moonbuggy

‘A 16-year-old Russian boy found a hospital halfway around the world willing to remove his brain tumor for free. His father says there was one condition – that his treatment could be filmed for a feel-good story by a local television station about the charitable operation.

But the positive story St. Anthony Hospital and neurosurgeon Paul Francel hoped to tell became tragic when the surgery left David Kurbanov brain dead. Now his anguished father is lashing out at the hospital and hoping for a miracle recovery.

Sabit Kurbanov said he had been led to believe that his son would fully recover, and he accused St. Anthony Hospital of performing experimental surgery.’

‘A teenager was left with severe burns when he accidentally set his hair on fire after rubbing in head lice lotion.

Matthew Moore, 15, of Purbeck, Dorset, had just applied the lotion when he started playing with a cigarette lighter, which ignited his hair. [..]

In a statement, manufacturers of the lotion Thornton & Ross said: “It’s the very first incident of its kind.

“The product is not flammable. It’s been fully approved by various regulatory authorities.”‘ [..]

A spokesman for Dorset Fire and Rescue Service added: “Don’t play with lighters close to your hair and that goes generally when you have applied any type of hair product.”‘

‘More and more media reports are mentioning the potential merits of marijuana. The most recent headlines say the active ingredient in the drug cuts tumor growth in common lung cancers in half and greatly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread.

Researchers at Harvard University tested marijuana’s main ingredient, delta-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, in both lab and mouse studies and say their experiments are the first to show THC inhibits the growth of cancer.’

‘Eating large quantities of cured meats like bacon could damage lung function and increase the risk of lung disease.

A Columbia University team found people who ate cured meats at least 14 times a month were more likely to have COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

COPD, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, kills around 30,000 people in the UK each year.’

‘Australians would take more sick days if the government banned cold and flu tablets in a bid to stop the medicine being used to manufacture the drug ice, doctors say.

The government has asked health and law enforcement officials to examine the implications of a blanket ban on the sale of products that contain pseudoephedrine, which includes cold and flu tablets.

Pseudoephedrine can be used to make methamphetamines such as ice and crystal meth.

But Australian Medical Association president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal said he doubted the ban would stop the ice epidemic as drug makers would source pseudoephedrine from elsewhere.’

‘The brain, not the heart, is responsible for high blood pressure, a study by British researchers says.

The researchers said hypertension, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and kidney damage, was an inflammatory vascular disease of the brain rather than the heart.

They discovered that a protein in the brain, JAM-1, trapped white blood cells, which can cause inflammation and obstruct blood flow.

Professor Julian Paton, of Bristol University, said the findings could lead to new ways of treating hypertension.’

‘The federal government charges patients 15 times more for certified medical marijuana than it pays to buy the weed in bulk from its official supplier, newly released documents show.

Critics say it’s unconscionable to charge that high a markup to some of the country’s sickest citizens, who have little income and are often cut off from their medical marijuana supply when they can’t pay their government dope bills. [..]

Adds Scott McCluskey, 48, in Westbank, B.C., who suffers spinal-cord pain that is eased by marijuana: “They’re selling it for criminal street prices. . . . I don’t think anybody, especially seriously ill people . . . should have to pay this type of money for medicine.”‘

‘Researchers have decoded genetic material from a 68 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex, an unprecedented step once thought impossible.

“The door just opens up to a whole avenue of research that involves anything extinct,” said Matthew T. Carrano, curator of dinosaurs at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

And, the new finding adds weight to the idea that today’s birds are descendants of dinosaurs. [..]

“The fact that we are getting proteins is very, very exciting,” said John Horner of Montana State University and the Museum of the Rockies.

And, he added, it “changes the idea that birds and dinosaurs are related from a hypothesis to a theory.”

To scientists that’s a big deal.’

‘An Australian woman who was paralysed in a car accident is now walking again after receiving controversial stem-cell treatment in India.

[..] following eight weeks of embryonic stem-cell injections, Mrs Smith is now able to stand with the aid of callipers and has regained bowel and bladder control.

