Health & Science
Contents
Mind over medicine
Stem cells that kill
The new cancer fighter
Our cousin the fishapod
Darwin would have loved it
Mind over medicine
Instead she rested on a gurney, alert and calm, taking deep breaths at her hypnotherapist`s instruction. Thomas counted aloud, `One hundred, deep sleep; 99, deeper sleep; 98 ...`
`By the time I got to 95, the words and numbers had all gone,` says Thomas. `It`s quite peculiar. They all go.`
Hypnosis was first used as a surgical anesthetic in India in 1845 but was quickly abandoned with the introduction of ether the following year.
Mind over medicine
But it is in Europe that surgical applications of hypnosis have flourished. The new interest stems in part from studies showing that hypnosedated patients suffer fewer side effects than fully sedated ones do.
many patients are fully sedated before surgery not because the surgeon requires it but b¡¦(»ý·«)
|
W. Bush`s restrictions on embryonic-stem-cell research.
Some of the federal funds that might otherwise have gone to embryonic stem cells could be finding their way into cancer-stem-cell studies. `Don`t expect anything before five years,` says Weissman, `but be angry if you don`t see anything in 15 years.` Cancer patients, mark your calendars.
The new cancer fighter
DIABETES
Pfizer received approval from the U.S government and an E.U. regulatory panel to market the first inhaled insulin, Exubera. The powdered insulin, taken just before meals, is released into the mouth and lungs through an inhaler similar to the ones that asthma patients use.
In studies, the needle-free insulin was as effective as short-acting insulin shots in controlling blood-sugar levels.
The new cancer fighter
OBESITY
The drug, to be marketed as Acomplia, is being reviewed by the FDA and will be targeted at those who not only carry excess weight but also harbor unhealthy signs of metabolic disorder