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!

Preclinicals – not for just rats, mice and pigs anymore…

Now, zebrafish…For the treatment of Insomnia researchers from Harvard have recently found a new surprising option to aid in therapy development.

Found in tropical regions, this fish proves a worthy test subject in either adult or larvae form. One interesting point noted by the researchers was that zebrafish generally show more relation to humans in sleep patterns than other animals. Also, zebrafish can be cheaply and quickly raised as test subjects. In all, the researchers found 463 sleep altering compounds in the fish, of which many resembled human characteristics.

Sleepy head:
Credit: Albert Pan and Alexander Schier

Having trouble sleeping? Oddly enough you may a sleep study with this fish!

Ready for a weird workout routine for 2010?

The Ross sisters have a weird ability. During the 1940s they performed a unique blend of  acrobatics and contortionism. While they have not performed in years, the Internet has brought them renewed interest with clips of their act appearing on YouTube. In their “Solid Potato Salad” clip they perform one of the most weird displays of motion one can imagine. Named Veda, Dixie, and Betsy Ann, these sisters may look alike but what may really add to their weird and uniqueness is that they are born three years apart from 1926 to 1929.

Biographical Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ross_Sisters, Video Source: That's Entertainment III DVD

You have NO excuses for your 2010 fitness resolution…get off your chair and go workout!

Keep an eye on dads as well as the kiddies!

A recent study found that children can consume up to 6,000 calories on Christmas day, December 25. This includes all the snacks, cookies and meals found between family dinners and treats Saint Nick leaves behind. The study was performed by experts for the Carnegie Weight Management based in Leeds Metropolitan University. They found on average, 956 calories for dinner 587 for desserts on top of breakfast lunch and treats. While children were the most indulgent Men were also found to be gluttons. While this may not be the weirdest display of human nature, it is definitely not healthy.

Source: Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1236388/Obesity-warning-children-eat-6-000-calories-Christmas-Day.html)

Note about your family:  Watch-out for each other during this special time of the year!

Programming our bodies to heal themselves…

Researchers at the Harvard University have discovered a method to make cancerous tumors self destruct. By implanting a plastic disc with tumor-specific antigens that mimic infection into a mouse, the immune system is reprogrammed to attack the tumor.

“Our immune systems work by recognizing and attacking foreign invaders, allowing most cancer cells — which originate inside the body — to escape detection,” according to Harvard’s David J. Mooney, Gordon McKay Professor of Bioengineering in Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, as described in the current issue of the journal Nature Materials. “This technique, which redirects the immune system from inside the body, appears to be easier and more effective than other approaches to cancer vaccination.”

This weird, in vivo technique may prove very effective in human cancer survival.

Causing Cancer to Self-Destruct (Source: Phsyorg.com)

Someday it may be said…“cancer patient, heal thyself!”

For most people in today’s reduced-healthcare-cost, right-to-die, euthanasia-friendly culture a persistent vegetative state diagnosis is essentially the final blow if not death sentence…

The human brain is on par with space in terms of what we don’t know. The traditional means of determining consciousness can only measure so much. For one lucky man, science caught up. Rom Houben, now 46, suffered in silence for 23 years until Dr Steven Laureys used state of the art imaging equipment to discover his hidden mind. Just recently disclosed, Dr Laureys plans to use Mr. Houben’s case to highlight what many patients around the world may need.

For Mr. Houben his horror is over. What may be one of the weirdest-nightmare-like experience ever described he “I screamed, but there was nothing to hear…”

Man trapped in 23-year 'coma' reveals horror of being unable to tell doctors he was conscious (Source: Daily Mail, UK)

Talk about sneezing your head off…

A 12-year-old girl from Virginia, Lauren Johnson, has developed a weird disorder. As reported last Wednesday, Lauren has been sneezing 20 time a minute, 12,000  times a day for over two weeks. Currently, her worst side effect is a raw nose from the incessant use of tissues.

Lauren’s syndrome is referred to as “Machine Gun Sneezing” during which victims cannot stop sneezing. She is one of less than 40 known cases in the world, doctors have tried 11 medical therapies and hypnosis, nothing has worked so far. Her weird condition began after she caught a common cold.

Source: "Ah-ah-achoo! The girl who sneezes 12,000 times a day has doctors baffled," Daily Mail, UK

Just imagine…they have tried everything from conventional medicine to hypnosis therapy…any ideas for Lauren?

Nobel winners uncover a connection…

The 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine went to three scientists who discovered an  enzyme called telomerase that allows cells to divide indefinitely. In general, cells have a limit on the number of times they can divide and over time this causes degradation of organic structures, or aging. In an article published by WIRED Aaron Rowe reveals that the scientists realized that they could persuade cells into producing telomeras.

However, there is a catch.

Currently cells in adults divide roughly 80 times before they die off, which limits susceptibility to cancer. When cells produce telomerase they continue dividing, which eventually leads to a higher probability of developing cancer.

Chromosomes

Mark Muller, a cancer and telomerase researcher at the University of Central Florida, stated that “Ninety percent of all cancer cells are telomerase rich.” Further, he posits that telomerase inhibitors could fight cancer itself and allow the cancer cells to essentially die off.

While currently the telomerase enzyme causes a Catch 22 of immortality and cancer, ethical and other pragmatic issues aside, it may be that in the future drugs may be able to combat cancerous cells without attacking all telomerase-rich cells, allowing mankind to achieve immortality in a safe manner.

Ready to rise above mere mortality?