Oh, no! I was wrong about flies...and taking a break

Used to hang out at my mom and dad's farm in Indiana on vacations. Never failed to be astonished at the vast quantities of flies to be found on a farm. Found an article years ago that said absolutely no useful purpose had yet been found for flies. Supposedly, it said, they even inhibit the natural process of waste elimination by consuming the bacteria that decompose manure! Boy, did I get a lot of mileage out of that one when the whole family was congregating down on the farm.

Well, I'm not ashamed to admit when I'm wrong (sometimes, anyway). It's a pretty roundabout contribution, but scientists are now reporting there's a protein found in the saliva of black flies that helps wounds and incisions heal faster and more effectively.

Of course, I'm not surprised, since I tend to believe that everything in the universe is here for a reason. I'm just a little sad that I've lost the ammunition I used for so long to perpetuate my hate-hate relationship with flies.

I don't care, though. I still hate the buggers. And I sure don't want them setting any of those guys loose on any wound of mine...

P.S. Leaving for a brief vacation today. Will be out of blogging range until 1/31. Have a great weeek!

Government/private industry relations questioned

Are the folks at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) so close to the captains of the private publishing industry that they are shortchanging the interests of the public? That's the question on the table since NIH has pulled a proposed policy of publishing its research for free public consumption within six months of an initial journal writeup.

Research that taxpayers have paid for should be made available to them quickly, say sponsors of the proposal. Friends of the medical/scientific publishing industry claim this early release of information would put them out of business.

Well, we know the government has not previously hesitated to be in the business of keeping certain industries alive--paying farmers not to farm, bailing out savings and loan institutions, etc. But is there a more compelling component when you're talking about human health? I just wrote about the rise in self-care occurring in our society, so where might this fit in? As we take greater charge of our own health care--and the 45 million uninsured Americans often take sole charge at that--do we have a more pressing right to know what's being discovered as quickly as possible?

It seems fair to say yes--but with strong cautions. Just as doctors don't know upfront the full implications of many of their research findings, so we non-professional self-medicators aren't going to know all the potential--for good or evil--that each discovery carries with it. But as knowledge on every topic becomes more accessible via the magic of the Internet, so human beings ought to be able to have all the presently known facts available when trying to make intelligent choices about their health and their lives.

Seems to be it's better to be too open than to discover decades later that private corporate scientists did know of potential dangers--say, of tobacco--and deliberately hid them from the public. On that topic, see today's BlogforBusiness.com story on giant DuPont Corporation hiding the dangers of chemicals contained in Teflon pans and utensils.

What price, success? What definition...

"Every individual has some advantage over all others because he possesses unique information of which beneficial use might be made, but of which use can be made only if the decisions depending on it are left to him..."

- Friedrich August Von Hayek, Nobel Laureate, 1945

What an appropriate observation--made so many decades ago by this brilliant mind--about the business of research and investigation. So what does it mean to say that your information is totally unique, but that its benefits will only manifest themselves if you, specifically, have the ability to decide what to do with it?

A powerful idea, indeed, that has implications far beyond the simple sharing of information. Implications about how important is the part that you--just you, not you compared to how important you are in relation to others--play in the shaping of the very universe we inhabit. Implications about the far-reaching effects possible when you empower people. Implications about the waste involved in not recognizing the special contribution of every individual.

Happily in bioscience and other scientific disciplines, recognition for your unique contribution isn't hard to come by if you're an investgator. What's not so easy is recognizing the special contributions of those in less august occupations in the industry, like lab assistant. Or of those in related but less august jobs such as vendor or public relations person.

Human relations mean the world to success, whether we're willing to admit it or not. But then, I guess we have to discuss what's the definition of success. And therein might lie the main points of difference...

Genetic truth telling

One of those "opportunistic" infection agents we heard so much about when HIV became constant headline news more than 10 years ago has come under the scrutiny of science's latest power-tool, gene mapping. Interestingly, there are two versions of this C. neoformans fungus, one of which caueses brain swelling and death and the other of which doesn't cause severe infection. So scientists will be mapping both varieties and comparing them--a powerful method of potentially identifying the areas of the gene that contain the virulent material and figuring out how to attack it.

I've been watching some CSI reruns on TV. Very informative about the newest tools the crime investigators use. Didn't realize that these days DNA is a routine test for identifying criminals--oh, yeah, remember the OJ Simpson jury just didn't get it? DNA evidence doesn't solve all the issues, though, and the writers are very creative about coming up with medical plot twists.

