek re-election | Arkansas News

Science & Soul: Book Review: Ishmael

2010-01-18T01:48:00.000+02:00

I have read a number of books over winter break and would like to take some time to review them and hopefully give my readers some more reading!

–

Humans are actively destroying the natural world because we are captives of a cultural system that compels us to do so.

Takers as people often referred to as “civilized.” Particularly, the culture born in an Agricultural Revolution that began about 10,000 years ago in the Near East; the culture of Ishmael’s pupil.
Leavers as people of all other cultures; sometimes referred to as “primitive.”
A story as an interrelation between the gods, man, and the Earth, with a beginning, middle, and end.
To enact is to strive to make a story come true.
A culture as a people who are enacting a story.

Our creation stories, be they Creationism or the Big Bang theory, all make the claim that man is the end product of creation; man is the creature for whom everything came to be. However, we are not the culmination of evolution! The universe went on as before. Our ultimate evolution did not change much of anything. The premise of this story, however, is that the world was made for man. And we do whatever we please to this world because of this assumption: man was made to rule the savage world. To do this, he had to conquer the world. Under human rule, the world should have become a paradise, but we wound up slowly destroying it.

We say that it is our nature to do so, but I believe differently. There are still people who live in peace with the natural world and they are no different than us. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with humans. Instead, given a story to enact that puts them in struggle against the world and they will do so. We were fed a story in which the Earth was a foe to be conquered (we are conquering the oceans, we are conquering mountains, etc) and now, we have very nearly conquered it, but at what cost?

How does one achieve flight? One must understand, or at least abide by, the laws of aerodynamics; it could be through trial and error, but you must abide by the law. The people of our culture are learning to live by trial and error and we are not knowledgeable about the laws of life. Imagine an early flier: one with a crankshaft atop his craft. He takes off from a cliff and for a moment, he stays in the air. He sees the ground approaching and says, “I just need to pedal a bit harder and will make it.” He sees dozens of crafts just like his scattered, broken on the ground. ”What fools. They simply did not pedal hard enough.” Unfortunately he crashes because his craft did not abide by the laws of aerodynamics. Ten thousand years ago, we too began on a path to flight. We have tried and failed many times with civilization before (ie the Mayans, Aztecs, Romans, etc), but fell each time. We believe ourselves to be flying, but we are only falling because we are not living in accordance to one of the great laws of life…

Takers destroy their competitors to make room for their own. In nature, the rule is take what you need, and leave the rest alone. Takers will deny their competitors access to food; to life. In nature, you may deny competitors what you eat, but not food in general. Takers think everything on this planet belongs to them. In nature, you are a part of this planet, not its owner. All of this points to a law: “You may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may not hunt down competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to food. In other words, you may compete but you may not wage war.” All species inevitably follow this law, or as a consequence go extinct. The Takers believe themselves to be exempt from this Law. Any species that exempts itself from the rules of competition will destroy the community to expand itself. Since we do not believe in this law, we believe that we can grow without bound. Some new scientific breakthrough will save us in the future; we will enter the Star Trek age. Unfortunately, like those early pilots learned, we are not exempt.

Now, let me say, civilization as we know it, in and of itself is not against the laws of competition outlined above, but it is subject to the laws. In fact, one need not return to hunter gather society to make right the wrongs we have perpetrated on the environment. We just need to throw away the veil our culture: one of mastery, oppression, and exploitation to see how to fix the system we have. We must relinquish the idea that we know best about everything and that we have the knowledge, power, and right to bend everything to our wills.

—

"With gorilla gone, will there be hope for man?"

Above I have outlined the main premises of the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Ishmael is a gorilla. And Ishmael is a teacher who communicates with humans telepathically. I know it sounds insane, but instead of a goofy SciFi novel, you take a philosophical journey as a pupil who looks at humanity from a different perspective. I loved every minute of this book and it is definitely an interesting, thought-provoking read.

Grade: A

[Via http://scienceguy288.wordpress.com]

TRAIL BLAZERS Blog | The Dallas Morning News

Medical Prayer Need

2010-01-15T17:38:00.000+02:00

This morning, a friend of a friend of a friend as it seems has contacted one of MFM’s leaders in America about the plane that he flies. He tacked down Ronnie after some years of no contact and wanted to let him know about his willingness to work through MFM and take a medical group down and fly in as well as much needed medical supplies. At this, it would be needed to find an airport that would be able to take the plane since the PAP Airport has been shut down/limited to aid organizations. It seems to be a small enough plane to land outside of PAP. From there, the medical team/supplies would be taken to our mission to serve any hurt and sick in the mountains (as presumably people will begin to travel into the mountains in order to be treated since the PAP medical needs are limited at the time).

Dr. Charles is the pastor at the church in Laboul, as well as a practicing doctor at the medical clinic through MFM.

Presently, I have contacted another mission just outside of Hinche – the Solt Haiti Mission – who is finding out information about the landing strip in Hinche, Haiti – northeast of MFM’s compound and HQ.

Please be in prayer as this has completely fallen into the lap of MFM and is a great opportunity to serve and treat people. Pray that things work out to bring aid to people. Continue to check back for more information.

[Via http://run4haiti.wordpress.com]

David Parker: Breaking News: Harry Reid to Run for Senate from New ...

How to Beat a Committee, or, an Unexpected Life Lesson

2010-01-15T01:36:00.000+02:00

My dad ended up in the hospital a couple of days ago, after a catscan found two emboli on his lungs. The good news is that he’s going to be fine, and instead of being stuck in the hospital for four or five days, he was released after just one. The bad news is that he’ll have to take anti-coagulants every day for the rest of his life.

Evidently, there are four major anti-coagulants, each with their own issues. Heparin is given through an IV, so that was out. Coumadin can be taken in pill form, but is very hard to regulate – if you sneeze, if you sit down, if you eat a PB&J, you need to change the dosage – so that was out. Of the other two possibilities (I don’t know the names – perhaps Wilson can comment), one required one shot a day, the other required two shots a day. The one shot version is more expensive, but my dad’s health insurance covers it, so price wasn’t really relevant.

So, given the choice, you would choose one shot a day over two, right? I mean, I don’t know about you, but sticking myself with a sharp object on a regular basis is something I try to minimize. Which is why it was strange that the doctors prescribed the drug that required two shots a day. Now, my father (who is a doctor), thought about this, and thought back to his interactions with the medical team. For the most part, he’d seen the medical student. He’d seen the resident less, the fellow less still, and the attending physician only once or twice. And furthermore, the attending had admitted that he didn’t really know that much about anti-coagulants.

How had they come to the conclusion that the two-shot drug was better for him than the one-shot drug? And how important was this difference? So my father said, p0litely but assertively, that he was OK taking the two-shot instead of the one-, but first he wanted to talk to the individual who had made the decision, and get an explanation as to why that choice had been made. He had been very happy with the treatment, he felt that things had gone very well, and he was happy doing what they said he should… BUT, he first wanted to talk to the one person who had made the decision, so he could understand why.

So, they went away, and (presumably) conferred, then switched him to the other medication, no explanation provided. Which is fine, as that’s what he wanted, and clearly they didn’t have an objection. What happened? His interpretation was that in a collaborative setting like that hospital, the group gets together to discuss a case, and different ideas are tossed around. Clearly wrong ideas are flatly rejected, but if a reasonable suggestion is made and goes unchallenged, it’s adopted by the group without anyone taking responsibility for it. Asking for one person to take responsibility forced them to reevaluate the decision, and since either option was fine and no one thought of him or herself as the responsible party, no one was going to defend the position.

p.s. It must be said at this point that my dad is very happy with the treatment he got, and has no quarrel with the hospital or the staff. But he’s also very happy to only be taking one shot a day.

[Via http://slankr.wordpress.com]

Haiti earthquake updates: live blog | News | guardian.co.uk

Evolutionarily Yours

2010-01-13T17:30:00.000+02:00

Long time readers here, know that I suffer to a degree with SAD, seasonal affective disorder. During these past couple of weeks, with temperatures hovering near or below zero most days, I’ve spent time sitting at the window, since blessedly the sun was out most days.

I handled the intense cold and resultant miseries rather well, and was mostly upbeat and happy during our self-imposed snowbound exile.

With the return yesterday of vastly warmer temperatures, I found myself strangely depressed and grouchy. It got me to thinking, and you know what that means–I have something to say.

I’ve said often enough that one of the reasons why I can see God’s hand in creation so very clearly, is that life is tenacious. Spotting a lone dandelion growing in the cracks of an old sidewalk proves that. It seems that evolution does it job in providing mechanisms that protect our lives in various circumstances.

I came to the conclusion, that this was just one more instance of that. In the midst of the perceived “danger” the brain somehow protects us from the depression that such events should precipitate. After the danger is past, the natural depression descends since we can now afford to give attention to it.

This led to something I remembered from a three part show on PBS regarding the brain and how it functions. The Emotional Life describes a variety of brain mechanisms, often illustrating the working by showing dysfunctional brains where the mechanism is faulty.

One such is the amygdala, that small portion in our more primitive brain that operates to alert us to danger. A life-protecting mechanism in and of itself, it prepares us for “fight or flight,” flooding our bodies with adrenalin. This information is then sent to the frontal lobes, site of our rational cognitive thinking.

Here is where the problems begin. The prefrontal lobes examine the evidence and assess the danger. However, they are behind the game at this point. The amygdala is already in action, and the pathways from frontal lobe to amygdala, are not direct as they are from amygdala to frontal lobe. They are convoluted, containing a fairly round about way of getting there.

The amygdala thus functions to push the body to respond before the frontal lobes can get the information back to it, that it can relax. It has already poured forth its adrenalin. Interesting you say, but so what?

The commentator suggested that this portion of the brain, the FL to A pathway is not yet evolutionarily developed. We are on the way to a better connection, but not there yet. Evolutionarily speaking, it was better to be ready to act than to mull it over first. Makes perfect sense.

A couple of other fascinating things also are explained. It probably comes as no shock to most people that during a crisis (something fear inducing or terrorizing), we seem to have heightened senses. We hear, see, smell, feel, taste, more acutely. This apparently has something to do with the adrenalin or other chemicals that are released during such crisis conditions.

This means, that every single thing that happened during the moment of terror is exquisitely recalled in perfect detail. One can literally, upon proper cuing, smell the smells, and hear the sounds. Of more serious consequence, the memories are literally seared into memory. This has important implications for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Here a particularly frightening episode is cued, and the person feels for all practical purposes as if they are once more actually there, within the event again.

Each and every recall brings on the adrenalin flow and the terror is relived in 3D . For years, given the military’s desire to downplay the disorder, and because we knew very little of the inner workings of the mind, no real treatment was effective. Now there is some hope. Namely, the patient is forced to recall and describe again and again in detail what they are experiencing. And the frontal lobes slowly help the person accept that the signals are but memory. In other words, the patient’s own mind signals back sooner that all is well.

In time, hundreds of thousands of years no doubt, we will have the capacity to shut down the amygdala much quicker when there is no real danger present. So we live with the disorders that faulty connections allow for now.

Why is any of this interesting? Well quite simply to me, understanding the inner workings of my mind is one of my ways of understanding God. I have come, over time, to the conclusion, that being made in the “image of God” can only mean having a brain that thinks like God’s does. Surely we all recognize that God is not the image of Michelangelo’s in the Sistine Chapel. Yet most of us do recall that image when we think of God.

Yet, I believe God is not corporeal but spirit. As such it would seem to me that we would have no reference point at all to “think” of God unless our minds were similar in nature. This is not to say that God does not have multiple “minds” each designed to the species (earth bound or otherwise). And in some sense, the evolutionary development of the human brain moves toward a more God-like orientation as it develops. Cats, as far as we know, don’t meditate on God, humans do.

It suggests to me that we are moving toward God as we move away from war, hate, anger, anxiety, selfishness, vanity, sloth and all those “sins”. As our brains develop, we move away from them as well. The frontal lobes take over and are the cop on the block, as it were.

