Wednesday - September 26, 2007

On Quitting

I’ve never been a smoker, never even had the desire to try one.  Both of my parents smoked like chimneys and they both died from the habit at a young age (57 & 61).  I have always thought about it as a vile, horribly smelling vice that served no purpose.  It angers me to see kids smoking, thinking they are being cool, but knowing they’re being stupid.  I’ve never understood the appeal, but know, intellectually, that there must be one or millions of people would not be addicted.  I’ve known people to quit, only to start up again after a time.  Most of the time, they can’t even tell you why.

Geek was able to quit.

Go and read his story and how he seperates the physical, chemical addiction from the phychological and habitual factors.  If you feel smoking has taken away some of your free will, you will want to read this.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/26/2007 at 06:34 AM   
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   Sunday - May 27, 2007

Partners

If Ambulance Driver is not on your daily read list, it should be.

Today, he writes about one of his partners.

“How long has he been down?” Pardner wants to know as he strips off his uniform. He sits on the bumper of the rig and hurriedly takes off his duty boots. Not bothering with buttons, he yanks his uniform shirt over his head, tee-shirt with it. He drops his duty belt, pager and radio still attached, on the grass behind the truck, almost an afterthought. It wouldn’t be the first pager he has taken into the water with him.

“¿Cuán largo ha estado él bajo el agua?” the game warden asks the kid. The little boy, wet and shivering under a rough woolen blanket, sniffles a response.

“Maybe fifteen minutes,” the game warden translates, defeat in his eyes. It’s understood that the game warden isn’t going in. He wants to, but he’s too old. If he obeyed his instincts, did what his manhood screamed for him to do, he’d have gone in.

And then we’d have two bodies to recover instead of one, and the game warden knows it. I know it, too. That’s why I’m not going in, either.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/27/2007 at 06:39 AM   
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   Monday - May 14, 2007

Cure For Cancer

Okla. Professors Develop Cancer Protein
NORMAN, Okla. - May 14, 2007, 5:04 PM EDT

Two professors at the University of Oklahoma say they’ve developed a protein that can stop the spread of certain cancer cells without damaging normal cells. Thomas Pento and Roger Harrison helped develop a fusion protein that keeps some types of cancer cells from ingesting a vital protein called methionine. The fusion protein doesn’t affect normal cells because, unlike cancer cells, they can be healthy without that protein.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapies kill normal cells along with cancer cells, which often cause sickness and hair loss. “Roger has created a mechanism that delivers these compounds specifically to the surface of cancer cells so normal cells won’t be affected but only the cancer cells will be damaged,” Pento said.

“So you can see it would cause a lot less toxicity and it should really be a lot more effective.” Pento is a Noble Foundation presidential professor of pharmacy at the OU Health Sciences Center; Harrison is an associate professor of chemical, biological and materials engineering on the Norman campus. They worked with other OU scientists, including Xiao-Ping Zang, Naveen Palwai, Megan Lerner and Dan Brackett, research director at the Health Sciences Center’s surgery department.

Pento said the research started with breast cancer and expanded to include other types of solid tumors. They found the fusion protein to be just as helpful in fighting lung, prostate and pancreatic cancers. “It could be applicable to many types of cancer,” Pento said, “but we’ve found that it’s effective for those four types of cancer for sure.”

Despite successful testing to this point, Harrison said the fusion protein will need another round of animal tests before moving on to years of human clinical testing. Three phases of clinical tests could take two years each. “So it could be in the order of 10 years,” he said. “It sounds so far away, but realistically, given the FDA and all the phases of testing, it could be done rapidly.”

The two professors have applied for patents on their technology and plan to conduct animal testing themselves before launching their own company or licensing with a large pharmaceutical company to do it. “If you don’t patent it and get that protection, then no pharmaceutical company is going to spend the half to three-quarter billion dollars that it takes to do the clinical testing and to get this drug on the market,” Pento said.

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/14/2007 at 05:25 PM   
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   Saturday - May 12, 2007

Mom

Tomorrow is Mothers Day. You didn’t forget, did you? OK, I am giving you fair warning this year. You now have twenty-four hours to get your slacker butt off the couch and plan something for your Mom tomorrow. Failure to do so will result in severe punishment. I kid you not.

You can go buy her flowers or sweets. You can take her out to dinner. There are a thousand things you can do to show your love and respect for the woman who raised you. For what it’s worth, I suggest just wait until she is not looking and sneak up on her, give her a big hug and say “I love you, mom.”

