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Modern Medicine (modern + medicine)
Selected AbstractsRethinking Yoga and the Application of Yoga in Modern MedicineCROSSCURRENTS, Issue 2 2010M. Alejandro Chaoul First page of article [source] Reclaiming the Body: Christians and the Faithful Use of Modern Medicine (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life Series).THE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 1 2008Brian Volck M.D., By Joel Shuman No abstract is available for this article. [source] Cosmeceuticals Containing Herbs: Fact, Fiction, and FutureDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 2005Carl Thornfeldt MD Background. Modern medicine is rooted in ethnobotanical traditions using indigenous flora to treat symptoms of human diseases or to improve specific aspects of the body condition. Herbal medicine is now used by over half of the American population. Yet the American medical community generally lacks knowledge of the function, metabolism, interaction, adverse reactions, and preparation of herbal products. Objective. Because over 60 botanicals are marketed in cosmeceutical formulations, dermatologists need to obtain working knowledge of the major botanicals. The preparation, traditional uses, mechanisms of action, human clinical data, adverse reactions, and interactions all impact herbal efficacy and are discussed below. Method. English-language medical journal and symposium searches. Results. The most important botanicals pertaining to dermatologic uses, such as cosmeceuticals, include teas, soy, pomegranate, date, grape seed, Pycnogenol, horse chestnut, German chamomile, curcumin, comfrey, allantoin, and aloe. All are documented to treat dermatologic conditions. Only green and black tea, soy, pomegranate, and date have published clinical trials for the treatment of parameters of extrinsic aging. Conclusions. Preparation of botanical-based cosmeceuticals is complex. Very few of these products are supported by evidence-based science. CARL THORNFELDT, MD, FAAD, HAS INDICATED NO SIGNIFICANT INTEREST WITH COMMERCIAL SUPPORTERS. [source] The concept of disease: ethical challenges and relevance to dentistry and dental educationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2001Bjørn M. Hofmann Modern medicine and dentistry face fundamental ethical challenges. To treat or not to treat, that is the question! Can these challenges be met with a rigorous and consistent concept of disease? This is the key question of this article and the ensuing debate is of fundamental importance in the teaching of ethics to medical and dental students. The investigation of traditional concepts of disease reveals that they are flawed and do not withstand ethical challenges. An alternative concept of human ailment is elaborated on, based on the triad disease, illness and sickness. This model is applied to representative cases in medicine in general and dentistry in particular. It is argued that the concepts of disease, illness and sickness represent a framework for analysing and coping with inherent ethical challenges. This reveals that medicine and dentistry are concerned both with biological explanations and with questions of the virtuous life, i.e., both with science and with ethics. These considerations pose challenges for the health professions as a whole, but particularly for those concerned with educating the practitioners of the future. [source] Rethinking Medical Ethics: A View From BelowDEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 1 2004Paul Farmer ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue that lack of access to the fruits of modern medicine and the science that informs it is an important and neglected topic within bioethics and medical ethics. This is especially clear to those working in what are now termed ,resource-poor settings', to those working, in plain language, among populations living in dire poverty. We draw on our experience with infectious diseases in some of the poorest communities in the world to interrogate the central imperatives of bioethics and medical ethics. AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are the three leading infectious killers of adults in the world today. Because each disease is treatable with already available therapies, the lack of access to medical care is widely perceived in heavily disease-burdened areas as constituting an ethical and moral dilemma. In settings in which research on these diseases are conducted but there is little in the way of therapy, there is much talk of first world diagnostics and third world therapeutics. Here we call for the ,resocialising' of ethics. To resocialise medical ethics will involve using the socialising disciplines to contextualise fully ethical dilemmas in settings of poverty and, a related gambit, the systematic participation of the destitute sick. Clinical research across steep gradients also needs to be linked with the interventions that are demanded by the poor and otherwise marginalised. We conclude that medical ethics must grapple more persistently with the growing problem posed by the yawning ,outcome gap' between rich and poor. [source] No Old Man Ever Forgot Where He Buried His Treasure: Concepts of Cognitive Impairment in Old Age Circa 1700JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 11 2005Daniel Schäfer PhD Cognitive impairment in old age is one of the most important topics in modern geriatrics. This article discusses the historical dimensions of this phenomenon. To this end, a number of primary sources ranging from antiquity to the modern era are evaluated. Although a physiology and pathology of old age were conceptualized in Greco-Roman times, cognitive impairment in old age