With the warnings this week in Canada and the United States about the risks of dosing errors with vitamin D drops, I thought it was an appropriate time to discuss dose measurement as barrier to science-based care. Dosing errors are among the most common and most preventable causes of adverse drug events in children.

Why children? Drugs for children are often in liquid form for ease of measurement and administration. Typically dosed based on milligrams per kilogram, liquid formulations allow us to (in theory) deliver the exact dose that’s appropriate. But measurement isn’t always easy or intuitive. What’s the best way to measure 2.5mL (half a teaspoon)? How easy is it to confuse teaspoons (5mL) and tablespoons (15mL)? And what instructions should health professionals give parents and caregivers to ensure they can measure and administer a dose accurately?  Despite the prevalence of dosing errors, there is little evidence telling us what health professionals, or parents, can do better. Until now.

In a study by Yin et al in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, the authors set out to determine what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to measuring liquid medications for children.

{ Science-Based Pharmacy | Continue reading }

A French drug company is seeking to offer American women something their European counterparts already have: a pill that works long after “the morning after.”

The drug, dubbed ella, would be sold as a contraceptive — one that could prevent pregnancy for as many as five days after unprotected sex. But the new drug is a close chemical relative of the abortion pill RU-486, raising the possibility that it could also induce abortion by making the womb inhospitable for an embryo. (…)

The last time the Food and Drug Administration vetted an emergency contraceptive — Plan B, the so-called morning-after pill — the decision was mired in debate over such fundamental questions as when life begins and the distinction between preventing and terminating a pregnancy. (…)

Plan B, which works for up to 72 hours after sex, was eventually approved for sale without a prescription, although a doctor’s order is required for girls younger than 17. The new drug promises to extend that period to at least 120 hours. Approved in Europe last year, ella is available as an emergency contraceptive in at least 22 countries.

{ Washington Post | Continue reading }

People who meditate regularly find pain less unpleasant because their brains anticipate the pain less, a new study has found.

Scientists from The University of Manchester recruited individuals into the study who had a diverse range of experience with meditation, spanning anything from months to decades. It was only the more advanced meditators whose anticipation and experience of pain differed from non-meditators.

The type of meditation practised also varied across individuals, but all included ‘mindfulness meditation’ practices, such as those that form the basis of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), recommended for recurrent depression by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in 2004. (…)

“The results of the study confirm how we suspected meditation might affect the brain. Meditation trains the brain to be more present-focused and therefore to spend less time anticipating future negative events. This may be why meditation is effective at reducing the recurrence of depression, which makes chronic pain considerably worse.”

{ EurekAlert | Continue reading }

{ BP CEO Hayward told CNN that the sick workers, who blamed their nausea, headaches and chest pain on the oil cleanup at the beach at Grand Isle, probably got sick from food poisoning. | Court News | Full stroy | More: 30 quotes about the oil spill that reveal the horror this disaster is causing. }

Two factors complicate the task of economic forecasting today – the first I bet you know, the second I bet you don’t…

One, obviously, is the financial mess afflicting the world. Simply put, the subprime mortgage crisis, empowered by those attempting to use quasi-governmental agencies to promote homeownership, in combination with unsustainable levels of entitlement spending, have pulled so much capital out of the system that economies are stagnating. This reduces growth and creates unemployment, which adds to the demand for entitlement spending. It’s a vicious circle spinning like a tornado from California to Greece. (…)

For some reason, by the way, the British press is providing better coverage of the Yank economy than most U.S. publications. I recommend, for those who want to read more, an excellent article by the economics editor of The Telegraph. In a story about the IMF’s analysis of the U.S. economy, he points out that “under the Obama administration’s current fiscal plans, the national debt in the U.S. (on a gross basis) will climb to above 100% of GDP by 2015 — a far steeper increase than almost any other country.”

The good news, however, is that voters are learning important lessons. Most people are incapable of changing their minds — until the pain level is sufficiently high. We’ve reached that point. (…)

The second factor that makes it difficult to keep the big picture in mind is the dizzying rate of scientific progress. Things are changing so fast that most people, including policymakers, are operating using outdated assumptions. I’m not talking simply about new gadgets and medicines — we are experiencing a global demographic transformation that affects every area of life. It is taking place on an unprecedented scale, due entirely to advances in science and technology. (…)

So let me get back to the big picture and the opportunity that increasing life spans and health care costs are creating for smart investors.

