Talking mad experiments with Wammo on Kiwi FM
From Kiwi FM, 1 November 2007:Talking with Wammo about the latest in New Scientist magazine, including elephants on LSD and why herpes is bad for the ageing brain. Listen here.
Author: Bianca Nogrady
Bianca Nogrady is an Australian freelance science journalist, broadcaster and author - www.biancanogrady.com - @biancanogrady
Major cardiac risk in aspirin-resistant patients
From Australian Doctor, 21 January 2008:BMJ Aspirin resistance, thought to affect up to one-third of patients, is associated with significantly increased cardiovascular morbidity, a comprehensive meta-analysis suggests.The research, which analysed 20 studies including 2930 patients with cardiovascular disease, found aspirin-resistant patients had an almost sixfold increase in risk of death, were almost four times more … Continue reading Major cardiac risk in aspirin-resistant patients
Surprise find could stop salmon parasite
From FISH, September 2007:An unexpected discovery by researchers from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute is opening the door to new diagnostic techniques, treatments and vaccines that could substantially reduce the impact of amoebic gill disease in Tasmania and around the world. Read more.
Magic bullet theory
From Pathway, the magazine of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Summer 2007:You’re mowing the lawn on a fine Sunday morning, when suddenly an invisible band wraps around your chest, squeezing tightly and painfully until you can hardly breathe. This is what patients with angina pectoris fear: the ‘elephant sitting on my chest’ sensation … Continue reading Magic bullet theory
T cell turnoff
From Scientific American, December 2007: HIV is devastating because it attacks and destroys the body’s defense system against pathogens, leaving patients fatally exposed. So what would possess scientists to treat HIV-positive patients with drugs that suppress the immune system? Such therapy may in fact offer a new approach in the battle against AIDS. An unexpected … Continue reading T cell turnoff
Meeting of models helps reduce toxic waste
From Process magazine, October 2007:An unfortunate twist of chemistry means that one of the earth’s most beautiful metals requires one of the planet’s most deadly compounds to extract it from an ore body: gold mining relies on the use of cyanide to dissolve gold into solution so it can be recaptured as pure metal.The inevitable … Continue reading Meeting of models helps reduce toxic waste
Bowel program works but needs men
From Australian Doctor, 1 November 2007.THE first year of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program has been encouraging, although issues such as a poorer male participation rate and delay in colonoscopy follow-up are yet to be resolved, a leading gastroenterologist says.About 156,000 Australians took part in the first stage of the faecal occult blood test-based … Continue reading Bowel program works but needs men
Expecting perfection
From Pathway, Spring 2007.One of the most spectacular errors in pathology history might indirectly be credited with claiming nearly 20 million lives. It’s even more astounding to learn that the pathologist behind it was in fact the founding father of histopathology, Rudolph Virchow.Virchow failed to diagnose German Emperor Friedrich III’s laryngeal cancer until it was … Continue reading Expecting perfection
When the bad bugs bite
From PathWay, Spring 2007.Debbie: … How can we all have died at the same time?The Grim Reaper: (pointing with a skeletal finger) The salmon mousse!Geoffrey: Darling, you didn’t use tinned salmon did you?Angela: I’m most dreadfully embarrassed…Monty Python managed to make light of it in this sketch from The Meaning of Life, but in reality, … Continue reading When the bad bugs bite
Top 50 Medical Innovations
From Australian Doctor, July 2007.From artificial hips to anti-epileptics, the Pill to penicillin – the 20th century has seen a wealth of medical innovations emerge that have transformed how we practice medicine. Read more (pdf file).
Bianca Nogrady 