EEK! Mice With Breakaway Skin!

" 'Scar free healing' in mice may give clues to human skin repair, says study"
James Gallagher, BBC News (September 26, 2012)

"Mice with brittle skin, which tears off in order to escape predators, may offer clues to healing wounds without scarring, according to US researchers.

"Some African spiny mice lost up to 60% of the skin from their backs, says the study published in the journal Nature.

"Unlike wounds in other mammals, the skin then rapidly healed and regrew hairs rather than forming a scar...."

Some critters, like salamanders, can regrow limbs. Mammals regrow scar tissue: handy for quick repairs, not so good as a replacement part. These oddball mice are an exception, at least where skin is involved.

The good news is that scientists may be able to figure out how the African spiny mice grow new skin, and develop ways for mammals to grow other sorts of tissue.

The bad news, sort of, is that someone will probably get upset about the process. Those mice look cute, and might not like losing skin from their backs: which the Lemming is concerned about; but learning how to regrow lost limbs or damaged organs would be nice, too. There's a balance, somewhere, between the welfare of mice and people. There are knee-jerk responses to new ideas, too: and that's another topic.

The Lemming found a rather detailed and boring discussion about the spiny mice on the NIH website:

More:

• "Could animal research lead to 'self-repairing skin'?"
  PubMed Health, U.S. Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (September 27, 2012)

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Mutant Mice Shed Light on Intestinal Bacteria"
  (October 14, 2011)
• " 'Cancer Causes Cell Phones!' - or, not"
  (July 18, 2011)
• "Hands off Driving, Driving With Your Brain, and All That"
  (March 4, 2011)
• "Livestock, Food, and Attack of the Clones"
  (August 7, 2010)
• "Glow-in-the-Dark Flashing Tattoos? Prosthetics With Neural Interfaces? They're Coming"
  (November 20, 2009)

From the Department of Unintended Consequences: One Dead Rhino

It looked so good on paper: put poison in a rare rhinoceros, to discourage poachers.

Just one problem: now the rhino is dead. It wasn't the poison, though.

Oops!

"Bungled conservation effort kills South African rhino"
Reuters (February 9, 2012)

"A group of animal conservationists in South Africa accidentally killed a rhinoceros they were attempting to make safe from poachers in a botched public relations event.

"Spencer the rhino went into convulsions and died after he was shot with a tranquilizer dart in front of a crush of TV cameras and photographers who had been invited to document an operation to insert a poison capsule into his horn....

"...'The rhino had an unfortunate reaction to the anesthesia,' Rhino Rescue Project spokeswoman Lorinda Hern said. 'Every time you dart a rhino, you take a risk that the rhino might not wake up and unfortunately today was one of those days.'

"Conservation groups insert poison capsules into the horns of rhinos, which release poison into the horn when it is removed from the animal and are meant to render the horn value-less for hunters seeking to sell it on for use in traditional medicine...."

Maybe it makes sense to spike a rare rhino's horn. Maybe:

• The odds of killing the rhino are fairly low
• Most poachers will
  • Know about the poison pill
  • Care about selling poisoned rhino horn
• Rhino horn buyers will
  • Know about the poison pill
  • Care about buying poisoned rhino horn

That's a lot of 'maybes.'

In the Lemming's opinion, folks running the Rhino Rescue Project are putting a lot of faith in the humanitarian impulses of poachers, and the ethical standards of drug smugglers dealers in illegal animal parts.

Living in the Real World

In an ideal world, people wouldn't put rat poo in peanut butter, or sell toxic toys. But this isn't an ideal world:

• "Peanut Peril: Remembering"
  (February 26, 2009)
• "Lots of Lead and Cadmium in Kids' Tableware: Spiffy"
  (November 22, 2010)
• "China: Toxic Toys and Dubious Dumplings Aren't Signs of Terrorism"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 30, 2008)

So what's the big deal about rhinoceros horn? Quite a few folks seem convinced that the stuff cures just about everything:

• "Rhino horn: All myth, no medicine"
  David Braun, National Geographic (July 7, 2010)

Sort of like snake oil: except that a (genuinely) endangered species might go extinct.

The Lemming hopes that enough folks in Asia will take another look at their equivalent of high-octane patent medicines: and decide to stop contributing to the extinction of an odd sort of critter.

Or - here's an idea - maybe someone in South Africa will come up with a marketable substitute for rhino horn. The country raises beef, poultry, and sheep - apparently for local consumption. Maybe byproducts that aren't getting used now, like bone, could be turned into an exportable commodity.

Or maybe the Lemming's too optimistic, or pessimistic, about marketing and gullibility. And that's another topic.

Related (?) posts:

• "New York City, Stray Cats, Shag, and Sense"
  (December 28, 2011)
• "Save the - Goldfish?!"
  (June 16, 2011)
• "February 14th: Horned Lizard Day"
  (February 11, 2011)
• "Radioactive Pigs Attack Germany - No, Really"
  (August 4, 2010)
• "Mice Feel Pain (We knew That) - And Show it Like We do ("No One" Knew That)"
  (May 11, 2010)

Another Face Transplant: Good News

"Chimp Attack Victim's New Face 'Simply Beautiful' "
Karlie Pouliot, FoxNews.com (June 10, 2011)

"Steve Nash described his sister's new face as 'simply beautiful.'

"He was talking about his younger sister, Charla Nash, who was viciously mauled two years ago in Connecticut by her friend’s pet chimpanzee. The attack left Nash blinded, without hands, a nose, lips and eyelids.

" 'Two years, three months and 225[!] days have passed since Charla was viciously attacked,' Nash said at press conference in Boston, Friday. 'Our family is deeply indebted to all who have gotten her to this day… we thank the donor and her family for giving Charla a new face and hands, and we mourn the loss of your loved one and share your sadness. Your incredible gift to Charla is generous and kind, and we thank you for your precious gift.'..."

Good News, Bad News

The good news is that Charla has a new palate and teeth, and will be able to chew food.

Her brother says she's looking forward to eating "real" food again. So far, she's been eating specially-prepared food. The siblings have plans: "...'We have a hot dog stand in Poughkeepsie she wants to go to and a favorite pizza place… those are foremost on her mind… eating decently and eating a meal is very key,'..."

The article says that nerves and muscles are growing into place in Charla's new face, so she'll be able to express emotion - be able to smile.

The bad news is that the article doesn't mention vision. Our eyes are a very complex set of organs, so the Lemming figures the new face doesn't bring a working visual system with it. The medical team attached new hands to Charla's arms, but they didn't last. She developed pneumonia, and blood flow in the new hands was "compromised."

Face Transplants - New(ish) Procedure

Maybe you've read about more than one "first" face transplant. It's a very new surgical procedure: so far about a dozen have been done, around the world: in America, China, France, and Spain.

Each transplant has it's own unique features, so the Lemming figures that each can be called the "first" in one way or another. Folks are, quite understandably, impressed with each team's achievement, so the Lemming isn't surprised that their accomplishments are re-told as the "first" each time.

Face transplants are the latest in a growing list of medical techniques that replace damaged or missing parts. The Lemming remembers the first time a limb was reattached, back in 1962:

"May 23, 1962: Give That Kid a Hand!"
Randy Alfred, This Day in Tech, Wired (May 23, 2011)

"1962: A team of 12 doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston reattaches the severed arm of an injured boy. It is the first successful reattachment of a human limb.

"Freckle-faced Everett 'Red' Knowles had been trying to hop a freight train in Somerville, Massachusetts. He was thrown against a stone wall that ripped his right arm off cleanly at the shoulder. Knowles walked away from the tracks, using his left hand to hold his right arm inside a bloody sleeve. A police ambulance rushed the 12-year-old across the Charles River to Boston, where emergency-room staff discovered the extent of his injury...."

Folks had been setting bones for millennia, and surgeons had sewn up partially-severed limbs before 'Red' Knowles walked away with his arm - and we've come a long way since 1962.

