Society MD

One of the strangest prescription drugs that you can be given today isn’t a drug at all— say hello to Hirudo Medicianalis, the medicinal leech. Taking a cue from medieval medicine, the FDA has approved leeches as a legitimate medical device.

The decision seems questionable and downright icky when you first see these little medical monsters. Leeches are a type of water-based worm with a suction cup mouth and a battalion of tiny teeth. Their skin is slick and patterned with muted geometric stripes. This pattern camouflages the leech in muddy water, where it lays in wait to engorge itself on the blood of dogs, cattle, and of course, humans.

Employing this slimy parasite in a sterile medical procedure sounds like an idea from a horror movie. Yet when it comes to moving and directing blood, the parasite is nature’s expert. Its saliva contains antibiotics, anaesthetics, and anticoagulants to prevent blood clotting. The leech itself is a suction machine, made to siphon a large quantity of blood. Taken together, these qualities give the leech the power to remove clotted, stopped blood from a wound or an obstructed vein. Modern doctors find that hirudotherapy, or the use of medicinal leeches, is one of the best ways to prevent the onset or advance of gangrene.

But modern hirudotherapy is just starting to hit its stride. Doctors have found that the leech’s saliva is a valuable medicinal discovery on its own. Leech saliva can be harvested without hurting the leeches, and thus collected to treat internal medical problems as well. It is being examined as a possible preventative measure for clot-related diseases like heart attacks, thrombosis, and strokes.

Thanks to their saliva and other medicinal properties, leeches may finally be able to repay us humans for the blood they’ve been stealing over the ages.

Investors and developers have recently created and marketed an electronic cigarette. The cigarette gives smokers a dose of nicotine and manages to avoid the smoking ban because of its design. The electronic cigarette is a small white stick, and looks a lot like a real cigarette. It has a chamber inside that vaporizes liquid nicotine into steam. The chamber uses small cartridges that are filled with the liquid substance. It is powered by batteries, and has a red tip that glows like a real cigarette.

A chamber inside the small stick heats up the cartridge when the smoker takes a drag. In addition, the smoker can feel the nicotine “hit” almost immediately. It contains a small battery and a chamber where you can plug in a nicotine cartridge. When you suck on the cigarette, the chamber heats up and reduces the nicotine to a vapor which you can inhale.

Smokers can inhale the vapor without the risk of inhaling harmful substances. Researchers are also saying that since the cigarette contains only nicotine, it doesn’t cause cancer. Despite the national smoking ban, the creators of the cigarette are saying that it can be used inside of pubs. The electronic cigarette is available only for those who are 18 and over, and is not suitable for pregnant or breastfeeding women.

The cigarette is rechargeable, so you can use it over and over again. It doesn’t have a flame, and it doesn’t produce any smoke, making it ideal for indoors.

The following are some additional features of the electronic cigarette:

• The cigarette is warm to the touch, but the vapor cools as it reaches the mouth.

• The cigarette is rechargeable, and it will last all day long for heavy smokers.

• The purchase price usually includes two cigarettes, so you can have one on charge at home while you take the other one to work.

• A pack of five electronic cigarettes (the equivalent of 100 regular cigarettes) costs around $7.00.

Life is unpredictable. No matter how we plan, prepare, and organize, there are things that come up that we will not have planned on, and will not be prepared for. Having an emergency fund stored away is a good idea, but sometimes unexpected expenses are going to come up, and you might not have enough money in your emergency fund for various reasons. It is during times like this that you might want to consider emergency cash loans. These kinds of loans will get you money fast, but it is wise to know what kinds of fees and restrictions will apply.

Many institutions who offer these kinds of loans will advise inquirers to check into other options first. If you have friends or family that can loan you the money quick, that might be a better option. Emergency cash loans can be used for just about anything that urgently needs to be paid. You can use them to pay your utilities if they are in danger of being disconnected because of missing payments. Accidents happen and medical emergencies are often extremely expensive. House or car problems are also common and can be urgent in many circumstances. Before you opt for an emergency cash loan, make sure that it is right for your situation, and that you will be able to handle paying back the amount borrowed plus interest.

There are many institutions out there besides your bank that can offer emergency loans. Even if you need money fast, take some time to look around and find your best option. Also, it is important to remember that an emergency loan can help you in a time of need, but a loan is not free money. A loan must be paid back. While you might not be able to prepare yourself for every eventuality in life, you can start preparing to pay back a loan as soon as you have taken one out.