She reports recovering “deep sensation” in her thighs and feet and has been able to swing her legs.

“When I first moved my toes, I was blown away,” she said.

“The doctors in Australia told me I would never walk again, but now I actually think I will be able to — even without callipers some day.” [..]

She was forced to seek help in India because the treatment is forbidden in Australia.’

‘According to new statistics that would make Bob Vila cringe, the number of injuries from nail guns has almost doubled since 2001.

Researchers said that more and more it is do-it-yourselfers who are feeling the pain, according to a press release.

The number of weekend carpenters treated each year for nail gun injuries in emergency rooms in U.S. hospitals more than tripled between 1991 and 2005, increasing to about 14,800 per year, according to an analysis by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.’

‘Cannabis users who started smoking as teenagers are more likely to suffer long-term harm, including poor mental health, than drinkers who started using alcohol as adolescents, a major study has found.

Heavy users of marijuana are also more likely to graduate to other drugs such as amphetamines and ecstasy than are teenage binge drinkers.

Involving nearly 2000 Victorian high school students aged 14 or 15, the landmark study has traced their progress since 1992, and provides the first comparison of the consequences of the two substances commonly used in teenage social situations.

Researcher George Patton, who conducted the study for Melbourne University’s Centre for Adolescent Heath, said that while both alcohol and cannabis carried health risks, the overwhelming evidence was that cannabis was “the drug for life’s future losers”.’

‘Gonorrhea in the United States is now resistant to all but one class of antibiotic drugs, threatening doctors’ ability to treat the common sexually transmitted disease, officials said on Thursday. [..]

Gonorrhea is an example of the rise of “superbugs” that have evolved to beat antibiotics that once vanquished them. Many experts decry the overuse of antibiotics, which can fuel the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria.

Douglas said gonorrhea previously became resistant to other antibiotics, penicillin and tetracycline, before starting to conquer the fluoroquinolones.

“Gonorrhea has now joined the list of other superbugs for which treatment options have become dangerously few,” Dr. Henry Masur, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America advocacy group, said in a statement.’

‘”Beware of Israeli melons infected with AIDS arriving in Saudi Arabia!” is the latest rumor being spread throughout Saudi Arabia like a wildfire.

An SMS message being sent around the country this week said, “The Saudi Interior Ministry warns its citizens of a truck loaded with AIDS infected melons that Israel brought into the country via a ‘ground corridor.'” [..]

The rumor, despite being denied several times, has gained so much steam in the Arab world that it made it to the front page of one of the most important Arabi language newspapers.

Many received an SMS supposedly from the Saudi Interior Ministry saying, “Please forward quickly.”‘

‘A gunman robbing a convenience store allowed the clerk to call 911 and apologized after the woman said she might be having a heart attack. But he still took $30 and cigarettes, authorities said. [..]

She started hyperventilating and pleaded with the gunman for help.

“I have heart trouble. Help me,” Parker said.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the gunman replied.

“I have heart trouble,” Parker told him.

“Ma’am, it’s going to be all right,” the gunman said.

“I’m probably going to have a heart attack,” Parker said.

“Oh my, ma’am, please do not have a heart attack. Please do not have a heart attack. Please don’t, ma’am,” he said.’

‘Women might soon be able to produce sperm in a development that could allow lesbian couples to have their own biological daughters, according to a pioneering study published today.

Scientists are seeking ethical permission to produce synthetic sperm cells from a woman’s bone marrow tissue after showing that it possible to produce rudimentary sperm cells from male bone-marrow tissue.

The researchers said they had already produced early sperm cells from bone-marrow tissue taken from men. They believe the findings show that it may be possible to restore fertility to men who cannot naturally produce their own sperm.’

‘A British dentist was found guilty on Thursday of urinating in his surgery sink and using dental tools meant for patients to clean his fingernails and ears.

A medical tribunal said it was satisfied the evidence showed 51-year-old Alan Hutchinson, who “routinely” did not wear gloves or wash his hands, had risked the health of “himself, staff and patients” for more than 28 years.