It's not just transplants. Right now, the Lemming's walking with artificial hip sockets, plastic mesh that kept the abdominal wall in place after another operation, and enjoying a body chemistry that needed tweaking.

There's more to come: "Never Heard of a BCI (Brain-Computer Interface)? You Will" (April 20, 2010).

So, does the Lemming see nothing but rosy skies and Inevitable Upward Progress ahead? Of course not. There are going to be problems. (December 2, 2009) People misuse things. Some people, sometimes. But people use things, too, and on the whole the Lemming would rather live now, than in the 'good old days.'

Related posts:

• "Christina Green, Organ Transplants, and Rules"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (January 16, 2011)
• "The Pill That Listens: And Wait'll You See What's Next"
  (November 9, 2010)
• " 'I was Dead, But I'm Better Now' "
  (October 21, 2010)
• "Another Face Transplant: News, Video, and Opinion"
  (April 25, 2010)
• "Face Transplant: We Can Do it, But is it Right?"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 6, 2009)
  Short answer
  • Yes
    • "...provided that the benefit/risk ratio is proportionate...."
      See
      • The Catholic Church and Organ Transplants
        • You guessed it, there are rules

Medicinal Leeches: From Nicander of Colophon to the Biting Edge of Medicine

"Biopharm Leeches"
"The Biting Edge of Science"

"Biopharm is the pioneer in medical leech provision and has nurtured the renaissance of leeches in modern surgery. Leeches today are used in plastic and reconstructive surgery worldwide as well as successful ongoing research into relieving symptoms of osteoarthritis...."

Since quite a few folks, and Princeton's WordNet, use "modern" as if it means "contemporary," the Lemming is very mildly irked by that usage. We've been in a postmodern era for decades - and that's another topic. If that doesn't sound very "apathetic," you're quite right. The Lemming's 'apathy' gets explained in "About the Lemming."

Which is another topic.

Let's see - the Lemming was writing about invertebrate bloodsuckers. A variety that doesn't fly.

Biopharm Leeches sells medicinal leeches - which could be used as bait, but are a bit pricey for that sort of thing. The company sells fishing leeches, too. Leeches for fishing, I'm sure: not leeches that fish.

Although as aquatic predators - or parasites - leeches do fish, sort of. Although they're not fish. Wandering a little off-topic again.

There's a pretty good writeup on a particular variety of leech, and leeches in general, at:

• "Freshwater Leech" Macrobdella decora
  Island Creek Elementary School, Fairfax County Schools, Virginia

Using Leeches in Medicine? How Medieval! How Superstitious!

'Everybody knows' that before Science and Modern Medicine blessed the benighted masses with refrigerated stethoscopes, ignorance and superstition ruled.

Like the idea that leeches might be good for people.

Knives, Needles, and Magic Elixirs: A Rant

The Lemming got the idea that when 'real' doctors nearly drove midwives, herbalists, and other dreadfully old-fashioned and 'unscientific' people out of Western culture, many folks got the idea that healing required knives, needles, and magic elixirs.

We call the latter "prescriptions." Tomayto, tomahto. And the Lemming is not going to start discussing Fred Astair. Not just now, anyway.

Somewhere around the '80s, if memory serves - 1980s, that is - the Lemming noticed a few 'real' doctors using old-fashioned methods, like sensible eating habits and herbal teas, when it made sense.

One licensed physician explained to the Lemming that Western medicine was really good at dealing with an organ system that's gone into failure mode, or setting broken bones. Fine-tuning the human body? Not so much. The doctor didn't use quite those words - but that's the idea.

The Lemming suspects that doctors - in America, at least - were noticing that folks were starting to do their own research: and going to a health food store instead of buying more of the doctor-prescribed magic elixirs. That sort of thing is bad for business.

Do-it-yourself medicine isn't always a good idea, by the way. Some of those 'harmless' herbal concoctions will kill you if the dosage is wrong, or they're taken with something else. It's often harder to overdose on 'natural' medicine than it is with over-the-counter stuff: but it can be done. ("Toxic hepatitis - Causes," "Can herbal supplements interact with my heart disease medications?" (briefly - yes), "Acute liver failure - Causes," on the Mayo Clinic website)

Back to Leeches

It's amazing, how much a person can learn, by accepting the notion that someone else might have a good idea. In the Lemming's opinion.

Like using leeches to balance the body's humors.

The idea that health depended on a proper balance of blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile made sense in Nicander of Colophon's day. As the Lemming recalls, it was part of a larger set of concepts that explained how the universe works.

These days, folks who study the body are equally certain that health depends on a proper balance of hormones and nutrients. Two thousand years from now? We'll see what folks are certain about, then.

Physicians used leeches to balance the humors, not all that long ago. Specifically, they used the bloodsuckers to draw off excess blood.

To someone who grew up in the antiseptic stainless-steel-and-enamel world of modern medicine, that can sound - gross.

And frightfully ignorant.

Not like up-to-date folks who gave us modern miracles like lobotomies. The Lemming's discussed that sort of thing in another blog:

• "Kennedys, Catholicism, and Abortion: So That's What Happened"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 26, 2009)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 3, 2009)
• "Human Clones Possible: Don't Worry, They're Just for Parts and Research"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 2, 2009)

Anyway, turns out that sometimes it is a good idea to draw off one of the four humors. Like when blood is collecting in a reattached body part.

Using leeches isn't absolutely safe - but then, neither are those magic elixirs. The Lemming's written about that before:

• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)

A little background on why leeches stopped being used, and why doctors picked them up agan:

"Medical Use of Medicinal Leeches"
© J.Graf, University of Connecticut (2003)

"During the 1980's, reports were published that described the successful application of medicinal leeches to rescue surgery cases with complications. During the reattachment of severed fingers and ears, or of the detached scalp, the blood flow needs to be reestablished. This is achieved by reconnecting the major arteries and veins. In particular, the veins can be difficult to find. If not enough veins are reconnected, the blood may initially enter the reattached organ but cannot exit. This will prevent fresh, oxygenated blood from entering and, consequentially, the reattachement procedure will fail. This is where the medicinal leech comes to the rescue. The animals are applied to the tissue and they actively remove blood and secrete numerous compounds that have vasodialator, anticoagulant, and clot-dissolving properties. This prevents the tissue from dying off and allows the body to reestablish good blood flow to the reattached part.

"This type of procedure is not without risk. In up to 20% of the patients receiving leech treatment after microvascular surgery, infections by Aeromonas occurred. Fortunately, these infections can usually be prevented by administering antibiotics to the patients. These infections point to the potential of this bacterium, which is cooperative in the medicinal leech, to be pathogenic in humans.

"In patients with a normal immune response and good blood circulations at the site of attachment, bacterial infections do not usually occur.

"Another use of leeches is to reduce the pain of arthritis in the knees. A clinical trial suggested that patients receiving leech thearpy [!]experienced less pain than the control group...."

Before anyone walks away with the idea that leeches are dirty, disease-riddled critters, a reminder: those Aeromonas infections happened because micro-critters that are supposed to be in leeches aren't part of the human roster of microcritters. Healthy human beings have a rather lively little community of intestinal flora (or normal flora, or indigenous microbiota, or whatever). That's why folks sometimes take a while to get their digestion back on track after taking antibiotics.

And the Lemming is not going to get started on that.

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Autism, Childhood Vaccines, Bogus Research, and the Lemming"
  (January 6, 2011)
• "The Pill That Listens: And Wait'll You See What's Next"
  (November 9, 2010)
• "'I was Dead, But I'm Better Now'"
  (October 21, 2010)
• "NDM-1, XF-73, India, Perceptions and the Lemming"
  (September 20, 2010)
• "Leeches, Teeth, and Science"
  (April 15, 2010)

More about leeches:

• "Swimming in the Medicinal Leech"
  Andrew Tate, Model Systems in Neuroethology (December 1996)
  • Includes a circuit diagram for part of the leech control system
    • If you're planning to build your own leech?

Autism, Childhood Vaccines, Bogus Research, and the Lemming

"Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud,' British journal finds"
CNN (January 5, 2011)

"A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an 'elaborate fraud' that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday.

