Scratch no more: Gene for itch sensation discovered: Itching for a better anti-itch remedy? Your wish may soon be granted now that scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the first gene for the itch sensation in the central nervous system. The discovery could rapidly lead to new treatments directly targeting itchiness and providing relief for chronic and severe itching. The "itch gene" is GRPR (gastrin-releasing peptide receptor), which codes for a rec
You may think that poverty means you have a poorer diet and this in turn causes obesity. This view is challenged.
A recent study from the Food Standards Agency seems to contradict the commonly held view that poor diet and poor health generally are caused by poverty (see for example a 2005 report from the Faculty of Public Health, Food Poverty and Health).
Both studies in reality paint a more complex picture. For example, the FSA say that whilst there may be no evidence of a link between
As there is a fair amount of interst in evolution on this Forum I thought I would look into some of the recent research. As a pharmacist, the chemical processes interest me. Some of the most pioneering research is being carried out in California. This is one current report explaining that before life emerged on earth, either a primitive kind of metabolism or an RNA-like duplicating machinery must have set the stage. But what preceded these pre-life steps?
A pair of University of Californi
For those of you who wonder what the meaning of some of the directions may be on your prescription I thought I would help. This is not comprehensive but I hope it is illuminating for some of those obscure acronyms of Latin origin.
p.o. - per os - taken by mouth
i.p. - intraperitoneal - injected into the peritoneal cavity
i.v. - intravenous - injected in a vein.
s.c. -sub-cutaneously - injected under/into the skin
i.m. - intramuscular
q.i.d. - quad in diem - four times a
If you think that the idea of a morning person or an evening person is nonsense, then postgraduate student Martin Sale and his colleagues from the University of Adelaide have news for you.
They have found that the time of day influences your brain's ability to learn - and the human brain learns more effectively in the evening.
And by identifying at what point in the day the brain is best able to operate, rehabilitation therapy can be targeted to that time, when recovery is maximised.
There are news reports stating that Africa, with 70 per cent of the world reserve of medicinal plants, has no share in the more than $70 billion (about N9 trillion) global herbal medicine business.
The Director of Pax Herbal Clinic, Rev. Fr. Anselm Adodo, made the assertion at a workshop in Lagos organised by the clinic for journalists.
Adodo said: “Africa is surrounded by wealth, yet live in poverty,” adding that the workshop just for herbal medicine alone but for poverty alleviation e
A report in the British Medical Journal warns GPs to curb antibiotic prescribing
Experts have again called on GPs to reduce antibiotic prescribing because of the danger of resistance.
The call came from the authors of a study published this week on BMJ Online First that showed prescribing amoxicillin to a child in general practice doubles the risk of beta-lactam resistant bacteria two weeks later. The authors said current levels of antibiotic prescribing could be enough to sustain resistan
I came across an instructive essay by Chris Hedges about how the war in Iraq is "Beyond Disaster." Here's a quote:
Saddam Hussein, like the more benign dictator Josip Broz Tito in the former Yugoslavia, understood that the glue that held the country together was the secret police.
Iraq, however, is different from Yugoslavia. Iraq has oil-lots of it. It also has water in a part of the world that is running out of water. And the dismemberment of Iraq will unleash a mad scramble for dwi
GreenMann Directory Launched
Date Submitted: 06/08/2007 16:13:14
Source: Frank Schuengel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Island 21, the sustainability thinktank, is today officially launching the new GreenMann
Directory, the Isle of Man’s guide for low-impact living.
The 52 page strong guide can now be downloaded from www.greenmann.org and contains a wealth of information – from local businesses and organisations connected w
Ten Reasons to Love Your Pharmacist.
Some brief notes and thoughts for an article I am compiling for a writer I have been asked to help by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain:
1.
Pharmacists are experts in medicines.
Nowadays they have studied for 5 years - 4 years at University to obtain an M.Pharm plus one year pre-registration in community, hospital etc to obtain practical experience followed by an exam before being able to register with the Royal Pharmaceutical Societ
Pray to whoever you kneel down to:
Jesus nailed to his wooden or marble or plastic cross,
his suffering face bent to kiss you,
Buddha still under the Bo tree in scorching heat,
Adonai, Allah, raise your arms to Mary
that she may lay her palm on our brows,
to Shekinhah, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
to Inanna in her stripped descent.
Hawk or Wolf, or the Great Whale, Record Keeper
of time before, time now, time ahead, pray. Bow down
to terriers and shepherds and siamese cats.