remained a marginal issue until the 17th century. Alternatively, after 1500, medicine boasted detailed theories on the physiology and pathology of old age. There are several possible explanations for this unusual situation. Underlying conflict between idealistic and materialistic views of man played a decisive role, for these concepts differed considerably regarding the intellectual and mental functioning of the soul as well as the effects of the passage of time. After Cartesianism and Iatromechanism had pushed these traditional boundaries back, the problem of cognitive impairment in old age was increasingly regarded as a physical illness and began to receive more attention. Just as its philosophical and theological context shaped early modern medicine, contemporary nonmedical disciplines such as genetics, (neuro-)biology, and the information sciences influence modern research. [source] Comparative anatomy and phylogenetic distribution of the mammalian cecal appendixJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 10 2009H. F. SMITH Abstract A recently improved understanding of gut immunity has merged with current thinking in biological and medical science, pointing to an apparent function of the mammalian cecal appendix as a safe-house for symbiotic gut microbes, preserving the flora during times of gastrointestinal infection in societies without modern medicine. This function is potentially a selective force for the evolution and maintenance of the appendix, and provides an impetus for reassessment of the evolution of the appendix. A comparative anatomical approach reveals three apparent morphotypes of the cecal appendix, as well as appendix-like structures in some species that lack a true cecal appendix. Cladistic analyses indicate that the appendix has evolved independently at least twice (at least once in diprotodont marsupials and at least once in Euarchontoglires), shows a highly significant (P < 0.0001) phylogenetic signal in its distribution, and has been maintained in mammalian evolution for 80 million years or longer. [source] Blockheads, roundheads, pointy heads: Intellectual disability and the brain before modern medicineJOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Issue 2 2005C. F. Goodey Recent work on the conceptual history of intellectual disability has pointed to a discontinuity in the seventeenth century, identifying the concept as essentially modern in a more radical sense than mental illness or physical disability. However, Galenist accounts of intellectual impairment were clearly connected (via anatomy) to neurology, which could be taken as prima facie evidence that Galenism shares with modern medicine one of its basic explanatory approaches to intellectual disability. Close textual examination does not bear out this counter-claim, at least as far as the conceptual apparatus itself is concerned. However, it does reveal a degree of continuity in the medical mind-set as discourses of monstrosity were transposed from the domain of anatomy to that of post-Cartesian psychology. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Ngongas and ecology: on having a worldviewOIKOS, Issue 1 2001Joel S. Brown Ngongas provide a metaphor for some of the opportunities and challenges facing the science of ecology and evolution. Ngongas, the traditional healers of the Shona culture, Zimbabwe, fail in the delivery of quality health by today's standards. Their outdated worldview makes most health related issues seem more complicated and more multi-factorial than when viewed through the worldviews of modern medicine. With the wrong worldview, one can work very hard, be very bright and dedicated, and still be ineffective. With the right worldview, one can work much less hard and still be extremely effective. As ecologists, we should be opinionated and possess clearly articulated worldviews for filtering and interpreting information. As ecologists we are also a bit like ngongas , we often fail to provide answers for society's ecological questions and problems, and we excuse ourselves with a belief that ecological systems are too complex and have too many factors. Unlike ngongas, this invites us to pay a lot of attention to promoting and assessing competing worldviews. We should be open-minded to the anomalies in our worldview and the successes of alternative viewpoints. As an admitted ecological ngonga, I discuss the worldview I use in my own research: the Optimization Research Program, a Darwinian research program that uses game theory to conceptualize and understand ecological systems. I use it illustrate how worldviews can synthesize disparate ideas. (I use kin selection and reciprocal altruism as examples.) I use it to show how new ideas and predictions can be generated. (I use root competition in plants and the possibility that increased crop yield may be forthcoming from knowledge of this game.) [source] The vitamin D slant on allergyPEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 7 2006Matthias Wjst Oral vitamin D supplementation has been introduced into modern medicine to prevent rickets without the knowledge that this may have profound immunological consequences. The main vitamin D metabolite calcitriol suppresses dendritic cell maturation and consecutive Th1 cell development, which has independently described as a key mechanism of allergy development. Animal studies and epidemiological surveys now provide a first link of early vitamin D supplementation and later allergy where several vitamin D regulated genes seem to be involved. A randomized clinical trial of vitamin D supplementation could be a further step to follow up the vitamin hypothesis. [source] Legal and ethical considerations for genetic clinical researchQUALITY