The Medical Thread

[Haak]

Originally Posted by GDB

Now, when they say "before it is removed", does that mean it needs surgery to remove, or that it's more like "before it breaks apart"?

Endoscopy [Source]

[Blueberri]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

CDC warns untreatable gonorrhea could spread like wildfire

That's scary to hear.

... Oh my god. Are they working on stopping it?

[eternalmetal]

Considering the problem is because of antibiotic resistance, the only thing to do is hope that a new antibiotic comes out that can wipe out gonorrhea. Multi-drug resistant bacteria is becoming a big problem because of the rampant use of antibiotics, and the only solution is basically to find a new antibiotic that works.

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by eternalmetal

Considering the problem is because of antibiotic resistance, the only thing to do is hope that a new antibiotic comes out that can wipe out gonorrhea. Multi-drug resistant bacteria is becoming a big problem because of the rampant use of antibiotics, and the only solution is basically to find a new antibiotic that works.

Vancomycin (at least here in the phils) are being used against resistant bacterias for years and it's quite effective. Though you'll be astonished with the price because it's hell of expensive.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

Vancomycin (at least here in the phils) are being used against resistant bacterias for years and it's quite effective. Though you'll be astonished with the price because it's hell of expensive.

It's used in the United States as well, but there's already resistance against it. It isn't terribly widespread at the moment but it's likely just a matter of time. Every time we have to use it, regardless of the organism being treated, we roll the dice and risk resistance forming in some organism in the patient's body.

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

It's used in the United States as well, but there's already resistance against it. It isn't terribly widespread at the moment but it's likely just a matter of time. Every time we have to use it, regardless of the organism being treated, we roll the dice and risk resistance forming in some organism in the patient's body.

Seriously? Damn, I can't imagine how will they be treating our patients here if they got resistant bacterias from vancomycin in their body. What's the next line antibiotic there if the bacteria is still resistant to vancomycin? Here, I don't believe there's any. lol I haven't heard someone here that unlucky enough. Being subscribe with vancomycin here is already considered as unfortunate because of the price.

[MrTerrorist]

Since Gonorrhea is an STD and the problem seems to be happening in the US, i think Health Authorities should tell Sexual Active people to get them selves checked so they can reduce the risk of drug-resistance strains spreading.

[AnimeFan188]

UK Makes Gene Therapy Breakthrough for Blindness:

"At Oxford Eye Hospital the vision of six male patients with a degenerative eye
disease was improved after doctors inserted a healthy copy of a defective gene into
an engineered virus that entered the retina and actually replaced the sick gene.

Dr. Robert MacLaren of the University of Oxford and a consultant surgeon at the eye
hospital said some vision was restored even for two men whose condition was
advanced."

See:

http://defensetech.org/2014/03/31/uk...for-blindness/

[Cosmic Eagle]

Just wondering, does anyone here notice a slight pulsing of their vision (just a slight dimming and brightening) in time to their heartbeat especially after lack of sleep, fatigue or having had stressful days? It can be seen only in certain lighting conditions.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

UK Makes Gene Therapy Breakthrough for Blindness:

"At Oxford Eye Hospital the vision of six male patients with a degenerative eye
disease was improved after doctors inserted a healthy copy of a defective gene into
an engineered virus that entered the retina and actually replaced the sick gene.

Dr. Robert MacLaren of the University of Oxford and a consultant surgeon at the eye
hospital said some vision was restored even for two men whose condition was
advanced."

See:

http://defensetech.org/2014/03/31/uk...for-blindness/

I had a classmate back in highschool which had DED and she has lost some of her vision at 18. Being someone who sounds totally different at times (I have a rather deep voice after waking up, and a semi-girly voice when normal), she mistook me as a tall female student in pants (and vice versa) a few times.

A pity this wasn't mass produced when we are still schoolmates. She couldn't do alot of things we normal students did.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Just wondering, does anyone here notice a slight pulsing of their vision (just a slight dimming and brightening) in time to their heartbeat especially after lack of sleep, fatigue or having had stressful days? It can be seen only in certain lighting conditions.

Have you checked yourself for chronic fatigue syndrome?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Have you checked yourself for chronic fatigue syndrome?

I am not chronically fatigued though...people with that are actually near bedridden and sleep does nothing for them

Plus, if I'm fatigued in the past few days it's because schedule demands we rise early....

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

I am not chronically fatigued though...people with that are actually near bedridden and sleep does nothing for them

Plus, if I'm fatigued in the past few days it's because schedule demands we rise early....

Here is something for you to read. Use your world's no.1 problem solving skills to deduce the cause!

[AnimeFan188]

Tomorrow's Cancer-Blasting Wonder Drug Could Come From a Tobacco Plant:

"Australian researchers published findings this week on a newly-discovered plant
compound that destroys cancer cells, but leaves healthy cells unharmed. They found
it in possibly the last place you'd look for a cancer cure: the family of plants that
brings us cancer's number-one culprit, tobacco.

The research team at Australia's La Trobe University discovered the cancer-blasting
protein in the flowers of Nicotiana alata, a relative of cigarette tobacco that's usually
planted as an ornamental (though it's sometimes smoked in hookah pipes). A
protein called NaD1 helps the plant fight off fungi and bacteria—and, it turns out,
that same protein is like a sniper for cancerous cells."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/tomorrows-cancer-...rom-1559195771

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

Tomorrow's Cancer-Blasting Wonder Drug Could Come From a Tobacco Plant:

"Australian researchers published findings this week on a newly-discovered plant
compound that destroys cancer cells, but leaves healthy cells unharmed. They found
it in possibly the last place you'd look for a cancer cure: the family of plants that
brings us cancer's number-one culprit, tobacco.

