WeirdMedical™

If you are struggling for therapeutic relief from multiple sclerosis, you’ve got a lot of competition…

An new investigational procedure using an old “Gold Standard” technology is causing MS patients to apply in droves for a single site clinical trial. Over 1,000 patients applied for 3o positions at a lone study site in Buffalo, New York in its early trial. And the technology?…Is it a drug or an active agent?…no…it’s “POBA” –> Plain Old Balloon Angioplasty!

The theory of balloon angioplasty’s anticipated success in this new indication for use? This  provocative new theory proposes that abnormal blood drainage from the brain may cause or play a role in multiple sclerosis. According to early studies by an Italian vascular specialist, Dr. Paolo Zamboni, who was running out of treatment options for his wife, poor deoxygenated blood drainage caused by twisted, narrowed or blocked cerebrospinal veins may cause “leakage of immune cells into the brain that starts a cascade of inflammatory problems.” In this venous application, balloon angioplasty opens these vessels to increase the volume and rate of drainage…and patients can not wait to receive treatment.

“A lot of people are starting to go to fly-by-night places,” according to Dr. Carlo Tornatore at Washington’s Georgetown University Hospital. “It’s a marathon, not a 100-yard sprint. We have to be very careful.” (Source: Seattle PI, Seattle, WA)

The indication is chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency or CCSVI. Further studies of 65 patients by Dr. Zamboni reveal this therapy may be most effective in treating the relapsing-remitting form of MS. But there appears to be a significant relapse rate nearly 50%, similar to that for POBA for coronary arteries in the 1980′s and 1990′s.

Stay tuned…this opens a whole new opportunity for peripheral vascular device manufactures as well as their new MS patients!

Did you ever wonder what the first x-ray image looked like or how we are mathematically engineered?

Look no further than “Science and Technology in Medicine: An Illustrated Account Based on Ninety-Nine Landmark Publications from Five Centuries.” Author, Andras Gedeon, has researched major advanced technologies of today back to their roots. Nearly 100 technologies are captured in his book on medical therapies and diagnostic equipment dating back to the early 1500′s.

“A most fascinating read,” says Armchair Interviews who gives it five stars, “The visual effect evokes one’s curiosity at a fundamental level, making it an excellent source for inspiring further learning.”

Humane Blood

This books is fascinating in that it respectfully shows very graphic illustrations, images and in later years, pictures, of more primitive applications of science to the art of early experimental medicine. It is available in:

English & German

Any of us who have a fascination with medicine as it converges with science will cherish this book.  For Armchair Interviews’ review…read on…

Obstetricians will not find this weird but those in other medical specialties may…

Mother’s hormonal balance during gestation can have a weird affect on their newborns. An over-production of estrogen can cause neonates, male or female, to present with enlarged breasts.

MedlinePlus Encyclopedia: Hormonal effects in newborns

In fact, these neonates can experience a type of milk production with the white discharge called, “witch’s milk.” This witch’s milk or colostrum is just like mother’s initial fluid before breast milk production is established. For more on this condition, visit the iVillage website.

But not to worry…this condition usually disappears within 2-3 weeks…a relief for already nervous new mom’s!

Need to know where your colleagues’ greatest interest in clinical cancer research is today?…or the most currently active cancer trials?

Never be out of the loop again…For those latest advances consult the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research.

The journal feeds a constant stream of the “Top 10″ articles over latest 30 days directly to you, updated continuously at JECCR.

As of today, the #1, #2 & #3 most read articles are:

JECCR Logo

#1 – Research:  “Correlation effect of EGFR and CXCR4 and CCR7 chemokine receptors in predicting breast cancer metastasis and prognosis,” by Yixin Liu, et.al., published February 24, 2010.

#2 – Research: “In-vivo transfection of pcDNA3.1-IGFBP7 inhibits melanoma growth in mice through apoptosis induction and VEGF downexpression,” by Rong-Yi Chen et.al., published February 16, 2010.