Which is all to say that I appreciate my brain for its protection of my psyche during the great ice age just endured, saving my “depressing” day for a “safe” one. I look forward to the day when my brain doesn’t need this safety net, but can control itself by reason. Evolutionarily speaking the time needed is but a drop in the ocean of time. See ya there!

[Via http://afeatheradrift.wordpress.com]

Biggest news at CES: 152-inch Panasonic plasma | DVICE

Case 3

2010-01-11T09:15:00.000+02:00

Male, Race unknown (can be Malay), Age unknown (around 20 to 30)

Presenting Complain:

- Backache

Prescription:

- Muscle relaxant & NSAIDS

My notes:

- The whole session is very very fast, I was curious and the reason Dr.Tan gave me is that through experience, just one glance, he knew that the patient faked it (maybe not) just to get MC.

- It proves that the doctor is correct when the patient quarreled with the doc because he failed to get the MC ‘due to the policy of the clinic’.

[Via http://iwalkmylife.wordpress.com]

New Government Study Has Good News, Bad News, for Senate Democrats ...

A Trip to the ER - Part One

2010-01-11T01:33:00.000+02:00

“Beep! Beep! Beep!” The pager went off, followed by an alert on the Nextel.

“714, Dispatch.”

A slight feeling of annoyance overcame him, but only for a fraction of a second. He reminded himself that he signed on for this job to help people, not to sit in the ambulance and stare at his phone all day. He put his phone in the dirty cup holder and reached for the Nextel clipped to the sun visor, as his partner simultaneously slid the pager out of its case and anxiously searched for details.

“714, go ahead.”

He came to the quick realization that his initial angst was more a product of his nervousness than his reluctance to run another call. Practice yields confidence, he said to himself over and over.

“714 I need to show you in route to Mercy General, picking up out of ER bed 7, for a 78 year old female, status-post fall, history COPD, dementia…O2, suction precautions needed; this is a BLS transfer.”

At least it’s not another gurney transfer, he thought. Now I can practice putting someone on oxygen, and maybe I’ll get to suction the patient in route. I just pray she is not incontinent.

“Copy, show us in route, Mercy Gen.”

“Do you want me to start the paperwork,” his partner asked. “Sure, thanks.”

As they accelerated onto the freeway, he reviewed the procedures in his head for using the portable oxygen tank. Make sure valve is opened with O2 wrench; turn flow regulator on to make sure gas is flowing; make sure there is enough O2 in tank for the transfer; turn on main O2 in the rig; make sure gurney is stocked with a nasal cannula and non-rebreather mask.

They pulled into the ER ambulance bay and he scanned for a spot to back into. He counted three fire medics, an AMR rig, and a First Responder crew. Damn, he thought, they must be slammed! A little extra patience, he encouraged himself, mentally preparing for his encounter with uptight nurses and doctors. He opted for a spot furthest away from the ER entrance, leaving the closest parking spots available for ALS crews dropping off the most critical patients.

He reached for the radio, turned up the volume, and waited for all traffic to clear. When silence filled the air waves, he pressed the transmit button down and, feeling cool like the first responders in the movies, let dispatch know that “714 is 10-97.” His partner suddenly stopped writing, he clicked the radio volume up two more notches, and in a synchronized effort they both sat as still as possible in silent anticipation. After a brief pause, dispatch responded in a faint voice that reminded the EMTs that the dispatch center was in a completely different city, about 45 miles away: “copy, 714 is on scene.”

Reaching across the center console, his partner unclipped the Nextel from the driver-side sun visor and clipped it to her cargo pocket. “Got your keys?” he asked her. Yep, she assured him by shaking her keys back and forth. He clipped the pager to his belt, reviewing in his head the information he would need to pull from it during the call. Bed 7, he recalled as his partner pulled the gurney out from the rig.

The EMTs pushed the gurney into the ER, wheeling it up against an unused wall. Pagers buzzing, alarms sounding, and phones ringing. The steady, alternating beep of a hundred different heart monitors resembled the midnight chorus of a bullfrog colony, the source of whose ribbets you could not pinpoint.

The hallway beds were full, not surprisingly. They’ll be happy we’re freeing up one of their beds, he thought to himself. Some patients were quietly sleeping, some chatting with family members, while others screamed out in pain. Some stared blankly into the wall, most likely sedated by the liquid pain-killer making its way down the plastic tubing, through the needle piercing the wall of the vein, into the bloodstream, and eventually into the heart which then pumped the medicine to all systems of the body.

The crew exchanged a quick smirk, as they took note of the usual ER commentary: “What is going on? Give me my pills! I need to leave! I have been here for 12 damn hours! Get me out of here!” Nurses and Doctors trotted smoothly around the emergency room like a group of Tennessee Walking Horses, juggling paperwork, clipboards, needles, drugs, and stethoscopes.

He approached the nurses’ station. “Who are you here for,” snapped an RN. “We are here for Bed 7, Smith I think.”

Like a chameleon that changes its colors and emerges from its guarded state, after realizing that foe actually turned out to be friend, the nurse replied “Oh great! Thank goodness. We really appreciate it! I think that’s Regina’s patient. Just a moment.”

[Via http://spurioustransmissions.wordpress.com]

Google News Blog: Fast Flip now available on Google News homepage

New Jersey to Homosexuals: No thanks

2010-01-08T09:00:00.000+02:00

As Ace (or some other blogger in there) says, I think it’s time people realize that it is not only fundamentalist christians who oppose homosexual “marriage”.

From Ace of Spades

The state Senate rejected a same-sex marriage bill today, a major victory for opponents who contend the measure would infringe on religious freedom and is not needed because the state already permits civil unions.The 20-14 vote defeating the measure followed an hour and a half of public debate inside the packed Senate chamber. The nearly thousand supporters and opponents of the bill held rallies on the Statehouse steps.

Statewide polls have shown New Jersey residents closely divided on same-sex marriage, and leading up to today’s vote, indicators showed a majority of the senators opposing the measure.

DrewM comments:

When will these hateful people, like their Christianist neighbors in NY just stop standing in the way of progress?

BTW-noted opponent of same sex marriage Barack Obama was unavailable for comment.

[Via http://lovingword.wordpress.com]

The News You Can Use from the Nexus One Event - Nexus one - Lifehacker

Total Thyroidectomy

2010-01-08T01:50:00.000+02:00

During total thyroidectomy for papillary carcinoma, bilateral parathyroid galand can be preserved. Ten milliliters of 10% solution (1 g) of calcium gluconate may be administered over 10 minutes. 10ml10% calcium gluconate ivi q8h. A calcium infusion may be started at a rate of 1-2 mg/kg/h if symptoms do not resolve. Titrate the infusion to the patient’s symptoms and calcium levels. Start oral calcium when the patient is able to tolerate it. One to two grams of elemental oral calcium should be supplied each day. Calcium carbonate 1250 mg provides 500 mg of elemental calcium; therefore, the patient should take 2500-5000 mg/day. The patient needs concomitant replacement of vitamin D with calcitriol (Rocaltrol) 0.25-1 mcg/d.

[Via http://mdoncall.wordpress.com]

Fox News Scrubs 'Honest Injun' From Steele Transcript

When does 'being a Doctor' all click into place?

2010-01-06T17:45:00.000+02:00

Former nurse now medical student at Nurse to Doctor was wondering when it all starts to click into place. I thought as a final year medical student, almost a doctor I would be able to do most things a doctor could do! Instead I didn’t feel that it could do much at all. In fact when I qualified I was still at that rabbit in the headlights stage – where I didn’t feel I could do anything useful. I remember feeling that the nurses could do almost anything I could do and feeling pretty low about things. But over time things have clicked into place. There’s several things that click in one by one to mean that you feel comfortable about being at work and feel you could do a good job.

In the good old days this happened much more quickly, final year medical students were allowed to locum as junior Doctors, and if you were working 100 hours a week you fairly quickly got up to speed. Now some of the House Officers we get are up to speed, and some aren’t there just yet. It doesn’t matter too much - if they can’t do the job the rest of the team pick up the slack, it’s just frustrating for us, but we manage to keep it safe for the patients.

Confidence in diagnosis – this comes with practice of getting ’stuck in’ seeing patients and making a diagnosis. Clerking, devising a management plan, presenting to the seniors and seeing if they agree. In the old days at medical school the students would spend on a lot time on ‘take’ doing just that.

Some juniors don’t have the confidence in themselves to write their management plan so write ‘obs / bloods / sr rw’ as the plan for every patient they clerk! This is totally unacceptable – because if you don’t start to make a diagnosis you’ll never get there.

Confidence in prescribing: this really comes with practice. It’s all very well to know that diclofenac, tramadol and aspirin are all painkillers but which is best for pain from kidney stones? and at what dose. Often the ward nurses know what tends to work in this situation and will often advise what they would like prescribed. (Do check yourself in the BNF if you’re not sure of the dose).Prescribing really does get easier as you get more of a feel for how drugs work and what effect they have.

Not getting overwhelmed with the workload. There is sometimes a lot of things to do at once so this can be quite scary, a ward can appear to be a chaotic environment and it takes a lot of effort to manage to focus on one thing at a time with constant interruptions. You may have 20 or so patients under your care and you need to know what is wrong with them, what the plans are, what tests they have had done, what they are waiting for , what their Haemoglobin and potassium are.

Confidence talking to relatives – again this comes with time – you can be taught communication skills at medical school but until you are sure you know the medical issues this isn’t as much use as you’d think, though it is a very useful grounding.

Then there’s the confidence that you can deal with the worse case scenario – to the level expected of your grade. For instance if a house officer can do the ABC things competently and start of some management whilst calling for help then that’s pretty good. That takes time as well.

So bit by bit it will click into place for most doctors.

[Via http://doctorz.wordpress.com]

ohnotheydidnt: Xtina Single News

Of coke and GAMSAT prep

2010-01-04T06:03:00.000+02:00

Coca-cola, I was talking about. Not ‘coke’ coke….. Gotcha…. I think.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all! Trust you’ve had a great start to 2010! (:

Another decade has gone by. I feel so….. Dusty. Oh. Old, I mean. Haha. Justjared.buzznet.com’s junior website has the effect of making me feel that much older. I mean, like, seriously, (flips hair back with fingers à la reese witherspoon in legally blonde ), the ages of the young ‘uns making it big in Hollywood just keeps getting smaller these days. Millionaires before twenty! Nice. No. Wait.

The internet has played a huge role in this cultural change…. If current trends are anything to go by, ‘prodigies’ might soon become a ubiquitous descriptor because our generation has so much resources available to us at the click of a button. That’s prob why experience is not a pre-requisite for fame anymore. It’s a good thing…. Resources in the right hands can = missions work (:

But I digress. I’m supposed to be writing about prep for GAMSAT (graduate australian medical school admission test) for those on the internet who are interested. exactly 2 years ago I was – rampaged google and yahoo for tips on how to study for the GAMSAT. Haha.

Here goes!

GAMSAT prep:

I took the MedPrep course and found it really useful practice especially for sections 1 and 2.
Visit pagingdr.net’s forum for helpful GAMSAT, interview prep tips
Section 1: I found this really helpful book recommended by a user in the forum… Have forgotten the name – ordered it online from amazon.com and it’s a prose/ poetry practice book that’s based on the American syllabus.
Section 2: Keep writing and get someone you trust, with good writing skills, to proof-read your work.
Section 3: If you don’t have access to a prep course, visit the library or ask a uni mate to borrow some basic chemistry/ physics/ biology textbooks (with exercises) for you. These should work fine (better than the ones offered by prep courses, in fact)

Just before the GAMSAT:

Sleep early the night before
Stay healthy – drink lots of water, eat lots of fruits – don’t fall sick like I did
Allow ample time to get to the examination venue (there will prob be lots of other candidates travelling to the same place)
Pack sufficient water, sweets/ chocolates/ fruits – whatever you need to stay alert
Know the allocated times for each section – break them down so you know how much time you have per question

Sitting the GAMSAT:

Time is of the essence. Can’t stress that enough.
If you can’t answer a question within the allocated time, mark it, circle the most probable answer and move on…. No mark deduction for incorrect answers.
Time your toilet breaks. Sounds trivial but…. With at least half the candidates vying for a handful of toilets, it’s almost…. Survival of the fittest. True story…. Plus, eating into your writing time to answer nature’s call’s prob not the best idea.
Relax. Better to think clearly than to answer all the questions haphazardly! (:

All the best in your future endeavours, whether you’re aiming for med or dentistry. If you do chance upon this and you’re about to sit the GAMSAT, best wishes to you. (:

[Via http://thevotary.wordpress.com]

Dallas Cowboys Blog | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas ...

