According to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, Einstein’s celebrated formula e=mc2 was finally corroborated by French, German and Hungarian physicists.
However, another study indicates that Einstein’s brain power may be due to his unusually shaped brain. Yes, his brain was unusually shaped, not to say all people with unusually shaped brain would become geniuses, but according to researchers, “the gap that normally runs between the two hemispherea of the brain, known as the sulcus, did not extend all the way in Einstein’s brain. It may be that the lack of a gap allowed more neurons to work together more easily.”
My story is this, as a child in middle school, I remembered one of my classmates who had an unusually shaped head, and because his head was larger than normal, the other kids made fun of him. But till this day, I consider him to be the most intelligent person I have ever met. I never actually saw him study, and we were boarding school roommates, but he never got below 98 in physics or maths. He could design a rocket or robot straight from his brain, and he became a good friend. He was in a gifted class, and IMHO, I think he had the same unusual shaped brain as Einstein.
Researchers on Tuesday reported that broccoli and similar vegetables appear to offer special protection from cancer for smokers. Li Tang of Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, said: “The most significant effect was in heavy smokers.” For those who were told growing up to eat their broccoli, need I say more? The doctor has spoken!
I have been harping this for a long time now. Doctor patient relationships have to improve so that patients feel that their medical needs are adequately addressed. More diverse, fair and compassionate doctors will surely help.
Here is what a leading researcher on doctor patient relationships, Dr. Somnath Saha at the Oregon Health and ScienceUniversity in Portland said in a New York Times piece: “I think the key is getting to know each patient’s story and to treat each patient as an individual. In doing so, you can really begin to understand where he or she is coming from. Empathy is really walking in their shoes, getting to know them, and putting your own biases aside.”
That will be case, if the patient continues to test negative for HIV. 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, an American man living in Berlin, Germany may be cured.
Some people who carry a genetic mutation, called Delta 32, which is inherited from both parents, seems to make some people resistant to HIV infection. Roughly one in 1,000 Europeans and Americans have inherited the mutation from both parents, and finding a donor with this genetic mutation for his bone marrow transplant may have cured him. I guess it will not be as much help in the areas that are greatly affected with HIV, such as in Africa. Unfortunately most of them, if not all, will not have the Delta 32 genetic mutation inherited from both parents.
If your kids are obese, take heed. New studies show that these kids may be aging faster than expected, to the tune of 30 years faster. According to the research, “obese children and teens with abnormal cholesterol had thicker carotid arteries, the arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain. Thickened neck arteries are a sign of fatty buildup of plaque within the arteries feeding the heart muscle and brain.” Basically an obese 13-year-old, has the arteries of a 45-year-old.
Dr Richard Anderson, a chemist at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) found a class of water-soluble compounds in cinnamon called polyphenol type-A polymers, which have the ability to boost insulin’s activity about 20-fold. This insulin boosting property of cinnamon could benefit people with high sugar levels (pre-diabetics and diabetics).
In two separate studies in 2006, scientists showed that daily supplementation with water-soluble extract of cinnamon helped to improve sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. In one of the study, 79 diabetics took the supplement three times daily. After four months, their fasting blood sugar levels improved by 10.3%. The second study indicated that water-soluble cinnamon extract may provide protective antioxidant effects in reducing free radical damage associated with high blood sugar levels.
A number of medicinal plants from India, China and Japan are used for diabetes. One of the most effective plant compounds discovered is corosolic acid found in the leaves of the banaba (lagestroemic speciosu) tree.
Corosolic acid acts like insulin, the hormone that naturally increases glucose transport activity across cell membranes, thus facilitating the lowering of blood sugar. Clinical studies in the US and Japan show that corosolic acid is safe and effective in lowering blood sugar levels in pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
WashingtonState overwhelmingly passed a measure to allow terminally ill patients to request a lethal prescription from their physicians, as was in an earlier post. Now the difficult road ahead is the implementation. Read the earlier post on physician assisted suicide.
FDA converted the approval of Denileukin diftitox (Ontak, Eisai Medical Research) solution for intravenous use for the treatment of persistent or recurrent CD-25 positive cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. More Information visit: http://www.fda.gov/cder/Offices/OODP/whatsnew/Denileukin_diftitox.htm
With the Supreme Court taking the case No. 06-1249, Wyeth v. Levine, you may not know Diana Levine, but what happened to her is something that we should all follow closely.
It all happened when Diana Levine, a bass player and author of children’s music in Vermont, visited a clinic to receive treatment for headache-related nausea but wound up developing tissue deterioration and gangrene in her arm, ultimately leading to its amputation. Well, the clinic staff attending to Ms. Levine had administered the antihistamine Phenergen using a delivery technique known as an “IV push,” inadvertently injecting the drug into one of Ms. Levine’s arteries in the process. Although both Wyeth (the drug’s manufacturer) and the FDA were aware that the “IV push” created a risk of inadvertent arterial injection and gangrene, the FDA had nevertheless approved labeling for Phenergen that warned against – but did not prohibit – IV push administration.
Ms. Levine brought a common-law negligence claim in Washington Superior Court against Wyeth, claiming that Phenergen’s labeling was inadequate because it did not prohibit IV push delivery. Wyeth countered that because use of the warning label was mandated by the FDA pursuant to its authority under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), Ms. Levine’s state tort suit was impliedly preempted by federal law in two ways: (1) it was impossible for Wyeth to satisfy both the labeling requirement of the FDA and the demands of Vermont’s common law; and (2) state liability for use of an FDA-approved label would present an obstacle to the federal objectives of the FDCA.
In simple terms, what happened to her could happen to you if the Supreme Court rules against her. PLEASE DO NOT AGREE TO “IV PUSH” ADMNISTRATION under any circumstances.
Recent Comments