My mother passed away in 1991. I sure wish I had another chance to do that very thing for her one more time. In the meantime, here is a story of one mother’s love and devotion you need to read. Make note of the address to send contributions to.

For Mother’s Day - A Mother’s Determination
-- By Tom Purcell

It was 1994. She thought she’d heard a faint wheezing in her baby’s lungs. She took her baby to the doctor right away, who sent her to a specialist. The doctor said it was nothing – probably a touch of acid reflux. He said it was common for new mothers to overreact. He said he’d run some tests to be safe.

Later that night, she was preparing for bed. The phone rang. It was the doctor. Her daughter tested positive for Cystic Fibrosis. The doctor warned her not to panic. The tests could be wrong – he’d run them again the following day. He warned her to avoid reading about the illness until it was confirmed.

But she couldn’t wait. She threw a rain coat over her pajamas, grabbed her sleeping baby out of her crib, then rushed out to a late-night book store. As she cradled her baby in her arms, she read everything she could about CF.

It is an hereditary disease that causes a child’s lungs, intestines and pancreas to become clogged with thick mucus. It is fatal. She’d be lucky if her daughter survived into her 20’s.

She broke down in the book store. She slid to the floor, crying uncontrollably as she held her baby tightly. She cried as though her baby had already been taken away. The doctor confirmed the lab results. The pain was unbearable. She and her husband did not know what to do.

She reached out to a friend. Luckily, her friend knew plenty about CF. She knew former NFL star Boomer Esiason and his wife Cheryl. They have a son with CF. They’ve done extensive fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and now head their own foundation.

The Esiasons contacted her right away. They understood her pain well and consoled her. They shared everything they knew about the illness. She was instantly transformed. She began channeling her pain into mastering CF. She learned how to apply medications and treatments to give her daughter the best hope.

She learned of CF’s other challenges, too. Though there are 30,000 Americans who suffer from the illness, the number is too small to spur drug companies to do research. The CF market cannot generate enough revenue to recoup the millions needed to develop new drugs.

So she took the bull by the horns. She quit her job and jumped into the CF fundraising business full time. She joined boards and chairs events. She gives speeches wherever she can.

The money she raises goes to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It hires its own scientists to advance its own medical breakthroughs (90 percent of the funds raised go directly to research). Thanks to so many just like her, the average lifespan of a child born with CF has jumped to 36.5 years.

But that isn’t good enough for her. In 1998, her second daughter was born with CF. There was only a 25 percent chance that she and her husband, both CF carriers, would have another CF child, but fate struck again. They felt unbearable pain again.

Every day is a battle for her now. Every day, her girls must take a collective 34 pills and an array of oral medicines. They must complete 10 breathing treatments and six 30-minute therapy sessions. The treatments and medicines are designed to extend their lives.

Every day, she works tirelessly to raise money to advance any technique or medicine that might extend a CF child’s life a little longer – that might, if promising new research goes as hoped, cure this dreaded disease. Hers is the story of a mother’s love – a mother’s powerful determination to breathe life into thousands of children.

Her name is Angela Kinney and she could use a little help. She’ll be participating in the Great Strides walk in Pittsburgh on May 20th (an event that is held throughout May in cities across America). To contribute to her efforts go to http://www.cff.org/great_strides/angiekinney or contact her directly at angiekinney@comcast.net.

You might want to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day while you’re at it. She’s certainly earned it.

---

_{Tom Purcell is a humor columnist nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons. For comments to Tom, please email him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 05/12/2007 at 06:44 AM   
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   Sunday - April 29, 2007

Socialized Medicine Update

The only problem with socialized medicine or “universal health care” as the Hildabeast and her evil Liberal minions call it, is that it leads to things like this. The NHS (National Health Service) in Britain is under such a strain trying to meet the health care needs of everyone that people with bad habits are being denied care ... bad habits such as eating too much or smoking, that is.

There is only one outcome for a system like this when they start turning people away simply because they do not meet government mandated criteria such as body mass or healthy lungs - people are going to start dieing. Admittedly, the lardasses and nicotine addicts will be the first ones to go so the “good people” who eat right and don’t smoke will be ok, right?

But then what? Will people who drink more than a pint of beer a day be denied health care next? What about kids who refuse to eat their broccoli and carrots? Will they be denied visits to the eye doctor? You probably think I’m being silly or exaggerating. Do you want to bet your life on it?