#3 – Research: “Coronin-1C is a novel biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma invasive progression identified by proteomics analysis and clinical validation,” by Long Wu et.al. published February 24, 2010.

Capture the most current European and U.S. cancer research news on one website…after all, your time is precious, you do not have it to waste!

Do feel like your metabolism is slowing down?

Are you worried about getting fat?

Dismay no longer ladies…sorry guys…but now moderate drinking has been proven not only to help keep your heart healthy but keep your weight level over the years…and what a great way to cope with the Great Recession!

“Researchers at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston asked more than 19,000, normal-weight U.S. women aged 39 or older how many alcoholic beverages they typically drank in a day, and then tracked the women for around 13 years,” according to editors at Canada.com. They found that those women who abstained from drinking wine, beer or alcohol were most likely to gain weight, and those who drank two drinks per day were most likely to maintain their weight from 13 years prior.

(Photo courtesy of Chris Barria, Reuters)

But the best drink to keep the pounds / kilos off?…of course, was red wine.

Now gals can Go Red in just another way – You go girls!

Ah…soon to be springtime! That marvelous time of year when those lovely little darlings throw their hats and coats into piles in the playground at school…

…and bring home head lice, followed by traumatic visits to drug stores and at least one weekend shot to heck fumigating their heads, toys, clothes and entire bedrooms!

(Source WebMD)

And worse yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the first line of defense is a neurotoxin that is losing its effectiveness. Despite being an FDA approved over-the-counter (OTC) active ingredient, pediculicides containing neurotoxic pesticides are creating a strain of lice that is resistant.

So if  neurochemistry does not work, how about “biomechanical topical science?” Good old home remedies such as  mayonnaise, olive oil, and petroleum jelly seem to work initially. But lice cannot be asphyxiated easily so they bounce back to life within the next shampooing.

Clinical research to the rescue! –> In a study published online February 23, 2010 in Pediatric Dermatology, three (3) recent clinical trials studying 700 subjects showed that Benzyl alcohol lotion 5% (BAL 5%), a non-neurotoxic topical treatment successfully kills head lice by suffocating them. According to MedScape Today, “BAL 5% is safe and effective in children as young as 6 months and is the first non-neurotoxic compound to win approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

Downsides? BAL 5% is:

• Only available by prescription – so you first need to see your pediatrician
• Non-ovicidal (does not kill nits) – requiring a second treatment 7 days later (plan on tying-up 2 weekends in a row!)
• Expensive – requiring multiple bottles for longer hair times two applications

So if your insurance covers it, fret no longer, moms and dads!

BAL 5% is on its way to a drugstore near you to “head lice off at the pass!“

Orthopods! Here’s a new twist for external fracture fixation…

not just a cast but…a Casttoo!

Both a waterproof and X-ray permeable alternative to plain autographable casts, Casttoos are on the rise. (Thankfully) artwork on casts is not (yet) regulated by the FDA…and neither are Casttoos. But they are lots of fun for orthopaedic patients of any age. And the best part is that docs or patients get to create them themselves!

How about a shark infested jungle:

…or an x-ray of your fracture:

Just a couple of  ideas from the infinite number of Casttoo creators designs from the bookofjoe.

Docs can even download a hospital starter kit from Casttoo’s website.

…as Casttoo creators say “Happy Healing” to young and old alike!

Remember what your dad always told you about grilling in the great outdoors?…thoroughly dowsing the new coals with lighter fluid BEFORE setting them ablaze?

Clearly principles of  physics apply…if you apply more lighter fluid AFTERWARDS the flame can travel up the stream of lighter fluid and set your can (of lighter fluid that is) ablaze as well.

Well, the same applies to urinating on a live electrical wire…it is an unfortunate lesson for all of us. We are saddened for this family’s loss and send them our sympathy – read on.

In the immortal words of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young:

“Teach your children well…” that applies to physics and physiology.