But clearly our genetic material is becoming more and more an open book. Like the breathalyzer test for alcohol impairment, there will be no covering up certain truths--many of which were heretofore unknowable by authorities. Or by relatives. Or by friends. Good thing the HIPAA laws came along when they did. Given the human penchant for judging and ostracizing those we find lacking--or even just different--protecting our medical privacy has become a societal imperative.

Let's hope HIPAA works better than our laws against unethical corporate behavior...

Health is the luck of the draw

The evidence is simply overwhelming--healthy choices in eating and activity are the most powerful predictors of longer life and greater health. So says this Washington Post compendium of study results on how healthy lifestyles prolong life.

This doesn't, of course, explain why so-and-so's grandparents both lived happily to 90 while consuming a diet rich in pasta (it had garlic in the sauce, sure), cheese and wine all their lives, and not exercising to speak of. It doesn't explain the Russian octogenarian who subsisted largely on meat, potatoes and vodka. And it doesn't explain the guy who runs regularly, eats semi-vegetarian, avoids sugar, salt and fat like the plague, and ends up having a second heart attack followed by multiple bypass surgery.

So take it all with a grain of salt (okay, salt substitute if you must) and choose wisely as often as you can. Life is too short--usually no matter where you end it--to be beating yourself up more than necessary.

Drugmakers offer help for the uninsured

As the number of uninsured Americans skyrockets (45 million at latest count) and the cost of prescription drugs soars, the concept of equal access for all to quality health care begins to look more like skywriting than a viable objective.

Now some of the giant pharmaceutical companies have banded together to create a discount program for those who don't have coverage and meet certain age and income requirements. If you qualify, you can enroll on the website, www.TogetherRxAccess.com. Or call 800-444-4106. Or pick up enrollment forms at participating pharmacies and doctors' offices. Starting the middle of next month, you'll be able to save 25 to 40 percent on many medicines.

It's great to see the big guys reaching out. And I hate to be cynical, but my guess is this an intelligent marketing move designed to prevent the government from crashing down on them for their exorbitant pricing strategies. What about all the people with health insurance but not drug coverage who do have to pay those prices? What about the insurance companies? How are they going to feel about this?

Guess we'll see what happens.

Flu break

We're taking a short break from blogging for a few days. Can't figure out if we've got virus #387,000,000 or just the latest version of the flu. Either way rest seems called for.

We'll be back on the trail again later this week. See ya then.

Genetic manipulation can help plants resist freeze damage

Many plants have a natural protective mechanism against stress that works quite well against cold--if the plant is introduced gradually to the change in temperature, which gives it time to signal the mechanisms to trigger. Now at Iowa State University researchers are experimenting to seewhether genetically engineering an increase in Total Soluable Sugar Content (which directly correlates to cold resistance) will also increase resistance to sudden temperature drops--a highly desirable thing for food crops to be able to do. Their experiments are with corn and tobacco and they've succeeded so far in increasing tolerance by a couple of Celsius degrees.

Promising idea, getting plants to become hardier. Interesting that they included tobacco. That's all we need--to be able to grow this destructive weed in more places around the world. Here's a cool site about the science behind tobacco. Smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, cocaine, homicide, suicide, motor vehicle crashes and fires combined. And here's the latest report on cigarette pricing from New Jersey. At $58.70 a carton in August of 2004, cigarettes are making more than a few somebodies a good chunk of money.

The good and the bad news: Self-care is on the rise

People are using the Internet more and more as a source of information about various illnesses. Many have experienced a Western medical professional's blind spot about some disease or condition and are becoming less likely to trust only to the doctor's opinion. So now, too, more pharmaceutical companies are switching drugs from prescription status to over-the-counter availability.

Making more drugs available OTC might save governments money, but safety is always a concern. Do people really know enough to decide whether to take statins to prevent heart disease? No trials with humans have been done--though the evidence is compelling in early animal studies. US researchers aren't sure that enough care is being given to such decisions, says this article in the British Medical Journal.

It seems that as more magical procedures and treatments are invented, we are pushing to get them out there and move on to the next big thing. As with bioengineered foods, in our rush to cash in on discoveries, we may not be taking enough time to consider the long-range potentialities of the things we unleash. After all, caution and moderation are such boring approaches to recommend.