Fields of
"I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance. That is my religion, and every day I am sorely, grossly, heinously and deeply offended, wounded, mortified and injured by a thousand different blasphemies against it. When the fundamental canons of truth, honesty, compassion and decency are hourly assaulted by fatuous bishops, pompous, illiberal and ignorant priests, politicians and prelates, sanctimonious censors, self-appointed moral
Last week a group of us - pharmacists and members of the Society for the Preservation of the Manx Countryside & Environment (www.spmce.com) visited Kentraugh Mill which has been in existence since before 1506 when it belonged to Robert Qualtrough.
It was a fascinating visit accompanied by expert commentary from Canon John Sheen whose wife Elizabeth is the owner. We were taken around the Mill and also the Chapel Garden the site of Kentraugh Mill Primitive Methodist Sunday School establis
The petrol driven lawn mower has stopped working again only weeks after being serviced. The rain is due tomorrow and the grass was starting to look menacingly long.
Anyhow we have decided that all this nonsense of depending on an engine has to stop - it costs money to buy the petrol, it costs to get it serviced, and you are straining with a heavy machine to keep in control.
What is the solution?
Electric - No! Wires everywhere and it is just as likely to break down and even kill yo
"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."
Albert Einstein
"For if one link in nature's chain might be lost, another might be lost, until the whole of things will vanish by piecemeal." - Thomas Jefferson
"If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If
A man is making a tour around England visiting churches. He starts in Canterbury Cathedral and spots a golden phone with a sign saying 'All calls £10 000'. Asking a steward what it is he is told that it is a direct line to heaven.
He finds similar phones in Westminster Abbey, York Minster and Durham Cathedral. He finds them in Roman Catholic churches, Methodist chapels and even in hospital chapels. All golden with a sign saying 'All calls £10 000'.
Finally he finds a little church in a
A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night!
A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off - it dies from starvation!
A crocodile always grows new teeth to replace the old teeth!
A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, a group of geese in the air is a skein!
A hard working adult sweats up to 4 gallons per day. Most of the sweat evaporates before a person realizes it’s there, though!
A hedgehog’s heart beats 300 times a minute on average!
A hippo can open its mout
Globally, women are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their social roles and status. In the UK and in other developed countries, increasing costs for energy, transport, healthcare and nutrition are likely to affect women, including single mothers, more than men. In developing countries, women are already suffering disproportionately more as a consequence of climate change:
70% of the world's poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women. 85% of pe
This poem was written by Sam Levenson. In the age of consumerism and plastic surgery, we would do well to heed its message.
“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone ... People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed
There was an interesting BBC 2 programme last evening about the Reverend Gilbert White, of Selbourne, the English naturalist of the 18th Century who inspired Darwin to become a naturalist. He is regarded by many as England's first ecologist and one of the founders of modern respect for nature. He recognised humanity as only one link in the whole chain of nature - the first principle of ecology. The earth worm was for instance most important, without them "the earth would become cold and therefor
All Saints 13.05.07 CF/EP EP Matthew 28,1-10:16-20
In the name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This evening we are going to discuss Jesus’ last words. Some people’s last words are memorable, some are obvious such as “I don’t feel good..” Nevertheless, seriously, last words can be very important, so what were Jesus’ last words? What did He want to get across to his followers following his resurrection and before his ascension?
Well we have heard his final theme tonight
Christian Aid Week runs from Sun 13 to Sat 19th May.
This year all funds will go to support a project in Haiti which will improve milk production and also transforming milk into yogurt and sterilised milk, and then marketing them throughout Haiti to boost family incomes.
All monies collected will be matched £ for £ by Tynwald's Overseas Aid Committee.
How to win Friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie is one of the most important books ever published and contains excellent advice. I suggest everyone reads it.
The outline is:
Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
Six Ways to Make People Like You
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember t
Tips - Make your own lunch
Making your own lunch instead of buying from a sandwich shop saves on packaging, and could also save you approx �4 a day or �1,000 per year!
Tips - Recycle old mobiles
Avoid waste by saying no to mobile phone upgrades. If you need to recycle an old phone, many supermarkets, charity shops and mobile phone retailers offer recycling services. Alternatively try charity schemes such as http://www.recyclingappeal.com/scope/, http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/recycle
I have been asked to help the staff at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in London with some tips for pharmacists to be more environmentally friendly. As most of the material will be helpful to others apart from pharmacists, I list a brief summary below:
ENVIRONMENTAL TIPS FOR PHARMACISTS.
According to Sir David King, the Government’s Chief Scientist, global warming is the
greatest problem facing humanity. It is therefore incumbent upon all sections of society to reduce their carbon e