‘Too Fat’ Patients Denied NHS Operations
_{(SKY NEWS-UK) - 06:51, Sunday April 29, 2007}

Nine primary care trusts have a specific policy to refuse joint replacements to obese patients. And four will not consider orthopaedic surgery if patients smoke. In all, six million patients live in areas affected by so-called lifestyle rationing. Jean Ryan has been told she cannot have her hip replaced until she loses weight.

But she says that is impossible because the pain means she can barely move, let alone exercise. Despite living on a pension she has taken out an £8000 loan to pay for surgery abroad.

She said: “I don’t think it is fair. If I lived in Bournemouth there would be no bar on being overweight. I can’t see any other way round the problem. I can’t see them helping. So you have to help yourself. Either that or you end up in a wheelchair.”

The Sky News survey shows that in the absence of national rules, local PCTs are making up their own. North Staffordshire has the toughest restrictions. To qualify for any routine elective operation, patients must have a body mass index below 30. They must also have given up smoking for at least three months.

Andrew Haldenby from pressure group Doctors for Reform said there should be national rules for the National Health Service. He said: “ These decisions should be taken in Parliament. These are exceptionally serious thorny questions. They get to the heart of what the NHS is.”

According to Suffolk PCT obese patients are at higher risk of blood loss and infections after operations. The PCT is also £31million in debt and Public Health Director Dr Peter Bradley said money must be used wisely. “We have limited resources and we have to make sure we are using them to best effect. It’s sensible to use that money where we know the treatment is going to work.”

The Department of Health insisted that treatment is delivered according to patients’ clinical need, not their lifestyle choice. And decisions are taken by doctors, not managers or politicians.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/29/2007 at 02:20 AM   
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   Wednesday - April 11, 2007

Is That Your Left Or My Left?

Guys, if you’re going into the hospital to have a nut removed, it might be a good idea to take a magic marker and clearly mark the one to be pruned. Otherwise you could be singing soprano for a long time.

VA Removes Wrong Testicle
LOS ANGELES (MILITARY.COM) - April 05, 2007

A U.S. Air Force veteran has filed a federal claim after a healthy testicle was mistakenly removed instead of a potentially cancerous one during an operation. Benjamin Houghton, 47, thought his left testicle, which was atrophied and painful, would be removed last June at a Veterans Administration hospital because there was a chance the testicle could harbor cancer cells.

But doctors removed his right testicle, according to medical records and the claim, which seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified damages. He still has not had the other testicle removed.

“At first I thought it was a joke,” Houghton told the Los Angeles Times. “Then I was shocked. I told them, ‘What do I do now?’” Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, Dr. Susan Friery, said they hoped to get the VA’s attention by going public with the situation.

Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system, has formally apologized. “We are making every attempt that we can to care for Mr. Houghton, but it’s in litigation, and that’s all we can tell you,” he said.

The hospital changed practices as a result of the case, he added.

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/11/2007 at 04:08 PM   
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   Thursday - March 15, 2007

Weaker is Stronger?

Via Xavier

James Randi Explains Homeopothy

Posted by Drew458     on 03/15/2007 at 01:00 PM   
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   Thursday - February 15, 2007

Quote Of The Day

“Did I hear you say you killed some cancer?”

-- Laboratory colleague of Katherine Shaefer of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, who accidentally over-mixed a compound called a PPAR-gamma modulator which then proceeded to destroy every cancer cell in sight in the lab. The researchers will test the new compound for safety as soon as they can grow and culture some more cancer cells for testing. (MSNBC NEWS)

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/15/2007 at 10:46 AM   
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   Saturday - January 13, 2007

Bitter Pill

Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats now in control of Congress aren’t even 20 hours into their “100 hours” of change to bring “A New Direction to America” and already the wheels are starting to fall off the cart. Some people are starting to realize that the new legislation will actually make matters worse.

Take the new plan to force government to negotiate prescription drug prices. One of the Democrats’ strongest supporters, the Washington Post, did a little research and discovered why it is a REALLY bad idea for seniors. Oops! Too late. The Post helped get them into power. Now the editors aren’t so sure it was a good idea in some respects.

I expect more and more Americans to become disillusioned with this “New Direction” as the months go by. The voters got the change they asked for. However, it may not be the change they want. Stay tuned ....