The research team at Australia's La Trobe University discovered the cancer-blasting
protein in the flowers of Nicotiana alata, a relative of cigarette tobacco that's usually
planted as an ornamental (though it's sometimes smoked in hookah pipes). A
protein called NaD1 helps the plant fight off fungi and bacteria—and, it turns out,
that same protein is like a sniper for cancerous cells."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/tomorrows-cancer-...rom-1559195771

Well, antivenoms are taken from snakes, not to mention.

[Hiss13]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

Tomorrow's Cancer-Blasting Wonder Drug Could Come From a Tobacco Plant:

"Australian researchers published findings this week on a newly-discovered plant
compound that destroys cancer cells, but leaves healthy cells unharmed. They found
it in possibly the last place you'd look for a cancer cure: the family of plants that
brings us cancer's number-one culprit, tobacco.

The research team at Australia's La Trobe University discovered the cancer-blasting
protein in the flowers of Nicotiana alata, a relative of cigarette tobacco that's usually
planted as an ornamental (though it's sometimes smoked in hookah pipes). A
protein called NaD1 helps the plant fight off fungi and bacteria—and, it turns out,
that same protein is like a sniper for cancerous cells."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/tomorrows-cancer-...rom-1559195771

Saying it's "Tomorrow's Cancer-Blasting Wonder Drug" is way too pre-mature. I gave the actual paper it was referring to a quick skim and it seems like the experiment was only done in vitro using pre-prepped HeLa, PC3, and U937 Cell lines. It proposes a model and doesn't mention anything about clinical use considering that it has only been done in vitro. There are still a lot more steps to be taken before it can even be considered for clinical trials. Confirmations and alterations must be done in vitro first. If that succeeds, there needs to be in vivo animal experiments that confirm the safety and effects of the protein/drug. Only then can it be considered for clinical trials and that's a long way off.

Simply put, effects of a drug on a controlled cell culture set up in a sterile environment are a poor indicator of how well the drug will work in a living system, let alone a human being. Otherwise, side-effects wouldn't be an issue and fields like pharmacokinetics wouldn't exist.

Here's a link to the actual paper if anyone cares to look at it. Be warned, though. It's pretty long.
Phosphoinositide-mediated oligomerization of a defensin induces cell lysis

[AnimeFan188]

Scientists at Johns Hopkins Come Closer to Eliminating Heart Disease:

"Scientists at Johns Hopkins University may be one step closer to eradicating
debilitating heart diseases in humans, particularly those caused by excessive
buildup of cholesterol.

A new study published in the journal Circulation shows that a synthesized drug
reduces, and may even eradicate, the effects of high-fat and high-cholesterol diets.
And though the drug is prosperous for the heart and brain most specifically, the
entire body may benefit from this development."

See:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...t-disease.html

[AnimeFan188]

Scientists say young blood transfusions reverse aging:

"Two separate teams of scientists have announced that blood transfusions from
young individuals make older individuals younger, fixing their hearts and curing
aging brains. Speaking to the New York Times, Harvard Medical School's professor of
neurology Rudolph Tanzi, "these findings could be a game changer.""

See:

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/scientists...662/+jesusdiaz

[SaintessHeart]

After all these years of being mediocre in exams and over-the-top in projects involving hands-on and problem solving, I am thinking of getting a psych evaluation for dyslexia and ADHD.

There are a few teachers throughout my life (first being my piano teacher at 6) who have often brought up to my parents about my lack of attention and focus when it comes to lessons, alongside shortfalls in perfect answers due to major careless mistakes; they suspected that I have a sort of learning disorder or mental handicap, but my parents somehow always fixed it with caning, grounding and cutting of allowance.

However, over here, dyslexia is regarded as a mental handicap (like autism and asperger, you are considered retarded) and ADHD is regarded as a mental disorder (alongside OCD, depression and the various PDs), which is a serious problem if my next employer decides to dig my medical history. That +1 hour for all my exam papers would be a great help, but I risk my career prospects.

Any advice would be great. All those idea links and solutions constantly generated in my head drive me nuts during every exam period.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

but I risk my career prospects.

Any chance of getting evaluated in another country? you would probably have to smuggle any medication as some kind of illegal substance, but prevents it from becoming a hindrance if you ever have to search for another employer. I know you are too far away, otherwise I could search for some local private institutions for diagnosis.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

After all these years of being mediocre in exams and over-the-top in projects involving hands-on and problem solving, I am thinking of getting a psych evaluation for dyslexia and ADHD.

There are a few teachers throughout my life (first being my piano teacher at 6) who have often brought up to my parents about my lack of attention and focus when it comes to lessons, alongside shortfalls in perfect answers due to major careless mistakes; they suspected that I have a sort of learning disorder or mental handicap, but my parents somehow always fixed it with caning, grounding and cutting of allowance.

However, over here, dyslexia is regarded as a mental handicap (like autism and asperger, you are considered retarded) and ADHD is regarded as a mental disorder (alongside OCD, depression and the various PDs), which is a serious problem if my next employer decides to dig my medical history. That +1 hour for all my exam papers would be a great help, but I risk my career prospects.

Any advice would be great. All those idea links and solutions constantly generated in my head drive me nuts during every exam period.

Private doctor at Mount E or other good institution? Can trust them to keep patient confidentiality or not?