Latest news on "the eye"

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 19:28:07 -0400, Howard Berkowitz wrote:

In article , mlbriggs
wrote:

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 08:17:42 -0500, jmcquown wrote:

st time, a friend drove her to the doctor. She said nope, I don't
want anyone cutting on my eyes anymore. The doctor, a new "young" guy
(she
was in her 60's) said, "You don't understand. I think I can HELP you."
Her
friend said, Jean, go on, let him do this. So she did.


Another story. It happened in the early 1930s -- My grandfather had
been
blind in one eye for over 20 years. He started getting terrible
headaches
that would make him nearly fall when the pain struck him. He went to a
Nose and Throat doctor who found a large polyp in his sinus. It was
surgically removed. A few weeks later my grandfather discovered the
sight had returned to his blind eye.

Among the most moving things I've ever read was a thoughtful line by
James Herriot, on his first use of the first (primitive) antibiotic [1],
sulfanilamide. At the time, he realized, for the first time, that he had
a drug that unquestionably DID something -- and he hadn't a glimmering
of the coming revolution in therapeutics.

I'm deeply educated in pharmacology, but every so often, as a new class
of drugs is introduced, or we gain a new fundamental understanding of
the mode of action of a drug (or an organ system), I get tears in my
eyes as I did when I first read Herriot.

Medicine, including veterinary medicine, has been called "the youngest
science." Most people do not understand how recent even seemingly basic
tests and treatments may be, the majority of them post-WWII. The rate of
progress is increasing at an incredible rate--the amount of knowledge in
biology and medicine probably doubles every 4-7 years.

Today's miracle is tomorrow's routine, and perhaps obsolescent the day
after. We don't always have cures -- but we increasingly have reliable
methods to turn death sentences into manageable chronic diseases with
good quality of life--and tough financial choices.





[1] For any purists, yes, I know sulfonamides are not true "antibiotics"
produced by a microorganism. With the number of synthetic and semi-
synthetic antimicrobials in use today, I feel comfortable in using
the shorter and more familiar term "antibiotic".

You are so right about today's miracle meds. If they had been available
when I was a child, many family members would not have died so young.MLB

Howard Berkowitz wrote:


Medicine, including veterinary medicine, has been called "the youngest
science." Most people do not understand how recent even seemingly basic
tests and treatments may be, the majority of them post-WWII. The rate of
progress is increasing at an incredible rate--the amount of knowledge in
biology and medicine probably doubles every 4-7 years.

It does progress rapidly, When I think of all the changes in treatment
of diabetes during the 34 years I've had it... sometimes I've been a
guinea pig for new medicines and treatment, some of them were discarded
very fast, others have been developed further and become routine. The
new treatments may not help me much now, but I hope future diabetics
will be helped.


--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Howard Berkowitz wrote:


Medicine, including veterinary medicine, has been called "the youngest
science." Most people do not understand how recent even seemingly basic
tests and treatments may be, the majority of them post-WWII. The rate of
progress is increasing at an incredible rate--the amount of knowledge in
biology and medicine probably doubles every 4-7 years.

It does progress rapidly, When I think of all the changes in treatment
of diabetes during the 34 years I've had it... sometimes I've been a
guinea pig for new medicines and treatment, some of them were discarded
very fast, others have been developed further and become routine. The
new treatments may not help me much now, but I hope future diabetics
will be helped.


--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Howard Berkowitz wrote:


Medicine, including veterinary medicine, has been called "the youngest
science." Most people do not understand how recent even seemingly basic
tests and treatments may be, the majority of them post-WWII. The rate of
progress is increasing at an incredible rate--the amount of knowledge in
biology and medicine probably doubles every 4-7 years.

It does progress rapidly, When I think of all the changes in treatment
of diabetes during the 34 years I've had it... sometimes I've been a
guinea pig for new medicines and treatment, some of them were discarded
very fast, others have been developed further and become routine. The
new treatments may not help me much now, but I hope future diabetics
will be helped.


--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Howard, I "pinged" you with this question once before, but you were away at
the time. If you don't want to be bugged with pharmaceutical questions,
though, I understand.

My doctor has prescribe Urocit K to, supposedly, help keep me from forming
calcium kidney stones. I decided not to take it, however, because earlier
this year I had to take medication for ulcers and I read that Urocit K will
aggravate stomach ulcers.

Have you heard anything about his drug?

Thanks!!

Hugs,

CatNipped

Howard, I "pinged" you with this question once before, but you were away at
the time. If you don't want to be bugged with pharmaceutical questions,
though, I understand.

