WeirdMedical™

Summer is over tonight and no better proof then fall arriving on the rays of a Super Harvest Moon!

WeirdMedical is back at work…but let’s not think too hard. The article below well help us start out slowly.

Here’s another finding about alcohol – upon first blush it appears that anecdotal evidence is enough, but read on…

According to Paul Taylor at The Globe and Mail:

“The study published this week [week of July 29, 2010] in the journal Rheumatology, marks the first time that the frequency of alcohol consumption has been linked to the severity of this disease.”

Alcohol tames Arthritis

Taylor’s article goes onto comment about the benefit moderate alcohol consumption provides to the relief of arthritic inflammation in the joints (not as one would think with the neurological numbing of the senses)…

“In particular, X-rays showed there was less damage to joints, blood tests showed lower levels of inflammation and there was less joint pain, swelling and disability.”

Okay, so the research finding isn’t so obvious. Read on and enjoy…

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!

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!“

Here’s a heart stopper – bad for you but oh so yummy…

Today is good ol’ Pennsylvania Dutch Fastnacht Day or Shrove Tuesday. The PA Dutch ladies could sure cook and bake even better! And just less than 2 weeks after Go Red for Women Day, February 5. But these lovely ladies of German decent came long before the American Heart Association,  the American College of Cardiology and our First Ladies of our nation teamed up to make us feel guilty… or worse being scared out of our whits… for being a few pounds over-weight.

But that’s fine – we Americans can endure. So let’s take February, this month of dichotomies, and throw caution to the wind…let’s eat a fastnacht or three…

This Fastnachts image was taken from the website – BellaOnline -
Sandy Moyer, BellaOnline’s Home Cooking Editor.
…then let’s go for a 10-mile run!

Who would have thought that avoiding osteoporosis would be such yummy fun?

We now have new evidence that beer is more of a health food than originally thought. It’s been discovered that silicon found in commercially produced beer promotes strong bone development.

Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis have proven there is a relationship between commercial beer production methods and producing a final end product rich in silicon essential for greater bone mineral density.

According to the lead author of the study, Dr. Charles Bamforth, “The factors in brewing that influence silicon levels in beer have not been extensively studied. We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer.”

“Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon,” Dr. Bamforth concluded.   [See February 2010 issue - Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society of Chemical Industry.]

So beer once again is king...and ounce-for-ounce it’s easier on our budgets than wine!

picture courtesy Sirtified’s Blog

No more wine for our cardiovascular systems…let’s drink a few beers to our skeletal health!

‘Tis the season for merriment!

One of the most popular consumables used for bringing in the New Year is alcoholic beverages. As we all know, the effects of alcohol are governed by metabolism and drink composition. However, many of us are more concerned about the morning after a night of heavy drinking than the caloric effect.

To the rescue!…a toxicology expert and professor, Wayne Jones, of the University of Health Sciences in Linkˆping, Sweden. In this article he details all the pros and cons of drink options. Some of his suggestions may seem a bit weird but a little preplanning can not only help you remember Dec 31, 2009 but enjoy January 1, 2010…

Source: Daily Mail, UK

So if you plan to imbibe on December 31, try one of professor’s remedies!

Time to take notes from your great grandma!

In these troubled times people will find that they are required to be more resourceful with their lives. Home remedies offer an economical option for many ailments. From Netty pots to Epsom salt soaks there are many weird options that can save a trip to the doctor, and may also protect you from MRSA or H1N1. Who wouldn’t want a peppermint oil rub for a headache?

Here’ are some from the blog “Forgotten Medical Cures” to improve the iron deficiencies in your blood…

Wish to try:

– iron nails soaked in water?
– using iron utensils as well as skillets and pans?
– even viscous black strap molasses?

And only for the bold…spinach cooked with ox blood and silver beets…an acquired taste! Read more…

Something’s causing twins in a remote Indian village…

In Kodinji, a small village in India with about 15,00 people, there are 230 sets of twins. This is four times the the standard rate of twins occurring naturally. It’s no wonder the village has been dubbed “twin village” by locals.

A local doctor has hypothesized that increased rate of twins could be caused by the water near the village, although no formal studies have been performed.  According to current knowledge, there are no pollutants, toxins or other unnatural chemicals that the villagers interact with.

Two Twins from Kodinji Village (Source: Reuters)

While it remains to be seen what the cause of this is, we do know that just growing up there can sometimes be difficult. Twins can have difficult lives with people often confusing one person with another. And at least one boy, not a twin, feels a little left out in a village that makes twins trendy. (Source: Reuters “Doctors baffled by Indian village of over 200 sets of twins“).

In a 40 patient study of patients undergoing spinal operations and split into two groups, researchers found that those in a group who gargled a solution with licorice five minutes prior to receiving anesthesia reported lower rates of sore throat than those in the non-licorice group. Patients were split into two groups of 20 and only four patients in the licorice group had a sore throat due to anesthesia compared to 15 in the non-licorice group. At 24-hours, two licorice-garglers still had a sore throat compared to seven in the non-licorice group. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/health/research/07regi.html?_r=1&ref=health)

The soothing properties of licorice make it appealing for coughs and sore throats and it has been used for thousands years – now it is again resurfacing as a useful treatment for new medical problems (Source: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/licorice-000262.htm).

Source: http://www.licoricecandytwist.com/