The Wrong Prescription
Government should not negotiate drug prices in Medicare.
_{EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST) - Saturday, January 13, 2007}

HOUSE Democrats delivered on a campaign promise yesterday, passing a bill that would require the government to negotiate the price of pharmaceuticals covered by the new Medicare drug benefit. The idea is that government negotiators could force prices down, generating savings that could be used to make the benefit more generous. But the measure is misguided.

The Democrats point to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which manages to negotiate discounts for the drugs covered in the veterans’ health program. But the department can do this because it is free to deny coverage for drugs whose makers refuse to provide discounts: Fully 3,000 of the 4,300 medicines covered by Medicare are unavailable under the veterans’ program. Restricting the list of covered drugs saves money, but it also reduces the quality of the benefit—1.5 million veterans are sufficiently unhappy with the result that they opt to buy the more inclusive Medicare coverage. Recognizing that narrow formularies are unpopular, the Democratic plan does not permit Medicare to establish one. But if drugmakers know that Medicare must buy their pills, why would they grant a discount? The Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that savings from direct negotiation would be “negligible.”

Not only are the Democrats too optimistic about government negotiation; they are also too pessimistic about the current system in which private insurers administering Medicare drug benefits do the price bargaining. These private insurers stand to profit if they can secure discounts and cut premiums and thus attract more customers: Witness the fact that the average monthly premium has fallen since the program began a year ago. Private insurers can do this precisely because they are free to establish formularies, but market discipline ensures that these lists are not unappealingly narrow. The insurers need to keep customers.

The Democrats’ stance is troubling because it suggests an excessively government-led view of health-care reform. One of the key challenges in health policy is to understand which drugs, tests and therapies are most cost-effective; although it will take government pressure on doctors and hospitals to disclose the information necessary to figure out what works, solutions are most likely to be found by competing private entities. In drugs, for example, there needs to be a culture of paying handsomely for new ones that really do add value—and refusing to pay for pseudo-new drugs that merely mimic cheap generics. Striking the right balance is not easy, and it won’t be accomplished by government fiat. The better approach is to let each insurer offer its own version of the right balance, see whether it attracts customers—and then adapt flexibly.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/13/2007 at 10:12 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Medical •  
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   Thursday - November 16, 2006

The Perils Of Socialized Medicine, Part #2

Think this story is funny? Well, think again, Tonto. Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are already spreading rumors that they intend to continue to fight for “universal health care”, i.e. socialized medicine. All for one and one for all. Everybody gets healed. One low price. Step right up and .... kiss the best health care system in the world goodbye.

Admittedly, with the greedy HMO’s, there are problems with the system but we do have the best doctors, nurses, dentists, etc. in the world thanks to a free market economy. As evidenced in Britain and Canada, the first thing that happens when government socializes medicine is the medical professionals disappear and suddenly there is a shortage of doctors and patients have to wait months for an appointment. I kid you not. Ask anyone in Canada.

In spite of all the evidence to the contrary (Britain, Canada, France) that socialized medicine really sucks, Democrats here in the US are still trying to convince us that we need it and they are going to give it to us or die trying. Now would be a good time to stock up on Super Glue™. In addition to gluing teeth back in, you may be able to re-attach severed limbs too ... or you can wait three years for an appointment with a doctor like this poor chap ....

Dentist Shortage Leads Man To Superglue Own Tooth
_{(DAILY MAIL) - 09:41am on 14th November 2006}

A man fixed his front tooth with superglue after failing to find an NHS dentist. Gordon Cook, 55, has used the bizarre “DIY dentistry” technique on a loose crown for the last three years - with each fresh application of glue lasting around two months.

The father of seven, who was erased from his original dentist’s register after moving to a new home in Tranmere, Merseyside, said he turned to glue after losing hope of finding a dentist. He said: “I tried to find a new dentist but they had all gone private.

“A lot of them said they would take me on as an NHS patient, but only if I agreed to have the loose crown fixed as a private patient, which would cost around £100. “In the end, I just decided to take matters into my own hands. I had read somewhere that super glue was invented for medical use, to bond skin, so I gave it a go.

“I tried a few different brands but the one I use now, which is just called Industrial Super Glue, is the best. “You can’t really taste it but you do have to be careful not to use too much, in case you glue your mouth shut.”

Mr Cook, a security manager, has now found an NHS dentist and hopes to have the crown fixed professionally. Councillor Chris Blakeley, chairman of Wirral Council’s social care and health overview and scrutiny committee, said: “Mr Cook’s solution was rather extreme but he is not alone when it comes to dentistry horror stories.

