What’s New in Medicine

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What’s New In Medicine

Nano technology is the science of using particles that are extremely small. A nano meter is a billionth of a meter and to put that into perspective a human hair is about 50,000 to 100,000 nanometers. The initial thoughts were that the smaller the particle the better it would penetrate the skin and there fore be more efficacious. Well now Nanophobia is setting in and scientists are afraid that nanoparticles may not only penetrate the skin effectively but then also accumulate in certain organs. Silver is being used in cosmetics and soaps in nanoparticles to supposedly kill skin bacteria and give you a smoother look. But ask any physician who was practicing in the 1950’s or 60’s and he will remind you or a cough syrup that had silver in it. It was incredibly effective in stopping coughs but it then accumulated in the skin and these people then had skin that looked like they were made of aluminum. And that was permanent. Gold is being used in upscale cosmetics in nano-sized particles. Gold is injected directly into peoples veins for Rheumatoid Arthritis. There are a lot of allergies but when it works it really loosens up the joints. It will be an interesting observation to see if those who can afford to use a nano gold cream actually have less wrinkles and no joint pain?? Up until now it was Nano this or Nano that but with the scientific community now asking a lot of questions many of the cosmetic companies are backing off of their Nano advertizing.

Movies to Reality

Since most of my readership is female and most guys are more into technology then this one is to pass onto your husbands. Remember the scene in start wars when they wanted to communicate with each other and princess Leah appeared in a mid air holographic image …well it looks like we will have that by 2018. A group of European Universities have combined their talents to produce just such T.V. Firstly will come the home movies with the glasses and then in the next three years will come the three D on your television set with out glasses and then the ultimate holographic floating in mid air “T.V.” That’s only 11 years away….how long ago was 1998?. What’s the old saying “the only difference between men and boys is the size and expense of their toys” !!!

Heart Disease Reversible without Surgery

The most common cause of heart disease is thought to be genetics, bad dietary habits with excessive amounts of cholesterol and triglycerides, lack of exercise, obesity, smoking and now micro RNA. It turns out that small pieces of microRNA can actually cause heart damage but when these were blocked the heart damage was “reversible”.
Studies using animals were dramatic and exciting and human studies should be getting under way soon. It promises to not only prevent heart disease but also reverse existing damage. Maybe some day soon treating heart disease with Statin drugs will seem so old fashioned.

Another Deficiency Study

Here comes another deficiency study showing that Vitamin D deficiency is an unrecognized cardiovascular risk factor. The article was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and states that up to 50% of American may be affected.
OK here my cynical response to all of the deficiency studies. If they had looked at kidney function or brain function there probably would have been some untoward bad side effect and risk factor there too. In fact if you were deficient in that vitamin almost any organ would be adversely affected not just the heart. If you took just about any nutrient and made anyone deficient it would have an adverse effect on whatever organ system you looked at.
The body requires a homeostatic balance of all nutrients…not Just Vitamin D but all vitamins and minerals, amino acids, phyto nutrients, fats and proteins…. So no matter what you study if you are deficient in anything something is going to show an adverse effect.
The collerary of that are the Vitamin pitches which go like this …this vitamin prevents this or that condition or disease…not included in that statement is that you probably don’t need it in the first place, secondly the disease only exists in third world countries or in end stage alcoholics, you’re probably getting more than you need from other food sources, and the pitch “you’re preventing” implies that you’ll probably get the disease if you don’t take the supplement which has no basis in fact to begin with.
I get so irritated with pseudoscience capitalistic exploitation of the public!!!!!!!

Finally Something for Jet Lag

Most sleeping meds are either benzodiapepines or their derivatives which means in one way or another they are addictive. Another sideeffects that people get when taking them long term is a form of depression which is marked by loss of motivation, loss of joy in theirs lives and generalized lassitude. Rozerem was the first Melatonin drug to help with sleep but left people with a heaviness when they awoke, now come Tasimelteon which is a drug that activates the Melatonin receptors thereby modifying the circadian rhythm. This is going to be a great drug for jet lag, shift workers and people who have to go to bed too early to rise for work early. Because it is a melatonin receptor inducer it is NOT habit forming. But please remember that 20% of all Melatonin users experience a paradoxical response, ie the are stimulated…..mmmm
let me see maybe for those this has other uses???