‘A New Zealand pro-cannabis groups says it has scientific evidence that cannabis can stop the development of mad cow disease.
It was not clear whether the findings applied to both cows and humans.
The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) said a French study showed cannabidiol might be effective in preventing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, the New Zealand Press Association reported tpday.
Scientists at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France found cannabidiol – a non-psychoactive ingredient – may prevent the development of prion diseases (progressive neurodegenerative disorders), the most well known of which is BSE, Norml said. [..]
“(It) should be supported by any MP with a clear head. Unfortunately most politicians act like mad cows whenever cannabis is mentioned,” Mr Fowlie said.’
‘Reporting in the June 21 issue of the journal Nature, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering Professor James Dumesic and his research team describe a two-stage process for turning biomass-derived sugar into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), a liquid transportation fuel with 40 percent greater energy density than ethanol.
The prospects of diminishing oil reserves and the threat of global warming caused by releasing otherwise trapped carbon into the atmosphere have researchers searching for a sustainable, carbon-neutral fuel to reduce global reliance on fossil fuels. By chemically engineering sugar through a series of steps involving acid and copper catalysts, salt and butanol as a solvent, UW-Madison researchers created a path to just such a fuel.’
‘Liu Hua, a chinese man, has fingers thicker than his arm and hopes for a normal life once he finishes having surgery. The operation removed 11lbs of bone and tissue from his hand, which was deformed from birth.
Liu has a rare disease called macrodactyly which causes toes and fingers to grow abnormally large.’
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‘Australia’s opposition Labor Party has questioned the need for female sailors to be given breast enlargements paid for with public money.
An armed forces spokesman defended the operations, saying they were carried out for psychological reasons, not to make sailors “look sexy”.
Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said the “holistic needs” of service personnel were considered under defence policy.
But he said breast augmentations were not routinely funded by the military.’
‘A Venezuelan man who had been declared dead woke up in the morgue in excruciating pain after medical examiners began their autopsy.
Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realise something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.
“I woke up because the pain was unbearable,” Mr Camejo told newspaper El Universal.’
‘A Czech speedway driver knocked unconscious in a crash stunned ambulance drivers when he woke up speaking perfect English.
18-year-old Matej Kus was out cold for 45 minutes after the crash, but when he woke up he conversed fluidly in English with paramedics, even speaking in an English accent.
The teenager had just begun to study the language and his skills were described by friends and team-mates as “basic at best”.
Peter Waite, the promoter for Kus’s team, the Berwick Bandits, told the Daily Mail: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“It was in a really clear English accent, no dialect or anything. Whatever happened in the crash must have rearranged things in his head. [..]’
‘Hundreds of athletes participating in a popular Orlando triathlon this weekend are being required to sign waivers notifying them of the dangers of swimming in hot lakes and can skip the water portion of the event in the wake of several recent amoeba-related deaths.
Warnings were issued to Central Florida swimmers this month after a 14-year-old boy died of amoebic meningitis and two others died of amoebic encephalitis after spending time in lakes.
A portion of the OUC Downtown Orlando Triathlon Saturday will involve swimming through Lake Underhill which is hotter than 80 degrees.
Officials with the Central Florida Sports Commission said they have been investigating the best way to handle the situation for months.’
Followup to Brain-Swelling Amoeba Blamed For 2nd Child’s Death.
‘A confessed rapist has agreed to be castrated in a plea deal that could save him from a life prison sentence.
Bobby James Allen pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of armed sexual battery and various other charges involving attacks that happened in 1998 and 1999. Allen filed a motion requesting castration in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet agreed to sentence Allen to 25 years’ prison on Sept. 20 if has the procedure in the next eight days. If Allen does not go through with the operation, he faces up to life in prison.
“You understand that this procedure is the removal of your testicles?” Overstreet asked Allen.
Allen said he wanted to be castrated.’
‘A Cambodian man was arrested after injecting a woman with his own blood in a bizarre scheme to win her affections, police said Wednesday. [..]
The man allegedly injected a syringe of his blood into the woman’s rib cage and waist as she walked home from school, Tan Sophal said.
The assailant fell in love with the woman when the two were classmates in 2004, Tan Sophal said. After the woman refused his advances, he came up with the scheme to inject her with his blood, he said.
“He thought that if he could not marry her, at least his blood can stay inside her body,” Tan Sophal said. “That’s why he injected her with his blood.”‘
‘The body of a stillborn baby was put in a supermarket carrier bag after it was delivered and left with the parents for two hours as they waited at hospital. [..]
The body was put in a bag when an ambulance took her to the Royal Sussex County Hospital. She said it stayed in the bag while she waited in A&E. [..]
She said she had to wait in a room in A&E for two hours without being examined, and that during that time her baby was in a plastic bag on top of a cabinet in the room with her and her husband, Michael.
She also said that when she was moved to another ward, the bag was placed on a windowsill.’
‘An Invercargill man who urinates on his veggie garden stands by his practice.
Nick Kiddey told The Southland Times this week that he urinates on his vegetable plants as it was an excellent fertiliser, which was sterile and contains no pathogens.