"An investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ concludes the study's author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study -- and that there was 'no doubt' Wakefield was responsible...."

Strong Words, No-Nonsense Response

Wrangling over the results of a scientific study is par for the course in medicine, or any other science. It's how researchers discover what's real and what isn't. It's also not unusual for the accuracy of data to be questioned: particularly when the results depend on very precise interpretations of very fuzzy facts.

What happened with the Wakefield study seems to be something quite different. It looks like Wakefield shot at the side of a barn, so to speak, painted a target around the hole, and claimed a bull's-eye.

Faking data - cooking medical records until they support some claim - is not how valid results are achieved. It's a serious charge, and if the folks who made it are serious: some sort of action would be expected.

Looks like they're serious. Wakefield isn't "Dr." Wakefield any more: not in Britain.

Back to the article.

Incompetence is One Thing: Fraud is Another

"...'It's one thing to have a bad study, a study full of error, and for the authors then to admit that they made errors,' Fiona Godlee, BMJ's editor-in-chief, told CNN. 'But in this case, we have a very different picture of what seems to be a deliberate attempt to create an impression that there was a link by falsifying the data.'

"Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical license in May. 'Meanwhile, the damage to public health continues, fueled by unbalanced media reporting and an ineffective response from government, researchers, journals and the medical profession,' BMJ states in an editorial accompanying the work

"Speaking to CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360,' Wakefield said his work has been 'grossly distorted' and that he was the target of 'a ruthless, pragmatic attempt to crush any attempt to investigate valid vaccine safety concerns.'...."

Faking Medical Records: What's the Big Deal?

It's no surprise, in the Lemming's opinion, that Wakefield denies being a world-class liar. If nothing else, a medical license is a ticket to one of Western civilization's more lucrative careers. Then there are books and movie rights to sell: but perhaps the Lemming is being too cynical. Or, not.

Anyway, what harm could possibly come from scaring folks out of getting their kids immunized against childhood diseases like measles and polio?

"...The now-discredited paper panicked many parents and led to a sharp drop in the number of children getting the vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates dropped sharply in Britain after its publication, falling as low as 80% by 2004. Measles cases have gone up sharply in the ensuing years.

"In the United States, more cases of measles were reported in 2008 than in any other year since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90% of those infected had not been vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown, the CDC reported...."

The only way to tell whether or not those kids with measles would have gotten the bug if they'd been vaccinated would have been to separate the American population into two demographically-similar groups; vaccinate one, not vaccinate the other; and see what happened.

That wasn't done. Happily.

There's more in that CNN article, about:

• How some folks who know Wakefield think he's a really nice guy
  • And couldn't have lied to the world
• What's happened to others as a result of the apparently-bogus 'research'

Now, the Lemming is going to rant a little about what's called "medical ethics," and related topics.

Medical Ethics Shouldn't be an Oxymoron

It could happen, though. We got the Nürnberg Code after places like Dachau gave eugenics and related ideas a public relations problem.

That should have put an end to using people as unwitting guinea pigs.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment kept going, though. Until 1972. Given the mores of the time, it wasn't all that serious a breach of the Nürnberg Code. The subjects weren't important people at the time. Not the sort that got admitted to the 'right' sort of country clubs.

There's a reason the Lemming isn't all that nostalgic: and that's another topic. Several.

A German chancellor's efforts to clean up Europe's gene pool, as the Lemming said, was a setback for those who would like to see a fitter, stronger, purer human race. Still, the idea that folks who don't match some standard are fair game for research didn't die.

Starting in 1964, the Willowbrook State Hospital in New York injected hepatitis virus into severely retarded children. the injections were billed as 'a vaccine against hepatitis.' That was true, sort of. The survivors of the experiment had an immunity to hepatitis.

Although it didn't make the news, in 1951 a doctor in the upper Midwest decided to keep quiet about a baby's congenital defect. All in the interests of science, perhaps.

Eventually, a doctor with somewhat less flexible ethics told the infant's parents what the score was. Using that baby as a sort of lab rat is part of why the Lemming takes medical ethics seriously. And that's almost another topic:

• "Is it Wrong to Kill One Person on the Chance that Someone Else Might Benefit?"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 30, 2010)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 3, 2009)

Change Happens: Deal With It

For the last half-century or so, loyal acolytes of Bishop Ussher have been insisting that the world - the universe - is only a few thousand years old. And that human beings have always been just about exactly the way we look now.

Other folks have been convinced, at various times, that:

• An ice age is coming
• The spotted owl is facing extinction
• Global warming is gonna kill us all

Then there are the poor souls with a foot in both camps.

It seems to the Lemming that one thing these occasionally-hostile views have in common is an at-best ambivalent attitude toward change.

That's understandable, in the Lemming's opinion. The 20th century, and the 19th, were very exciting times. Two centuries ago, we had a world of horse-drawn plows and candles. In rapid succession, we got Bessemer converters, typewriters, telephones, light bulbs, television, robot spaceships and Twitter. And that's just the technology.

We also found out that the universe makes a whole lot more sense if we assume that it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 14,000,000,000 years old and really, really, big.

The Lemming doesn't mind taking the world as it is and marveling at it, and learning new skills every few years to stay employable: but not everybody's like that.

Actually, the Lemming enjoys living in a world where the present isn't like the past, and it's nearly certain that more change is coming. Fast.

Living in an evolving world means that you won't find a recipe calling for fresh trilobite: but in the Lemming's opinion it's an exciting ride.

Posts more-or-less about change:

• "Four Dimensions, 11 Dimensions, Cosmology and People"
  (March 23, 2010)
• "Home Schooling, Religious and Moral Instruction, and American Culture"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 6, 2010)
  Particularly
  • NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE DOLTS
• " 'I Can't Understand It' "
  (May 20, 2010)
• "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 20, 2009)

Still more links:

• "Change, American Culture, Trilobites, Humanity's History, and the Big Picture"

Remember When Everything Caused Cancer?

Born during the Truman administration, the Lemming remembers when everything caused cancer. Or heart disease. Sometimes both.

That fad seems to be over, but it's been replaced with new-and-improved reasons to live scared. Times change - but in some ways, they don't. Yet another topic.

Trust: Carefully

The Lemming remembers when doctors were almost worshiped. The notion that 'doctor knows best' may still be around. But the Lemming hopes it's being tempered with caution and a bit of common sense.

Like deciding whether or not to get inoculated against some disease. There are risks, either way. The trick is to learn what they are and make a reasoned decision:

• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)

'The Government Oughta Do Something'

It's been a long, long time since the Lemming thought it was a good idea to rely on 'the government' to solve problems or 'make things right.' And that's yet again another topic again. Not necessarily for this blog:

• "Dred Scott, the Slavery Compromise, and Who to Trust" A Catholic Citizen in America (February 2, 2009)

"Trust Your Feelings, Luke?!"

The Lemming likes the six Star Wars movies: including the one with that famous "trust your feelings" quote. George Lucas is, in the Lemming's opinion, a top-notch movie maker.

The Lemming has nothing against emotions, but they don't play well with reason.

It's the Lemming's opinion that various goofy ideas that have gotten traction owe their success to folks thinking with their endocrine system.

Still, it'd be a slightly less colorful world if a few folks didn't become convinced that space aliens were against nuclear weapons, or that shape-shifting lizard people were the 'real' rulers of the world:

• "Nuclear Weapons, Space Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, and Getting a Grip"
  (September 24, 2010)
• "Haiti's Earthquake Caused by - You Guessed it - Yankee Imperialists"
  (January 21, 2010)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1, and Having Someone to Blame"
  (May 2, 2009)
• "Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, India, and the Lizard People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 14, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)

Vaccination May Make Sense: Or, Not

The Lemming isn't going to assert that vaccinations are always a good idea. Or that they always aren't.

As with so many other things, 'it depends.'

The trick, as the Lemming sees it, is to do your own research. And remember that an article using terms like "scientific study" and "computer models" don't mean that some notion is true - or that it isn't.