A dental nurse who worked for Hutchinson for 16 years said she had caught him urinating in the sink more than once.’

‘Hundreds of girls at a Mexican boarding school run by Catholic nuns have been struck by a mystery illness that authorities say is psychological, raising questions about conditions inside the academy.

Headmistress Margie Cheong, a nun from South Korea, said on Friday it was unclear what had caused the symptoms, which include difficulty walking and nausea.

“We really don’t know the cause, but the diagnosis by health authorities is of a psychological ailment,” Cheong said.

Some 600 of the 4,000 girls at the Villa de las Ninas school had been affected, she said, and 300 children had left the school, which offers a free secondary education to children from poor families. [..]

Some of the students have complained of overstrict disciplinary measures like being sent to sleep in an enclosure that houses sheep.’

‘Staffing was so inadequate at a California senior center that a rat crawled into an Alzheimer’s patient’s mouth and died there before staff noticed, a lawsuit claims. [..]

“The facility so literally ignored the needs of their residents … as to allow vermin in the form of a rat to become lodged in the mouth of Sigmund Bock and die therein,” the lawsuit alleges.

Melody Chatelle, a spokeswoman for Sunwest Management Inc., the Oregon-based company that operates Paragon, denied the allegations.

“We take care of our residents, and find this negative publicity to be a disheartening affront to our professional caregivers and most especially to our residents and their loved ones,” she said.’

‘Grapefruit juice has been shown to affect the metabolism of several drugs. Included in the list of potential target drugs are diazepam, cisapride, cyclosporine, felodipine and other dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, midazolam, nisoldipine, triazolam, saquinavir, lovastatin, and atorvastatin. The mechanism of this interaction appears to primarily result from inhibition of enzymes in the intestinal wall.

Several constituents of grapefruit juice have been implicated including the flavonoids naringin and naringenin, along with the furanocoumarins, bergapten and 6,7-dihydroxybergamottin. Unfortunately, the content of these varies between different grapefruit juices and varieties of fruit, making it impossible to determine if one is safer than another.’

Hooray for breast feeding 7 year olds. Or not. [shrug] 🙂

(9.6meg Windows media)

see it here »

‘A Minneapolis city worker is worried about blood in the sewer system because he said, while he was cleaning the system, blood sprayed out of a hole and got all over him.

“We could tell it was blood, I mean large amount of blood,” said Minneapolis Sewer Maintenance Worker Ron Huebner.

It happened about two weeks ago in Northeast Minneapolis near a lab that does medical testing and dumps blood into the sewer. It is allowed but the city is now making changes to help protect workers in the future.

“Blood just all over my face, in my mouth, I could taste it. It was terrible. I had it in my mouth and I kept spitting and I couldn’t get rid of it,” said Huebner. [..]

The Met Council said it was a mix of human and animal blood used in medical testing at this nearby lab.’

‘Scientists in Britain are proposing a complete revamping of drug classifications in the wake of findings that reveal some major discrepancies between a drug’s legality and its safeness. A study surveying health, crime and science professionals regarding the dangers of a set of 20 legal and illegal drugs, published in The Lancet in March 2007, found that alcohol and tobacco, which are legal in Britain and the United States, are considered by experts to be more dangerous than ecstasy and marijuana, which are illegal in both countries.’

‘Three men, including a Houston-area paramedic, were arrested after investigators found nearly 400 pounds of marijuana in an ambulance, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Maumelle, Ark., police said they discovered the drugs after the ambulance broke down near a gasoline station.

“An individual, that was actually an off-duty police officer, called and said that he just felt like things were out of sort,” Chief Sam Williams said.

Officers arrived and found the men and the ambulance.

“They were wearing white shirts and black BDU pants,” Williams said. “The white shirts had some rank insignia of them. It would be fair to say that they were wearing clothing that would resemble medical personnel.”‘

‘What exactly went on between gorillas and early humans? No one knows for sure, but scientists say one thing, at least, seems certain: The big apes gave us pubic lice.