Monstrous Weather

2010-01-04T00:59:00.000+02:00

The dark skies over head, chilled wind blows through the trees. Water covers the ground, mud and muck replace the trails we once traveled. Dreary is the day the rain comes down. Weary do the souls of mankind become. Its as if God has cried for our lost hearts, and the crying can not stop. Damned are souls and bodies have become. The flood waters rushing down. The earth soon to be wiped clean, rid of man and his machines.

[Via http://whistorian22.wordpress.com]

Best TV of the '00s: News Events - TV Squad

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING JOBS AT BANGLORE

2010-01-01T08:57:00.000+02:00

Experience: 3 – 8 Years Location: Bengaluru/Bangalore Compensation: As per hospital standards Education: UG – B.Tech/B.E. – Biomedical PG – M.Tech – Biomedical Industry Type: Medical/ Healthcare/Hospital Role: Lab Technician/Medical Technician/Lab Staff Functional Area: Healthcare, Medical, R&D

Job Description

To maintain the Bio medical equipments and other equipments of the hospital Desired Candidate Profile To maintain,Service,calibrate all the equipment in the hospital Company Profile A premier healthcare provider in bangalore city

Contact Details

Company Name: Mallige Medical Center Website: http://www.mallige.com Executive Name: Administrator Address: No.31/32 Nr To Bangalore Internet,Crescent Road BANGALORE,Karnataka,India 560001 Email Address: jobs@mallige.com Telephone: 80-91-22203333 SOURCE

NAUKRI.COM

[Via http://kushtripathi.wordpress.com]

Fox News backs up "big" Apple event rumors for January, cites ...

My Funniest Christmas Pressie Yet! A "Dysgraphia Pen!"

2010-01-01T01:23:00.000+02:00

You wouldn’t necessarily think such a thing would exist, would you? Well, okay. Such a thing doesn’t. Unless you consider every pen that I own, and will ever touch in my entire lifetime! *laughing* No, that is just what I called it: “My Dysgraphia Pen!”

If you don’t know what Dysgraphia is, what it boils down to is a difficulty, to some degree, regarding one’s ability to write. You can also have other problems with fine motor skills, but not always. I do to some degree there, as well.

I have Asperger’s and it is quite commonly associated with that Developmental Disorder, and with the other various Disorders on the Autistic Spectrum. However, it is not limited to the Autistic Spectrum alone. It can also be tied to AD(H)D, plus more. I have been dx’d with ADD, too. Inattentive Type!

My Dysgraphia? I reverse letters, numbers…sometimes my writing will become less legible, even if I do manage to get the letters and numbers in their correct order. It’s very frustrating, and I have to concentrate a fair bit if I need to write something down that absolutely needs to be legible! Even if it’s something, perhaps less important, I may be forced to give up and just leave it “as is,” with several scratched out words on the page!

Embarrassing.

I also write in Block Caps. Much easier for the entire world to decipher what I am trying to relay. That way, people hopefully won’t have to spend twice as many hours “de-coding” my missives.

So, my pressie? I got it from my friend J. He knows about my Dysgraphia. We both even call me, “Dysgraphia Girl.” *rolls eyes* That said, boy did he get a chuckle out of this pressie! It wasn’t even for him!

Oh, wow. I’m actually smirking as I type this. It’s a plastic, battery operated, “vibrating” pen. I know, naughty jokes all around!!!

It has several, little (also plastic), pen nibs in different colours. You pop them into a hole at the bottom of the pen, and when you write, everything comes out all “squiggly!” I was just dying when I was trying to use it!

And… It’s also kind of stimmy! There’s a clear bubble on top with an orange disc inside. It spins like nuts when you turn it on! WHOO!

J. knows me far too well. In fact, while I was there? I was getting a bit stimmy, so I grabbed one of my Tangles®. What did J. say to me?

“Stimmy, Stimmy, Stimmy. Tangle, Tangle, Tangle.”

I just looked at him and said, “Yep.” *laughing*

[Via http://patientanonymous.wordpress.com]

Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Bad news for Obama

The Top 10 Medical Advances of the Decade

2009-12-30T17:52:00.000+02:00

ABC News, in collaboration with MedPage Today, reached out to more More than 125 experts in various fields and specialties responded.

Their suggestions were then sent to the American Association for the History of Medicine, which narrowed the pool down to an authoritative list of 10 medical advances this decade that have had the most impact.

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Decade/genome-hormones-top-10-medical-advances-decade/story?id=9356853

[Via http://beckyminx.wordpress.com]

AT&T Stops iPhone Sales in NYC @ Technology News

Poem-VTMNC

2009-12-30T01:00:00.000+02:00

“VTMNC”

They call me violent, with ideology in a suicidal manner…but that’s not me, I’m not that good a planner.

But I will take credit for the massacres to follow.

I will take credit

For the tip of silver’s hollow.

I will take credit

For my uncanny persistence

If in the end it means

I had some sort of existence.

I will take credit

For coming to your doorstep

I will take credit

For completing their silence while every neighbor slept.

I will take credit

for living life in truth for me

I will take credit

for draining yours of it’s lavish sea.

Your treasure’s mine for the taking

whether you like it or not

And my brittle, arthritic hands

are all I’ve got.

So make way for the handicapped,

’cause I’m wheeling through

Your laughter and smug smile

are all I needed to…

-M. Detelj 09

[Via http://mdetelj.wordpress.com]

The Jawa Report: Good News: Two Hamas Members Dead

A Need For Cheaper Medicine

2009-12-28T09:23:00.000+02:00

A Need For Cheaper Medicine

Author: sean sandvik

People are becoming more and more practical in the way they spend money. We always try to look for ways to save as much money as we can. This is the reason why there are stores coming out left and right selling clothes at discounted prices, fast food chains being set up selling huge servings of food at low prices as compared to home-cooked meals, and most recently drugstores setting up shop on the Internet selling prescription medications at very cheap prices. But are they safe?

Search NOW for——->cheap prescription drugs

A lot of people want to know where to buy cheap medicine online. Senior citizens need it because most health care plans do not cover the cost of medication. People who live in tight budget could use the savings to help them with other expenses. In both cases, the extra money saved in the cost of the prescription will help them a lot.

But with the thousands of Internet pharmacies currently in operation, how can you distinguish a good online drugstore from a bad one. Here are some things to watch out for:

· A good Internet-based drugstore is licensed by your local pharmacy board to operate in and/or sell medications to your state. Every pharmacy, be it land-based or on the web, needs to be inspected and certified by the local board before they can start selling medicines.

· A legal pharmacy doing business in the World Wide Web should be accredited by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy or NABP. This means that they have passed the organization’s inspection and have met the necessary standards required from an online drugstore. Also, being accredited by the NABP means that the web-based drugstore company is a part of the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites or VIPPS.

· An honest Internet pharmacy should ask you for a proper prescription before they sell you medications. This is in accordance to pharmacy policies that prescription drugs can only be dispensed to people with prescription notes. The prescription note serves as a confirmation that a buyer had sought the consult of a physician and was indeed endorsed to take the prescription drug he wants to buy.

· In cases of online pharmacies that do not require a prescription note, some of them offer an online consultation service with a licensed doctor through voice chatting and webcam. This is beneficial to people who are unable to leave home to see a doctor. But customers must be cautious in dealing with web-based drugstores that offer to sell prescription medicines without requiring a prescription or offering a consult service, this may be an indication that the drugstore company is illegal.

· An Internet drugstore that does not hide anything from its consumers will not hide its stand on protecting your privacy. Look for an online pharmacy that has a clear privacy procedure to protect all the information you submit to their website.

To protect your privacy and your health, do not make transactions with online pharmacy websites that you feel are suspicious. Contact your local pharmacy board to report these kinds of companies to protect your rights as a consumer.

About the Author:

Win A $1,000 Gift Card To Help Pay For Your Prescription

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – A Need For Cheaper Medicine

[Via http://seansandvik.wordpress.com]

Live-blog: Ashura in Iran – December 27, 2009 | Iran News Now

Health insurance in Canada

2009-12-25T17:34:00.000+02:00

My prediction for 2010 is that if Americans get universal medicare, those now without coverage will love it. If they ever edge out the profit-making, paperwork-generating, coverage-denying schemes of the insurance companies and provide not-for-profit universal medicare, most people will love it. As the BBC pointed out last night, unlike most other developed countries, the U.S. does not have health care for everyone, and despite spending twice as much per capita as those other countries, it still leaves 47,000,000 people uncovered.

To get an idea of what healthcare coverage is like in other countries, check out the tone and the coverage rules in Canada:

Health Care in Canada
- Medicare in Canada

Health Canada
- Provincial/Territorial Role in Health

Provincial/Territorial health ministries and health insurance:

Newfoundland & Labrador Health & Community Services

- Newfoundland & Labrador Medical Care Plan

- Newfoundland & Labrador Prescription Drug Plan

Prince Edward Island Department of Health

- PEI Health Card

Nova Scotia Department of Health

- Nova Scotia Health Card (MSI=Medical Services Insurance)

New Brunswick Department of Health

- New Brunswick Medicare Card

Santé et Services Sociaux Québec (English)

- Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec

Manitoba Health

- Health Care Coverage in Manitoba

Saskatchewan Health

- Health Benefits in Saskatchewan

Alberta Health & Wellness

- Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan

British Columbia Ministry of Health Services

- Health Insurance B.C.

Yukon Health & Social Services

- Yukon Health Card

Northwest Territories Department of Health & Social Services

- NWT Health Care Plan

Nunavut Health & Social Services

- Public Health Nunavut (seems to piggyback on NWT services)

Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-term Care

Ontario Health Insurance Plan

Supplemental insurance, drug plans

Blue Cross insurance (supplemental coverage, works with provinces)

For over 65 years, Ontario Blue Cross has focused on providing health and safety to Ontario residents.

In 1941, the Ontario Hospital Service Association introduced the Blue Cross name in Ontario. The goal was to finance the hospitals by supplying individuals with reasonably priced health care services through a prepayment system. It was an immense success.

The OHA was eager to see a universal hospital insurance program in place and laid the foundations for the plan that eventually became government run. In 1959, the Government of Ontario launched the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan. 600 Blue Cross employees as well as most of its top management team moved over to help guide in the plans development. Literally overnight, 90% of Blue Cross employees became government employees as they helped launch the new plan.

The creation of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) led Blue Cross to modify its coverage to complement the public plan. Following the successful transition from primary to supplementary provider, Ontario Blue Cross developed other health care plans to provide coverage for Extended Health Care benefits including prescription drugs, dental, wheelchair coverage, nursing care, eyeglasses, hearing aid coverage and more.

[Via http://sciencenotes.wordpress.com]

New York Daily News Takes “Major” Stake In Content Aggregator ...

Serious science: Ooo look, that goat fell over!

2009-12-23T17:23:00.000+02:00

I’m currently trying to take advantage of my two week break and learn all the material I should have learnt last term. It’s not going as well as I hoped.

Today was the turn of how muscles worked, and in particular I got going on how action potentials trigger muscle contraction. As with just about everything in physiology, it’s down to ion channels, far too many to mention. In this particular case, the handout refers to those responsible for allowing a current of chloride ions across the membrane, and how if they are absent or malfunctioning, you get a condition called myotonia congenita.