“People are finding it extremely difficult to find an NHS dentist, and we are currently gathering evidence to assess the scale of the problem, which is not unique to this area.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/16/2006 at 01:17 AM   
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   Tuesday - October 24, 2006

PODS

Paranoid Obsessive Derangement Syndrome (PODS) is spreading rapidly along both coasts and around the Great Lakes region. Medical authorities have not been able to pinpoint an exact origin of this deadly virus as it seems to have simultaneously appeared in the US regions above as well as in North Korea, Venezuela, Gaza and Iran at almost the same time.

The disease begins with a withdrawal from the rest of society, followed by a rapid growth of paranoid delusions. Sufferers may, at this early stage, begin making public threats against perceived enemies. Attempts to manage the disease by outside intervention often results in heightened fear and paranoia in the sufferer.

Ignoring the disease (and the sufferer) only seems to exacerbate the symptoms as a need for public recognition and approval arise in the tertiary stages. This can often manifest itself as an almost messianic belief that the sufferer has been “chosen” to right all the wrongs in the world and bring peace, love and understanding to all creatures under the sun.

After that, it gets real ugly in the final stages of PODS. The sufferer begins experiencing hallucinations, and schizophrenic behavior begins to heighten the feelings of paranoia. The passive-aggressive behavior reaches painful levels. At this stage, anyone who attempts treatment with doses of sanity and reason are apt to be met with threats of physical harm, foul abusive language and even threats of lawsuits and/or other retaliation up to and including nuclear war.

Researchers are currently studying several specimens: Cindy Sheehan, Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Kim Jung Il, all of whom appear to be in the final stages of this debilitating disease. Researchers are making some progress with a serum made from stem cells taken from the asshole of a dodo bird and chemically grown in a bed of cells from the back hair of Sasquatch. Due to the shortage of these key ingredients a cure seems decades away.

In the meantime, go to Amazon and buy a copy of ”America Mourning” by Catherine Moy and Melanie Morgan. The moonbats have gone after the authors with a vengeance and now Ms. Sheehan is threatening to “sue them for every nickel they have.” (see Final Stages Of PODS above)

I’ve just finished reading the book and, contrary to the beliefs of people suffering from PODS, it is not about Cindy Sheehan. It is about the contrast between two different families who have suffered losses in the War On Terror. I highly recommend it for anyone out there who hasn’t contracted PODS yet.

Sheehan’s Legal Threat Led CNN to Censor Me, Author Says
_{(CNS NEWS) - October 24, 2006}

CNN restricted an on-air discussion about a new book dealing with the Iraq war because peace activist Cindy Sheehan threatened to sue over provocative claims about her in the book, one of its co-authors claims.

“American Mourning” examines how the death of two U.S. soldiers in Iraq affected their families. One of the two is the Sheehan family. Co-author Melanie Morgan told Cybercast News Service she was slated to appear on CNN’s Headline News’ “Glenn Beck” program last week and that a producer told her it would be a short segment, focusing on passing claims in the book regarding Sheehan’s personal life.

Morgan said she replied: “OK, fine, whatever,” and continued on the promotional tour for the book, which deals with the families of Casey Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., and Justin Johnson of Rome, Ga., friends who were killed within five days of each other in separate ambushes in Sadr City, Iraq, during April 2004.

While en route to CNN studios to tape the interview, however, Morgan received another call from the producer telling her that the segment would now deal with “everything but the sex issues.”

Morgan—who is president of the conservative organization Move America Forward—said when she asked about the reason for the last-minute change, the producer told her it was made because of “legal issues.”

Morgan and her co-author, journalist Catherine Moy, told Cybercast News Service that they believe they know what “legal issues” CNN was concerned about when they changed the focus of the interview.

One day earlier, peace activist Sheehan said on the nationally syndicated Stephanie Miller radio show that she planned to sue Morgan and Moy “for every nickel they have.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/24/2006 at 01:46 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Medical • War-Stories •  
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Fried Sperm

Guys ... we’re in deep kimchee now. Unless we think fast. Let me see. We may can use this to our advantage. I can hear it now. You’re on a hot date and she refuses to give it up ‘cause you forgot your rubber. You say, “But honey, I was on the cell phone most of the day. My sperm are fried. There’s no way you can get pregnant.”

You never know. It just might work .... 

Men Who Use Mobile Phones Face Increased Risk Of Infertility
_{(DAILY MAIL) - 21:01pm on 23rd October 2006}

Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, warn researchers. A new study shows a worrying link between poor sperm and the number of hours a day that a man uses his mobile phone.

Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, according to results released yest at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans. Doctors believe the damage could be caused by the electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets or the heat they generate.

The findings suggest millions of men may encounter difficulties in fathering a child due to the widespread use of mobile phones and offers another possible explanation for plummeting fertility levels among British males.

Sperm counts among British men have fallen by 29 per cent over the past decade, a drop which has also been blamed on increasing obesity, smoking, stress, pollution and ‘gender-bending’ chemicals which disrupt the hormone system.

The latest study backs up previous research which indicated a link between mobile phone use and sperm quality, but it is the biggest and best designed to date. US researchers in Cleveland and New Orleans, and doctors in Mumbai, India, looked at more than 360 men undergoing checks at a fertility clinic who were classified into three groups according to their sperm count.

Men who used a mobile for more than four hours a day had a 25 per cent lower sperm count than men who never used a mobile. The men with highest usage also had greater problems with sperm quality, with the swimming ability of sperm - a crucial factor in conception - down by a third. They had a 50 per cent drop in the number of properly formed sperm, with just one-fifth looking normal under a microscope.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/24/2006 at 09:19 AM   
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   Wednesday - September 27, 2006

You Don’t Say?

You ladies out there may feel free to run with this one. We testosterone-fueled humans of the male gender will simply have to admit defeat as science has now determined we are brain-dead. Sorry, I lost my train of thought there. Must have been some more brain cells dying off ....

Too Much Testosterone Kills Brain Cells
_{WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 3:23 p.m. EDT, September 27, 2006}

Too much testosterone can kill brain cells, researchers say, in a finding that may help explain why steroid abuse can cause behavior changes such as aggressiveness and suicidal tendencies. Tests on brain cells in lab dishes showed that while a little of the male hormone is good, too much of it causes cells to self-destruct in a process similar to that seen in brain illnesses such as Alzheimer’s.

“Too little testosterone is bad, too much is bad but the right amount is perfect,” said Barbara Ehrlich of Yale University in Connecticut, who led the study. Testosterone is key to the development, differentiation and growth of cells and is produced by both men and women, although men produce about 20 times more of the hormone.

It can also be abused, and recent scandals have involved athletes who use the hormone, or steroids that turn into testosterone in the body, for an unfair advantage. “Other people have shown that high levels of steroid can cause behavioral changes,” Ehrlich said in a telephone interview.

“We can show that when you have high levels of steroids, you have high testosterone and that can destroy the nerve cells. We know that when you lose brain cells you lose function.” Ehrlich’s team tried the same thing with the “female” hormone estrogen, just to be fair.

“We were surprised, but it actually looks like estrogen is neuroprotective. If anything, there is less cell death in the presence of estrogen,” she said. Writing in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Ehrlich and colleagues said their findings meant people should think twice about supplementing with testosterone, even if it does build muscle mass and aid recovery after exercise.

“These effects of testosterone on neurons will have long-term effects on brain function,” they wrote. “Next time a muscle-bound guy in a sports car cuts you off on the highway, don’t get mad—just take a deep breath and realize that it might not be his fault,” Ehrlich said in a statement.

The cells die via a process called apoptosis, also known as cell suicide or programmed cell death. “Apoptosis is an important thing for the brain—the brain needs to weed out some of the cells. But when it happens too frequently, you lose too many cells and causes problems.”

A similar process is seen in Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia in the United States, affecting an estimated 4.5 million Americans, and Huntington’s disease, another fatal brain illness. “Our results suggest that the responses to elevated testosterone can be compared with these pathophysiological conditions,” the researchers wrote.

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 09/27/2006 at 09:43 PM   
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   Tuesday - July 25, 2006

Slow day in Iraq

Must be a slow day in Iraq since my source over there is sending jokes. Thought I share them with you.

these have many many uses to be incorproated into your am/pm briefings.-MEDICAL EXAMS

1. A man comes into the ER and yells, “My wife’s going to have her baby in the cab!” I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady’s dress, and began to take off her underwear.  Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs ---and I was in the wrong one.

Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Antonio, TX.

2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient’s anterior chest wall. “Big breaths,” I instructed. “Yes, they used to be,” replied the patient.

Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes, Seattle, WA

3. One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a “massive internal fart.”

Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg

Posted by Christopher     on 07/25/2006 at 10:56 AM   
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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