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Get Registered to Vote
2008-06-04 00:38:00 http://www.rockthevote.org/ More About: Science News , Vote
Would anyone like to contribute to Science Student?
2008-03-21 04:15:00 Would anyone like to contribute to Science Student ? Nate More About: Science News , Contribute
Pharmacofiles Has Moved
2008-03-12 00:34:00 Pharmacofiles has moved to pharmacofiles.blogspot.com. My first post is a re-post of my introduction to the blog, so those of you who may have followed the blog from the beginning may want to skip the post. New posts will start appearing on Friday with the same triweekly schedule. So, coming up on Friday on Blogger ...
Pharmacofiles is Moving
2008-03-10 21:40:00 I hope everyone who enjoys this blog will join me at my new site. It will be hosted by google, but I do not have an address yet. Check back tomorrow for my new location. Neil More About: Moving
Resistance Building
2008-03-07 03:02:00 A battle is being waged between scientists and microbes. The scientists, with their laboratories, experiments, and intellect, are being matched blow-for-blow by microbes, single-celled organisms with a simple yet highly matable genome. Spontaneous DNA mutations have allowed microbes to keep one step ahead of medical science in the fight for survival. A recent reconnaissance of ... More About: Building , Resistance
Microbial Defenses
2008-03-05 04:49:00 My post two days ago served as an introduction to antibiotics and the problem of microbial resistance to treatment with antibiotics. Today?s post takes the next logical step and describes the various mechanisms that bacteria use to resist our antibiotic attack. Antibiotic resistance arises by mutation of bacterial DNA. The bacteria can transfer resistance to other ... More About: Defenses
Microbial Strike and Counterstrike
2008-03-03 15:16:00 In the late 1920s, a quiet and reserved scientist made one of the greatest breakthroughs in medicine. Alexander Fleming had been anxious to leave his laboratory behind and start his vacation. He was never very clean, and left behind some dirty Petri dishes on a desk next to an open window. When he returned, he ... More About: Strike
Tetrodotoxin: Of Zombies and Puffer Fish
2008-02-29 17:51:00 Tetrodotoxin is the stuff of magic. It causes paralysis, anesthesia, loss of speech, but not loss of consciousness. It slows heart rate and respiration to levels that are barely detectable. Thus, poisoned victims are often reported to be in a zombie-like trance, or having risen from the dead once heartbeat and respiration return to normal. ... More About: Fish , Zombies , Puffer
Not Quite Placebos
2008-02-27 05:30:00 Orson Welles played one of the most despicable villains in the history of films. In The Third Man, Welles portrayed a racketeer named Harry Lime. The plot detailed the efforts of a novelist, played by Joseph Cotton, to clear the ?good? name of his friend Lime. In the process, however, Cotton discovered his friend was ...
Morphine?s Legacy
2008-02-25 01:43:00 Heroin was once heralded as a breakthrough for the treatment of coughs and for the relief of pain. It was synthesized by Bayer in the late 1800s by a process similar to that used to make aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, from salicylic acid. This acetylation process added acetyl chemical groups to morphine, rendering a new ... More About: Legacy , Morphine
Medicinal Tick Saliva
2008-02-22 04:54:00 Excretions for diabetes and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors for hypertension are just two examples of medicines derived from the mouths of beasts. The former are derived from gila monster saliva, and the latter are produced by chemical modification of pit viper venom. These fluids were harnessed as medicine because of their physiologic function. Gila monster saliva, ... More About: Tick
Peanut Butter Poison
2008-02-20 05:41:00 Every jar of peanut butter contains a deadly contaminant that causes suffering and death of both livestock and man. No, it is not saturated fat. The peanuts from which peanut butter is made are susceptible to a mould called Aspergillus. Other crops such as rice, soy, cereals, and corn are also susceptible to this mould. Aspergillus thrives in hot climates, so peanuts and other crops grown in cooler climates, like that of Canada, are not infected. But many of the countries with colder temperatures import crops and crop-based products from countries that harbor the mould. The mould produces a tasteless, heat-stable toxin called aflatoxin, which is the toxic agent. Of all the types of aflatoxins, we are most often exposed to aflatoxin B. Ingested aflatoxin is converted into an epoxide by the liver. This epoxide is a carcinogen, one that is as potent as dioxin in animal experiments. Liver cancer is the most common manifestation of aflatoxin overexposure, and it is thought to be the lea... More About: Peanut , Butter , Poison
Naturopathic Medicine Works…Sometimes
2008-02-18 02:30:00 Many of the drugs used today have their origins in naturopathy. The historical record is full of people chewing bark, boiling leaves, munching berries, or partaking of nature’s pharmacy in other ways. Many ailments were treated successfully, either because the plants possessed compounds with pharmacological activity, or because of the placebo effect. Pharmaceutical companies are aware of nature’s pharmacopeia, and have marketed plant extracts for treatment of diseases such as arthritis and cancer. One good example of a plant extract that transitioned from naturopathy to science-based, conventional medicine is digitalis. In the late 1700s, the physician William Withering was visited by a woman with dropsy. Dropsy is a condition in which fluid collects in tissues, equivalent to edema today. Withering could not treat her dropsy successfully, and he suggested she did not have long to live. The woman returned to Withering a few months later, and, to Withering’s surprise, she... More About: Medicine
Medicine from the Pacific Yew
2008-02-15 04:24:00 As discussed in the two previous posts, plants have been a source of several drugs used in the treatment of cancer. Colchicine is isolated from the autumn crocus and today is primarily used to treat gout. Vincristine and vinblastine are derived from the Madagascar periwinkle and used for treatment of several types of cancer. These ... More About: Medicine , Pacific
Medicine from Madagascar
