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HuckleB
HuckleB's Journal
HuckleB's Journal
April 8, 2016
"African Americans are routinely under-treated for their pain compared with whites, according to research. A study released Monday sheds some disturbing light on why that might be the case.
Researchers at the University of Virginia quizzed white medical students and residents to see how many believed inaccurate and at times "fantastical" differences about the two races -- for example, that blacks have less sensitive nerve endings than whites or that black people's blood coagulates more quickly. They found that fully half thought at least one of the false statements presented was possibly, probably or definitely true.
Moreover, those who held false beliefs often rated black patients' pain as lower than that of white patients and made less appropriate recommendations about how they should be treated.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help illuminate one of the most vexing problems in pain treatment today: That whites are more likely than blacks to be prescribed strong pain medications for equivalent ailments.
..."
---------------------------------------------------------
The disturbing reason some African American patients may be undertreated for pain
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/04/04/do-blacks-feel-less-pain-than-whites-their-doctors-may-think-so/"African Americans are routinely under-treated for their pain compared with whites, according to research. A study released Monday sheds some disturbing light on why that might be the case.
Researchers at the University of Virginia quizzed white medical students and residents to see how many believed inaccurate and at times "fantastical" differences about the two races -- for example, that blacks have less sensitive nerve endings than whites or that black people's blood coagulates more quickly. They found that fully half thought at least one of the false statements presented was possibly, probably or definitely true.
Moreover, those who held false beliefs often rated black patients' pain as lower than that of white patients and made less appropriate recommendations about how they should be treated.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help illuminate one of the most vexing problems in pain treatment today: That whites are more likely than blacks to be prescribed strong pain medications for equivalent ailments.
..."
---------------------------------------------------------
April 8, 2016
"...
Another aphorism that I distinctly remember from later in my medical school experience was delivered on the very first day of my pharmacology class. Within the first five minutes the professor told us that all medications were poisons. They all interfere with normal cellular processes in some way. The ones we use as physicians just interfere with cellular processes in a way that can be beneficial in disease, and, quoting Paracelsus, he noted that the dose makes the poison.
So, yes, all medications are poisons in that they “poison” an enzyme or other biomolecule. (Look for a quack near you to quote mine that statement by saying, for instance, “Orac says all medications are poisons” and leaving out the rest of the sentence.) I’ll give you an example: Aspirin. Aspirin, as many of you know, is acetylsalicylic acid. This particular molecule irreversibly inhibits an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX), which is involved in the production of mediators of inflammation, among other things. The exact details aren’t important, such as how aspirin inhibits the COX1 version more than COX 2 or how it does so by attaching an acetyl chemical group to the active site of the enzyme. The point is that aspirin permanently inactivates an enzyme. It poisons the cell. That’s how it works. In fact, when used as a “blood thinner,” aspirin permanently poisons a certain kind of cell, namely the platelet. Because a platelet doesn’t have a nucleus, it can’t make more COX. What it has when it’s made is all that it will ever have, and if that COX is irreversibly blocked, that platelet’s function is impaired for the rest of its lifespan. Again, without getting too technical, that’s how aspirin works as a blood thinner. It’s an antiplatelet drug.
...
As noted above, whenever a physician treats a disease or condition with a drug—or any other treatment, for that matter—it’s a question of balancing risks with benefits. All real physicians know that. It’s what they are trained to do. It’s only in the fantasy world of deluded idiots like Mike Adams, Joe Mercola, antivaccinationists, and the usual assortment of quacks and cranks that there are medications or treatments for illness that have real therapeutic effects that don’t also have risks and side effects. In some cases, these side effects and risks can be serious. Even when true, that doesn’t invalidate or otherwise render useless the treatment and its therapeutic effects.
...
All drugs are poisons, and that’s OK. They couldn’t work if they weren’t poisons. It’s the nature of the poison—and the dose—that determines their usefulness, and all drugs have risks to go along with their benefits. Damn that nuance."
----------------------------------------
A very good read, indeed.
All drugs are poisons, and that’s OK
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/04/07/all-drugs-are-poisons-and-thats-ok/"...
Another aphorism that I distinctly remember from later in my medical school experience was delivered on the very first day of my pharmacology class. Within the first five minutes the professor told us that all medications were poisons. They all interfere with normal cellular processes in some way. The ones we use as physicians just interfere with cellular processes in a way that can be beneficial in disease, and, quoting Paracelsus, he noted that the dose makes the poison.
