Cannabis for Fibromyalgia

Cannabis; known for many things – medicinal or not – has now been found to be the main source of pain relief for 10% of the sufferers of fibromyalgia, and since my mother is herself a chronic sufferer with the condition it intrigued me how such a percentage are self-medicating with other various substances. Legal or not.

The use of cannabis in different countries carries different consequences. Whilst perfectly legal in Bangladesh, Mexico and Peru in Japan, Hong Kong and Romania possession can carry heavy fines and ‘with intent to supply’ can land you a life sentence in there infamous jails.  

Currently 3% of the world population suffer with, acute or chronic, fibromyalgia (FM) and since prescribed medicines for the condition only deliver modest relief many suffers - arguably- turn to other substances to relieve pain.

Living with a sufferer of FM has made me aware of the day-to-day challenges that patients face; I witness my own mum taking a cocktail of drugs (which would be lethal for most others) since she has built a resistance to the most powerful drugs available.
Taking morphine, tramadol and a range of medicines (the names of which no sane person could spell)  all at once and then feeling little side effects. My mum refuses to turn to other, non-prescribed, drugs but she would appreciate pain relief that offers more.

There are a lot of conflicting views on if the use of cannabis is justified, however you can’t deny that it is unfortunate that such a population turn to the use of these drugs.

Hopefully – in the near, or distant, future – we can find a drug that offers more pharmaceutical aid to those suffering from FM and other degenerative conditions

23 + 23 = Healthy Baby

This week Cambridgeshire biotech company Blue Gnome published their study into how screening embryos before implantation can have a massive effect on the current success rate of in vitro fertilisation especially in treatments given to over 40's.

Presently embryos are being screened to check whether the baby is fit for implantation, but this new type of screening would check if the embryo had all 23 pairs of chromosomes ensuring that the newly developed baby grows accordingly and that is has no significant disabilities. 

Even modern IVF means that women under 35 have a 33% chance of success in their first cycle and in women over 40 there is only a 1 in 20 chance of success (5%) - researchers believe that these checks can raise the success rates by 65%, meaning thousands of pounds saved by individuals.  

The screening method developed by Blue Gnome takes a few cells from the embryo when it is five days old. These are analysed to count the chromosomes. Only those with the correct number are then implanted; these checks could prevent further issues in pregnancy  and as it enables doctors to only implant one embryo decreasing the risk of unwanted multiple births.  

Personally I fail to see the significance in the research, unaware of current procedures I assumed that such checks were being carried out as regular procedure. I am no expert in genetics or any such study but as a 14 year student studying basic biology I was well aware that 46 chromosomes were needed to produce a healthy offspring; so why it has taken professional so long to conclude that such tests are essential to successful IVF treatment cycles bypasses me.

According to Prof Dagan Wells, from the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Oxford, "IVF is still remarkably inefficient" and that "more research is needed to nail down who will benefit, but my gut feeling is that it is valuable."

We can safely say that IVF is slowly but surely catching up with the top of the range medical equipment and that the future of IVF isn’t looking as bleak as the hope of Lindsay Lohan ever becoming clean. 

Facebook Leads to Obesity

Facebook has been linked to many issues- medical or not- but the newly found lead to obesity is something to feast your eyes on. 

A report from The Daily Telegraph states that "if you don't get enough sleep, you may find yourself eating more the next day", and it does make perfect sense. To compensate for the lack of energy not gained through sleep we eat more calories in order to have sufficient amounts of energy. 



Researches discovered that sleep deprived people ate on average 549 calories more a day than those who received the recommend 8 hours of sleep.  But what does being sleep deprived actually mean? It simply means "suffering from not enough sleep".

Deprived makes us think of poor orphans or people seriously missing out on vital necessities but in reality it can be something as small as feeling drowsy.

By now you must be wondering 'how does this link to obesity?' The link is as follows; when individuals spend time on a night surfing the web instead of sleeping, those precious hours can really add up and soon you may find that you are consuming 25% more than your daily recommend amount.


Researchers are most concerned about the teenage generation as they typically spend more time on social networking sites. 
So to add to the list of bullying, harassment, insecurity, isolation, depression, loneliness, overexposure, grooming, pressure and suicide pacts; obesity is another threat facing Facebook users. 
Will this make you think twice of logging in for a late night browse? I can say for sure that in the future I will reconsider how I spend those 5 minutes before I turn of the light. 


