At last, a decent HIV article

This one is from Sci Am.

via ERV

Posted in medicine, microbiology | 2 Comments »

Disease among Brazil’s “Forest People”

A week or so ago, I posted and commented some pictures released by the BBC on the isolated tribes living in the forests of Brazil.

This is an interesting article from the New York Times that gives an interesting and more complete perspective on the matter than the BBC report did.

I think this is a poignant quote:

If they are removed and survive the exposure to diseases they have never encountered, it is likely that the unique knowledge and beliefs that define them, the spirit of their life, will probably slip away.

It’s pretty much a lose/lose situation.  Rapid growth of western culture will eventually and inevitably bring these groups into contact with western diseases.  Therefore, they will have to accept western medicine if they hope to survive.  It is likely therefore, that they will lose their culture from this, even if it isn’t necessarily in a single generation.

So, assuming that they want to keep their culture in the first place, they are going to have to make some difficult decisions in the near future.

via Gene expression 

Posted in medicine, musings, news, politics | 1 Comment »

As if we need a reason to drink

But having one doesn’t hurt.

Posted in link out, medicine, news | No Comments »

Parasite infections and anemia

No, it’s not a sandworm from Dune… (though the resemblance is uncanny):

It’s actually a Hookworm, a multicellular parasite that infects the intestine of humans and other mammals.

A study reported on in Microbiology Bytes explains a finding in which polyparasitic infections are implicated in the worsening of conditions of anemia in children.  When hookworm and either Schistosoma japonicum or Trichuris co-infect a host higher levels of anemia are detected.  This is despite the fact that these two parasites do not infect the same part of the host.

Interestingly, there is some synergistic affect that is occurring indirectly in the host.  This provides some compelling evidence to conduct further epidemiological studies,to help control anemia by its corresponding parasitic pathogens.  Further physiological studies are also needed, it appears to determine the synergistic role that these parasites play.

Posted in link out, medicine, microbiology, news | 2 Comments »

Antimicrobial Pencils (a response from Microban)

A few days ago, I blogged about a company that put a wide range of long-lasting antimicrobial products into a wide range of products. I wrote the company to complain about their practices, especially in regards to the evolution of antimicrobial resistance, due to the overuse of antimicrobial products.

To my surprise, I actually got a response from Microban International, Ltd. to the email I sent:

Dear Mr. [ecoli]

I appreciate your concern, and applaud your going to the effort of expressing an opinion on an major issue; but I also must point out that this issue shows the need for applying critical thinking to what is published, particularly on science and health in the mass media, and to be sure that you study primary sources of information before forming your opinions.

Resistant strains, such as MRSA, are an issue in the medical use of antibiotics, a subset of antimicrobials with particular modes of action and patterns of use. Microban uses general purpose biocides, another subset of antimicrobials, with multiple modes of action, which do not cause resistant strains as demonstrated in both clinical studies and in over a century of use. Triclosan is one of the antimicrobials that we use, is probably one of the most studied of the antimicrobials, and despite all of the hysteria around it has been shown in something like 6-7 clinical studies, including one by the guy who started the whole thing, and 30 years of use to not cause resistant strains. In addition, our mode of use of antimicrobials, incorporating them into products so that there is always a greater than inhibitory concentration of antimicrobial available, would minimize the likelihood of development of resistant strains; whereas the use of disinfectants and general purpose antimicrobials, common in medical, public spaces, and the home, continually cycles through substantial periods of sub-inhibitory concentrations, a situation far more likely to result in resistant strains but doesn’t. The focus on triclosan and other general purpose antimicrobials is just a red herring that distracts from the real issues concerning the use of antibiotics.

I have attached a white paper that reviews the science behind this issue with regard to general purpose antimicrobials and lists the key papers reporting on the research in this area. I hope that you will take the time to study them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Wayne Swofford

VP, Research & Development
Microban International

I’ve made the paper they gave me available as a Google Doc. I’m going to read the paper in detail over the next several days, but I’m sure at least some of the technical aspects are going to be above my head. So I appeal to the masses to give me a hand in reviewing the paper, to attempt to falsify their work. I don’t want Microban to win out in a simple ‘Appeal to Authority’ if their study is, in fact, bunk.

I urge people who are interested in this issue, to take part. I’ve posted a thread at ScienceForums.net (my home base), which anyone can and should take part in. And, bloggers, feel free to write about this in your own blogs.

Posted in education, evolution, genetics, medicine, microbiology | No Comments »

How to control MRSA

Microblogology shares a study by the Evanston Northwestern’s MRSA screening program that demonstrates that the most effective ways to control infectious diseases can also be the cheapest, and least ’scientific.’ To study epidemiology is to be smart about pathogens. Where are they coming from, how do they infect, what physical barriers can we set up to stop the spread of pathogens from patient to patient?

The study found that 8.5% of their patients carried MRSA into the hospital (carried, not necessarily infected with). By isolating these patients and taking special precautions, in terms of hygienic practices, the hospital was able to cut down hospital-acquired infections 70%.

This is a more cheaper way to control MRSA than drug development, and it doesn’t give the bacteria a chance to development new antibiotic resistance in the first place. Simple cleanliness and hygiene can probably to attributed to the lessening of the roles of infectious pathogens to the human death rate perhaps even more than antibiotics or vaccines. We seem to have forgotten this along the way; that chemicals and not efficient planning is the more effective method of preventing infections.