Being the inquisitive sod I am, my choice was between getting up and walking across the landing to dig out the Bible, or look on wikipedia. So I went for the lazy man option. And came across this video illustrating the condition. Isn’t science great?

[Via http://nickopotamus.wordpress.com]

News Quiz | December 23, 2009 - The Learning Network Blog ...

The Beginning of The End?

2009-12-21T01:23:00.000+02:00

One can only hope. I’m referring to Chiropractic and other pseudoscientific “medical” practices: Homeopathy, naturopathy, etc. A journal article was recently published by three chiropractors and one Ph.D. in Physical Education , in which they essentially invalidated the practice of chiropractic. The question is will anyone hear about it, notice, or even care? I surely hope someone publicizes this.

The article has the effect of relegating chiropractic to doing the same as physical therapy, when used for lower back pain, and of being completely useless when it comes to any other medical condition. Thus, with osteopaths and physical therapists, chiropractors have no place in modern medical practice. Here is the key quote, taken from the blog Science-Based Medicine:

“There is a significant lack of evidence in the literature to fulfill Hill’s criteria of causation as regards chiropractic subluxation. No supportive evidence is found for the chiropractic subluxation being associated with any disease process or of creating suboptimal health conditions requiring intervention. Regardless of popular appeal this leaves the subluxation construct in the realm of unsupported speculation. This lack of supportive evidence suggests the subluxation construct has no valid clinical applicability. [emphasis added]“

The blog Science-Based Medicine goes into more detail about the theory of subluxations and how they are used in modern chiropractic practice. I won’t go into that here, as it’s rather unnecessary, I feel. To put it simply and generally, subluxations, which exist only in chiropractic medicine, are thought to be the cause of all medical problems, from acne to asthma and from headaches to liver failure. These subluxations are thought to be caused by misalignments of the spine which impede the nerves, causing these problems. The chiropractor believes that by adjusting the spine, these subluxations, and thus the medical condition, goes away. Anyone with a basic understanding of physiology or even medicine knows that this isn’t the case. There are causes that go beyond the neurological , and in most cases there are few correlations or causations with the neurological. Beyond that, neck and spine manipulation can be dangerous. But that’s not the point of this blog entry.

The point of this blog entry is that hopefully this is the beginning of the end for pseudoscientific medicine. If this article gets the proper recognition and attention, the preying on people’s ignorance of medicine can hopefully stop. Am I saying that all chiropractors are bad? No. I’m not even saying that chiropractors should stop practicing. Chiropractors have their place, and that place should be recognized. But it should also be recognized that subluxations are not scientifically founded, and are not recognized by medicine in any form. It should be recognized that a chiropractor is not able to fix or cure anything beyond back pain. And hopefully once this is recognized, Naturopathy, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, and other pseudoscientific claims will hopefully be recognized as being the same as chiropractic, and will go away as well.

[Via http://wikithis.wordpress.com]

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 14-20, 2009

Red tape?

2009-12-18T01:43:00.000+02:00

Tuesday my Lady and I took off to Nashville to go see her endocrinologist and thankfully she doesn’t have cancer. I’m relieved and yet we still need to get down to the root of why she’s sick. My Lady is the herbalist from hell and have literally saved lives in the past with her knowledge. She cured wet gangreen in a diabetic, need I say more? Yes, Wendel still has his leg thanks to this woman.

What this means to me is that what is going on with her immune system and endocrin system is only a mater of time from being cured. I’ve watched this woman, she makes good medicine, she dilligently examines her emotions and the ideas that go through her mind. She is a reiki master and I have to say her energy healing is for lack of a better word, phenominal. She’s doing what she can to help herself and I’m doing what I can to help her. Doing what I can usually means releasing my BS and giving her the warmth and steadiness that lets her heal herself. I feel she’s just got too much on her emotional plate.

Salem really cares for and about people. Her kids, their kids, relatives, parents, friends and the occasional person come into contact that needs her, all come under her concern and she does for them what she can. This may sound like saintly philanthropie but it takes a toll. The stress is unbelievable because she cares so much! She gets so little in return too.

I do care, I have the job, and when I can overcome my emotional difficulties I offer her some relief. Gods, the job I have is stressful, the home life is stressful, when not taken care of the relationship is stressful, and what I get out of it is a woman that loves and adores me! She says I smell good! I don’t wear any kind of deoderant and rarely patchulli. I remember my sister throwing fits because I smelled bad to her. Maybe it was the right-guard? Maybe it’s pharamones and she was my sister. Perhaps the pharamones of a sibling repell?

I have an idea about starting a new political party here in America. The Responcible Party, makes freedom the responcibility of the free. History has shown that freedom is worth fighting for because if you don’t fight for it you loose it. People want to know how the government can take away our rights, because nobody will fight to keep them!

Our country was bought at the point of a sword and the end of a musket! Slowly we hand our country over to the politicians in the hopes that political correctness and the dumbing down of America will purchase world peace. What’s wrong with getting angry? What’s wrong with fighting injustice? Why do we feel we as a country must follow the status quo? If our fore-fathers followed the status quo we would all be waiting for tea time and paying exorbitant taxes to a tyranical empire who would have only gotten stronger for the past two hundred thirty-three years.

So I say this, we don’t need to be looking at a bill of rights any more. No, what we must be looking at is a bill of responcibilities! That’s right, Thomas Jefferson wasn’t handing us freedoms he was handing us guidelines for a free nation. You have the responcibility to practice your religeon! You say you are of paticular faith, then don’t be a hipocrit, practice it! And to ensure that you get to practice your faith you protect the right of everyone else to believe what they will and live! You have the responcibility of free speach! If you won’t speak your mind someone will put words in your mouth. Not to say you should be insensitive, just honest and forthcomming. You have the responcibility to bear arms! How much crime would there be in a country if everyone competently carried a handgun? Would a criminal walk into a shopping mall with a rifle if he knew that looking like he was going to shoot someone would result in a hundred guns pointing back? You would have to have a deathwish, and some do, but chances are the deathtoll would be one not twenty.

I could go on and may yet open a site for my new political party, I have a lot of ideas for how this nation could better serve the people it is made of. I really feel you have the gyst.

I want a free country, where the medical community focuses on cures not treatments. Where the buck takes the backseat to the heart. Where greed is a deadly sin and not a virtue. Is that too much to ask? We’re not British after all, and they changed their monitary backed tune. Or so it would seem.

[Via http://averageviking.wordpress.com]

MMC News Release: Deadline/Hollywood Now Has Larger Readership ...

MECHANISMS IN KIDNEY-TUTORIAL HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY

2009-12-16T17:47:00.000+02:00

Image via Wikipedia

Basic Kidney Anatomy

Kidneys paired, about 150 gm each
Urine forming units:
- Cortex
- Medulla (lobed: renal pyramids)
- Cortex and medulla composed chiefly of nephrons and blood vessels
- Supplied by renal arteries (branches of descending aorta) and renal veins (branches of inferior vena cava)
Urine collecting and expelling units:
- Calyces
- Renal pelvises
- Ureters
- Bladder
- Urethra

Although the Kidneys are Tiny Organs They Receive 25% of the Cardiac Output

The 2 kidneys are only 0.4% of the body weight but receive about 25% of the blood flow
- Blood flow rate per kilogram of tissue is almost 8 times higher in the kidneys than through muscles doing heavy exercise!
  - Kidney: 4 liters/kg-min
  - Exercising muscle: 0.55 liters/kg-min
Extremely important function: to regulate the composition and volume of body fluids
Blood flows in and out of kidney leaving behind the 1% which becomes urine
Urine flows through ureters to bladder and then through urethra to outside world
The bladder is under both voluntary and autonomic control

Kidneys Filter About 180 Liters of Plasma Every Day, But Make Only 2 Liters of Urine

The kidneys filter approximately 180 liters of plasma/day (each of the 3 liters of plasma gets filtered about 60 times)
To replace this much water you would have to drink a 12 ounce soft drink every 3 minutes of the day
Fortunately 99% of the filtrate gets reabsorbed, leaving 1.5-2 liters of urine per day
It is remarkable that the kidney filter can be used continuously for 70 years or more without becoming clogged

The Nephron is the Fundamental Urine-Producing Unit of the Kidney

We have a total of 2 million nephrons in the 2 kidneys when we are young
Components of the nephron (see diagram below):
- Glomerulus- tuft of capillaries where filtration occurs
- Bowman’s capsule- surrounds glomerulus, collects filtrate
- Proximal convoluted tubule
- Loop of Henle
- Distal convoluted tubule
- Collecting duct- adjusts volume & concentration of urine
Distinctive feature: the tubule makes a sharp bend at the loop of Henle
- Because of the bend, tubule fluid moves downward into regions of increasing osmotic pressure (see diagram below)
- After the bend the tubule fluid moves upward through regions of decreasing osmotic pressure
Glomerulus has large pores, allowing filtration of large volumes of fluid
Number of nephrons declines with age, to about 50% at age 60; this causes the GFR to drop to 50% of value in a young person
- Loss of nephrons can cause drug overdose in older persons

The Basic Processes of the Kidney are Filtration, Reabsorption and Secretion

Filtration:
- About 20% of the plasma that passes through the kidney gets filtered into the nephron
- Filtration is takes place in the glomerulus
- Driven by the hydrostatic pressure of the blood (osmosis opposes filtration, but the hydrostatic pressure is larger)
- Water and small molecules are filtered; blood cells and large molecules (most proteins) do not pass through the filter
Reabsorption & secretion:
- As the filtrate passes down the nephron most of it is reabsorbed into the blood

Substance % Reabsorbed Water 99.4% Na 99.4% K 93.3% HCO3 100% Glucose 100% Urea 53% Inulin 0%

Data from: William Ganong. Review of Medical Physiology. 1999.

- A few substances are secreted from the blood to the nephron
- Reabsorption and secretion are energy intensive- the kidney is one of the most metabolically active organs in the body
- Filtering substances into the tubules and then reabsorbing nearly 100% of them, using energy, may seem to be a very wastefull process, but it allows the body to quickly remove many toxic substances from the blood (they are usually not reabsorbed)
Net Process:
- Amt in Urine = Amt Filtered – Amt Reabsorbed + Amt Secreted

Glomerular Filtration is Easy to Measure From Inulin or Creatinine Clearance

The rate at which the kidney filters blood plasma is called the glomerular filtration rate (GFR)
It is relatively easy to measure the GFR and it is a good way of assessing kidney function
Consider a substance, A, which is only filtered by the kidney; it is neither reabsorbed nor secreteted
- Since no A is reabsorbed from or secreted into the tubule, the amount filtered into the tubule at the glomerulus must equal the amount appearing in the urine
  - P X GFR = U X V
  - P = plasma concentration of A, in mg/mL
  - GFR = glomerular filtration rate of plasma, in mL/min
  - U = urine concentration of A, in mg/mL
  - V = rate of urine production in, in mL/min
- Solving the equation for GFR will give:
  - GFR = (U X V)/P
Two substances are used to measure GFR:
- Inulin: a polysaccharide which is not metabolized by the body. Inulin is not found in the body and must be injected. This substance gives the most accurate results and is used for research purposes.
- Creatinine: a breakdown product from creatine phosphate, which is naturally found in the blood. Not quite as accurate as inulin (about 10% is reabsorbed), but often used in medicine, since no injection is required.
- GFR measurements are very easy to do and give an assessment of kidney function. It is important to do these measurements in older patients and in others who may have kidney impairment
For substances which are reabsorbed and/or secreted the formula is slightly different:
- P X C = U X V
- C = clearance rate of the substance (takes into account secretion and reabsorption)
- C = (U X V)/P
Clearance measurements tell you how the kidney handles the substance:
- Filtered + reabsorbed: C will be less than the GFR
- Filtered only: C = GFR (about 120 mL/min)
- Filtered + secreted: C will be higher than the GFR