ASSURANCE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2003Judith E. Beach Abstract From the trend in modern medicine toward the study of genes and their contribution to the development of disease has evolved an increased awareness of ,the diversity of genetic fingerprints among individuals' [1]. The incorporation of this knowledge into the technologies of the pharmaceutical industry has led to the emerging field of ,pharmacogenomics'; that is, the process of identifying the differences in genetic sequences between individuals and developing therapies [2] as ,personal medicines' [3]. For example, a drug used as a muscle relaxant during surgery, suxamethonium, was found to be lethal to patients who possessed a rare version of a gene involved in nerve transmission so that now those who receive this drug are tested for this specific gene [4]. Although pharmacogenomics promises great possibilities for the future of medicine, it does involve ethical and legal considerations that must be considered. Indeed, potential misuses of genetic information, such as discrimination in obtaining health insurance and in the workplace, need to be addressed. Genetic testing practices remain more advanced than the national and international laws governing the appropriate use of genetics. Although there is no national law in the United States that specifically addresses DNA and genetic privacy, several federal regulations would apply indirectly to the protection of this information and state legislators have successfully passed numerous state laws. Professional associations and private organizations have issued several guidelines for genetic testing practices. The purpose of this report is to provide a picture of the legal and ethical ramifications of genetic testing in clinical research. The genetic testing issue is presented herein in the categories of national, international, and state laws, policies, regulations and guidelines. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Technological progresses in monoclonal antibody production systemsBIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 2 2010Maria Elisa Rodrigues Abstract Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become vitally important to modern medicine and are currently one of the major biopharmaceutical products in development. However, the high clinical dose requirements of mAbs demand a greater biomanufacturing capacity, leading to the development of new technologies for their large-scale production, with mammalian cell culture dominating the scenario. Although some companies have tried to meet these demands by creating bioreactors of increased capacity, the optimization of cell culture productivity in normal bioreactors appears as a better strategy. This review describes the main technological progresses made with this intent, presenting the advantages and limitations of each production system, as well as suggestions for improvements. New and upgraded bioreactors have emerged both for adherent and suspension cell culture, with disposable reactors attracting increased interest in the last years. Furthermore, the strategies and technologies used to control culture parameters are in constant evolution, aiming at the on-line multiparameter monitoring and considering now parameters not seen as relevant for process optimization in the past. All progresses being made have as primary goal the development of highly productive and economic mAb manufacturing processes that will allow the rapid introduction of the product in the biopharmaceutical market at more accessible prices. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010 [source] The contributions of the Bartholin family to the study and practice of clinical anatomyCLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 2 2007Robert V. Hill Abstract Between 1585 and 1738, four members of the celebrated Bartholin family made significant contributions to anatomical science and medicine. Caspar Bartholin (the elder), two of his sons (Thomas and Rasmus), and his grandson (Caspar the younger) all served on the medical faculty of the University of Copenhagen, and helped to gain international acclaim for the institution. Over three generations, the Bartholins challenged traditional ideas about science and the human body, and discovered anatomical structures and phenomena that would prove crucial to the practice of modern medicine. Clin. Anat. 20:113,115, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] THERAPEUTIC VACCINATION FOR CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM REPAIRCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 5-6 2006Beng Ti Ang SUMMARY 1Vaccination against infectious agents has been heralded as a triumph in modern medicine and, more recently, cancer vaccines have risen in prominence. The present review looks towards the use of vaccine therapy to attenuate damage after injury to the central nervous system (CNS). 2Significant debility is associated with brain injury, most commonly occurring as a result of physical trauma or stroke. This end result reflects the inability of neurons and axons to regenerate following injury to the CNS. This unconducive environment is due, in large part, to the presence of myelin and oligodendrocyte-related inhibitors of neurite outgrowth. 3We review how a vaccine-based approach has been variably used to circumvent this issue and promote axonal regeneration and repair following traumatic injury and other neurodegenerative disorders. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that the immune response to injury in the CNS may be manipulated so as to reduce cellular damage. Vaccine-directed approaches using this concept are also outlined. [source] | ||||||||||||||||