Category: Basic Science
Blue Light. Special?
I do not sleep as well as I used to. Perhaps it is being tormented by guilt and worry combined with profound existential angst. Or maybe it is my iPad. I gave up on most dead tree editions. I miss the smell and feel of books and magazines, but nothing is better than being able to increase the font size to 18....
Stem Cell Tourism for Eye Disease: No Passport Required
Stem cell clinics outside the United States, and outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. regulations, have flourished and the pursuit of treatment at these centers has been called “stem cell tourism.” Seekers of unproven stem cell therapies no longer need to look outside the U.S. Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher and leading advocate for the responsible use of stem cell technology,...
Infectious Diseases and Cancer
With apologies to my colleagues, but infectious diseases really is the most interesting specialty in medicine. There are innumerable interesting associations and interactions of infectious diseases in medicine, history, art, science, and, well, life, the universe and everything. ID is so 42. A recent email led me to wander the numerous interactions between infections and cancer. There are the cancers that are...
Parkinson’s Disease: A Detective Story
I didn’t intend to review Jon Palfreman’s book Brain Storms: The Race to Unlock the Mysteries of Parkinson’s Disease, but after reading it I decided it was too good not to share. Palfreman is an award-winning science journalist who has Parkinson’s himself. He has done a bang-up job of describing Parkinson’s disease, its impact on patients, and how science is working to...
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease Speculcation
My wife and I are entering an age where our aches and pains are becoming a major ongoing topic of conversations. The pain of raising kids has transitioned into the pains of growing older. These aches and pains are, in the scheme of things, minor and intermittent. At work I get to see real suffering and it keeps my own in perspective....
3-Bromopyruvate: The latest cancer cure “they” don’t want you to know about
Why is it that whenever naturopaths and other quacks embrace a new "cancer cure," somehow "they" (whoever "they" are) don't want you to know about it? In this case, it's 3-BP, an actual experimental drug that shows some promise but is by no means ready for prime time (or FDA approval) yet.
Acupuncture and Endorphins: Not all that Impressive
I was reading, and deconstructing, a particularly awful bit of advice for acupuncture by Consumer Reports. It was the same old same old, but it was the source that made it particularly awful. I expect more from Consumer Reports than the uncritical regurgitation of the standard mythical acupuncture narrative. The report included the quote One possible reason for the benefits of acupuncture:...
The Gene: An Intimate History
Six years ago I reviewed Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. It was hands-down one of the best books I have ever read on a medical topic. Now he’s done it again. His new book is titled The Gene: An Intimate History. Mukherjee is a superb writer. Much of what I said about his first book...