Related posts:

• "Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide Now! Or, Not"
  (January 3, 2011)
• "Vaccination, Edward Jenner, History, and the Human Condition"
  (December 15, 2009)
• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)
• "Not-So-Silly Science: Women Who Look Like Women are Healthier"
  (January 7, 2009)
• "Silly Science: Hourglass Figure Not Good for Women"
  (December 17, 2008)

More, on another sort of silly science, in this blog:

• "Lemming Tracks: Climate Change is the New Global Warming?"
  (December 6, 2010)
• "Lemming Tracks: Ice Age, Global Warming, Climate Change, and Living Scared"
  (November 19, 2010)
• "Earthquakes, Nuclear Winter, the End of the World, and All That"
  (February 28, 2010)
• "Global Warming: on Pluto. And Mars"
  (December 14, 2009)
• "The Unchanging Sun and Earth's Climate"
  (August 28, 2009)

Still more, elsewhere:

• "The Decade of 'Junk Science' "
  Doug Bandow, Cato Institute (May 10, 1999)
• "Fair Hearing for Breast Implants?"
  Steven Milloy, Junk Science, Opinion, FoxNews.com (February 25, 2005)
• " 'FDA ends ban on silicone breast implants' "
  Walter Olson, Overlawyered (November 20, 2006)
• "What Causes Cancer? 7 Strange Cancer Claims Explained"
  Megan Johnson, Health, US News and World Report (October 19, 2010)

---

The non-Lemming resources listed above don't necessarily march in lockstep with America's dominant culture. No surprises there: 'the establishment' has changed in the last half-century. The lot that's running the country now hasn't - in the Lemming's opinion - been all that eager for Americans to start asking questions about the "science" we're fed. And that is yet again another topic.

Carnival Splendor? Good News: They Didn't Get Sick; Bad News: There Was This Fire - - -

The Lemming has never had one of those cruise ship experiences: visiting colorful, exotic places while staying in the luxurious comfort of a floating hotel. Can't say I'm sorry about that, either.

Some of my kinsfolk have both the resources and preferences it takes to enjoy something like that: and it sounds fun. For them. The Lemming has been quite content to leave the 'cruise ship experience' in that voluminous list of 'maybe someday' things.

This week's news hasn't exactly been an incentive to change my policy:

"Passengers disembark stricken cruise ship"
Cruise/Travel on msnbc.com (November 11, 2010)

"The first of nearly 4,500 passengers and crew aboard a powerless cruise ship have disembarked in San Diego.

"A line of about 20 passengers of the Carnival Splendor wheeled suitcases down a ramp Thursday morning as a crowd waited at the dock.

"The ship's elevators are not working, and port officials estimated it would take about four hours to get everyone off the ship.

"The nearly 1,000-foot liner was hauled back by six tugs after an engine room fire Monday left it without power off the Mexican coast.

"Passengers have been waiting in line to eat sandwiches and other cold food since the fire. Navy helicopters flew in tons of food and supplies from an aircraft carrier that was diverted from maneuvers.

"Escorted by Coast Guard cutters, the 952-foot Carnival Splendor reached the dock at about 8:30 a.m. PST Thursday. About 100 people onshore cheered loudly as the ship reached shore, while all along the harbor tourists, joggers and fishermen stopped to snap photos.

" 'We're so happy to be getting off. Everybody's been cheering and clapping,' passenger Sahizah Alim, 26, of Sacramento, said by cell phone.

" 'It's been like a nightmare,' she said. 'There's been no food, no power, no electricity, no flushing toilets. I spent the night tossing and turning in my cabin in the dark.'..."

"...'We're eating spoiled turkey sandwiches and warm milk and warm yogurt,' passenger Joey Noriega told ABC's 'Good Morning America' on Thursday. 'Everything smells like it's spoiled. ... Nothing's cooked. It's all sandwich meat. It's disgusting. You're afraid to eat it 'cause it's been left out and touched by everybody else on the ship.'..."

Sour Grapes and Tainted Food

As far as the Lemming knows, there weren't literally sour grapes on the Carnival Splendor. It's a reference to "The Fox and the Grapes," and that's another topic. Sort of.

Considering what's happening in Haiti, complaining about plumbing problems and warm milk may seem trivial, even 'insensitive.' That business about not liking food that was "touched by everybody else on the ship?" With a running start, the Lemming could probably make that sound like a prissy objection by some spoiled rich person.

That's not gonna happen.

The Lemming remembers the sixties, and thought some of the groovy ideas actually made sense. Like poor people being as important as rich people. What made me something of a misfit is that I took that sort of thing seriously - and think rich people are as important as poor people. Which is another topic, for another blog. (A Catholic Citizen in America (November 9, 2010))

Not that everybody on a cruise ship is rich. Folks who are on the crew are there to make a living - and some of the 'rich' passengers can afford their tickets because they've saved money over the last few decades for one-shot luxuries like this.

While the Lemming's ranting about money, folks helping the folks in Haiti could use some. List of charities. I've written about this before. "Haiti: About the Earthquake, Relief, and Related Topics."

Where was I? Cruise ship. Fire. Evolving turkey sandwiches. Right.

The Carnival Splendor folks didn't, apparently, get sick. Or haven't started showing symptoms yet. Let's keep a positive outlook. They didn't, apparently, get sick: and the fire only stopped the ship. It didn't kill anybody.

It's quite possible that the folks running these ocean cruises smelled the bacon, so to speak, and cleaned up their act. Or, more to the point, their food service and sanitary procedures.

Remember "cruise ship disease?"

"Cruise Ship Gastroenteritis Outbreaks Show Sharp Increase Since 2001"
Medical News Today (March 4, 2006)

"Cases of diarrheal disease in passengers on cruise ships increased during 2001 through 2004, despite good results from environmental health sanitation inspection of the ships, a new study has found.

"Researchers led by Elaine H. Cramer, M.D., analyzed cases of gastroenteritis reported on cruise ships calling on U.S. ports for a four-year period, in a study in the March issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"The study showed that gastroenteritis outbreaks per 1,000 cruises increased overall from 0.65 in 2001 to 5.46 in 2004. However, ship environmental inspection scores were high during this period, with an average of 95 on a 100-point scale.

"Noroviruses are the likely suspects, according to Cramer, medical epidemiologist with the Vessel Sanitation Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'Since the introduction of more advanced laboratory techniques that can positively identify noroviruses, these viruses have increasingly been identified as associated with cruise ship outbreaks,' Cramer said...."

Bottom line? The Lemming's glad that nobody got killed: and hopes that there isn't too much fallout - medical or financial - from this SNAFU.

The Pill That Listens: And Wait'll You See What's Next

"Look out, your medicine is watching you"
Ben Hirschler, Reuters (November 8, 2010)

"Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of 'smart-pill' technology a step closer.

"The initial program will use one of the Swiss firm's established drugs taken by transplant patients to avoid organ rejection. But Trevor Mundel, global head of development, believes the concept can be applied to many other pills.

" 'We are taking forward this transplant drug with a chip and we hope within the next 18 months to have something that we will be able to submit to the regulators, at least in Europe,' Mundel told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

" 'I see the promise as going much beyond that,' he added...."

"...Mundel said the initial project was focused on ensuring that patients took drugs at the right time and got the dose they needed -- a key issue for people after kidney and other transplant operations, when treatment frequently needs adjustment.

"Longer-term, he hopes to expand the 'smart pill' concept to other types of medicine and use the wealth of biometric information the Proteus chip can collect, from heart rate and temperature to body movement, to check that drugs are working properly...."

And the Lemming sees a whole lot of lawsuits here in America, as fearful folks become convinced that their privacy is being invaded. Or maybe it'll be that the CIA is tuning in on their brainwaves, using a microchip they ate in a covert BLT sandwich.

This is definitely not the world I grew up in.

Which is fine by me. I don't mind having microwave ovens, DVD players, cell phones about the size of the old Star Trek communicators: and medical technologies that help keep me in good operating condition. (I've discussed my biases about medical technology before.)