It was also a great way to conserve water instead of flushing the toilet which wastes up to 11 litres of clean water per flush, Mr Kiddey said.
However, a caller to The Southland Times disagreed with Mr Kiddey’s comments about urine containing no pathogens and wanted to know what evidence there was to support it.
Mr Kiddey responded, stating that on further research into the issue he agreed urine “may contain” pathogens.’
‘Doctors in China have discovered 26 sewing needles embedded in the body of a 31-year-old woman.
They think they were inserted into Luo Cuifen’s body when she was a baby by grandparents upset she was not a boy.
Some of these needles have penetrated vital organs, such as the lungs, liver and kidneys. One has even broken into three pieces in the woman’s brain.
The needles were discovered only when Ms Luo went to hospital complaining of blood in her urine.’
‘What else can inkjet technology be used for? Injecting drugs into humans, according to Hewlett-Packard.
The company is licensing a medical patch it has developed to Ireland’s Crospon that potentially can replace hypodermic needles or pills for delivering vaccines or other types of medication to patients. The patch contains up to 90,000 microneedles per square inch, microprocessors and a thermal unit.
Medications contained in the patch are heated and then injected through the needles. Processors can monitor drug delivery, deliver doses over extended periods of time or deliver drugs in response to a patient’s vital signs (e.g., blood pressure or heart rate), depending on how it is programmed.’
‘US scientists may have uncovered a genetic reason why lonely people may have poorer health.
The UCLA research, published in Genome Biology, found certain genes were more active in people who reported feelings of social isolation.
Many of the genes identified have links to the immune system and tissue inflammation – which may be damaging.
Other studies have shown clear links between lack of social support and illnesses such as heart disease.
The researchers said that quality, not quantity, of friendships, appeared to be important.’
‘A Chinese man due to be deported to face serious criminal charges at home is in a Sydney hospital after swallowing razor blades.
The man, known as Mr Qi, has been held in detention since his visa was revoked in February 2004, when Chinese authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.
He had been due to be deported to China today to face charges of kidnap and murder, after the Federal Government was given an undertaking from Beijing that he would not face the death penalty if convicted. [..]
“He would rather die here than go back,” Mr Rintoul said.’
‘”The head fell on the severed surface of the neck and I did not therefor have to take it up in my hands, as all the newspapers have vied with each other in repeating; I was not obliged even to touch it in order to set it upright. Chance served me well for the observation, which I wished to make.
“Here, then, is what I was able to note immediately after the decapitation: the eyelids and lips of the guillotined man worked in irregularly rhythmic contractions for about five or six seconds. This phenomenon has been remarked by all those finding themselves in the same conditions as myself for observing what happens after the severing of the neck…’
‘The long-term cancer risk of mobile phone use cannot be ruled out, experts have concluded.
A major six-year research programme found a “hint” of a higher cancer risk.
But the UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHRP) did rule out short-term adverse effects to brain and cell function.
Researchers are now expanding the programme to look at phone use over 10 years, and the specific impact on children, which has not been studied.’
‘The war in Iraq is not over, but one legacy is already here in this city and others across America: an epidemic of brain-damaged soldiers.
Thousands of troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. These blast-caused head injuries are so different from the ones doctors are used to seeing from falls and car crashes that treating them is as much faith as it is science.
“I’ve been in the field for 20-plus years dealing with TBI. I have a very experienced staff. And they’re saying to me, ‘We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before,'” said Sandy Schneider, director of Vanderbilt University’s brain injury rehabilitation program. [..]
“It’s the so-called invisible injury. It’s where a troop takes 10 times the normal time to pack his rucksack … a complicated injury to the most complicated part of the body,” said Dr. Alisa Gean, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco.’
‘A man cut off his own penis and threw it in a toilet ‘so he would stop sinning’.
The 30-year-old was recovering in the Hospital Clinico Universitario in Salamanca in western Spain.
Doctors said his condition was ‘stable’ and he was not in danger of losing his life. [..]
The newspaper said it was not known if the man’s penis could be sewn back.
There was also a suggestion he may be suffering from psychological problems.’
‘When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients’ medical records almost instantly. The FDA found “reasonable assurance” the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005’s top “innovative technologies.”
But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had “induced” malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats. [..]
Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.’
‘Police are putting out an urgent warning to the public to avoid vials of a deadly drug that were stolen from a veterinary office overnight.
Several 100-milliliter vials of Euthasol, used to euthanize animals, were stolen from a veterinary clinic, according to Bourne Police Sgt. Christopher Farrell. Police declined to name the clinic, but said it was on the Cape side of the canal.
The break-in was reported when employees opened up this morning, and the missing medication, a liquid with extremely high concentrations of Phenobarbital, was discovered.
“It’s deadly. That’s the only way to put it,” Farrell said. The liquid was contained in small brown glass vials with red caps and is labelled Euthasol.’
‘Federal health experts declared a small victory against a fatal and untreatable virus on Friday, saying canine rabies has disappeared from the United States.
While dogs may still become infected from raccoons, skunks or bats, they will not catch dog-specific rabies from another dog, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“We don’t want to misconstrue that rabies has been eliminated — dog rabies virus has been,” CDC rabies expert Dr. Charles Rupprecht told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Rabies evolves to match the animals it infects, and the strain most specific to dogs has not been seen anywhere in the United States since 2004, Rupprecht said. [..]