My doctor has prescribe Urocit K to, supposedly, help keep me from forming
calcium kidney stones. I decided not to take it, however, because earlier
this year I had to take medication for ulcers and I read that Urocit K will
aggravate stomach ulcers.

Have you heard anything about his drug?

Thanks!!

Hugs,

CatNipped

In article ,
wrote:

Howard Berkowitz wrote:


Medicine, including veterinary medicine, has been called "the youngest
science." Most people do not understand how recent even seemingly
basic
tests and treatments may be, the majority of them post-WWII. The rate
of
progress is increasing at an incredible rate--the amount of knowledge
in
biology and medicine probably doubles every 4-7 years.

It does progress rapidly, When I think of all the changes in treatment
of diabetes during the 34 years I've had it... sometimes I've been a
guinea pig for new medicines and treatment, some of them were discarded
very fast, others have been developed further and become routine. The
new treatments may not help me much now, but I hope future diabetics
will be helped.


It's not that well known, but there experiments underway that may result
in a vaccine to prevent Type I diabetes (not "adult onset" Type II).
There is a good deal of evidence that children may catch a symptom-free
virus that then disappears. Unfortunately, that particular virus has a
surface protein that looks like one on a pancreatic islet cell, which
produces insulin.

The idea is that the virus causes antibodies to form against it, which
then go off and destroy pancreatic cells. If the virus can be prevented,
and the theory is correct, type I diabetes immunization may become a
routine childhood thing.

In article ,
wrote:

Howard Berkowitz wrote:


Medicine, including veterinary medicine, has been called "the youngest
science." Most people do not understand how recent even seemingly
basic
tests and treatments may be, the majority of them post-WWII. The rate
of
progress is increasing at an incredible rate--the amount of knowledge
in
biology and medicine probably doubles every 4-7 years.

It does progress rapidly, When I think of all the changes in treatment
of diabetes during the 34 years I've had it... sometimes I've been a
guinea pig for new medicines and treatment, some of them were discarded
very fast, others have been developed further and become routine. The
new treatments may not help me much now, but I hope future diabetics
will be helped.


It's not that well known, but there experiments underway that may result
in a vaccine to prevent Type I diabetes (not "adult onset" Type II).
There is a good deal of evidence that children may catch a symptom-free
virus that then disappears. Unfortunately, that particular virus has a
surface protein that looks like one on a pancreatic islet cell, which
produces insulin.

The idea is that the virus causes antibodies to form against it, which
then go off and destroy pancreatic cells. If the virus can be prevented,
and the theory is correct, type I diabetes immunization may become a
routine childhood thing.

In article , "CatNipped"
wrote:

Howard, I "pinged" you with this question once before, but you were away
at
the time. If you don't want to be bugged with pharmaceutical questions,
though, I understand.

My doctor has prescribe Urocit K to, supposedly, help keep me from
forming
calcium kidney stones. I decided not to take it, however, because
earlier
this year I had to take medication for ulcers and I read that Urocit K
will
aggravate stomach ulcers.

Have you heard anything about his drug?

It seems like a fairly benign drug, but does have some warnings about
use with ulcers -- I'm not immediately sure, given what it does, why it
should be a problem.

My more fundamental question, however, is about your ulcers. A very
substantial percentage of ulcers are curable with medication, if they
are caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Testing for
this is quite simple--the preferred method is a breath test after you've
taken a test drug. More often than not, two weeks or so of an
antibiotic in combination with anti-ulcer medication will cure it. Some
people may need a couple of courses of antibiotics.

Do you know if you have been tested for H. pylori?

In article , "CatNipped"
wrote:

Howard, I "pinged" you with this question once before, but you were away
at
the time. If you don't want to be bugged with pharmaceutical questions,
though, I understand.

My doctor has prescribe Urocit K to, supposedly, help keep me from
forming
calcium kidney stones. I decided not to take it, however, because
earlier
this year I had to take medication for ulcers and I read that Urocit K
will
aggravate stomach ulcers.

Have you heard anything about his drug?

It seems like a fairly benign drug, but does have some warnings about
use with ulcers -- I'm not immediately sure, given what it does, why it
should be a problem.

My more fundamental question, however, is about your ulcers. A very
substantial percentage of ulcers are curable with medication, if they
are caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Testing for
this is quite simple--the preferred method is a breath test after you've
taken a test drug. More often than not, two weeks or so of an
antibiotic in combination with anti-ulcer medication will cure it. Some
people may need a couple of courses of antibiotics.

Do you know if you have been tested for H. pylori?