Others apparently aren't making the transition to the Information Age quite so smoothly.

New Technologies Will Solve All Our Problems: HA!

As I've written before, this new technology will be misused. We're human beings. That's what we do. Sometimes. Other times - most of the time, in the Lemming's opinion - technology is used for constructive purposes.

But it won't solve all our problems. Most of which come from inside us - and that's a different topic, for another blog. (Recently: "Mirrors, Television, and MP3 Players," A Catholic Citizen in America (November 6, 2010))

These gutbots (the Lemming's confident that medical technology companies will come up with a catchier name) have a lot to offer: detailed telemetry from our GI tract, for starters.

A bit further down the road, I'm looking for small implants that get power from our bloodstream, just as our cells do: They could be used for long-term diagnostic work.

And maybe better artificial organs than what we've got now. Pacemakers, for starters.

Today the Gut: Tomorrow, the Brain!

The Lemming may be more aware of what strokes can do to a person than most folks. My mother had a stroke - a bad one - and that's enough about that.

The point is that we've getting a pretty good picture of how the brain is wired. Parts of it, anyway. Cochlear implants already use an electronic-neural interface to help folks with severe hearing problems hear through a microphone sitting behind their ears.

It's a big step - make that quite a few huge steps - from a cochlear implant to plug-in components that can replace damaged parts of the brain. But 'brain chips' like that are looking less and less unlikely by the year.

And that's another topic.

Related posts:

• "Never Heard of a BCI (Brain-Computer Interface)? You Will"
  (April 20, 2010)
• "Next-Generation Prosthetic Hand - and Intel Says Direct Neural Interface Brain Chips by 2020"
  (December 2, 2009)
• "Glow-in-the-Dark Flashing Tattoos? Prosthetics With Neural Interfaces? They're Coming"
  (November 20, 2009)
• "Good News, Neural Devices Connect Brain, Computers: Bad News, Same Thing"
  (July 11, 2009)
• "ViRob: Tiny 'Robot' Travels Through Body"
  (June 27, 2009)
• "Nanobot Designed for Clearing Arteries"
  (November 21, 2007)

More:

• "The Future: Just Like Today, Only Different"

Haiti, Cholera: It's In the Capital

"Haiti tests for cholera in Port-au-Prince"
Latin America & Caribbean, BBC News (November 8, 2010)

"At least 120 people in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, are being tested for cholera, health officials say.

"Doctors have told the BBC the disease is 'clinically' present in the city, but there is no official confirmation.

"The health ministry says 544 people have died in Haiti's latest cholera outbreak. About 8,000 are being treated in hospitals...."

The last I read, 'only' about one in ten people who came down with cholera in Haiti died from it. This won't wipe out everybody.

The cholera outbreak will, however, create a great deal of misery.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that some folks are trying to help.

I haven't checked all the links for charities in this list: but many - maybe most - should still be working:
"Haiti: About the Earthquake, Relief, and Related Topics"
(January 15, 2010)

---

Update (November 9, 2010)
Why such big letters? I didn't want folks to miss the link. ☺

Back to the original post.

---

I know: money isn't everything. But when you're collecting supplies and getting them to Haiti - and paying folks enough so that they can afford to drop what they're doing and work at helping Haitians put their country back together - money helps.

And yes, I've 'put my money where my mouth is.' I've had opportunities when my parish passed the hat, earlier this year.

Now, about Haiti and cholera: The BBC article reviews what folks in Haiti have been dealing with lately. Earthquake. Cholera. Hurricane. Floods. Mudslides. More Cholera.

It's a waterborne disease, so flooding in a country where a none-too-adequate infrastructure had been damaged by a major earthquake didn't help contain the outbreak. At all.

The Lemming will be back, with something a bit more cheery. Wouldn't take much.

Related posts:

• "Haiti: Cholera, Hurricane, But Otherwise in Rough Shape"
  (November 6, 2010)
• "Haiti, Nigeria, Cholera"
  (October 27, 2010)
• "Haiti: It's Cholera"
  (October 24, 2010)
• "Haiti: First an Earthquake - Now - Cholera?"
  (October 22, 2010)

Glowing Cancer Test From the Crystal Jellyfish: Maybe

"Glowing Jellyfish May Be Able to Detect Cancer Cells"
FOXNews.com (November 2, 2010)

"Jellyfish that glow in the dark are being used to light up cancerous tumors in laboratory experiments.

"Scientists put fluorescent proteins from a common jellyfish into human cancer cells then use a special camera to find them.

"A team from the Yorkshire Cancer Research Laboratory at York University has developed the procedure and its leader, Professor Norman Maitland, believes it will revolutionize the way some cancers are diagnosed....

"...'X-rays, for example, struggle to penetrate well deeply into tissues and bone, so diagnosing dangerous microscopic bone cancer is difficult. Our process should allow earlier diagnosis to take place. When a specially developed camera is switched on, the proteins just flare up and you can see where the cancer cells are. We call the process "virimaging." '

"The potential breakthrough follows ground-breaking work by American chemist Dr. Roger Y. Tsien, who won a Nobel Prize in 2008 for taking luminous cells from the Crystal Jellyfish and isolating the glowing protein...."

A fancier name for the glow-in-the-dark crystal jellyfish is Aequorea victoria. According to Walla Walla University, it's found in the Pacific, from British Columbia to central California

This research could be really good news if it pans out. As the article pointed out, the trick to successful cancer treatment is often finding the disease early - and tools like x-rays aren't all that good at finding deeply buried traces of rogue cells.

Not-completely-unrelated posts:

• "An Educational Page About the Invertibrate Nervous System: That's Coherent!"
  (September 13, 2010)
• "Leeches, Teeth, and Science"
  (April 15, 2010)
• "Invasion of the Giant Jellyfish! No, Really"
  (July 20, 2009)

"Mommy Brain" Research by a Mother

"Mommy Brain: It's Not What You Think"
Emily Sohn, Human News, Discovery News (October 22, 2010)

"New moms may feel their brain cells dying with every cumulative hour of sleep loss. But a new study offers hope.

"In the first months after giving birth, the study found, parts of a mother's brain may actually grow. Even better news, doting mamas who gushed the most about how special and perfect their babies were showed the most growth.

"The parts of the brain that grew are involved in motivation, reward behavior and emotion regulation. That suggests that, by reshaping itself, the post-partum brain motivates a mother to take care of her baby, and then feel happy and rewarded when she does.

"The findings may eventually help women who feel disconnected from their babies or even hostile toward them in the early months, said lead author Pilyoung Kim, a developmental psychologist, now at the National Institutes of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md...."

Some of the regions that grow are the hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex and amygdala. The prefrontal cortex is where we do a lot of what we think of as 'thinking:' "mediating conflicting thoughts, making choices between right and wrong or good and bad, predicting future events, and governing social control." ("What Is the Prefrontal Cortex," wiseGEEK)

Back to the article:

"...During pregnancy and the post-partum period, women often feel their brains turning to mush. New moms report that they have trouble remembering things that they used to remember easily. It's such a common phenomenon that women often call it 'Mommy Brain.' Some research has even shown that women's brains shrink slightly during pregnancy...."

"...As for the complete loss of memories for names, trivia and other ordinary things that come with giving birth, the brains of new moms may simply have new priorities.

" 'We are clearly showing that mothers have better memories about things related to their infants,' said Kim, who has a four-month old of her own. 'There are a lot of things going on, and mothers might feel forgetful about things that are not related to their infants. It's just dependent on what is really important for us to remember at the time.' "

Offhand, the Lemming thinks that storing "trivia" in a person's head is a convenient ability - and one which can be duplicated with a pocket organizer. We don't have carry-along gadgets that can:

• Mediate conflicting thoughts
• Make choices between right and wrong, good and bad
• Pedict future events
• Govern a person's social behavior

From the Lemming's point of view, "mommy brain" is a step up. But then, I've always been a bit in awe of how my wife manages the household.