2008-02-13 02:13:00 For my continuing crusade to show that nature is God?s pharmacy, today I will describe two anticancer drugs derived from a plant found in Madagascar . These drugs, as well as colchicine, are vinca alkaloids. Their discovery was a bit of serendipity. In the late 1940s, the two researchers R. L. Noble and C. T. Beer ... More About: Medicine
Colchicine From Autumn Crocus
2008-02-11 01:44:00 A few days ago while channel surfing I landed upon an infomercial for a book. The author, who was not a doctor, was selling his book that described natural cures for diseases. He repeatedly stated that the compounds in the book were natural and not drugs. He mentioned flaxseed as an example. Flaxseed in muffins, ... More About: Crocus , Autumn
Cardiovascular Effects of Particulate Matter
2008-02-08 14:23:00 The 49-letter word “pneumoultramicroscopicsilicovolcan opneumoconiosis” is the longest word in the English language. The term refers to a condition called pneumoconiosis that is caused by volcanic ash. It was used to describe victims of the Mount St. Helen?s volcanic eruption who inhaled volcanic ash and smoke. The volcano spewed out gases and particulate matter that was ... More About: Matter , Effects , Cardiovascular
Medicine from the Pit Viper
2008-02-06 04:53:00 Besides its use in antivenin production, venom is not often used as a source of medicine. Often venom and other poisonous compounds from animals are more useful as experimental tools. For example, tetrodotoxin from the puffer fish is used to block sodium channels in studies of nerve electrical conduction and other physiological processes. Some venom, ... More About: Medicine , Viper
Fire Ant Venom
2008-02-04 01:55:00 I remember a scene from the movie Them of a little girl who would not talk after seeing her family killed. Under questioning by the police, she finally screamed, ?Them!? ?Them,? referred to giant ants that were on a rampage. The movie is considered a classic of its kind and worth checking out if you ... More About: Venom , Fire
Taranabant
2008-02-01 18:15:00 I think that marijuana should be used for medicinal purposes. Personally, I would hesitate to use it because I don?t like the idea of sucking a chemical soup of smoke into my lungs. For individuals with HIV/AIDS or cancer, however, the beneficial effects of marijuana smoke on appetite may outweigh any potential side effects. The ...
Leptin and Epilepsy
2008-01-30 17:26:00 In the 1960s, a strain of chronically obese mouse was discovered. A mutated gene was the suspected cause, but the specific gene involved was a mystery. Thirty years later the mice were found to have a genetic mutation that prevented them from producing the hormone leptin. Leptin is important for the control of fat metabolism ... More About: Epilepsy
Vasopressin
2008-01-28 16:45:00 Recently I watched a medical mystery show on the Discovery Health channel. I joined late, so I did not catch the name of the program. The story I happened upon grabbed my attention because of its bizarre nature. It had me perplexed. After being in a car accident, a woman needed to drink water at ...
Triclocarban
2008-01-25 03:22:00 Endocrine disrupters interfere with the actions of hormones in the body. Most either act like estrogen, block the action of estrogen, or block the action of testosterone. The disrupters are an environmental contaminant, and pollution has accentuated sexual characteristics of both female and male animals. For instance, complete sex reversal of turtles from male to ...
Endocrine Disrupters
2008-01-23 05:16:00 In 1959, a 40-year old male chef in a New York City restaurant developed breasts, stopped growing facial hair, and gained fat on his body where women gain fat. Also his voice became higher, much like a female voice. Chickens are often sold to restaurants with the head and neck attached, and the chickens sold to ...
Marijuana and Tobacco Smoke
2008-01-21 01:52:00 I enjoy listening to stand-up comedy. Some comedians, like Lewis Black and George Carlin, sprinkle their routines with political commentary. I do not mind a comedian taking advantage of the stage to espouse their beliefs, but I do get irritated when they get the facts wrong. All the comedians who bring up marijuana think that ... More About: Smoke , Marijuana , Tobacco
Vaccines and Autism
2008-01-18 15:14:00 The November/December issue of the Skeptical Inquirer, which touts itself as the magazine for science and reason (www.csicop.org), has an article by Steven Novella that discusses the vaccines and autism controversy. As the 1990s progressed, the number of childhood vaccinations increased as did the number of children diagnosed with autism. In 1998, the journal Lancet ... More About: Autism , Vaccines
Honey for Coughs
2008-01-16 15:08:00 Advocates of naturopathy should be happy with a recent study that shows that, in children, honey is more effective for cough than is dextromethorphan. Dextromethorphan is an effective cough suppressant in adults. However, dextromethorphan for cough in children is not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics or American College of Chest Physicians. The study, sponsored by the National ... More About: Honey
Gila Monster Medicine
2008-01-14 02:13:00 Pink, orange, and black spotted gila monsters roam the southwest United States and northern Mexico. They are one of only two venomous lizards. The venom is secreted from grooves in their teeth and may help the lizard maintain consistent glucose levels in the blood during the months the lizard does not feed. The venom is not ... More About: Medicine , Monster , Mons
Erythropoietin as an Antidepressant
2008-01-11 14:37:00 The recent release of the Mitchell Report concerning the use of steroids by baseball players has put the use of performance-enhancing substances by athletes in the spotlight. Erythropoietin is one such substance. Erythropoietin was a popular performance-enhancer because officials could not distinguish between natural and synthetic erythropoietin. Thousands of teams in the 1998 Tour de ... More About: Antidepressant
Black Widow Spider Venom
More articles from this author:2008-01-09 15:26:00 I follow the adventures of the detective Charlie Parker in the mystery series of books written by John Connolly. In one book, The Killing Kind (perhaps the best of the series), the villain uses spiders to kill his victims. One potentially lethal spider that inhabits the warm climate of southern Ontario to South America is ... More About: Black , Venom , Spider 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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