Tubular Reabsorption Has a Maximum Rate

Most of the solutes filtered into the tubule are reabsorbed because they are too valuable to throw away
In many cases reabsorption is by active transport, requiring ATP
- Because of the active transport the kidney is an energy intensive organ
Example of active transport: Na, K pump:
- Most of the filtered Na is reabsorbed by the Na pump in the proximal tubule (~65%)
- Na pumping in the ascending loop of Henle sets of osmotic gradients that are used to regulate water (~25%)
- Fine tuning of Na is done by Na pumps in the distal tubule and collecting duct, which are controlled by the hormone, aldosterone
Some reabsorption is by secondary active transport- the flows are indirectly coupled to the active transport of another substance (such as Na)
Example of secondary active transport: Glucose reabsorption
- The proximal tubule has a mechanism for cotransport of Na & glucose
- The kidney can reabsorb glucose at a tubular maximum rate of 320 mg/min
- If plasma glucose is normal (about 100 mg/deciliter) 125 mg/min of glucose is filtered into the tubules
- At this filtration rate the kidney can reabsorb 100% of the glucose in the proximal tubule
- If the plasma concentration gets high enough (about 300 mg/deciliter) the filtered glucose rate will exceed the tubular maximum for glucose
  - When that occurs, some glucose will be excreted into the urine (glucosuria)
  - This is the cause of urinary glucose in diabetes mellitus
  - Note: small amounts of glucose may spill into the urine when plasma concentrations are as low as 180 mg/deciliter. This occurs because some of the nephrons have lower tubular maximum rates than others
Second example 2: Water reabsorption
- Due to osmosis, but the osmotic gradients are set up by Na active transport
There are maximum rates (tubular maximums) for reabsorption by active transport or secondary active transport
Maximum transport rate is limited by the number of pump or carrier molecules in the cell membrane

The Kidney is an Osmotic Machine

Kidney uses active transport (especially of Na) to set up osmotic gradients
- Osmotic gradients are shown in the figure below: osmotic pressure in the cortex is isotonic (~300 milliosmoles/liter)
- As you move toward the medulla the osmotic pressure rises, to about 1200 milliosmoles/liter (hypertonic)
A distinctive feature of the tubule is the sharp bend at the loop of Henle
- Because of the bend, tubule fluid moves downward into regions of increasing osmotic pressure (see diagram below)
- After the bend the tubule fluid moves upward through regions of decreasing osmotic pressure
The kidney takes advantage of the osmotic pressure difference between tubule fluid and interstitial fluid to move water out of the tubule
By changing the permeability of the collecting duct the kidney is able to make concentrated or dilute urine by osmosis

More Information

Johann Koeslag of the University of Stellenbosch, Tygersberg, South Africa, has a nicely illustrated internet essay, Kidney Physiology in a Nutshell.

If you develop a passion for the kidney (many physiologists do!) someday you will want to read this book on kidney evolution by Homer Smith:

Homer Smith. From Fish to Philosopher. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1953.

Cautiously Optimistic Even Though No One's Read the Healthcare Bill

2009-12-16T00:56:00.000+02:00

President Obama met with Democratic Senators today to wag his finger at them and tell them to pass the Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) healthcare reform bill, which has been gerrymandered by a few weeks’ back room deals. I still don’t get the sense of urgency politicians have put behind this at this time. Healthcare delivery and costs has been an issue as long as I’ve been politically aware, but now it has to be fixed before the end of the year? Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sees it this way: “We won’t get another chance for a long time to do something this significant.” What makes December 2009 the critical point in the future of healthcare?

It seems the bill’s fate is up to the whims and fancies of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CN). You know, the guy who ran for Vice President as a Democrat, but is now an Independent, but went to the White House with the Democratic Senators this morning. Did I mention, while running for Vice President, he kept his Senate seat, just in case? Believe it or not, he did the same in 2004 in an unsuccessful bid for a Presidential nomination. Besides his annoying, whining talking style, why would anyone want to puff up this guy’s head?

After meeting with the Senators, Pres. Obama said he was “cautiously optimistic” the bill would pass. Besides Lieberman and independent Bernie Sanders (VT), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) is a potential holdout. That means Michigan’s Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, are expected to vote for the bill, no matter it’s final wording or costs.

Here’s the rub. I emailed both Levin and stabinow, asking if they had personally read the bill. I said if they had not, they must vote no. Levin hasn’t yet responded. His functionaries usually send out their form emails after the vote is done. Stabinow’s office sent me a form email that did not answer my key question: has she personally read the bill? The email went on to acknowledge my opposition, which was only ancillary to whether or not she read the bill, and spouted her rhetoric of healthcare is a right. I might also point out that neither has addressed my question of constitutionality. While I don’t necessarily disagree with Debbie, healthcare is not included in the Bill of Rights. And I don’t think there’s anything in the US Constitution permitting the Feds to require me to buy health insurance.

So, I think it’s time to email, phone, and/or fax your Senators and let them know how you feel on this issue. It’s obvious to me that Michigan’s Senators can’t even be bothered to answer my questions. That tells me they’ve not read the bill. And, as I told them before and will tell them again, if you’ve not personally read it, you have to vote no.

[Via http://cynicalsynapse.wordpress.com]

Sony discusses monthly online fees // News

Update on the "Sense About Science" Campaign

2009-12-14T01:19:00.000+02:00

As some of the regular readers of this blog may recall, there is currently a case pending in the United Kingdom which could have potentially far-reaching consequences regarding issues of free speech & skepticism. Of course, I’m referring to the now-famous case of Simon Singh vs. the British Chiropractic Association and the associated grass-roots effort by our friends over at Sense About Science to reform the libel laws in the UK. Since I last blogged about it, there have been some interesting developments. I wanted to pass along the latest update I’ve received on this issue, so here goes…

Dear Friends

A message from Simon Singh:

“It has been 18 months since I was sued for libel after publishing my article on chiropractic. I am continuing to fight my case and am prepared to defend my article for another 18 months or more if necessary. The ongoing libel case has been distracting, draining and frustrating, but it has always been heartening to receive so much support, particularly from people who realise that English libel laws need to be reformed in order to allow robust discussion of matters of public interest. Over twenty thousand people signed the statement to Keep Libel Laws out of Science, but now we need you to sign up again and add your name to the new statement.

The new statement is necessary because the campaign for libel reform is stepping up a gear and will be working on much broader base. Sense About Science has joined forces with Index on Censorship and English PEN and their goal is to reach 100,000 or more signatories in order to help politicians appreciate the level of public support for libel reform. We have already met several leading figures from all three main parties and they have all showed signs of interest. Now, however, we need a final push in order to persuade them to commit to libel reform.

Finally, I would like to make three points. First, I will stress again – please take the time to reinforce your support for libel reform by signing up at www.libelreform.org. Second, please spread the word by blogging, twittering, Facebooking and emailing in order to encourage friends, family and colleagues to sign up. Third, for those supporters who live overseas, please also add your name to the petition and encourage others to do the same; unfortunately and embarrassingly, English libel laws impact writers in the rest of the world, but now you can help change those laws by showing your support for libel reform. While I fight in my own libel battle, I hope that you will fight the bigger battle of libel reform.”

And from me, Síle:

The campaign for libel reform was launched by Sense About Science, Index on Censorship and English PEN on Wednesday 9th December. You can read about it in the following articles:

BBC NEWS Comic Dara O Briain says libel laws ‘quash dissent’

The Times Scientists urge reform of ‘lethal’ libel law

The Independent Comic Dara O Briain lambasts ‘bully’ libel law

The Mirror Dara O Briain wants libel reform

THE UCL provost: libel law is stifling academic freedoms

New Scientist blog Campaign to reform English libel law launched

Press Gazette‘Libel can kill – reform it now’

The Press AssociationDara O Briain wants libel reform

To read the background of this campaign see www.senseaboutscience.org/freedebate. We still need your support. Add your voice at www.libelreform.org and help us reach our fundraising target at www.justgiving.com/bookfund.

Best

Síle

Síle Lane

Public Liaison

Sense About Science

25 Shaftesbury Avenue

London W1D 7EG

Reg. Charity No. 1101114

Tel: +44 (0)20 7478 4380

www.senseaboutscience.org

Sense About Science is a small charity that equips people to make sense of science and evidence. We depend on donations, large and small, from people who support our work. You can donate, or find out more, at www.senseaboutscience.org/donate

[Via http://skepticalteacher.wordpress.com]

NFL.com Blogs » Blog Archive Week 14 news and notes «

Many Dialysis Patients Undergoing PCI Receive Improper Medication, With Higher Risk of Bleeding

2009-12-11T17:49:00.000+02:00

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — Approximately 20 percent of dialysis patients undergoing a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedure such as angioplasty) are given an antithrombotic medication they should not receive, which may increase their risk for in-hospital bleeding, according to a study in the December 9 issue of JAMA.

See Also:

“In the United States, medication errors are implicated in more than 100,000 deaths annually. Medication errors include adverse drug reactions related to inappropriately prescribed or administered drugs. To minimize inappropriate medication use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guides pharmaceutical manufacturers and clinicians through drug labeling of which medications are contraindicated or not recommended for use in specific patient groups,” the authors write. “Little is known about the use of such medications and their effects on outcomes in clinical practice.”

Thomas T. Tsai, M.D., M.Sc., of the Denver VA Medical Center and University of Colorado Denver, and colleagues examined the use of the contraindicated/not-recommended antithrombotic agents enoxaparin and eptifibatide among dialysis patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and their association with outcomes. The researchers used data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) from 829 U.S. hospitals on 22,778 dialysis patients who underwent PCI between Jan. 2004 and August 2008. The study focused on the outcomes of in-hospital bleeding and death.

The researchers found that overall, 5,084 patients (22.3 percent) received a contraindicated antithrombotic medication; 2,375 (46.7 percent) received enoxaparin, 3,261 (64.1 percent) received eptifibatide, and 552 (10.9 percent) received both. In unadjusted analysis, patients who received contraindicated antithrombotics experienced higher rates of in-hospital major bleeding (5.6 percent vs. 2.9 percent) and death (6.5 percent vs. 3.9 percent). Further analysis indicated that receipt of contraindicated antithrombotics was significantly associated with increased in-hospital major bleeding, but no significant association was found with in-hospital death.

“This study therefore demonstrates that these medications are used in clinical practice despite FDA-directed labeling, and their use is associated with adverse patient outcomes,” the authors write.

“Educational efforts targeting clinicians who prescribe these medications and quality improvement interventions, such as amending clinical pathway order sets to include consideration of renal function, are urgently needed.”

[Via http://ramanan50.wordpress.com]

NPD: Nintendo hails hardware record // News

What is Back Pain and Backers

2009-12-11T09:18:00.000+02:00

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re seriously interested in knowing about back pain and backers, you need to think beyond the basics. This informative article takes a closer look at things you need to know about back pain and backers.

Did you know when pain acts out that your backers will kick in? The backers are your emotions. The devilish radicals of our human makeup can lead us to consequences we ordinarily would not accept.

Sometimes the radicals are angels that work as guiders to back our every step.

Back pain and emotions go hand in hand, since when one experiences pain it causes threat to the emotions. When the emotions are threatened, “Look out Henry,” John Doe is in the house. Back pain has symptoms, which include depression, irritation and hopelessness, which starts with back pain and ends with emotions.

The person will often accept the proposal that the emotions deliver, leaving them to believe that no help is present. In most back pain instances however, help is sitting in front of you.

The rule of thumb is to listen, learn, and take action. When you learn all you can about your condition, you can move to accept its symptoms and take action to resolve your problem. In fact, the information you gain can work in your favor, since you may learn strategies that relieve your pain without costing you a fortune.

Most back conditions are treated with Rest, Ice Packs, Compression, and Elevation. (R.I.C.E.) Remember this rule and apply it as needed. Unless your back is broken, most back conditions are treated with basic common sense and non-costly remedies. Take action!

Tell John Doe to move it on over, since Henry is taking control. The emotions are lethal injections if you allow them to take over your life.

Fact: About 33% of the patients who visit common medical practitioners do not receive relief from back pain.