And that's another topic.

'I was Dead, But I'm Better Now'

There's a bit of dialog from a drama that goes something like this:

"I thought you were dead."

"I was, but I'm better now."

That's fiction. This is fact - or news, at any rate.

In France, a woman died - officially. Doctors said so.

Her sons, mere laymen, wouldn't let the doctors unplug the woman's life support system.

An example of ignorance and sentiment overruling the superior minds of Science and Medicine?

Maybe.

It's a good thing for the woman that her sons kept her plugged in, though. She woke up later.

Here's the story:

---

"'Clinically Dead' Woman Alive and Well"
Human News, Discovery News (October 20, 2010)

"A woman pronounced 'very certainly clinically dead' at a French hospital woke up hours later after her sons refused to turn off her life-support system, medics and the woman said.

"Doctors were preparing cancer patient Lydie Paillard, 60, for a chemotherapy session when she passed out, the director of the Bordeaux Rive Droite private hospital Yves Noel told AFP on Wednesday.

"A doctor managed to resuscitate her and put her on a ventilator but then, having consulted other doctors, called Paillard's sons to break the news that their mother was 'very certainly clinically dead.'

"But her sons would not turn off the respirator and she was then transferred to the university hospital of the southwestern French city where a scan revealed that she was in fact not brain dead, Noel said...."

Not to be morbid, or macabre: but this is one reason why I haven't checked off that 'organ donor' option on my driver's license. My wife knows that I'm quite willing to have parts harvested: but I don't want to wake up on a dissecting table after some hotshot medico decided I was dead.

The Lemming can understand how the medical types made that little mistake. The woman's 60 - and old folks die all the time, right? Besides, an unconscious person doesn't look all that different from a dead person: particularly if breathing is on the shallow side.

The Discovery News article doesn't give enough detail to suggest just why doctors were so eager to write Paillard off.

More, about medical ethics (it shouldn't be an oxymoron), organ transplant, research, and my take on the subjects, is in another blog. I'll admit to a bias: I think life is precious, even if a person isn't young, good-looking, and in perfect health.

• "Stem Cell Research: Backed by the Vatican, No Kidding"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 28, 2010)
• "Organ Transplants, a Boy's Life, and Japanese Laws and Customs: This Catholic's View"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (June 14, 2009)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 3, 2009)

Drug Side Effects: A Top-10 List

"Top 10 Weirdest Prescription Drug Side Effects"
Shanna Freeman, Medications, Medicine, Guides, Discovery Health

"Most of us take prescription drugs -- drugs that, by law, must be prescribed by a doctor -- at some point in our lives. If all goes well, the drug works for you as it's supposed to. But there's no 'magic bullet,' or drug that works the same for everyone without any risks or side effects. A side effect is basically an unintended occurrence that results from taking a drug. Side effects can be good or bad, depending on how you use the drug. For example, antihistamines, used to help with allergy symptoms like itchy eyes and sneezing, have the side effect of making you feel very sleepy. If you're having trouble sleeping, this side effect is great. If you need to deal with your allergies as well as drive your car or function at your job, however, it's bad...."

Don't let the long paragraphs scare you away. There's some interesting stuff here: from "Weird Side Effect 10: Amnesia" through "Weird Side Effect 7: Colored Urine" and "Weird Side Effect 6: Hallucinations," to "Weird Side Effect 1: Birth Defects." Remember thalidomide?

The Lemming thinks that some of the "weird" side effects are not so much weird as destructive. Like "Weird Side Effect 2: Suicidal Ideation" and "Weird Side Effect 3: Compulsive Behavior."

Which is not to say that these are "bad" drugs. Sometimes a there's a medical condition that's worse than the possible side effect - in which case the patient and doctor should do a benefit/risk assessment and make a decision. An informed decision.

Only Persons of Inferior Breeding Need Drugs?

The Lemming wasn't at all sure about claims that some drugs could induce compulsive behavior or 'make someone commit suicide.'

Until I started reading up on the matter.

We think with our brain: a few pounds of neurons and glial cells, blood vessels and support structures. It's a complicated mass of bio-electrical circuitry that depends on a rather fine-tuned set of chemicals.

When the chemical mix isn't quite right - the circuits don't work quite right.

The Lemming Gets Personal

We're able to work around malfunctioning or damaged circuits - but it takes effort. It helps if we're aware that it's a problem in the circuits.

I haven't experienced drug-induced compulsive behavior, but I do take the chemical component of human behavior seriously: for fairly personal reasons.

Several years ago I discovered that I had major depression. My guess is that I've been dealing with it ever since I hit my teens. Working with a psychiatrist, I'm taking a set of drugs that keeps the chemical balance in my brain closer to spec than its been in decades.

I could deal with that reality in several ways, including:

1. Thumping my manly chest and saying that I don't need no help
   • No how
   • No way
2. Rolling my eyes up and saying that I'll rely on no man's aid
   • And 'trusting God'
3. Taking my medicine

All things considered, option #3 seemed like the most sensible. It's not that I don't 'trust God:' but I figure I've got some responsibility for maintaining my health. (A Catholic Citizen in America (February 25, 2010)

Don't Need Drugs? Great!

The use of medications came up in an online community the Lemming's in. One of the folks there stated that he didn't need some crutch to stay mentally fit and all that. He's probably right. Good for him.

Not everybody is like that. Given a choice, I wouldn't have spent most of my adult life dragging myself through most days, chugging a dozen cups of strong coffee to stay moderately alert.

I'm glad that there are folks who don't need 'crutches.' But, for those who do: I'm glad that there are ways to deal with the ills we experience.

The Lemming is not going to accuse someone with a physical malady of having insufficient moral virtue. And that's another topic.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "They Saved Einstein's Brain"
  (June 2, 2010)
• "Medication for Depression? Yeah: The Catholic Church is Okay With That"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 25, 2010)
• "Bong Water and an Un-Groovy Minnesota Court"
  (October 23, 2009)
• "The Brain: Things We Know That Just Aren't So"
  (September 29, 2009)
• " 'You Will Forget' - The Doctor Will Fix You Now?"
  (April 13, 2009)

Meet Fenway the Robot, Hospital Helper

"Coming to Hospitals Near You: Self-Navigating Robots"
David Teeghman, Tech News, Discovery News (September 21, 2010)

"You've probably watched enough television shows about hospitals to know that they're busy places, where the right tools need to be in the right place at just the right time in order to help save lives. With hundreds of nurses, doctors and orderlies racing around, mistakes happen.

"But although humans are prone to mistake-making, robots aren't. Plus, they work for almost nothing once you get them running. At least, that's the thinking behind hospitals that are starting to use autonomous robots to transport goods throughout the building.

"In the era of relentless cost-cutting, hospital executives would much rather have cost-efficient robots roaming around the hospital with secure carts of linens, lab specimens and meals, than expensive staff.

"Pittsburgh, PA-based Aethon has such a robot, the TUG (above), which navigates a hospital using a digital map of the building. Each TUG robot is equipped with a matrix of light whiskers to detect people and obstacles. Those 'light whiskers' are made up of sonar, infrared and laser technologies for sensing capabilities in any situation...."

The Discovery News article includes this YouTube video:

"Fenway the TUG robot at the West Roxbury VA Hospital"

metrounit, YouTube (May 28, 2008)

"The VA Hospital in West Roxbury recently acquired three TUG robots, Fenway, Lulu, and Roxanne, that deliver medications to the various units within the hospital. This short clip shows how Fenway goes about his rounds."

The Fenway video is a little over two years old - and delivery robots are much older than that. What's important, in the Lemming's view, is that folks are accepting the idea of letting robots do the sort of 'no brainer' tasks they're good at.

What's impressive is that Fenway apparently actually is a "robot" - a machine with artificial intelligence, not a waldo that uses a human being as its control system. The "light whiskers" are an interesting feature, too: Fenway can't 'see' the way we do, but is able to keep from bumping into things and people.

We're still a long, long way from R2D2 and C3PO: but Fenway is still impressive.