I consider health care the ultimate hedge in times of economic crisis.

{ Patrick Cox | Continue reading }

While many of us watch 3-D entertainment in awe, others are compelled to look away. There just so happens to be a group of unlucky moviegoers who find that watching hyper 3-D images whiz by while sitting in the relatively still environment of a movie theater causes dizziness nausea, and other ill effects.

With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), experimental psychologists Frederick Bonato and Andrea Bubka of Saint Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J., study this phenomenon, known as ‘cybersickness.’

“Cybersickness is a form of motion sickness that occurs in virtual reality environments,” says Bonato. “We have 3-D video games and 3-D movies, and now we have 3-D television. Viewing stimuli in 3-D may lead to some motion sickness symptoms to some degree.”

To understand cybersickness, you’ll need a quick lesson on motion sickness. “When we move around in the natural way, which is walking or running, the senses give you agreeing inputs,” says Bubka.

“But when your sense of motion doesn’t match up to your sense of sight, your brain may be reacting as if it’s been poisoned,” adds Bonato. “The reaction is to eliminate the poison by either vomiting or having diarrhea. It’s because of evolutionary hardwiring in the brain that leads the brain to mistakenly react as if poisoning has occurred.”

There is no real known reason why some people are more prone to motion sickness than others, the two researchers explain, but they do note some research has found that motion sickness seems to affect more women than men, and even people of certain ethnicities more than others.

“This isn’t just a human problem, either,” notes Bonato. “Motion sickness is experienced by most vertebrates. When some fish are transported in tanks in aircraft, they later find fish vomit, which indicates that the fish developed motion sickness on the ride.”

{ National Science Foundation | Continue reading + video }

An international study of almost 500,000 people has confirmed that eating fruit and vegetables does not ward off cancer, debunking a 20-year-old edict by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It also casts a shadow over the federal government’s $4.8 million advertising campaign, launched five years ago, to encourage people to eat two pieces of fruit and five serves of vegetables a day.


But cancer experts yesterday urged people not to disregard the advice, saying a high intake of fruit and vegetables was still beneficial against heart disease and that some cancers, such as bowel and breast, were linked to obesity.

{ FRESH from Inbox | Continue reading }

photo { Jessica Craig-Martin }

Singapore, the country with the lowest child mortality rate in the world at 2.5 deaths per 1,000 children, cut its rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2010. Serbia and Malaysia, which were ranked behind the U.S. in 1990, cut their rates by nearly 70% and now are ranked higher.

The U.S., which is projected to have 6.7 deaths per 1,000 children this year, saw a 42% decline in child mortality, a pace that is on par with Kazakhstan, Sierra Leone and Angola.

“There are an awful lot of people who think we have the best medical system in the world,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, who directs the institute and is an author of the study. “The data is so contrary to that.”

Even many countries that already had low child mortality rates, such as Sweden and France, were able to cut their rates more rapidly than the U.S. over the last two decades. (…)

Murray said high child mortality rates were not limited to black and Latino populations in the U.S. In fact, researchers have found high rates among higher-income whites, a group that traditionally has better access to medical care.

The data instead suggest broader problems with the nation’s fragmented, poorly planned healthcare system, Murray and other healthcare experts say.

{ LA Times | Continue reading }

During REM sleep, where most dreaming takes place, your eyes move around but it’s never been clear exactly why. A new study just published online by neuroscience journal Brain suggests that they are looking at the ever-changing dream world.

The first question you might ask is how the researchers knew what the dreamers were looking at. To study this, the project recruited people with a condition called REM sleep behaviour disorder who lack the normal sleep paralysis that keeps us still when we dream.

In other words, people with REM sleep behaviour disorder act out their dreams. (…) When the eyes move during REM sleep they are looking at something in the dream world. The eyes seem genuinely to be a bridge between the land of dream consciousness and waking life.

{ Mind Hacks | Continue reading }

There was a peculiar atmosphere at a recent technology conference in Silicon Valley. The glow of laptops was mostly absent and few gazed distractedly at their smartphones. Instead the audience was rapt, entirely focused on the speakers on stage.

“This is the best audience ever,” said Chris Sacca, an early investor at Twitter and a regular at tech conferences. “You’re actually listening to me.”

