| Vol. I,
No. 1 |
Oct.
20th, 2000 |
Health & Medicine
Vital Signs: News
Bits on the Medical Frontier
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Bionic Magic in the Other Montpelier
Earlier this year, in Montpellier, France, Marc Merger, a 39 year-old
former bank manger, experienced something extraordinary. ... He was
able to stand for 2 1/2 minutes. ... What makes it extraordinary
is that Merger is a paraplegic.
Ten years earlier, Merger had been paralysed in an auto
accident. But in a ground-breaking operation, doctors, including two
British, two Danish, and two Italian surgeons, inserted a computerized
microchip implant in Merger ... part of the European Union-sponsored Stand
Up And Walk research project . As a result, Merger was able to stand
using a walking frame. By pressing buttons on the frame, which acts as
a remote control for the chip, impulses are transmitted through fine wires
to stimulate Merger's leg muscles.
The doctors were quick to note that the implant will not work for all
paraplegics, but only those whose muscles had remained alive despite nerve
damage. In fact, Merger had received an initial implant back in
September; but he had to go back into surgery when the chip developed a
bug. Nonetheless, within a month after the February surgery, Merger
had been standing for that 2 1/2 minutes. Several therapy sessions
later, he was up to 6 1/2 minutes.
.
-
Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee ...
The debate over the health effects of coffee have been going on for some
time. And they're not likely to go away any time soon. But in
study released earlier this year, a group of international scientists found
that coffee filters can remove from 78 to 90 percent of dissolved heavy
metals that may be contained in drinking water, such as lead or copper.
Why the help from coffee?
"The reason," said Mike McLaughlin who works with the Land and
Water division of the Australian government research unit, Commonwealth
Scientific Industrial Research Organization, "is that coffee grounds
have uncharged or negatively charged molecules in them, whereas dissolved
heavy metals are positively charged. As a result, the heavy metal ions bind
strongly to the coffee."
Apparently, the deeper the layer of coffee, the more effectively it
removes the heavy metals. But the main factor seems to be the extent of
contact time, the scientists found.
Heavy metals, of course, both copper and lead, and others, all have
long-term toxic effects on humans. But coffee grounds appear to have
this remarkable ability to bind the heavy metal atoms. The findings
have been confirmed not only by the Australian team, but by research from
Chile and the U.S., as well. It's seems likely that the coffee also
binds other heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium, and zinc. But this
has not yet been tested, McLaughlin said.
.
- Our 'Complements' to Sloan-Kettering ...
In a recent edition of the British Medical Journal on-line,
Andrew Vickers, assistant attending research methodologist of the
Integrative Medicine Service at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center,
published a clinical review of recent advances in "Complementary
Medicine." [BMJ 2000;321:683-686 ( 16 September )] ... for full
text of the article, click
here.]
In the article, Vickers notes the increasing integration of Complementary
Medicine -- including such practices as chiropractic, massage, yoga,
acupuncture, music therapy, and more, as well as alternatives to
pharmaceuticals, like St. John's Wort for treating "mild to moderate
depression." While the emphasis of the piece is on the increase
in both standards and regulation, on the one hand, and the more strict
research methodologies which have recently been applied to complementary
practices, Vickers is also quick to point out that Sloan-Kettering's
Integrative Medicine Service Unit is already employing a number of
complementary practitioners.
While, as Vickers notes, "Complementary medicine and conventional
medicine have traditionally been provided in entirely separate
settings," recent studies show a "greater integration between the
two, with both often provided at the same site." Vickers finds
that roughly 40% of general practices in the UK offer access to
complementary medicine. "Chiropractic and osteopathy are two of
the treatments that are most commonly provided," he wrote, as well as
relaxation classes or yoga, massage, acupuncture, and music therapy.
Vickers goes on to note that ...
"At the Integrative Medicine Service unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering,
practitioners of massage, music therapy, and acupuncture work on the
inpatient wards; patients can be referred by a doctor, nurse, or social
worker. These treatments are also offered at an outpatient site along with
relaxation, yoga, and t'ai chi classes. It is not unusual to see a patient
with severe pain having a foot massage while receiving intravenous methadone
or to hear a guitar being played in the room of an anxious and lonely
patient." [ibid.]
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