So, yes, all medications are poisons in that they “poison” an enzyme or other biomolecule. (Look for a quack near you to quote mine that statement by saying, for instance, “Orac says all medications are poisons” and leaving out the rest of the sentence.) I’ll give you an example: Aspirin. Aspirin, as many of you know, is acetylsalicylic acid. This particular molecule irreversibly inhibits an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX), which is involved in the production of mediators of inflammation, among other things. The exact details aren’t important, such as how aspirin inhibits the COX1 version more than COX 2 or how it does so by attaching an acetyl chemical group to the active site of the enzyme. The point is that aspirin permanently inactivates an enzyme. It poisons the cell. That’s how it works. In fact, when used as a “blood thinner,” aspirin permanently poisons a certain kind of cell, namely the platelet. Because a platelet doesn’t have a nucleus, it can’t make more COX. What it has when it’s made is all that it will ever have, and if that COX is irreversibly blocked, that platelet’s function is impaired for the rest of its lifespan. Again, without getting too technical, that’s how aspirin works as a blood thinner. It’s an antiplatelet drug.
...
As noted above, whenever a physician treats a disease or condition with a drug—or any other treatment, for that matter—it’s a question of balancing risks with benefits. All real physicians know that. It’s what they are trained to do. It’s only in the fantasy world of deluded idiots like Mike Adams, Joe Mercola, antivaccinationists, and the usual assortment of quacks and cranks that there are medications or treatments for illness that have real therapeutic effects that don’t also have risks and side effects. In some cases, these side effects and risks can be serious. Even when true, that doesn’t invalidate or otherwise render useless the treatment and its therapeutic effects.
...
All drugs are poisons, and that’s OK. They couldn’t work if they weren’t poisons. It’s the nature of the poison—and the dose—that determines their usefulness, and all drugs have risks to go along with their benefits. Damn that nuance."
----------------------------------------
A very good read, indeed.
April 8, 2016
"...
Another aphorism that I distinctly remember from later in my medical school experience was delivered on the very first day of my pharmacology class. Within the first five minutes the professor told us that all medications were poisons. They all interfere with normal cellular processes in some way. The ones we use as physicians just interfere with cellular processes in a way that can be beneficial in disease, and, quoting Paracelsus, he noted that the dose makes the poison.
So, yes, all medications are poisons in that they “poison” an enzyme or other biomolecule. (Look for a quack near you to quote mine that statement by saying, for instance, “Orac says all medications are poisons” and leaving out the rest of the sentence.) I’ll give you an example: Aspirin. Aspirin, as many of you know, is acetylsalicylic acid. This particular molecule irreversibly inhibits an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX), which is involved in the production of mediators of inflammation, among other things. The exact details aren’t important, such as how aspirin inhibits the COX1 version more than COX 2 or how it does so by attaching an acetyl chemical group to the active site of the enzyme. The point is that aspirin permanently inactivates an enzyme. It poisons the cell. That’s how it works. In fact, when used as a “blood thinner,” aspirin permanently poisons a certain kind of cell, namely the platelet. Because a platelet doesn’t have a nucleus, it can’t make more COX. What it has when it’s made is all that it will ever have, and if that COX is irreversibly blocked, that platelet’s function is impaired for the rest of its lifespan. Again, without getting too technical, that’s how aspirin works as a blood thinner. It’s an antiplatelet drug.
...
As noted above, whenever a physician treats a disease or condition with a drug—or any other treatment, for that matter—it’s a question of balancing risks with benefits. All real physicians know that. It’s what they are trained to do. It’s only in the fantasy world of deluded idiots like Mike Adams, Joe Mercola, antivaccinationists, and the usual assortment of quacks and cranks that there are medications or treatments for illness that have real therapeutic effects that don’t also have risks and side effects. In some cases, these side effects and risks can be serious. Even when true, that doesn’t invalidate or otherwise render useless the treatment and its therapeutic effects.
...
All drugs are poisons, and that’s OK. They couldn’t work if they weren’t poisons. It’s the nature of the poison—and the dose—that determines their usefulness, and all drugs have risks to go along with their benefits. Damn that nuance."
----------------------------------------
A very good read, indeed.