---

More:

• "The Future: Just Like Today, Only Different"
  Particularly
  • Robots (and waldos)

NDM-1, XF-73, India, Perceptions and the Lemming

Depending on who you listen to, this is what comes of giving antibiotics to livestock, and now we're gonna pay - or - researchers in the United Kingdom have come up with another way of dealing with bacteria that aren't killed by many antibiotics.

The antibiotic-resistant micro-critters are called Superbug in the news. (Yes, Superbug! Strange visitor from another continent, with powers and abilities beyond those of ordinary bugs. Superbug! Able to resist many antibiotics - and so on.)

Reading what some reporters and editors have to say, the Lemming learned that they assume "factory farms" are to blame. And India. 'Everybody knows' what those 'natives' are like? Surely not in this determinedly diverse age. Or maybe old mental habits are hard to break. That's another topic.

"Apathetic" About the Crisis Du Jure

If the Lemming sounds unconcerned, even "apathetic:" I am. I realize that the folks here in America who got sick from the new strains of bacteria had a distinctly not-good time, and that bacteria with resistance to the newer antibiotics are something that needs to be dealt with.

On the other hand, the Lemming doesn't think this is the end of civilization as we know it - or an indictment of Big Chicken - or whatever the crisis du jure is.

Minnesota Public Radio warns about antibiotics in livestock - and those Indians, who get antibiotics as over-the-counter medicine and don't use them right. (Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ) I've written about that sort of perception before. (September 15, 2010)

No, the Lemming isn't unaware of how improper use of antibiotics is a really bad idea. The Lemming is just "apathetic" about this being yet another great crisis.

Antibiotics: Great Stuff, When Used Sensibly

Despite what some discussions of 'those foreigners' might suggest, Americans don't seem to be paragons of proper prescription procedures, either. Over the decades, the Lemming has run into refrains of a basic tune: follow label instructions, or deal with the consequences. Long-term consequences in this case.

With antibiotics, it takes a certain length of time for regularly-administered doses to kill off all the bacteria in the patient's system. When the doses stop before all of the infection is dealt with - the patient is left with a whole lot fewer bacteria than before, and so feels better.

Problem is, the bacteria that are left are the survivors of that antibiotic. The ones that were resistant to it. Odds are that they'll grow and spread - and that's where we can get antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

'Resistant,' Not 'Invulnerable'

That's where this week's news comes in. Even before the United Kingdom researchers came up with their new treatment, there was a good chance that the resistant microbes were resistant to the kinder, gentler antibiotics we've got these days - that replaced the sort of 'almost worse than the disease' sort we had in my 'good old days.

"New drug that kills deadly superbugs in less than 5 minutes"
The Times of India (September 20, 2010)

"British scientists claim to have achieved a major breakthrough by developing a drug which could kill deadly superbugs like C-diff and MRSA.

"C-Diff or Clostridium difficile is a life-threatening bacterium that causes diarrhoea and intestinal problems, while MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus causes a number of difficult-to-treat infections in humans. Both are acquired by patients in hospitals.

"Now, a British team has claimed the new anti-bacterial drug, codenamed XF-73, can eradicate the superbugs within five minutes, which means that deadly bacteria have little chance of developing any resistance to it.

"The scientists believe XF-73 could be used to prevent the spread of infection on hospital wards within three years, the Daily Express reported. During tests, carriers of superbug bacteria had XF-73 gel placed inside their noses. The bugs were eradicated with no side effects, and MRSA did not show any resistance to the new drug in clinical tests even after 55 repeat exposures...."

Is this new drug going to solve all our problems? (New! Wonder-Drug XF-73! Now in Gel Form!) The Lemming seriously doubts that. Penicillin, for example, applied regularly to American children some fifty years back, made polio a comparatively rare disease here - not the major health problem it had been. But people still get sick and die.

Does this mean that penicillin is a bad thing? Maybe some kinda plot to do something-or-other fiendish? The Lemming doesn't think so.

The Lemming also thinks that 'superbug' is a problem - like any other serious disease that requires new (or old) treatments. But I doubt that the new sorts of bacteria that can make the New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1) will be a bit more challenging to deal with that each year's new strains of influenza - but not by all that much.

Related post:

• "Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug With NDM-1 Enzyme"
  (September 15, 2010)

News and views:

• "New drug that kills deadly superbugs in less than 5 minutes"
  The Times of India (September 20, 2010)
• "Superbug: Neither Super Nor a Bug"
  Human News, Discovery News (September 17, 2010)
• "Drug-resistant superbugs tied to food supply"
  Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ (September 16, 2010)

More:

• "Superbug! Sort of: NDM-1, XF-73, and a Dash of Common Sense"
• "Change, American Culture, Trilobites, Humanity's History, and the Big Picture "

Superbug! Sort of: NDM-1, XF-73, and a Dash of Common Sense

In a not-all-that-startling (to the Lemming) turn of events, the Superbug may not be quite ready for crisis du jure status. Bacteria with the gene that lets them produce the NDM-1 enzyme may be in the news for a while - so the Lemming has started a link list.

Related posts:

• "NDM-1, XF-73, India, Perceptions and the Lemming"
  (September 20, 2010)
• "Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug With NDM-1 Enzyme"
  (September 15, 2010)

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs and Military Research"
  (May 24, 2010)
  • It's not what you may think
• "Tofu Turkeys, Genetically Altered Foods, and the Evil Eye"
  (November 14, 2009)
• "Hard Science Fiction, Cultural Blinders and Laban's Sheep"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 29, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Artificial Life Forms - Like Macaroni Wheat
• "Swine Flu 2009"
  • Link lists and background

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Food, Agriculture, Technology, and City Folks"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 2, 2009)
• "Organized Forces Defoliating Amazon Rainforest: And They Ain't Human!"
  (June 7, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
  Particularly
  • Emotion Trumping Reason: Not Limited to the War on Terror
• "Doomsday Seed Vault in Svalbard, or Don't Worry: There's Always Something to Worry About"
  (June 5, 2008)
• "Starvation, Poverty, and Perceptions"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 18, 2007)
  • Norman Borlaug and the green revolution

More:

• "Change, American Culture, Trilobites, Humanity's History, and the Big Picture "

Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug With NDM-1 Enzyme

NDM-1, a "superbug" that's resistant to antibiotics, has shown up in the United States. It's been a problem in India for some time - and may have originated there. Or, not.

Anyway, the "ND" in NDM-1 stands for New Delhi, and India's being credited - or blamed - for being where this nasty line of diseases showed up.

The states where NDM-1 has been diagnosed are:

• California
• Massachusetts
• Illinois

---

"UPDATE: New Drug-Resistant Superbugs Found in 3 States"
FOXNews (September 14, 2010)

"An infectious-disease nightmare is unfolding: Bacteria that have been made resistant to nearly all antibiotics by an alarming new gene have sickened people in three states and are popping up all over the world, health officials reported Monday.

"The U.S. cases and two others in Canada all involve people who had recently received medical care in India, where the problem is widespread. A British medical journal revealed the risk last month in an article describing dozens of cases in Britain in people who had gone to India for medical procedures.

"How many deaths the gene may have caused is unknown; there is no central tracking of such cases. So far, the gene has mostly been found in bacteria that cause gut or urinary infections.

"Scientists have long feared this — a very adaptable gene that hitches onto many types of common germs and confers broad drug resistance, creating dangerous 'superbugs.'..."

So far, so good. The article gives a pretty good account of what's happened recently with this new kind of bacterium. Bacteria, actually: there are three varieties, each of which got the new-and-improved gene for NDM-1 a different way.

And a tip of the Lemming's hat, for giving some useful information:

"...What can people do?

"Don't add to the drug resistance problem, experts say. Don't pressure your doctors for antibiotics if they say they aren't needed, use the ones you are given properly, and try to avoid infections by washing your hands.