No one in their right mind enjoys the idea of getting any kind of cancer. The bad news is, if you live long enough, some of your cells are just bound to mutate enough to be called cancerous. However, this is not some kind of “advanced stage of evolution” that will make you into a powerful superhero. Cancers tend to kill people, for all of the mighty advancements that medical science has been making over the years. And prostate cancer does have the potential to metastasize, and spread, and go to areas that will stop your breathing, your circulation, your brain function or your nervous control. In short, prostate cancer is potentially as dangerous as any other kind of cancer.

Unfortunately, that is not the full length of the bad news. The really bad part is how unbelievably sensitive the cancer tests we currently have happen to be. To put things into perspective, a woman can typically find out if she has breast cancer through a pap smear only once it has reached stage 3. At that stage of the game, it may have already spread elsewhere in her body, and death may only be months (or even weeks) away from occurring.

On the other hand, a man may have prostate cancer detected when it is only a few individual cells in his prostate. This barely qualifies as stage 1, and metastasis is not even guaranteed at that point. And while it is great to be able to know if you have cancer at a super early stage, it would seriously suck if you gave up your prostate (and your ability to ejaculate), without your life actually being under anything approaching an imminent threat. That is the kind of decision nobody wants to make – just make sure to make it while sober.

If you have ever tasted blood before… you might be some kind of freak, and you should not be surprised if parents keep their children far away from you. But if it was just something you were curious about (“Hmm, I wonder what this tastes like…”), you may have noticed that blood is fairly salty in nature. And this leads to the question of why blood would be that way. After all, salt is something that should only be used in small measure on most things – it is very potent stuff, you know. So the notion that there is salt coursing through our veins can be a bizarre revelation.

Interestingly enough, it all began with sea water. As most any child who paid attention could tell you, the ocean is 3.5% salinities, which makes the aggregate total of the water 2.5% ordinary salt. It is no coincidence that our blood has the same level of salinity in it. The very first life forms evolved in the sea, because it is the perfect breeding ground for life. And the fact that the first of these life forms to become replicators (which meant that they could replicate themselves) built increasingly more sophisticated protein sheaths means that they essentially became our DNA.

In a sense, our bodies are nothing more than giant robots, designed to carry around and propagate these replicating life forms. And since they thrive in salt water, we carry around salt water inside of our veins. Therefore, the reason why we have salt in our blood is because of the way our bodies (and indeed, pretty much all bodies) evolved. Though we live on the land, we carry the sea around inside of us, in order to facilitate these life forms – which is a pretty good trade off, considering that they essentially created us.

More than 23 million people over the age of 12 need help for drug and alcohol addiction. As the number of addicts continues to grow, the need for additional residential drug and alcohol treatment centers grows as well.

Residential drug and alcohol treatment centers focus on two key components necessary to fight addiction: the physical dependency and the psychological dependency. Addicts must first overcome the addiction by removing the drugs and alcohol from their body. There are coping techniques and pharmaceuticals that physicians in treatment centers can provide to aid addicts in the detoxification process. Some drugs take months to fully exit the body, so it’s possible the physical phase of overcoming addiction can take a while. Solving the psychological issues of addiction can take even longer. Addicts must uncover and understand why they turn to drugs and alcohol, and then solve that problem, before they can recover from addiction.

It’s common for people fighting drug and alcohol addiction to seek treatment multiple times before achieving long-term success. For these patients, there is proven success in using residential drug and alcohol treatment centers. These centers help the patient transition from a life of addiction to a life where the patient can function socially in everyday society. Professionals at the center will incorporate individual, group, and family counseling to help the patient make a successful transition.

Long term success for drug and alcohol addiction means that the patient needs long term specialized care. Residential treatment centers offer assistance for patients after they leave the facility, either through accountability partners or even a hotline that the patient can call during times of temptation or emotional stress. Utilizing all services available through these facilities helps increase the odds of success and can help the patient finally overcome addiction for good.

The people who say things say that most of the modern world’s population will live to be about 80 years old. However, the average age for symphony conductors is approximately 94 years old. While this could simply be a coincidence (or the people who say things telling more lies, as their propaganda machine churns and bubbles in the background like an industrial strength Mr. Coffee), it could also mean that conductors tend to have longer life spans than the rest of us. While that is the obvious answer, it boggles the mind that one particular profession would live longer than most others would.

After all, it is not as if conductors do not have their share of stressors to contend with. After all, if a show goes poorly, the audience has one person (who is literally “up on a pedestal”) to blame and to throw rotten vegetables at. The conductor may brow beat the players, but they are ultimately wielding the instruments. If they make a sour note, or hold too long (or perhaps not long enough), the conductor is ultimately considered to be accountable. But perhaps, and this is only a vague theory, the concept of control is the most important part of living a longer life span.

