Ramanisblog

Tag: Drugs

  • The Hippocratic Oath-Do we have Physicians now?

    I shall
    -rely on Diet.
    – shall not prescribe deadly drugs.
    -not use knife
    -perform abortion.
    -not engage in sex with patients, both male and female.
    -keep patients’ information secret.
    -shall treat Teacher as my parent and his children as my brothers and sisters.
    Do we have a species called physician now?
    Echoes of Charaka and Sustruta of India (5000 BC)

    Here is a modern translation of the Hippocratic Oath:

    I swear by Apollo the Physician and Asclepius and Hygeia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant: To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parent and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art–if they desire to learn it–without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but to no one else. I will apply dietetic measure for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and in holiness I will guard my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work. Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves. What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself holding such things shameful to be spoken about. If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite be my lot. [Edelstein 6]

  • Apology to daughters raped by Sheffield man

    Of what use is this?If your own father behaves like an animal, what can the authorities do?
    I understand the Rapist has been given LIFE SENTENCE.HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT DEAD.
    Society and the Government are also to be blamed.In the name of Freedom, you encourage same sex marriage,spawn orphans, legalise Drugs,distribute free condoms to Men and Women in Defense, perform the responsibility of a Father/family by providing broken home children with out penalizing the parents,systematically help erode family values what do you expect? A well ordered trouble free child hood? Never    .
    Two daughters made pregnant 18 times over a 25-year period by their father have received an apology from the agencies who failed to protect them.

    The apology was made at a news conference that revealed the findings of a serious case review.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/8559750.stm

  • Anti-depressants ‘up stroke risk’

    Aspirin is prescribed for high cholesterol,it also causes intestinal bleeding.
    Pain killers cause serious after effects.
    Scans increase the risk to cancer.
    Diuretics damage kidneys.
    Cancer inducing genes identified now;yet we have already cured it.
    Caffeine was perceived to be carcinogenic;now it reduces cancer risk also prevents heart disease.
    Take any medicine, you have the same ambivalence.
    Or take any prognosis-as many number of opinions as that of specialists.
    Is Medicine a Science?
    Post menopausal women who take anti-depressants face a small – but statistically significant – increased risk of a stroke, research suggests.
    The US study was based on 136,293 women aged 50 to 79, who were followed for an average of six years.
    Anti-depressant users were 45% more likely to have a stroke than women not taking the drugs.
    The data, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, is taken from the Women’s Health Initiative Study.
    When overall death rates were examined, those on anti-depressants were found to have a 32% higher risk of death from all causes during the study than non-users.
    The researchers stressed that the overall risk of a stroke was relatively small. Even for women on anti-depressants, it was less than one in 200 chance in any given year.

    You have to weigh the benefits that you get from these anti-depressants against the small increase in risk that we found in this study
    Dr Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller
    Albert Einstein College of Medicine
    However, they said that because so many women were taking anti-depressants the effect would be significant across the entire population.
    It is not clear whether taking anti-depressants is solely responsible for the increased risk of a stroke.
    Depression itself is known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular problems.
    The researchers tried to take this into account in their analysis of the data – but could not rule out the possibility that it influenced the final results.
    The study found no difference in stroke risk between the two major classes of anti-depressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs).
    However, the SSRIs did appear to convey a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke caused by a bleed in the brain.
    Lead researcher Dr Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, stressed that treatment for depression was important, and that women should not stop taking prescribed medication without first consulting their doctor.
    She said: “You have to weigh the benefits that you get from these antidepressants against the small increase in risk that we found in this study.”
    Known links
    The researchers said follow-up studies were needed before any firm conclusions could be drawn.
    Dr Jordan Smoller, of Harvard Medical School, who also worked on the study, said: “We need to study this association more to determine exactly what it signifies.”
    Joanne Murphy, for The Stroke Association stressed the study showed that overall risk for women taking anti-depressants was relatively small.
    She said “We are already aware of links between depression and the risk of stroke and we are currently funding further studies to look into this.
    “Everyone can help reduce their risk of stroke by making lifestyle changes, such as reducing their blood pressure, giving up smoking, reducing alcohol intake, improving their diet and getting plenty of exercise.”
    Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “Severe depression can be debilitating and even fatal, so it is important to weigh up any small increase in the risk of stroke with the benefits of treating depression.”
    Bridget O’Connell, from the mental health charity Mind, said antidepressants produced a range of side effects that affected people in different ways.
    She said: “Many people can experience huge benefits from taking antidepressants and it’s important they work with their GP to identify both the plus points and the drawbacks, and weigh up what treatment is best for them.”
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8408783.stm

  • ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2009) — Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have created a single nanoparticle that can be tracked in real time with MRI as it homes in on cancer cells, tags them with a fluorescent dye and kills them with heat. The all-in-one particle is one of the first examples from a growing field called “theranostics” that develops technologies physicians can use to diagnose and treat diseases in a single procedure.

    The research is available online in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Tests so far involve laboratory cell cultures, but the researchers said MRI tracking will be particularly advantageous as they move toward tests in animals and people.
    “Some of the most essential questions in nanomedicine today are about biodistribution — where particles go inside the body and how they get there,” said study co-author Naomi Halas. “Noninvasive tests for biodistribution will be enormously useful on the path to FDA approval, and this technique — adding MRI functionality to the particle you’re testing and using for therapy — is a very promising way of doing this.”
    Halas, Rice’s Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering, is a pioneer in nanomedicine. The all-in-one particles are based on nanoshells — particles she invented in the 1990s that are currently in human clinical trials for cancer treatment. Nanoshells harvest laser light that would normally pass harmlessly through the body and convert it into tumor-killing heat.
    In designing the new particle, Halas partnered with Amit Joshi, assistant professor in BCM’s Division of Molecular Imaging, to modify nanoshells by adding a fluorescent dye that glows when struck by near-infrared (NIR) light. NIR light is invisible and harmless, so NIR imaging could provide doctors with a means of diagnosing diseases without surgery.
    In studying ways to attach the dye, Halas’ graduate student, Rizia Bardhan, found that dye molecules emitted 40-50 times more light if a tiny gap was left between them and the surface of the nanoshell. The gap was just a few nanometers wide, but rather than waste the space, Bardhan inserted a layer of iron oxide that would be detectable with MRI. The researchers also attached an antibody that lets the particles bind to the surface of breast and ovarian cancer cells.
    In the lab, the team tracked the fluorescent particles and confirmed that they targeted cancer cells and destroyed them with heat. Joshi said the next step will be to destroy whole tumors in live animals. He estimates that testing in humans is at least two years away, but the ultimate goal is a system where a patient gets a shot containing nanoparticles with antibodies that are tailored for the patient’s cancer. Using NIR imaging, MRI or a combination of the two, doctors would observe the particles’ progress through the body, identify areas where tumors exist and then kill them with heat.
    “This particle provides four options — two for imaging and two for therapy,” Joshi said. “We envision this as a platform technology that will present practitioners with a choice of options for directed treatment.”
    Eventually, Joshi said, he hopes to develop specific versions of the particles that can attack cancer at different stages, particularly early stage cancer, which is difficult to diagnose and treat with current technology. The researchers also expect to use different antibody labels to target specific forms of the disease. Halas said the team has been careful to choose components that are either already approved for medical use or are already in clinical trials.
    “What’s nice is that every single component of this has been approved or is on a path toward FDA approval,” Halas said. “We’re putting together components that all have good, proven track records.”
    Bardhan and BCM postdoctoral researcher Wenxue Chen are co-primary authors of the paper. Additional Rice co-authors include Emilia Morosan, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and graduate students Ryan Huschka and Liang Zhao. Additional BCM co-authors include Robia Pautler, assistant professor of neuroscience and radiology, postdoctoral researcher Marc Bartels and graduate student Carlos Perez-Torres.
    The research was sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Welch Foundation and the Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative.

  • Alcohol link to breast cancer recurrence

    Why drink at all?Drinking is bad for health , family and career.Why persist with it?

    Women who have had breast cancer should stick to three alcoholic drinks or less a week to reduce the chance of the disease returning, researchers suggest.
    A US study of 1,900 women who had recovered from breast cancer found that moderate drinking was linked to a 30% higher risk of recurrence.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8406273.stm