"The gene is carried by bacteria that can spread hand-to-mouth, which makes good hygiene very important...."
(FOXNews)

'Natives' and 'Citizens:' Maybe It's Time to Think 'People'

The hat goes back on for what came after those two paragraphs:

"...It's also why health officials are so concerned about where the threat is coming from, said Dr. Patrice Nordmann, a microbiology professor at South-Paris Medical School. India is an overpopulated country that overuses antibiotics and has widespread diarrheal disease and many people without clean water...."
(FOXNews)

"Overuses antibiotics?" Maybe. But the Lemming's run into enough articles bewailing the habit of Americans to prescribe - or insist on - antibiotics for annoyances like the common cold. Which is caused by a virus, by the way, and unaffected by bacteria-killing antibiotics. India may over-use antibiotics, too: but the country doesn't have a monopoly on that regrettable habit.

"Overpopulated?" These days, 'everybody knows' that places like India and Nigeria are "overpopulated." Unlike places such as New York City and Los Angeles, which just have a lot of people. That's another topic: discussed in some of the Related and Vaguely-related posts linked to at the end of this one. We've been "overpopulated" ever since some reckless maniac developed agriculture - and that's definitely another topic. (Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 2, 2009))

Bullets Won't Stop Them!

The Lemming thinks a key word in descriptions of bacteria with the NDM-1 enzyme is antibiotic-resistant. Not antibiotic-proof, antibiotic-resistant. As the article points out:

"...Doctors have tried treating some of these cases with combinations of antibiotics, hoping that will be more effective than individual ones are. Some have resorted to using polymyxins — antibiotics used in the 1950s and '60s that were unpopular because they can harm the kidneys...."
(FOXNews)

All other things being equal, I'd just as soon not go back to using the almost-worse-than-the-disease antibiotics that generally killed the disease before killing the patient. But too many folks in too many parts of the world - America included - have been too eager to use (and misuse) antibiotics.

The Lemming really doesn't think this is an 'and we're all gonna die!' situation. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are more of a problem now than they were when I was younger: but we've licked polio and smallpox - I think we will endure this, too.

And, maybe learn not to be stupid about using medicine. Maybe.

Here's another article on the travels of Superbug:

---

"US citizens carried Superbug from India"
Hindustan Times (September 14, 2010)

"Three people returned to the US from India earlier this year infected with the newly described 'superbugs' that are highly resistant to antibiotics, according to media reports. All three confirmed cases - one each in California, Illinois and Massachusetts - involved people who got medical care in India, the Chicago Tribune said citing the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"The Illinois patient recovered, and there is no evidence the infection was transmitted to other people, the daily said citing Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold who released no other details about the case.

"Another person was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital and isolated, a measure that prevented the germ from spreading, said David Hooper, chief of the hospital's infection control unit, the Boston Herald said.

"The Massachusetts patient too survived. The daily said the superbug seems to have been contained...."

Good News

It's good news that the folks who were diagnosed in this country (the Lemming lives in America, the United States of) survived. And that the antibiotic-resistant bugs seem to have been contained. In the United States. So far.

As for why someone who lives in America would want to get medical care in India? Some of us are from India, and I can imagine someone wanting to go back to the old country for treatment: for personal or family reasons. And, as seems to be the case for at least one of the three folks mentioned, they were traveling in India when something happened that require attention - and wouldn't wait.

---

"Taiwan puts hospitals on alert against NDM1 superbug"
Times of India (September 10, 2010)

"With the antibiotic resistant superbug NDM1, that scientists claimed originated in India springing up in almost 14 countries, Taiwan on Thursday decided to declare it a category-four communicable disease.

"This means that hospitals and clinics will have to immediately report any suspected cases.

"The bug, which is named from an enzyme called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1, has been found in patients from United Kingdom, US, Canada, Australia, Netherlands and Japan, who had recently returned from India after medical treatment.

"According to Taiwan's Centre for Disease Control, NDM-1 has the potential to become a serious public health problem as the superbug is extremely virulent and resistant to almost all antibiotics, even the most powerful ones...."

Not-So-Good News

It's not good news that bacteria with the new gene for making NDM-1 enzyme got into a dozen or more countries. Looks like the genie is definitely out of the bottle for this antibiotic-resistant set of microbes.

On the other hand, as I wrote before, the key word is resistant. The new gene doesn't convey invulnerability on its host - the bugs are just harder to kill.

---

All of this isn't exactly "new" news. Check the date on this CDC publication:

"Detection of Enterobacteriaceae Isolates Carrying Metallo-Beta-Lactamase --- United States, 2010"
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (June 25, 2010)

"During January--June 2010, three Enterobacteriaceae isolates carrying a newly described resistance mechanism, the New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1) (1), were identified from three U.S. states at the CDC antimicrobial susceptibility laboratory. This is the first report of NDM-1 in the United States, and the first report of metallo-beta-lactamase carriage among Enterobacteriaceae in the United States. These isolates, which include an Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterobacter cloacae, carry blaNDM-1, which confers resistance to all beta-lactam agents except aztreonam (a monobactam antimicrobial) (1); all three isolates were aztreonam resistant, presumably by a different mechanism. In the United Kingdom, where these organisms are increasingly common, carriage of Enterobacteriaceae containing blaNDM-1 has been closely linked to receipt of medical care in India and Pakistan (2). All three U.S. isolates were from patients who received recent medical care in India...."

"...References

1. Yong D, Toleman MA, Giske CG, et al. Characterization of a new metallo-β-lactamase gene, blaNDM-1, and a novel erythromycin esterase gene carried on a unique genetic structure in Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type 14 from India. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2009;53:5046--54.
2. Health Protection Agency. Multi-resistant hospital bacteria linked to India and Pakistan. Health Protection Report 2009;3(26):3--4. Available at http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpr/archives/2009/hpr2609.pdf. Accessed June 18, 2010.
3. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing; twentieth informational supplement. Wayne, PA: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute; 2010.
4. Deshpande P, Rodrigues C, Shetty A, Kapadia F, Hedge A, Soman R. New Delhi metallo-β lactamase (NDM-1) in Enterobacteriaceae: treatment options with carbapenems compromised. J Acad Physicians India 2010;58:147--9.
5. CDC. Guidance for control of infections with carbapenem-resistant or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in acute care facilities. MMWR 2009;58:256--60.....

The CDC also has a sort of FAQ on antibiotic-resistant bacteria:

"National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Antibiotic Resistance - Why are bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics?"
NARMS, CDC (June 1, 2005)

It's about as readable as you'd expect from the title: but I think it's worth wading through the page.

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Look! There in the News! It's a Germ! It's a Plague! No, It's - SUPERBUG!

Yes, Superbug: strange being from another continent, come to America with powers and abilities far beyond those of ordinary bugs. Superbug! Resistant to most antibiotics; able to make people sick.

But not, I think, something that's going to bring about 'an end to civilization as we know it.'

Good grief: We survived smallpox, disco, and the 2009 swine flu. I think we can learn to cope with a bug that's resistant to standard-issue antibiotics.

Related posts:

• "Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs and Military Research"
  (May 24, 2010)
  • It's not what you may think
• "Tofu Turkeys, Genetically Altered Foods, and the Evil Eye"
  (November 14, 2009)
• "Hard Science Fiction, Cultural Blinders and Laban's Sheep"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 29, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Artificial Life Forms - Like Macaroni Wheat
• "Swine Flu 2009"
  • Link lists and background

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Food, Agriculture, Technology, and City Folks"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 2, 2009)
• "Organized Forces Defoliating Amazon Rainforest: And They Ain't Human!"
  (June 7, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
  Particularly
  • Emotion Trumping Reason: Not Limited to the War on Terror
• "Doomsday Seed Vault in Svalbard, or Don't Worry: There's Always Something to Worry About"
  (June 5, 2008)
• "Starvation, Poverty, and Perceptions"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 18, 2007)
  • Norman Borlaug and the green revolution

More:

• "Superbug! Sort of: NDM-1, XF-73, and a Dash of Common Sense"
• "Change, American Culture, Trilobites, Humanity's History, and the Big Picture "