Archive | November 2010
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Your Heart in 3D
Ultrasound imaging is best known for pictures of developing fetuses; 3D is typically associated with monster movies. But when you put the two together and aim the technology at the heart, they create a valuable tool that is changing the way heart disease is treated. Three-dimensional echocardiography is a cutting edge imaging technique used to […]
The MS Cases That Aren’t
Doctors classify diseases like zoologists classify animals. A new disease, discovered and described, is placed next to diseases with similar symptoms, causes, and prognosis, which helps inform physicians about the best treatments to initially try. Later, when more specific information is known about a disease, that classification may change – just as biologists have dramatically […]
Depleting the Thanksgiving Amino Acid
Thanks to its association with the Thanksgiving turkey, tryptophan has become probably the most popular amino acid. Whether it’s being blamed for the strong post-meal desire for a nap or being rhymed with “gravy in the pan” in a dancey clothing store commercial, tryptophan is the envy of its 19 peers in the standard amino […]
Cancer Disparities at an Early Age
Racial disparities have been described for almost every type of cancer, with the gap in outcomes widening or holding steady between black and white patients in breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancers. Much debate has occurred over the causes of these disparities, with most focusing on the overlapping factors of socioeconomic status, access to health […]
Stepping in a Pile of…New Genomic Data
Genomic sequencing has made incredible strides in recent years, with both the cost and the time required to sequence an individual’s entire DNA sequence dropping meteorically. Yet one rate-limiting step for securing an organism’s genome remains: in order to sequence a species’ genetic information, you need a sample to start with. In humans or laboratory […]
Linkage 11/19: Snake Fangs & Chinese Bridges
Fangs You Very Much, Evolution Where did the snake get its fangs? It sounds like the lead-in to a Rudyard Kipling Just So stories, but it’s a legitimate evolutionary biology question about one of nature’s deadliest weapons, one that goes back 20 million years ago to the oldest snakes in the fossil record. But even […]
Exporting Community Health Halfway Around the Globe
Facing rising medical costs and shortages of physicians in rural and urban areas, a government calls for health care reform. Experts warn that more primary care and family medicine physicians are needed to meet the surging demand for first-line treatment, chronic disease management, and the promotion of prevention. In response, medical schools look for ways […]
MacLean Conference Day 2: Ancient Ethics, Modern Medicine
“In this sense, we may indeed say that medicine has saved the life of ethics, in that it has given back to ethics a seriousness and relevance which it seemed to have lost for good.” -Stephen Toulmin, 1982 “The emergence of medical ethics in the latter half of the 20th century helped revive medicine, saved […]
MacLean Conference Day 1: The Ethics of Health Care Reform
Anyone who dares make predictions about the future of the U.S. health care system in 2010 is standing on shaky ground. With the passing of the Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)- the legislative product of the health care reform debate – everyone knows that the rules are about to change in this country, […]
Linkage 11/12: Bacterial Concrete and Ethics Fest
Here in Chicago, we’re entering the second of our two seasons: transitioning from “Construction” into “Winter.” The rampant highway repair that happens during warm weather months is largely due to the stresses of the cold weather months, which leave our roads cracked and potholed. But perhaps we’ll be saved from all that misery if a […]
