...while studying to recertify my X-ray licenses...
- 1 in 8 women will develop some version of breast cancer in their lifetime.
- This is an increase, because for years I've been citing 1 in 9. Unless the seven articles related to breast health I read all used the same source (unlikely) or all seven sources were wrong (also unlikely). Disturbing news.
- The Human Genome Project blows my mind. And I don't know what to make of the moral/ethical aspect of it. If you test positive for a gene, do you act upon that knowledge? And what if the dude who performed your test was high (because, as Mr. Hand says, everyone is on dope.)?? Can the results truly be trusted?
- What the hell is up with Autism? 1 in 150 children? And we aren't sure why? What DO these researchers do all day?? (Yeah, that IS a slam to those much-coveted research fellowship positions the Harvard boys clawed for back in the day.)
- And diabetes? Want to hear the coolest, cutting-edge treatment being investigated right now? Transplanting pancreatic islet cells to make your own insulin. This could be HUGE. My hands shook while I researched the implications of that. Hats Off to the dude who pulls THAT off! If it works, it'll be the biggest advancement in medicine since penicillin, if only for the sheer number of people who will benefit. Wow.
- And, a bad choice of class for me was Shaken Baby syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment. I research stuff like this, and want to pass legislation that requires all females to be sterilized, and have to pass a test to be allowed to breed. (We collectively came up with that idea on the weekend night shift at Mass General Hospital. It was inspired by some of the beauties who rolled through our EW doors. They were the ones who needed a shake, not the babies.)
Now that I'm all edumacated, I get to go back to the sock from Kirsten's blog.
It's the perfect cold, rainy day to curl up with a sock, while wearing a sock (or two), and dreaming of yet more socks.
And chocolate. It's a good day for chocolate.
What about the men? I know a boy, 10, who has ptsd, perhaps in part or whole from his father shaking him. Which his mother saw as she picked him up from his visit. After which they were never unsupervised. But damage done, you know?
ReplyDeleteYup, that islet stuff is AWESOME!!!! But, as a Type 1, they also need to figure out how to keep my immune system from destroying them again, like they did when I was 11. I'm not sure I'd want to trade my insulin for a life-time if auto-immune and anti-rejection drugs. Not trying to be a downer here - because I am THRILLED that these advancements are in the works. But I'm also trying to be realistic. I know a cure will come. I'm just not sure it will be in my life-time, because there is STILL so much work to be done. This is why I do a diabetes walk every year to raise money for a cure. I'll be walking again on Sunday. One step closer . . . . :)
ReplyDeleteIt's always a good day for chocolate!!!!
ReplyDeleteAll the recent advances and discoveries in medicine are so exciting - it's amazing what they are learning and figuring out. But you're right - we can figure out how to grow new teeth in lab mice but we can't figure out autism. Go figure!