Fact: Chiropractors specialize in back pain. Chiropractors overall has lowered back pain up to a percentage higher than ordinary physicians have.

Acupuncture and massage therapy has helped more patients than standard medical treatment.

Fact: Back surgeries can lead to further complications.

Physical therapy is a great way to minimize back pain. In the worst case scenarios people have trained in weights and aerobics, thus reducing pain.

The best time to learn about back pain and backers is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable back pain and backers experience while it’s still free.

Back pain is relieved when one uses practical reason. Aspirin for instance can relieve most states of back pain with the exceptions of severe aching. Practical reasoning should tell you that the muscles are stressed, which basic stretch workouts can resolve the problem. Stretch those muscles!

Understanding your condition is the first step to taking action. In addition, when you know your condition you can relax. Pushing the muscles is overexertion that leads to back pain. If you are weight training and notice pain in the back, change your actions and perform other types of workouts.

Discomfiture (Oh no, not John Doe again) can cause a person to feel pity, instead of taking action. Don’t let John Doe out of the bag, rather get into the grove and stretch, relax, and rest.

Fact: Ecotrin is a painkiller that is sold over the counter. If you have back pain and take this medicine four times daily with a meal, you can reduce back pain. Take Ecotrin if you have overexerted the muscles to relieve pain.

Fact: Over the counter medications, such as Ecotrin will reduce pain caused from sprains and osteoarthritis.

Over the counter meds, such as Ecotrin has proven to reduce inflammation and swelling, which is the leading cause of pain.

Fact: If you take, Ecotrin prior to working out, you can reduce the odds of back pain.

Do not take over the counter medications if you have acute back conditions. The remedies are designed for short-term relief. Overusing the remedies can damage the kidneys and cause ulcers to develop.

Fact: Tylenol is linked to liver damage, yet if you use Tylenol in short-term regimens to relieve pain, the painkiller works alongside the central nerves to reduce pain.

As your knowledge about back pain and backers continues to grow, you will begin to see how back pain and backers fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

[Via http://healthexpenses.wordpress.com]

Mix: iTunes Web Store, iPhone school trial, Apple patents ...

"Are you well?"

2009-12-09T01:40:00.000+02:00

A rhetorical question when asked by your GP. Unless you are there for a ‘well man check’ (WMC). I went for my WMC back in February; I was beaten in to it by my wife who was extracting revenge for me having pestered her in to having her cervical smear and bi-annual mammogram. As I noted the appointment in my diary, I can honestly say I had never felt healthier.

It was all very civil, we discussed such pithy items as the frequency of my night-time bathroom visits, weight, exercise regime, my low blood pressure and the childrens’ schools. A quick blood test and I was on my way or so I thought. A week later I got the call from the Practice Nurse (when do they become competent?) saying my cholesterol was high and that I had ‘glucose intolerance’. Another, fasting (ie. nil by mouth for 12 hours previous), blood test involving the drinking of a foul fizzy pop like substance, 2 hour wait and then another bruise in my arm from a further blood sample. Another week passed before a slightly garbled message on my cell phone saying that all was good and I had nothing to worry about…….but I wasn’t anyway.

Three months passed when out of the blue came an impersonal ‘billet doux’ in the post advising me that I was due my 3 monthly blood test. I queried this but wasn’t able to get a great deal of sense from anyone so went along for another fasting blood test complete with even bigger bruise on my arm. Another 10 days passed before a breathless message from one of the secretaries at the GPs Practice saying that it was still bad (I presumed they meant the cholesterol) and that if I was confident I had done all I could with my diet then I would have to go on a course of statins. Suspecting that ‘a hare was off and running’, I tried to call my GP; just like in any country this wasn’t possible for a whole host of reasons. I set about some research on the web; I spent a happy afternoon dredging in to the merits or otherwise of LVLs, HVLs, side effects etc etc. Meanwhile a prescription arrived and somewhat lemming like I trotted down to the Pharmacy and got my pills. Suspiciously there was no ‘patient info’ leaflet enclosed but I was assured by the Pharmacist that they were ‘just like vitamins’. Ho hum. Having failed to establish voice contact with my GP I fell back on that other naval stand-by, the letter.

Time passed. Mindful of the fate that befell a long-term friend (high LVL cholesterol test followed by major heart attack a short time later), I started the course of tablets. As I was now in possession of the actual brand name, I was able to download a patient info sheet form the company web site. The side effects made particularly frightening reading until you stop and consider they all do; after all I was now a walking cardiac time bomb wasn’t I?

Whilst being in good health, I do need optical assistance for many day-to-day tasks. In late July I went for a routine check up at the Opticians. All was well but like so many health care providers, they had a new toy: a visual field (VF) checker. I have never been subjected to one of these before but happily went along with the test. Apart from telling me that I was wearing my contact lens too much, thereby causing wear / deterioration of my cornea, I was asked to come back for a repeat VF test in a couple of weeks time as there were some anomalies. Later that afternoon, I received a call from the optometrist , whilst watching my daughter receive her dance medals, asking that I contact my GP for an urgent referral to an eye surgeon as there was a definite pattern to my failed VF tests that might indicate pressure on my optic nerves. Duly I rang the surgery and got an appointment for the end of the week and attended.

My GP discussed at length my letter of some 9 weeks previous and convinced me to keep taking the pills, have another blood test after finishing the initial 3 months supply and have a cardiac risk assessment with the Practice Nurse. This took place a couple of weeks later and revealed that on the strength of my ‘high cholesterol’ blood test my cardiac risk was a 6% chance of ‘a cardiac event’ in the next 5 years. This did not strike me as startling odds and certainly I shouldn’t be selling tickets for the impending event.

Then 3 things happened: firstly I finished the initial course of statins, had my blood test and rejoiced in the fact that my LVL was half the figure in July and my cardiac risk assessment was now a paltry 3%; better keep taking pills and forget about my cardiac event. Secondly I received an appointment to see the eye specialist who because it was so urgent was referring me to his locum. Thirdly I received an appointment from the hospital for an MRI scan of my brain and pituitary although who had actually ordered it was something of a mystery; the GP and eye surgeon all denied any knowledge.

It all went ‘pear shaped’ on Taranto Night (11 Nov) when an hour after retiring I was awoken by the most excruciating pains in all my joints. Now, like many of the male form, I am no hero when it comes to pain but this was awful. My medical professional wife announced that she was not going to do anything until morning and ordered that I make less noise or I might wake the children. When day finally broke I staggered in to the shower, made a half-hearted attempt at washing and then had to be assisted with dressing. Eventually made it downstairs to be greeted with two worried little faces and another edict from the medical profession that I could only have water in case the hospital wanted to do anything more with me.

We arrived at ED just before 09:00 to a deserted waiting room. I was whisked away shortly after the ‘warm’ welcome from the receptionist (do they do a course to be so rude and uninterested?) and after answering seemingly interminable questions, the young doctor announced that he was pretty sure it was an allergic reaction to the statins. A blood test followed (not much of a bruise this time) and, 2¾hours later after the lab processed it, he was back confirming that was the reason, oh and by the way Mr Sutton your liver function is a bit off. I was discharged with a wad of painkillers and told to make an appointment with my GP.

My GP had the sense to look concerned and after discussing my ceasing taking the statins any more (would you?) I was bundled next door for another blood test (biggest bruise of the lot) and then in to the Physiotherapy clinic which just happens to be collocated there – I was still having trouble getting my limbs to do every day tasks like pegging up the washing. Eventually, 4 days later, my GP phoned to say that my blood test was back and whilst my liver function was better, it still wasn’t where they would like it to be and would I like to have another in a weeks time? What the hell? My arm was shot now anyway so what’s one more bruise?

Meanwhile I saw the eye surgeon; delightful chap with an excellent ‘bedside manner’ and a thoroughly charming assistant (his wife). No he couldn’t see what all the fuss was about and whilst my VF wasn’t great it was OK. A few days later I had my MRI (it had been ordered by the Outpatients dept at the local hospital after a referral from my GP). My wife’s boss did it and pronounced it all perfectly normal indeed for someone my age (and who in younger years abused his body with alcohol at various mess dinners including Taranto nights) it was in remarkably good condition.

Another blood test before having a therapeutic shoulder massage at the local health spa and that afternoon a Practise Nurse called to say all was normal.

So now here I am $320 poorer and but feeling fine! In fact isn’t it time for your annual WMC dear?

[Via http://xpinger.wordpress.com]

Miles Edgeworth demo released News | Eurogamer

Newly Discovered Fat Molecule: An Undersea Killer With An Upside

2009-12-07T17:06:00.000+02:00

A photomicrograph of an Emiliania huxleyi cell. The black spots within the cell are the virus, which contains a previously unknown lipid that is killing phytoplankton in the North Atlantic. (Credit: V. Starovoytov and A. Vardi, Rutgers University)

A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research.

The team discovered a previously unknown lipid, or fatty compound, in a virus that has been attacking and killing Emiliania huxleyi, a phytoplankton that plays a major role in the global carbon cycle.

“Emiliania huxleyi is the rock star of phytoplankton,” explains Kay Bidle, Rutgers assistant professor of marine science in the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences. “It blooms all over the oceans, and we can easily see it by satellite. We know that these blooms are frequently infected with viruses, and this virus is specific to this phytoplankton.”

“The lipids are the key ingredient in the virus that causes the phytoplankton to die,” says WHOI scientist Benjamin Van Mooy. “We have a completely different lipid molecule that, as far as we know, is unknown to science.”

E. huxleyi grows rapidly in the North Atlantic, “in these big blooms that you can actually see from outer space,” Van Mooy says.

“But,” adds Van Mooy, “they die just almost as quickly as they start out, and we’re not sure why. They die after a few days.”

Bidle and Assaf Vardi, a postdoctoral investigator in his laboratory and the study’s lead author, had been examining the interaction between the virus and the dying phytoplankton and had developed ideas for how this process works. After Vardi heard lipid expert Van Mooy give a talk in Santa Fe, N.M., he suggested the collaboration between WHOI and Rutgers.

“I saw Ben’s talk on marine microbes and lipids…[and] I ran after him,” said Vardi. “We told him about our ideas” involving the virus’s effect on the phytoplankton.

“They studied the viruses and I study lipids,” Van Mooy said. “It seemed like a good mix.”

Their paper is published in the Nov. 6 issue of Science., E. huxleyi performs photosynthesis — “just like plants,” says Van Mooy. “They suck up carbon dioxide.” In doing so, they reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. They form a calcium carbonate shell, also helping to regulate the carbon cycle.

If viruses are killing off phytoplankton, this can increase greenhouse emissions, Van Mooy suggests. “That’s important because if viruses infect a whole bunch of cells, then they can’t perform photosynthesis, they can’t take up carbon dioxide.”

In April 2008, Van Mooy’s team visited the sites of E. huxleyi blooms during a research cruise between Woods Hole and Bermuda and collected samples for lipid analysis back in the laboratory.

They immediately recognized lipids that were just like those in virally infected E. huxleyi cells grown by the Rutgers team. Helen Fredricks, a research associate with Van Mooy, carried out the lipid analyses at WHOI. “Seeing this viral lipid appear during the course of infection was amazing, and then we found it in the ocean too. We were celebrating in the lab that day.”

Adds Vardi: “Viruses are really important players in regulating phytoplankton blooms. We zoom into the bloom and try to understand the interaction between the viruses and host, which is this really important, cosmopolitan, bloom-forming species.”

After isolating the viral lipids, the team found that the lipids alone were able to bring about the symptoms of viral infection in the phytoplankton. “The lipids themselves act just like the virus,” says Van Mooy. “We can cause the phytoplankton to die by just giving the lipids.”

This alone was enough to excite the team. “Now we have a biological marker that we can go out on a ship and look for and identify where this [infection of phytoplankton] is happening and learn how to study it better,” Van Mooy says.