See http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=57547 For more information about Sleep Deprivation 

Gestational Relationship Uncovered or Invented?

Scanning through the most recent medical news my eyes fixate the title ‘Early Birth Tied To Health Risks In Early Years’ reading on I discover that a UK research project found that there was a clear link between gestation time and what health issues arise in the first few years.  The study also concluded that babies that were born preterm were the most likely to have mothers who smoked and least likely to receive breastmilk for more than four months.

What I ask from this article is how the researches felt that they had the concrete answer with the relationships, and how they were able to make such a clinical answer from an observation. Another thing I question is how they could carry out any practise with such data.

The study is guaranteed to look great on records and increases global knowledge but, in reality, the study gives us nothing.

Midwifes can hardly suffocate a baby to keep it in the uterus so it to go to full term to prevent any possible complications in the first years. Surely the money gone into the research could have been better spend in a field positive that its findings could actually impact on society. 

"The researchers found that babies born at less than 37 weeks of gestation were more likely to have single mothers, with fewer educational achievements and less likely to be in managerial jobs."

Is the above statement not offencive to those born a week or two early? Winston Churchill, Thomas Hobbes, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein were all born prematurely. Are you going to start a debate whether their achievements in life were due to luck just because they were born early?

No- I wouldn't.

Personally I will take no notice from this article (and my advice is that nor should you) as, in my opinion, it is ludicrous and impossible to officially prove. Birth happens and it will continue to. We should be celebrating new life rather than dwelling on prematurity.

Can I just get a few letters in front and after my name, write a report like I swallowed the thesaurus and then cross my fingers? (If I can please get in contact and you will soon see 'The Universe- No Question, Always an Answer' in a bookshop near you.)

I discreetly laugh and clearly this is one piece of medical research which I disagree with, and you can be sure that there are many other articles to question coming along.

Besides who says that you can’t argue with science?

Fat is Useful!

On http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/242327.php  I found the article 'Man's Head Reshaped With Fat From His Stomach' and I had to immediately click the link to read more.

The simple title instilled a hunger for more information as to how fat can reshape a part of your body; let alone the section that contains the most vital of vital organs.

Reading on, I read that 32 year old Tom Barter, fell from 7.5 m high of a drain pipe unto the ground and shattering his cheek bone and eye socked. Leaving Barter with devastating injuries which had resulted in him taking unrequited leave from work. 

Luckily the medical staff at Kings College Hospital were on hand after he woke up from his ten day coma. 

After reconstructing a mirror image of the missing part of the skull they used fat from his own body and titanium to replace the bone. 

This procedure was the first of its kind in the UK, and I find it particularly interesting as they used an undesired substance that many find 'ugly, annoying and an inconvenience’ to medical advantages. 
I find the message that many can take of this is that anything can be useful; even when it is commonly considered as unwanted. 
The oddest body part can save a person’s life and I, myself, take the clear message that my extra bit of fat that I carry along with me should be valued and even respected in its own right. 
Clearly those few extra pounds I carry can one day safe my life.

New

The very first post of my new blog; how very exciting. If you are reading it then be prepared for countless posts about current news, my experiences and general interest in and about medicine.

Being only 14 it can be hard to be taken seriously when I declare that I want to study medicine. "Keep dreaming" and *cue cockney accent* "young hope, she doesn't know a thing yet"  are all phrases that future medical hopefuls have continually hear, this does, however, not mean that I will give up in my quest to become a someone who can say that they increase quality of life and strive to help others; you may be thinking that I am very naive, but I assure you that I am well aware of the life of endless paperwork, constantly having to place government regulations in front of patient care and the constant irritation of your superiors questioning your ever move and demeaning your very existence.

Yet knowing all of this I still want to go into this field with the hope and determination that I will be the exact opposite of those capital, self-centred and uncompassionate people that carry the title of dr’s.

Hope is the word.

Within this blog I will share my opinion on what is happening in the world of health and medicine, my experiences and thoughts on day-to-day life.

Enjoy, and don't hesitate to comment as you please.

Yrina

PS. Please note that I am one of the most opinionated person on this planet, I try to not let this seep through into my day-to-day life but I often look back with regrets of what I have done/said. Over time I will phase it out (before I turn 18) but I still have 4 years to go. So please bear with!