All drugs are poisons, and that’s OK
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/04/07/all-drugs-are-poisons-and-thats-ok/"...
Another aphorism that I distinctly remember from later in my medical school experience was delivered on the very first day of my pharmacology class. Within the first five minutes the professor told us that all medications were poisons. They all interfere with normal cellular processes in some way. The ones we use as physicians just interfere with cellular processes in a way that can be beneficial in disease, and, quoting Paracelsus, he noted that the dose makes the poison.
So, yes, all medications are poisons in that they “poison” an enzyme or other biomolecule. (Look for a quack near you to quote mine that statement by saying, for instance, “Orac says all medications are poisons” and leaving out the rest of the sentence.) I’ll give you an example: Aspirin. Aspirin, as many of you know, is acetylsalicylic acid. This particular molecule irreversibly inhibits an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX), which is involved in the production of mediators of inflammation, among other things. The exact details aren’t important, such as how aspirin inhibits the COX1 version more than COX 2 or how it does so by attaching an acetyl chemical group to the active site of the enzyme. The point is that aspirin permanently inactivates an enzyme. It poisons the cell. That’s how it works. In fact, when used as a “blood thinner,” aspirin permanently poisons a certain kind of cell, namely the platelet. Because a platelet doesn’t have a nucleus, it can’t make more COX. What it has when it’s made is all that it will ever have, and if that COX is irreversibly blocked, that platelet’s function is impaired for the rest of its lifespan. Again, without getting too technical, that’s how aspirin works as a blood thinner. It’s an antiplatelet drug.
...
As noted above, whenever a physician treats a disease or condition with a drug—or any other treatment, for that matter—it’s a question of balancing risks with benefits. All real physicians know that. It’s what they are trained to do. It’s only in the fantasy world of deluded idiots like Mike Adams, Joe Mercola, antivaccinationists, and the usual assortment of quacks and cranks that there are medications or treatments for illness that have real therapeutic effects that don’t also have risks and side effects. In some cases, these side effects and risks can be serious. Even when true, that doesn’t invalidate or otherwise render useless the treatment and its therapeutic effects.
...
All drugs are poisons, and that’s OK. They couldn’t work if they weren’t poisons. It’s the nature of the poison—and the dose—that determines their usefulness, and all drugs have risks to go along with their benefits. Damn that nuance."
----------------------------------------
A very good read, indeed.
April 7, 2016
Jeffrey Smith is one of the worst scam artists of all time.
Again, get your butt over to Food and Farm Discussion Lab on Facebook.
Don't buy in to scumbags like Jeffrey Smith, Vani Hari, Mercola, and the like.
http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2014/09/1157-jeffery-smith.html
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Smith
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/2013/05/14/leaky-brains-and-gmos/#.Vwbe6_krIdU
https://sleuth4health.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/is-jeffrey-smith-blinded-by-his-own-light/
April 6, 2016
Let's have a "What'd I Say?" afternoon/evening! I'll start with Herbie Mann's version.
April 6, 2016
Rest in peace, Hag.
Silver wings shining in the sunlight
Roaring engines headed somewhere in flight
They're taking you away, leaving me lonely
Silver wings slowly fading out of sight
April 6, 2016
"The new Black Panther comic book series, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze, is the most anticipated comic debut of the past decade. And let's get one thing squared away up front: It's excellent.
Coates and Stelfreeze have created a pocket in the ever-expanding Marvel comic universe that's daring and wondrous, but also organic and natural — a place and a comic that feels crucial and important to the company's legacy.
Within the first six pages of Coates and Stelfreeze's comic, you begin to find out just how abbreviated that version of his story really is. Many comics that have featured Black Panther have touched on the responsibility he feels in being tethered to his country, but they've never fully realized the complicated political situation he's in or fleshed out the people he's pledged his fealty to.
...
Ultimately, Stelfreeze and Coates have woven a story that Black Panther deserves, and one that pushes his and Wakanda's preestablished narrative into brave new territory. This is a story about a man of his people, and unlike many Black Panther stories of the past, it does justice to and makes us care about those he's pledged to serve and protect. It's a brilliant start to one of Marvel's most promising new series, and like the hero whose story it tells, it's poised to defy its already grand expectations."
----------------------------------------------
Yeah!
Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze is brilliant, political, and human
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/5/11362636/black-panther-tanehisi-coates-review"The new Black Panther comic book series, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze, is the most anticipated comic debut of the past decade. And let's get one thing squared away up front: It's excellent.
Coates and Stelfreeze have created a pocket in the ever-expanding Marvel comic universe that's daring and wondrous, but also organic and natural — a place and a comic that feels crucial and important to the company's legacy.
Within the first six pages of Coates and Stelfreeze's comic, you begin to find out just how abbreviated that version of his story really is. Many comics that have featured Black Panther have touched on the responsibility he feels in being tethered to his country, but they've never fully realized the complicated political situation he's in or fleshed out the people he's pledged his fealty to.
...
Ultimately, Stelfreeze and Coates have woven a story that Black Panther deserves, and one that pushes his and Wakanda's preestablished narrative into brave new territory. This is a story about a man of his people, and unlike many Black Panther stories of the past, it does justice to and makes us care about those he's pledged to serve and protect. It's a brilliant start to one of Marvel's most promising new series, and like the hero whose story it tells, it's poised to defy its already grand expectations."
----------------------------------------------
Yeah!
April 6, 2016
"Last week, a group of 11 students kicked off a protest at St. Olaf College, wearing “Ask Me How My College Is Protecting My Rapist” t-shirts on campus to protest its mishandling of rape cases. While the media attention given to campus sexual assault remains largely limited to a certain demographic (Ivy League and Northeast), their efforts go to at least show that gender violence is happening across the country—and so is student organizing to fight it.
Madeline Wilson, a senior at St. Olaf and a fourth generation of her family to attend the small religious school in Minnesota, says the college grossly mishandled her rape report when school officials allowed lawyers to unfairly manipulate the investigation process and failed to use the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights evidence standards. They also allowed the perpetrator to stalk and harass Wilson for months in retaliation for reporting, without taking action to protect her. Wilson says:
Wilson’s report of her school’s mishandling of her case is part and parcel with testimonies by numerous other sexual assault survivors and student activists at St. Olaf College, 11 of whom have have committed to wearing the shirts around campus for the rest of the year or until the school initiates policy revisions. The group’s creative efforts to draw attention to their school’s gross incompetence draws from important work by countless other student survivors cross the country. The fact that their group has secured a meeting with top campus officials (who have invited the Department of Education to conduct an independent review of their policies) only speaks to the power of youth organizing.
..."
------------------------------------------------------------------
The piece says it all.
T-SHIRT OF THE DAY: ASK ME HOW MY COLLEGE IS PROTECTING MY RAPIST
http://feministing.com/2016/04/05/t-shirt-of-the-day-ask-me-how-my-college-is-protecting-my-rapist/"Last week, a group of 11 students kicked off a protest at St. Olaf College, wearing “Ask Me How My College Is Protecting My Rapist” t-shirts on campus to protest its mishandling of rape cases. While the media attention given to campus sexual assault remains largely limited to a certain demographic (Ivy League and Northeast), their efforts go to at least show that gender violence is happening across the country—and so is student organizing to fight it.
Madeline Wilson, a senior at St. Olaf and a fourth generation of her family to attend the small religious school in Minnesota, says the college grossly mishandled her rape report when school officials allowed lawyers to unfairly manipulate the investigation process and failed to use the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights evidence standards. They also allowed the perpetrator to stalk and harass Wilson for months in retaliation for reporting, without taking action to protect her. Wilson says:
After I was raped, I went to the administration because I had confidence in their ability to fairly and professionally handle my case. Despite my trust, I was met with a variety of procedural errors as well as instances in which the college actively refused to protect me. My school has completely failed to address my sexual assault or protect me from further harassment and abuse from my rapist. As the fourth generation of my family to attend St. Olaf, I am deeply hurt by the betrayal of a campus I trusted, and my sense of safety and community here is shattered.
Wilson’s report of her school’s mishandling of her case is part and parcel with testimonies by numerous other sexual assault survivors and student activists at St. Olaf College, 11 of whom have have committed to wearing the shirts around campus for the rest of the year or until the school initiates policy revisions. The group’s creative efforts to draw attention to their school’s gross incompetence draws from important work by countless other student survivors cross the country. The fact that their group has secured a meeting with top campus officials (who have invited the Department of Education to conduct an independent review of their policies) only speaks to the power of youth organizing.