Posted in link out, medicine, microbiology, news | 1 Comment »

Green tea

What’s with the recent obsession with green tea for its alleged medicinal properties?

Every weekend I turn on the radio, and I’ll hear on at least 3 major stations, and all day long is people talking about how great green tea is. Here’s a short list of the supposed healing powers of green tea, courtesy of the Beauty Blog.

• promotes blood circulation
• increases the body’s natural resistance
• helps with oxygenation
• helps achieve “greater harmony”
• improves the body’s ability to handle the external physical and     psycological [sic] pressures of life
• prevents tooth decay and maketeeth more resistant to acids
• promote digestion and cleanses the body internally
• tea drinkers say that they actually feel less tired and brightens their whole outlook

So anything this wonderful, of course makes me immediately suspicious. It sounds like alternative medicine to me, which I immediately wary of, because proponents almost invariably exaggerate the benefits, if there are any.

doing some quick poking around at scienceblogs, I found some mixed results. The Angry Toxicologist found some incorrect reporting in a major news outlet about green tea. Respectful Insolence found a study, the title of which was more enthusiastic than the results indicated.

On the other hand, this webpage from the University of Maryland lists some benefits and references, which I assume are relatively accurate (though I haven’t checked up on all them).

So, for now I conclude that we don’t yet know enough about green tea and the effects on the body to state anything overly positive or negative about it. I know that people who frequent places like the Green Tea blog and forum would like to believe that green tea is the magical mystery cure. However, just from my general experience with biology and medicine, there is rarely any single substance that is a cure all, and that even healthy substances should be rationed appropriately, balance and variety being key to a healthy diet. I also recommend sticking to reputable news sources, try to avoid those radio programs, and make sure to check the sources on all information. When it comes to health, you can afford to be skeptical about miracle elixirs and potions.

Posted in link out, medicine, musings | 4 Comments »

Commonality of Antibiotic Resistance

Small Things Considered reports on a scientific finding that shows that antibiotic resistance in bacteria strains taken from soil samples is fairly common.  Even though in some of these samples, they would be unlikely to have come into contact with man-made antibiotics.  Testing 18 antibiotics from man-made and natural sources against 11 different samples, researchers did not find any sample that didn’t have bacteria that could metabolize at least 1 antibiotic. 

Its an interesting find, which has implications for medicine and health, but is it surprising?  I would tend to disagree.  Given the rate that bacteria can evolve antibiotic resistance, it stands to reason that there should bacteria exist in nature that can metabolize them.

I quote Paul Orwin who left a comment in the above blog post:

I thought it was fairly clear that in the environment, there are lots of bacteria making antibiotics, and others that can break them down and/or resist them… I can’t see any way that this doesn’t affect clinical use of antibiotics. First, we know that there is plenty of movement of bacteria between soil and host organisms. Second, we know there is plenty of gene transfer going on in both environments. Therefore, there is a very high probability that within a soil microbial population, there is a potential pathogen (Burk and Pseudo being pretty strong contenders) that eats antibiotics for breakfast.

Posted in evolution, medicine, microbiology | 1 Comment »

H. pylori – the story of stomach ulcers

Helicobacter pylori is a fascinating bacteria with an interesting historical timeline.  The Microbiology Blog ran a little segment on it, to announce an upcoming book, and I thought I’d add to the story.

Back in the days before 1979, stomach ulcers were blamed entirely on spicy food and stress.  People that came down with ulcers or gastritis were put on a bland diet of oatmeal and soft foods like that.

Enter Australian pathologists, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall.   They successfully isolated and cultured H. pylori from mucosal linings of the stomach specimens.  They suggested that it was H. pylori in fact, and not diet, that was the direct agent of stomach ulcers and gastritis.

Initially, the response of the scientific community was skepticism.  The consensus was that no organism could survive the high acidity of the stomach (pH 2).  However, in an astonishing experiment, they proved the entire scientific community wrong.

Dr. Marshall drank H. pylori cultures, subsequently developing gastritis and the organism was recovered from his stomach lining.  After ten days, an endoscopy was taken proving his symptoms were, in fact, gastritis and that H. pylori was present.  He then treated himself with bismuth salts and Metronidazole, antibiotics to anaerobic organisms.  They went on to show antibiotics as an effective treatment for many clinical cases of stomach ulcers.

To make the case even more interesting, in turned out, from later DNA sequencing data, this organism represented an entirely new genus of bacteria.  Of which, several other species were discovered in other mammals and birds.

For their work and obvious dedication to ‘hands on’ experimentation, Warren and Barry received the 2005 Nobel Prize in medicine.

*disclaimer: drinking bacterial cultures will not necessarily garauntee a Noble Prize, though if you’re really desperate, it might be worth a try*

Posted in medicine, microbiology | 6 Comments »

Battlefield Acupunture

Orac, from science blogs’s Respectful Insolance, brings to light a disturbing new trend in medicine; Woo invades the military.

Apparently, some German and American medics are (independently) exploring the use acupuncture to deal with pain. Despite the enthusiasm the military seems to have for this new program, they don’t seem to care much about waiting for research to discover if acupuncture is actually does what they say. It seems like this could be a potentially expensive and dangerous display of the placebo effect.

Ask Col. Richard Niemtzow, a radiation oncologist-turned acupuncturist for the Air Force how to deal with phantom pain of amputees and he’ll tell you to put needles into the ear, an organ closely associated with the central nervous system. The needles interfere with pain processing by interrupting and turning “the pathways.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in link out, medicine, news | 3 Comments »