Researchers made the uncomfortable discovery during a DNA study reconstructing the evolutionary history of lice in humans and our primate relatives.

The transfer occurred about 3.3 million years ago, said study leader David Reed, of the University of Florida in Gainesville. That’s when the gorilla louse and the human pubic louse separated into distinct species, the research revealed. [..]

Pubic lice are spread most commonly through sexual contact, but that’s not necessarily how our ancestors acquired the parasite from gorillas.

“Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure,” Reed said. [..]’

‘A Kentucky woman sued her a doctor for branding her uterus with the initials of his alma mater during an operation to remove the organ.

Stephanie Means alleged that while Dr. James Guiler performed the hysterectomy at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington, he “used a cauterizing instrument to intentionally brand the letters ‘UK,’ approximately 4-5 cm in height, on Plaintiff Stephanie Means’s uterus.”

Means’s lawsuit noted that since she and her husband were apprehensive about the surgery, Guiler filmed the procedure and gave the couple a copy of the videotape, which, the Fayette Circuit Court lawsuit stated, “clearly showed the instrument being used to brand Stephanie’s uterus.”‘

This actually happened in 2003 or so, but now here’s the video of the branding.

(728kB Quicktime)

see it here »

‘At the only hospital in the capital of this tiny West African nation, a 3-year-old AIDS patient named Suleiman receives his daily dose of medication — a murky brown concoction of seven herbs and spices served out of a bottle that once contained pancake syrup.

The boy is told a spoonful a day will make him better. His mother, Fatuma, takes the same concoction, as do several dozen other AIDS and HIV patients here. Adults take two spoonfuls.

“It’s amazing,” Fatuma says. “Two weeks ago, I was very ill, weak and couldn’t eat without vomiting.”

This has become the treatment for HIV/AIDS patients here since early January, when Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced he had discovered a cure for the disease that has wreaked havoc across Africa. He made that announcement in front of a group of foreign diplomats, telling them the treatment was revealed to him by his ancestors in a dream.’

‘The International Ginger Kids Foundation, or IGKF ,is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2002. The goal of the IGKF is to achieve equality, understanding, tolerance, and acceptance for Ginger Kids all over the world. Gingervitis is a serious disease affecting millions of people. Every day 1337 children are born with gingervitis in the United States alone. Not only do these special people have to struggle with a life long disease in which there is no known cure, they are often the target of ridicule and jokes. The only way we will ever find a cure is if we work together.’

‘Our obesity crisis has forced the ambulance service to introduce super-sized vehicles to squeeze in overweight patients.

The workload for these heavy-duty ambulances has more than doubled in the past three years.

And specially designed air ambulances are also soon to be introduced.

NSW Ambulance was the first in Australia to introduce the ambulances, which cost nearly $100,000 more than a regular vehicle, in 1999.

Now two more multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) have been added and the weight-carrying capacity of stretchers increased from 180kg to 220kg.’

‘Cannabis extracts may shrink brain tumours and other cancers by blocking the growth of the blood vessels which feed them, suggests a new study.

An active component of the street drug has previously been shown to improve brain tumours in rats. But now Manuel Guzmán at Complutense University, Spain, and colleagues have demonstrated how the cannabis extracts block a key chemical needed for tumours to sprout blood vessels – a process called angiogenesis.

And for the first time, the team has shown the cannabinoids impede this chemical in people with the most aggressive form of brain cancer – glioblastoma multiforme.’

‘The best approach to CPR for a bystander who wants to save the life of a victim of sudden cardiac arrest is to pump the chest and skip the mouth-to-mouth, a Japanese study suggests. [..]

Ken Nagao of Surugadai Nihon University Hospital in Tokyo and colleagues compared how well more than 4,000 adults fared after receiving traditional CPR, the chest-compressions only approach, or no CPR at all until paramedics arrived.

Patients who received only chest compressions had less brain damage than those who got compressions and breaths, the team reported in Saturday’s issue of the medical journal The Lancet. Not surprisingly, patients who had no CPR had the poorest outcomes.’