..."
------------------------------------------------------------------
The piece says it all.
April 6, 2016
"...
If you look at the totality of scientific evidence, it does not support the existence of chronic Lyme disease or the approach of treating patients with long term or recurrent courses of antibiotics.
Patients who end up with this diagnosis tend to have non-specific symptoms that could have many causes, and lack a clinical picture specific to Lyme. They also lack serological proof of active Lyme (although may have had past Lyme). Most significantly, they do not respond to antibiotics in rigorous clinical trials.
Proponents of chronic Lyme essentially just dismiss the scientific evidence, and instead resort to anecdotal evidence of a subjective response to treatment in some patients.
As would be expected, when a group has a persistent belief that experts reject due to lack of scientific evidence, or even evidence of lack of efficacy, conspiracy theories proliferate. In this case the usual “Big Pharma” conspiracy won’t work, because the treatment being offered is pharmaceuticals. So a new enemy was invented, insurance companies. They were made the bogeyman for not wanting to pay for multiple courses of IV antibiotics.
..."
-----------------------------------------------------------
FYI.
Chronic Lyme Disease – Another Negative Study
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/chronic-lyme-disease-another-negative-study/"...
If you look at the totality of scientific evidence, it does not support the existence of chronic Lyme disease or the approach of treating patients with long term or recurrent courses of antibiotics.
Patients who end up with this diagnosis tend to have non-specific symptoms that could have many causes, and lack a clinical picture specific to Lyme. They also lack serological proof of active Lyme (although may have had past Lyme). Most significantly, they do not respond to antibiotics in rigorous clinical trials.
Proponents of chronic Lyme essentially just dismiss the scientific evidence, and instead resort to anecdotal evidence of a subjective response to treatment in some patients.
As would be expected, when a group has a persistent belief that experts reject due to lack of scientific evidence, or even evidence of lack of efficacy, conspiracy theories proliferate. In this case the usual “Big Pharma” conspiracy won’t work, because the treatment being offered is pharmaceuticals. So a new enemy was invented, insurance companies. They were made the bogeyman for not wanting to pay for multiple courses of IV antibiotics.
..."
-----------------------------------------------------------
FYI.
April 5, 2016
"Russia police have conducted major raids across Moscow and St. Petersburg targeted against alleged followers of the Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, known for carrying out deadly sarin attacks in Tokyo in the mid-1990s.
Police have detained 44 people across the two cities, searching more than 20 addresses connected with the group, a Russian Interior ministry statement said. Video of the raids broadcast on state Russian TV showed Russian SWAT teams searching apartments, with the alleged sect-members lying on the ground.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the equivalent of the FBI, said those detained were suspected of setting up a branch of the group, which is banned in Russia as a violent organization. The group’s organizers’ main goal was to coerce its followers into handing over their property, using "physical and psychological pressure," investigators said.
The raids follow the mass deportation last week of almost 60 suspected Aum Shinrikyo followers from the tiny Balkan country, Montenegro, where they had reportedly been holding a conference. At least 43 of them were Russian, Montenegro’s Interior ministry said then.
..."
------------------------------------------------
Interesting, or maybe not.
Russia Detains Dozens of Suspected Members of Japanese Doomsday Cult
http://abcnews.go.com/International/russia-detains-dozens-suspected-members-japanese-doomsday-cult/story?id=38160952"Russia police have conducted major raids across Moscow and St. Petersburg targeted against alleged followers of the Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, known for carrying out deadly sarin attacks in Tokyo in the mid-1990s.
Police have detained 44 people across the two cities, searching more than 20 addresses connected with the group, a Russian Interior ministry statement said. Video of the raids broadcast on state Russian TV showed Russian SWAT teams searching apartments, with the alleged sect-members lying on the ground.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the equivalent of the FBI, said those detained were suspected of setting up a branch of the group, which is banned in Russia as a violent organization. The group’s organizers’ main goal was to coerce its followers into handing over their property, using "physical and psychological pressure," investigators said.
The raids follow the mass deportation last week of almost 60 suspected Aum Shinrikyo followers from the tiny Balkan country, Montenegro, where they had reportedly been holding a conference. At least 43 of them were Russian, Montenegro’s Interior ministry said then.
..."
------------------------------------------------
Interesting, or maybe not.
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