This was the first Wisdom 2.0 summit, which convened a few hundred spiritually minded technologists – everyone from Buddhist nuns to yogic computer scientists – for two days of panels and presentations on consciousness and computers. The goal: to share tips on how to stay sane amid the tweets, blips, drops and pings of modern life. (…)

“The problem with the kind of jobs we have is that there is no knob to dial down,” said Gopi Kallayil, an Indian-born marketing manager for Google who studied yoga at an ashram when he was younger. He spoke for many of the participants who professed a deep frustration with their inability to find serenity in an increasingly wired modern world. (…)

It seemed that almost everyone believed that our constant web surfing, no matter how noble its intent, is not conducive to the spiritual life. “As much as we’re connected, it seems like we’re very disconnected,” said Soren Gordhamer, the conference organiser. “These technologies are awesome, but what does it mean to use them consciously?”

One obvious way to bridge the techno-spiritual chasm is to make the cubicle a bit more like a temple. This, however, involves more than burning a stick of incense in the office. Google’s “Search Inside Yourself” programme encourages its employees to embark on a spiritual path. Twitter’s conservatively dressed chief technology officer, Greg Pass, said he teaches a form of Tai Chi in the company’s office.

{ Financial Times | Continue reading }

photo { Henri Cartier-Bresson | image #16 in the slideshow }

Scientists are taking a new look at hallucinogens, which became taboo among regulators after enthusiasts like Timothy Leary promoted them in the 1960s with the slogan “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” Now, using rigorous protocols and safeguards, scientists have won permission to study once again the drugs’ potential for treating mental problems and illuminating the nature of consciousness.

After taking the hallucinogen, Dr. Martin put on an eye mask and headphones, and lay on a couch listening to classical music as he contemplated the universe.

“All of a sudden, everything familiar started evaporating,” he recalled. “Imagine you fall off a boat out in the open ocean, and you turn around, and the boat is gone. And then the water’s gone. And then you’re gone.”

Today, more than a year later, Dr. Martin credits that six-hour experience with helping him overcome his depression and profoundly transforming his relationships with his daughter and friends. He ranks it among the most meaningful events of his life, which makes him a fairly typical member of a growing club of experimental subjects.

{ NY Times | Continue reading }

A major international study into the link between cell phone use and two types of brain cancer has proved inconclusive.

A 10-year survey of almost 13,000 participants found most cell phone use didn’t increase the risk of developing meningioma — a common and frequently benign tumor — or glioma — a rarer but deadlier form of cancer.

There were suggestions that using cell phones for more than 30 minutes each day could increase the risk of glioma, the study by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said. But the authors added that “biases and error prevent a causal interpretation” that would directly blame radiation for the tumor.

{ AP/Star Tribune | Continue reading }

The latest volley in this fray was released yesterday in the form of a new report of the results of an ongoing study examining whether there is a correlation between cell phone use and cancer. For once, news reports seem to be getting it right in that the results are “inconclusive.” Of course, I would have been shocked if the results had been conclusive. Based on this study, there are two things I can say with confidence. First, it will settle nothing, and, second, it will be attacked by those who, despite all the evidence against it and the incredible implausibility of a link between cell phones and cancer, deeply believe that there is just such a link. No doubt such attacks will include a mention that part of the funding for the study came from the Mobile Manufacturers’ Forum (MMF) and the GSM Association, both industry groups. True, the funding from these organizations went first through a “firewall mechanism,” but that won’t stop the criticisms.

{ Respectful Insolence/ScienceBlogs | Continue reading }

related { Cellphones now used more for data than for calls. }

Doctors and experts are baffled by an Indian hermit who claims not to have eaten or drunk anything for several decades - but is still in perfect health.

Prahlad Jani, a holy man, or fakir, who is over 70 years old, has just spent 10 days under constant observation in Sterling Hospital, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

During that time, he did not consume anything and “neither did he pass urine or stool”, according to the hospital’s deputy superintendent, Dr Dinesh Desai.

Yet he is in fine mental and physical fettle, say doctors.

Most people can live without food for several weeks, with the body drawing on its fat and protein stores. But the average human can survive for only three to four days without water.

Followers of Indian holy men and ascetics have often ascribed extraordinary powers to them, but such powers are seldom subject to scientific inspection.

“A series of tests conducted on him show his body mechanism is that of a normal person,” said Dr Desai.