But there may be other, even farther-reaching implications. Both the virus and the newly found lipid deal their deadly blow by causing the upper-ocean plants to commit cellular suicide. As a major focus of their research at Rutgers, Bidle’s lab has found that “programmed cell death” is an important process in the fate of marine phytoplankton and in the demise of blooms in the oceans. Bidle’s group had previously found that successful infection of E. huxleyi induced, and actually required, the programmed cell death pathway.

But programmed cell death is not unique to phytoplankton. It is a common and healthy process in all kinds of cells, including human cells.

According to Vardi, “These lipids can induce programmed cell death in many organisms, including animals and plants. They also enrich in plasma membrane, and they are the port of the cell, where pathogens get in and out of the cell. This is important in viral diseases.”

There is also a potential connection with cancer. If a healthy cell is stressed or damaged, usually it will kill itself with programmed cell death. But cancer cells have a defect: “They don’t kill themselves,” says Bidle.

“It’s a critical aspect of cancer research, because cancer cells have figured out a way to turn off the programmed cell death pathway,” he says. “In cancer studies, they try to figure out ways to reactivate those pathways.”

The lipid may help shed light on why cancer cells are unable to commit suicide. Someday, the researchers say, it might suggest ways to correct that defect. Right now, the lipid is only known to be effective in algae, but in the future, the team is hoping to test the effectiveness of their molecule in experiments with cancer cells.

“There’s a long way to go between here and curing cancer,” Van Mooy says, “but the potential exists that this molecule could have therapeutic applications in the treatment of human disease, including cancer. Hopefully this paper will pique the interest of other investigators.”

More immediately, scientists hope to learn more about the central role phytoplankton — and viruses — play in regulating climate. Bidle says this is a particularly interesting virus. “It appears that the virus has…borrowed, copied actually, the genes for this lipid from the host,” he says. “Similar genes are still on the host, but the virus has figured out a way to take those genes and put them into its own genome, and alter them enough to make them more toxic.”

“We find the biosynthetic pathway for this unique lipid encoded in the virus genome, not only in the host, and this has never been described before in any other virus,” Vardi says. “We knew that [lipids] were important, but we were really intrigued about why the virus contained these genes. And what is the role of the pathway in the co-evolution of programmed cell death in the host and virus.”

Van Mooy sees it as a struggle between two mighty forces. “The phytoplankton are at one end of the boxing ring and they’re taking up carbon dioxide, and the viruses are at the other end, and they’re out to kill them. And how that works out controls how much carbon dioxide is taken up.

“We’re very interested in understanding what controls these phytoplankton,” he says. “I didn’t know that much about viruses until I started working on this project and the Rutgers researchers didn’t know that much about lipids. So now we’re both really onto something here. We’re continuing to collaborate. “We have found other interesting lipids from these viruses,” says Van Mooy.

“There are probably more out there. And who knows what kind of activities they may be involved with. They may hold a cure for a human disease or they may play unknown role in…phytoplankton.

“I’d like to think [the work] is going to have a continued impact.”

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109121207.htm

[Via http://thewere42.wordpress.com]

Vanguard News Online

Science & Soul: Cellular Automata

2009-12-07T01:47:00.000+02:00

Science News in Brief

Turns out that the Iron Curtain helped isolate Eastern Europe from more than the Western world. It also blocked the import of alien bird species. Restrictions on the movement of people and trade in Soviet bloc countries prevented invasive birds being imported, a problem which has plagued much of Western Europe.

There is a difference: An introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species is one found outside its native range, having been brought their by humans through deliberate or accidental means. Invasive species are introduced, but also have a detrimental effect on the environment.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a statement that the emails hacked from scientists’ computers did not contain information which indicated that human created greenhouse gases were not a factor in global warming.

Quirky Quote: “There is an anti-change group. There is an anti-reform group. There is an anti-science group, there is a flat Earth group, if I may say so, over the scientific evidence for climate change.” –Gordon Brown

Researchers have released a study showing that there are large variations in the amount of carbon being absorbed in the North Atlantic: as much as 10%. They are still doing research to understand what causes these differences. Currently, the ocean absorbs about half of carbon emissions from human activities.

Apocalypse Scenario: Here’s a nice positive feedback loop for ya: as the climate warms, the ability of liquids to absorb gases decreases (think pop cold vs pop warm), increasing global temperatures, decreasing the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide…crap.

Cool Creature: Superb Fairywren

Cute Superb Fairywren

The Superb Fairywren, Malurus cyaneus, is a a small bird found across south-eastern Australia. The male of the species has a bright blue head, back and tail, with a dark mask, and buff belly. The female, however are a dull brown colour. This example of sexual dimorphism is fairly common in the bird world. The bird is known for its strange mating behavior. The male wren will pluck yellow flower petals and display them to females. Although it is socially monogamous, in that they will form fairly regular pairings, but one male will father many chicks with multiple females. And, he will help raise most, if not all of them. This causes a rather complex social dynamic.

Feature Story: Cellular Automata

So this is my first post where I talk about what I do as a bioengineer. People often tell me, “So you mess with genes and stuff, right?” First, nobody is “messing” with anything. Second, not really. I specifically enjoy working with complex ecological systems. I work to better understand the causes and effects of environmental changes due to natural and human-caused events. Bioengineering allows me to have a holistic look at ecological systems. Emergent behaviors result from nonlinear interactions between individuals in these ecological systems. Eventually, I plan to do field research as well as computer modelling to help change the many problems our environment faces. One of my tools as a bioengineer is cellullar automata. Have no fear: this is not going to be a trip down molecular biology lane. Not necessarily anyway.

Networks are built when individuals interact with their local neighborhood, their surroundings. Thus, range and links are important in a network. If a system is a complex system with multiple networks, nonlinear interactions among individuals can spontaneously create patterns from an initially random or uniform area. A grid model made up of many individuals represented by cells, or automata (us engineers like to make things complicated sounding), whose possible states are finite and distinct can be updated based on a function which refers to the state of each automata’s neighbors.

Perhaps a good way to explain this is to delve right into an example. Image a 100 x 100 grid. This represents a theater. Each grid space represents a person in the theater. We want to test the effects of fire on the movie goers. Let’s say that if 4 people or more around an individual is scared, the middle person is scared. Otherwise, the cell’s status is normal. By using a computer program, we can quickly perform multiple iterations of these tests on each of the 10,000 individuals in the test to see if there is any emergent behavior. Emergent behavior is such that results from nonlinear interactions between autonomous agents in a complex system. That is, it is neither completely random nor completely structured.

So how does this relate to the environment you ask. Well, I recently completed a project to model ecological succession from bare soil. Each individual tree species is predisposed to a certain environment. In turn, each tree affects the environment. For example, most climax trees are shade tolerant, that is, they grow well in light deficient conditions. This allows them to grow where there are already a number of pioneer (fast-growing, light-loving) trees. They in turn create more shade, helping climax trees compete against pioneer trees. In developing my model, I decided to focus on three main variables which determine plant growth: the soil’s water content, the soil’s pH, and the amount of light in the area. I also chose the most common trees in an Eastern deciduous forest as my possible states. To account for the possible variables in the environment, I calculated the amount of trees surrounding a given cell. The higher the number of trees, the higher the amount of shade, and the less sunlight will reach the trees. I also totaled the number of trees surrounding each cell to calculate water usage. The more trees there were (as opposed to blank spaces), the less water there was for that area of land. There are no units for the variables per se, but they can be interpreted as described above. I then developed a function which would analyze the current state of a cell and compute what the future state of the cell will be. So, if the current state in the cell is bare soil, then it will either continue to be bare soil or a tree will grow there. The simulation began with a white field (all blank) as would a piece of land after a disaster leaving bare ground. In the next time step, pioneer trees came on the scene. Following this, a few climax trees appeared, and more pioneer trees grew, removing many more of the plots of bare ground. In the subsequent time steps, more climax trees grew and ultimately dominated the field in the simulation. By the tenth time step, there was some flux, but most of the trees were of the climax varieties. There would always be some pioneer trees. When a tree “died” and resulted in open ground, the first trees to fill the gap would often be pioneer trees, but these are quickly weeded out. Thus, I used cellular automata to model a biological phenomenon involving emergent behavior.

Secondary Succession: A Cellular Automata Application

Cosmic Perspective

What am I, as a bioengineer, doing with this information? In my example, I modeled secondary succession, an already understood process. However, there are other applications. I know individuals who have used this technique to model forest fires based on forest density. I have seen the effects of the surroundings on a cell’s (living cell, that is) processes modeled to test new drugs. The future is truly limitless, but we must understand that we must also ask ourselves whether or not our methods are being applied in such a way to help, rather than harm, the world. Science is useless without ethics.

[Via http://scienceguy288.wordpress.com]

Paywall watch: The news you're willing to pay for

Year 10 - Leeds Trip

2009-12-04T09:37:00.000+02:00

Year 10 have the opportunity to visit the Thackray Medical Museum as part of their GCSE studies on Medicine Through Time. We are visiting the museum on Friday 8th May, and Saturday 9th May returning to the island on Sunday 10th. There are also social excursions to the cinema, bowling and shopping. See Mr Dargan for a letter, or more details.

[Via http://manxhistory.wordpress.com]

Star Outweighed Any Known In Milky Way - Science News

The Placebo EffecStudies Reveal How Fake Medicine Actually Reduces Pain.

2009-12-04T01:36:00.000+02:00

Proof that mind controls the body.;shows that mind controls the brain(which is different from Brain according to Indian Philosophy).

Story:

New medical research is finding that the pain relief induced by placebos may come from releasing the body’s own chemical pain relievers.

A team of researchers smears a cream said to contain a powerful anesthetic on the skin of your forearm. Then, in their mad-scientist way, they apply an electric heating pad that can be dialed up to painfully hot levels.

Imagine being pleasantly surprised to find that the cream works — the heat seems quite bearable. The researchers even run a brain scan to document just how well this cream works.

But picture your dismay at learning that the cream was actually inert and contained no anesthetic. Nada.

Guileless lab rat that you are, you have been punked. By a placebo.

Scenes like this are playing out in U.S. and European laboratories as neuroscientists try to figure out how our brains can be tricked by sham treatments into producing potent pain-blocking effects that rival (and may sometimes enhance) the effects of real drugs.

The details of the emerging picture are still being sketched in, but it seems that our expectations — whether shaped through conditioning or a simple verbal instruction — can trigger our native pain-control networks, some of which extend from higher cognitive regions deep into the brain stem and spinal cord.

In recent papers published in Science and Neuron, a team of scientists led by Falk Eippert and Ulrike Bingel at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany explored how placebos activate the brain’s “descending pain control system,” which involves structures in the brain stem. It’s a complex process that relies on opioids — naturally produced substances that chemically resemble opium and block the transmission of pain signals.

The scientists induced the placebo effect in their 48 test subjects by falsely telling them they were applying a cream containing lidocaine, a topical anesthetic. But some subjects also received naloxone, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids (the rest got an inert injection of saline solution).

Next, the scientists studied their subjects’ brains with a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner and asked them to subjectively rate the pain intensity.

The subjects who received naloxone (which blocked opioid activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and midbrain structures like the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus, the periaqueductal gray and the rostral ventromedial medulla) saw markedly lower pain relief than those who had received saline, the team reported.

“Until now it was believed that placebo was just a psychological phenomenon that has no neurobiological basis, but that’s really not the case,” Eippert said. He noted that naloxone did not completely erase the pain-relief effect, suggesting that placebo treatment may also engage other less-studied brain networks.

The placebo effect is probably at work even when proven opiates are administered for pain relief, Eippert said. Experiments have shown that patients experience some pain relief when they are given opiates without their knowledge, which is no surprise. “However, when you give this drug and tell the patient, the pain relief is going to be much, much stronger,” he said. “The interesting thing is if you give naloxone at the same time, then this additional effect of telling the patient is completely canceled. There’s a placebo component in treatment as well.”

http://www.alternet.org/story/144327/the_placebo_effect:_studies_reveal_how_fake_medicine_actually_reduces_pain

[Via http://ramanan50.wordpress.com]

Climategate: it's all unravelling now – Telegraph Blogs

Late cancer diagnosis kills 10,000 a year-Guardian UK.