“Even though we still live in a sea of rabies and even though we have rabies viruses circulating among raccoons and foxes and bats, the dog rabies virus, which is the most responsible for dog-to-dog transmission and which is still the greatest burden to humans … it is that virus that has been eliminated.”‘
‘Councillors from the home of the Japan’s whaling industry have revealed that schoolchildren in the area have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of cetacean meat.
In a rare departure from the official line that the meat is safe and nutritious, two assembly members from Taiji in Wakayama prefecture broke ranks to say that tests on samples of short-finned pilot whales – a type of large dolphin, despite its name – had found mercury levels 10 to 16 times higher than those advised by the health ministry.
“In kindergartens, elementary schools and middle schools, children are served the meat two or three times a month, but their parents believe that it comes from whales caught in the Antarctic. They seem to be unaware that their children are eating these pilot whales,” said Hisato Ryono, who described the meat as “toxic waste”.’
‘Pro wrestler Chris Benoit suffered brain damage from his years in the ring that could help explain why he killed his wife, son and himself, a doctor who studied Benoit’s brain said Wednesday.
The analysis by doctors affiliated with the Sports Legacy Institute suggests repeated concussions could have contributed to the killings at Benoit’s suburban Atlanta home. [..]
The level of brain damage Benoit had can cause depression and irrational behavior, Cantu said.
Benoit’s brain showed the same degenerative processes that doctors working for the institute found in the brains of three men who had played pro football and committed suicide, Cantu said. There were abnormal protein deposits caused by trauma to Benoit’s brain, Cantu said.
There’s no evidence that steroid use causes such protein deposits, Cantu said, though he noted the issue has not been exhaustively studied.’
Followup to Benoit wrestle hold killed son.
‘A 10-year-old boy who died after contracting amoebic encephalitis while swimming in a Central Florida lake is the second reported case in the area since August.
The Orange County Health Department did not identify the child or the lake where he contracted the amoeba.
However, the owner of the Orlando Water Sports Complex said he was contacted by the Orange County Health Department and told to post signs warning of the deadly amoeba. The victim was believed to have visited the popular park.
“It now has happened twice in Central Florida this year,” a health official said. “And therefore, we need to ramp up the precautions for using nose plugs and taking all precautions when swimming in the lakes and doing water sports.”‘
Followup to Apparent Amoeba-Related Death Prompts Central Fla. Water Warning.
‘Computers inside pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s network are spamming the internet with e-mails touting the company’s flagship erectile-enhancement drug Viagra, along with ads for knockoff Rolexes and shady junk stocks.
But the e-mails are not part of Pfizer’s official marketing efforts.
Pfizer’s computers appear to have been infected with malware that has transformed them into zombie computers sending spam at the behest of a hacker. Oddly enough, they are spamming the public’s inboxes with ads for the company’s own product.
“There is a disaster inside this company, and they don’t know it,” says Rick Wesson, CEO of Support Intelligence — a small San Francisco-based security company that alerted Wired News to the problem.’
‘Managers have apologised after maggots from a dead seagull fell through the ceiling of the maternity unit at Scarborough Hospital.
Medical director Dr Ian Holland said the bird had died on the roof, which was not an area covered by regular maintenance checks.
He stressed there was no health risk to patients or babies at any time.
“Living at the seaside, seagulls are a part of our lives, but this was entirely unforeseeable,” he added.’
‘Cosmetic procedures billed as “vaginal rejuvenation,” “designer vaginoplasty” or even “revirgination” are not medically necessary and are not guaranteed to be safe, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists cautioned on Friday.
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The group, which educates and accredits doctors who treat women and deliver babies, said it is deceptive to give the impression that any of these procedures are accepted or routine.
In guidance published in the September issue of its journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology, the group, known as ACOG, said the procedures can cause complications such as infection, altered sensation, pain and scarring.
The procedures include changing the shape or size of the labia, “restoring” the hymen, and tightening the vagina.’
‘A German court has awarded 3,000 euros ($4,100) in damages to a man who had to have the top of his skull replaced with plastic because of a faulty hospital fridge.
Doctors removed the top of the man’s head and put it in cold storage while they operated on his brain, the court in the western city of Koblenz said Tuesday.
Because the refrigerator was defective, the section of skull was not kept cool enough and could not be reattached. Doctors replaced the bone with a plastic prosthesis.’
‘SOME AIDS victims were being buried alive in Papua New Guinea by relatives who could look after them and fear becoming infected themselves, a health worker said today.
Margaret Marabe, who spent five months carrying out an AIDS awareness campaign in the remote Southern Highlands of the South Pacific nation, said she had seen five people buried alive.
One was calling out “Mama, Mama” as the soil was shovelled over his head, said Ms Marabe, who works for a volunteer organisation called Igat Hope, Pidgin English for I’ve Got Hope. [..]
“I said, ‘Why are they doing that?’ And they said, ‘If we let them live, stay in the same house, eat together and use or share utensils, we will contract the disease and we too might die’.”’