If you plan out what you do, and keep it organized (while you cast yourself as the divinely appointed dictator of the whole mess), you might just have more than “a shot” of living to be exceptionally mature. It may very well be that the act of taking responsibility for things that are under your influence but not your direct control, and planning for future occurrences, can be a deciding factor in living a longer life span. And while there is no guarantee that a longer life is a more satisfying one, you may end up being more satisfied if you plan things and they actually work out.

A very neat thing happens when you get close to someone for awhile. Any non violent touch between higher life forms (mammals in general, and humans and apes in particular) causes a chemical to be produced in your brain. This chemical, called Oxytocin, is known as the “cuddle chemical.” And it is called this because it is produced when you cuddle with someone you love. All physical love is strengthened by the presence of oxytocin – and without it, it would be very possible that mothers would take very little care of their children. Sad as it is, even mother’s love is a chemical reaction, just like vinegar and baking soda.

When an infant sucks on its mother’s nipples, it causes her brain to release a rush of oxytocin. And when the woman’s lover does the same thing, it causes the exact same effect. When a pair of lovers hold one another in a restaurant while they await their meal, the connection they feel is built out of oxytocin. The warmth two people experience together, and the feeling of connectedness that they share are both caused, again, by an oxytocin reaction in their brains. In short, in nearly every occasion in which two higher life forms feel emotionally connected to one another, there is an oxytocin reaction in place.

And oxytocin does more than just make you feel good. It also produces a calming effect that lowers your heart rate. Positive brain chemistry of this nature does more than just make you feel good “in the moment” – it can also help you to live a longer and healthier life overall. Since the oxytocin you experience when you connect with someone is a pleasant sensation, seek it out more often. It’s in your best interests to cuddle someone, if you can.

What is Lithium?
Lithium is a medication commonly used to treat the manic episodes of manic depression. These manic episodes can severely affect a person’s ability to function properly at work and at home. Symptoms of such episodes may include hyperactivity, aggression, anger, and intense feelings. Lithium helps make these episodes less severe. Lithium is also one of the only medications that has been proven to decrease the risk of suicide in patients who have manic depression.

How Does Lithium Work?
Lithium is actually a form of salt that the body produces naturally. Sodium affects your mood, and taking lithium is believed to stabilize sodium levels in your body.

Is Lithium Safe?
Lithium has been successfully used to treat manic depression for years. However, lithium is risky to take, and it affects the blood levels so much that patients must undertake regular blood tests while on lithium to ensure safety. Even a small overdose can result in death. People who have been taking lithium for years also have an increased risk of kidney disease.

What Are Some Lithium Side Effects?
Like any drug, Lithium side effects vary in intensity and severity. Some of the most common side effects that come from taking lithium include tremors, nausea and upset stomach, loss of appetite, dried and thinning hair, and an itchy sensation.

Some of the more serious side effects of taking lithium include hallucinations, lack of coordination, extreme thirst or weakness, feelings of confusion or restlessness, seizures, severely slowed heart rate, and fainting. If any of these occur after taking lithium, you should seek medical help immediately and stop taking it until speaking with your doctor.

Lithium can successfully treat manic episodes, but some of the side effects can be serious and even deadly. Open communication with your doctor will help you know if lithium is right for you.

We all know how it goes. People continue to ignore your requests that they not make you angry, because they will not like you when you are angry. Unfortunately, we all know that it is only a matter of time before you simply can not take it anymore. And once your eyes turn bright green, it is way too late to try and placate you. Because once the beast has been awakened, his massive green muscles will smash everything in his path until his rage is satiated. And that usually takes a really long time, and causes a whole lot of collateral damage. If only it were simply a matter of ventilating your rage against everything in your path (which, in some cases, might be some kind of machine).

But you have to remember that what Yoda said was true. Anger leads to hatred, and hatred leads to suffering. In the end, no matter how much you smash, and no matter how many of the rotting, shattered corpses of your foes you leave to draws fly in the noon time Sun, you will ultimately have to face the inner results of your rage. Rage releases cortisol, which causes your muscles to weaken. And since your heart is a muscle, your life can actually be shortened by the effects of your rage.

As your anger grows, consider that we become angry because we feel threatened. When the fact of the matter is that your own anger can cause you more pain and suffering than any person’s words can, and that your own rage can ultimately be your destroyer, it might actually be best if you stop raging against those who would anger you despite your warnings. After all, all of the anger in the world does nothing more than hurt people – and hurting yourself just does not make any sense.