2009-12-02T09:49:00.000+02:00

Have all tests done immediately and do not postpone.

Story.

Up to 10,000 people die needlessly of cancer every year because their condition is diagnosed too late, according to research by the government’s director of cancer services. The figure is twice the previous estimate for preventable deaths.

Earlier detection of symptoms could save between 5,000 and 10,000 lives in England a year, Prof Mike Richards will reveal this week. The higher figure is nearly twice his previous calculation, which put the figure at about 5,000.

Richards has revised up his estimate after studying the three deadliest forms of the disease ‑ lung, bowel and breast cancer ‑ which together kill almost 63,000 people a year.

“These delays in patients presenting with symptoms and cancer being diagnosed at a late stage inevitably cost lives. The situation is unacceptable,” Richards told the Guardian.

New efforts are planned to educate the public about the signs of cancer, tackle the widespread reluctance to tell their GP if they develop symptoms, and improve family doctors’ ability to spot signs of the disease earlier, he added.

Britain is poor by international standards at diagnosing cancer. Richards’s findings will add urgency to the NHS’s efforts to improve early diagnosis.

They also raise further questions about how often family doctors fail to recognise telltale signs.

Experts say early diagnosis can be the difference between a patient living for a short or long time or deciding whether they need surgery, such as a mastectomy, or not because quick access to surgery, drugs or radiotherapy greatly improves chances of survival.

In an article in the forthcoming British Journal of Cancer, which is published by Cancer Research UK, Richards will say: “Efforts now need to be directed at promoting early diagnosis for the very large number (over 90%) of cancer patients who are diagnosed as a result of their symptoms, rather than by screening.

“The National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative [NAEDI] has been established to co-ordinate and drive efforts in this area. The size of the prize is large – potentially 5,000 to 10,000 deaths that occur within five years of diagnosis could be avoided every year.”

Richards reached his conclusions after analysing one-year survival rates for the three cancers in England and comparing them with those in other European countries in the late 1990s. Previously he had looked at the number of patients who were still alive five years after diagnosis.

One-year survival is now thought to be a much better indicator of whether diagnosis was early or late.

The study focused on Britain’s three biggest cancer killers: lung, which killed 34,589 people in 2007; colon (16,087); and breast (12,082). They account for 40% of the 155,484 cancer deaths in the UK in 2007 and, Richards found, about half of all the deaths that could have been avoided if diagnosis was as good as the best- performing European countries.

Richards found that “late diagnosis was almost certainly a major contributor to poor survival in England for all three cancers”, but also identified low rates of surgical intervention being received by cancer patients as another key reason for poor survival rates.

Research by academics at Durham University led by Prof Greg Rubin has identified five types of delay in NHS cancer care: “patient delay”, “doctor delay”, “delay in primary care [at GPs' surgeries]“, “system delay” and “delay in secondary care [at hospitals]“.

The new initiative is intended to “fix this problem”, helping the UK’s 53,000 GPs improve their ability to identify patients who may have cancer, said Richards.

With smoking in decline “early diagnosis is our next big challenge in cancer and will be crucial in bringing our survival rates up to the best in Europe”, he added. Prof Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Mike Richards’s latest findings on cancer diagnosis are really important information and reinforce the need for GPs to put a lot of effort into ensuring that patients present [their symptoms] and have access to GPs, and that we pick up the symptoms early on, and also reflect if we can do things even better in this crucial area of healthcare, which we can.

“It’s wrong to blame GPs for all these deaths, as there are many factors involved, including patients not recognising symptoms of cancer and not talking to their GP about them, especially middle-aged men. But I’m sure that we could all at times be more alert to symptoms and investigate and refer patients quicker,” he added.

Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said GPs faced a difficult task in spotting cancer: “Despite cancer being a common disease, the average GP will only see one case of each of the four biggest cancers each year.

“Many of the symptoms that could be cancer turn out to be something less serious, but it’s best to get things like unusual lumps, changes to moles, unusual bleeding or changes to bowel motions checked by a GP.”

Do not ignore symptoms.Have a thorough examination and necessary tests done.Read the story.

Story.

Early diagnosis usually means that treatment is more effective and milder for the patient, added Hiom.

Katherine Murphy, director of the Patients’ Association, said: “Some patients are diagnosed with cancer when they have presented with the same symptoms six months earlier.

“Patients will sometimes tell us that they had been going to see their GP for six to nine months with, say, a pain in their stomach and were told to go to the pharmacy and buy an over the counter medicine [and later are found to have cancer].”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/nov/29/late-cancer-diagnosis-kills-thousands

[Via http://ramanan50.wordpress.com]

LOL News of the Day: Kristin Cavallari, Whitney Port Top Jon ...

In Hospice, Care and Comfort as Life Wanes

2009-12-02T01:05:00.000+02:00

This article is the beginning of a series I want to post about the impact and effects nurses can have in different settings. This particular article is about the hospice nurse and how hospice nursing can give a patient and the family a way to end life with dignity and peace. Nurses work in all types of settings, not just in hospitals, but I’m not sure the general population is aware of this. There are nurses who counsel, who educate, who practice holistic practices, who listen and comfort, as well as the stereotypical nurse who takes your blood pressure and temperature at the doctor’s office. I hope to be able to find articles to showcase nurses in non-standard practices over the next few months. I hope you enjoy these looks at nursing outside of the box. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Personal Health By JANE E. BRODY Published: November 30, 2009

I spent a day last month shadowing hospice workers from the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. With each visit to the homes of four patients whose lives were ebbing, the caring, patience, attention and expertise I observed left me wondering why all medicine is not like this — focused on the whole person, not just a disease.

Hospice workers never know what they may find when they enter the homes of people whose doctors expect them to die within six months. But they are prepared to handle almost anything and have a team of specialists to call upon when needed: doctor, nurse, social worker, spiritual care counselor, bereavement counselor. The home hospice service is but a phone call away 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The needs of patients and families are met within hours, if not sooner; moreover, the cost is usually covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

With hospice, death assumes a more natural trajectory, unencumbered by frightening machines and sometimes grotesque interventions of modern medicine that do little, if anything, to prolong life and often make dying more painful for patients and families, as well as costlier for society.

Indeed, studies have shown that, all other things being equal, patients receiving the comfort care provided by hospice tend to live longer and die more peacefully than those who continue to get intensive care for their disease when treatment has ceased to help.

Resolving Crises

At age 80, Ellen Gladden learned she had multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells in the blood. Four years later, this once elegant and dynamic woman, now a shadow of her former self, lay dying in a hospital bed installed in her bedroom, attended by one or more of her three daughters and hospice workers from the Visiting Nurse Service.

Mrs. Gladden’s hospice nurse, Vanessa Boyce, and Dr. Alfred Hartman, who supports the hospice team caring for her, had explained to the family that the end was near. Mrs. Gladden was turning inward, detaching from life, but although she could no longer speak, she could still hear. The family was encouraged to continue to speak to her, but cautioned against saying anything in her presence they would not want her to hear.

That included the daughters’ argument over the medications Mrs. Gladden was receiving to relieve her pain and reduce her agitation and anxiety, common symptoms as death approaches. Two daughters agreed that the drugs were necessary to keep their mother comfortable, but the third thought her mother was being overmedicated, making her unable to communicate and hastening her demise.

With patience and caring, Ms. Boyce and Dr. Hartman explained yet again why the drugs were being used. Seeing that the one daughter remained unconvinced, they offered a compromise: reduce the medication by half. If Mrs. Gladden remains comfortable, fine. If not, they can increase the dose.

Another crisis resolved in the lives of two hospice workers who typically visit four or more patients a day.

Extending a Life

Mercedes Perazzo, 87, a former ambulance technician for New York City whose life force now waxes and wanes because of congestive heart failure and diabetes, attributes her longevity to the care administered by her hospice team for the last 16 months. Her doctor thought she would die in a few months, but her spiritual care counselor, Henry Schoenfield, said she had rallied under the comfort care she received.

“I was very ill,” Ms. Perazzo told me. “But the care I got through hospice helped me live much longer than anyone expected.

“The entire team — all are excellent. They really care for people. The nurse, Eileen, takes my blood pressure, checks my whole body, arranges my medicines, gives me the supplies I need, calls the doctor if there’s a problem. Sometimes I feel very depressed, but she and Henry make me feel better.

“I had been in and out of the hospital, and they finally told me not to come back. But when I got with this agency, I didn’t have to go to the hospital no more.”

A ‘Reassuring’ Presence

Desiree Harris, a mentally challenged 40-year-old with advanced breast cancer, does not really understand what is happening to her. But her mother, Marie Harris, who has cared for Ms. Harris her entire life, understands that the end is approaching.

“The future doesn’t look too bright from a medical point of view,” Mrs. Harris said. “I know death is a part of life. I discussed hospice with her oncologist, who put everything in place. I want Desiree to be as comfortable as possible. I don’t want her to suffer needlessly.

“The hospice team has been so wonderful, very caring, very informative. I can contact them at any time. It’s so reassuring.”

Stephania Cajuste, the social worker on Ms. Harris’s team, emphasized the value of the team approach. “It can take so many ears to hear what you have to say,” Ms. Cajuste explained. “The patient or family member may say something to the nurse that doesn’t register. If they say it to me, I can go back to the nurse and tell her what I heard and what needs to be done.

“We all listen to each other, because it’s not about us. It’s about the patient and family.”

Mrs. Harris agreed. “The team came on Friday and stayed for well over an hour,” she said. “It felt like family time. Everyone explained their roles and made sure I understood everything. The nurse told me that if I think of anything I wanted to know, I should just call. It was so reassuring.”

Helped After a Spiral Down

Michael Cordovana (“I’m only 80”) had traveled all over the world playing the piano for professional singers. “Then,” Mr. Cordovana said, “all of a sudden my health took a downward spiral.”

Four years ago he had a heart attack and underwent a quintuple bypass. He has since had a stroke and now has an inoperable aneurysm, diabetes and congestive heart failure.

Yet during a visit by his hospice nurse, Dahlia Nichols, he remarked: “You can’t believe the care I get. I don’t think I’ll ever die.” He said his home health aide, Tony Williams, was “the greatest gift — he gives me my shower, takes care of my laundry, helps me with my exercises, makes me delicious juices.”

After a check of his blood pressure, temperature, legs and feet, and questions about pain and shortness of breath, Ms. Nichols told him: “You look pretty good. I’m a really happy camper.”

“I feel wonderful,” Mr. Cordovana replied. “It’s such a compliment to the nurses. I’m so taken care of.”

In addition to contacting local Visiting Nurse Services, hospice care can be found through the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Go online to www.nhpco.org and click on Find a Provider, or call (703) 837-1500.

The original article can be found here

Health care in Ireland should be better, but...

2009-11-30T17:31:00.000+02:00

…it could have been worse. Much worse.

Am I saying that because it’s worse elsewhere, we should be grateful for what we have and not moan about its shortcomings?

No!

Because almost everyone in the world can always find someone, somewhere, who is worse off than they are. We should always strive for better, but at the same time I think it’s never a bad thing to realise what a privileged life we lead in developed countries.

I remind myself every day what a privilege it is for me to be here.

[Via http://nadiawilliams.wordpress.com]

Portland Residents West of Willamette River Must Boil Water ...

เวชศาสตร์นิวเคลียร์ก้วหน้า 1

2009-11-30T09:18:00.000+02:00

3011748 เวชศาสตร์นิวเคลียร์ก้วหน้า 1 Updated Nuclear Medicine I

ความก้าวหน้าและวิทยาการใหม่ ๆ ทางด้านเวชศาสตร์นิวเคลียร์

(Update and advanced technology in nuclear medicine.)

(3011748 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

[Via http://sclaimon.wordpress.com]

The new divide: Walled v. open « BuzzMachine