{ BBC | Continue reading | Thanks Douglas }

image { Joe Merrell }

{ Police have made a public appeal for help to solve the mystery of how a grandfather was apparently shot by a stray bullet as he tended his front garden. Detectives, who admit that it is one of the strangest cases they have encountered, are working on one theory that the gunman could have fired into the air, possibly streets away, and remains unaware of the consequences of his actions. | Times | Continue reading }

A world without “the pill” is unimaginable to many young women who now use it to treat acne, skip periods, improve mood and, of course, prevent pregnancy. They might be surprised to learn that U.S. officials announcing approval of the world’s first oral contraceptive were uncomfortable.

“Our own ideas of morality had nothing to do with the case,” said John Harvey of the Food and Drug Administration in 1960.
The pill was safe, in other words. Don’t blame us if you think it’s wicked.

Sunday, Mother’s Day, is the 50th anniversary of that provocative announcement that introduced to the world what is now widely acknowledged as one of the most important inventions of the last century.

{ AP/Dicovery | Continue reading }

I’m getting to that age where it pays to be proactive and start getting tested for the myriad of things that can go wrong with my body. One of the things I wanted to get over with is a check for colon cancer. Although I’m officially younger than the “suggested age” for a colonoscopy, I wanted to get it out of the way. I had read and heard too many stories about people who found polyps and how if “they had only caught them a little sooner” it would be no big deal to remove them. So I set my appointment and went for it.

Like every guy, the thought of being violated by a long tube is at the very bottom of the list of things I want to do on a summer day. I could live with having to take all the laxatives that lead up to the procedure, That’s just more time to get my reading done. But the tube up the outdoor, that’s scary.

Well this morning was the morning. I had officially lost 4 pounds to the laxative over the past 24 hours and was surprisingly not hungry after going without food for the past 24 hours as I got to the hospital at the prime time of 7am.

I was definitely nervous. Despite doctors and nurses telling me it would be a breeze, I was naturally skeptical.

A breeze was an overstatement. I can honestly say that if it made medical sense to get one done every year, i would have no problem with it. It was easy and breezy .

Once I got into the Gastro Room where they did these, they told me that they were going to knock me out, and I would get a nap and wake up like nothing happened . They were right. One minute Im talking rugby, the next I’m waking up, picking up the conversation where I left off and being told to “dispell the air in my system”.

No where else can you rip off some huge farts and have 3 nurses and a doctor, while maintaining a very professional demeanor, tell you that you aren’t done yet and demand that you let loose a few more.

{ Mark Cuban | Continue reading }

photo { Tim Barber }

How long does it take for a litre of water to go through our body?

For normal people it should take about 2 to 3 hours… But it depends on several things.

First, the water has to be absorbed. For example, if someone has really bad diarrhea or is vomiting, the fluid won’t be absorbed.

Second, it depends on what is in the water. If it is pure water rather than water with salt in it, the pure water will be excreted faster than salt water.

Third, if someone is dehydrated, say, was playing soccer for two hours and sweated out two more litres water than he drank, the fluid would stay in his body and his rate of urine production will stay really low until he drinks more.

Fourth, it depends on the time of day. Usually, people’s rate of urine production decreases in the middle of the night and increases around the time we wakes up.

Finally, it depends on the state of health of the person. If a person has kidney disease, the urine production might not increase as much. If a person has heart disease, the fluid May build up in his tissues instead of being excreted.

The reference is a paper where students drank water in the morning and determined how long it took for the water to be excreted. In this paper, it looks like they urinated out about 400 or 500 ml of water over about 2 hours, before the rate of urine production slowed down.

The water runs down the throat, past the epiglottis (which is closed so that water doesn’t end up in the lungs) and down through the oesophagus into the stomach.

In the stomach, water is needed to assist in the processing and digestion of food. So far, the body has not absorbed any water. The only thing that has happened is that any thirst was probably quenched and the amount of saliva has increased.

The water and food are mixed into a dough and kneaded out into the intestines.

In the small intestine, the body starts to absorb fluid, as well as vitamins and other nutrients from the dough. These nutrients are absorbed by the blood and transported to all the body’s cells…

The large intestine’s task is to absorb as much liquid as possible from the thin batter, so that the body can make use of this liquid and achieve a proper balance of body fluids. This is Important, as 60% of the human body is made of water.

The liquid is absorbed by the blood vessels in the large intestine and transported by the blood to the kidneys. In the kidneys, blood is purified and water is converted into urine which flows through the ureters to the bladder. When the bladder contains about 200 - 400ml of urine, signals are usually sent to the brain to promote urination.

{ treebeard31 }

{ Bryan Formhals }