Rat poison. Yes, rat poison. Until recently it was the ONLY drug (which means something different from the drug of choice) to counter potential blood clotting in humans who undergo dialysis and/or transplantation. Other folks took the drug to avoid cardiovascular complications because they had artificial heart valves or a condition called atrial fibrillation, among other situations.
Continue reading Will you try this?
A tale I love telling. For several reasons. A potential method for treating cancer. And, the development was effected by chemical engineers.
Continue reading Cancer Breakthrough?
We all dread these six letters. C A N C E R. The second largest killer of humans in advanced societies.
Continue reading Have I got an infection for you!
Dialysis is a compound word of dia and lysis– which means ‘through’ ‘splitting or loosening’. In chemistry, the term defines the process of separating particles within a liquid, based upon their ability to pass through a membrane. In medicine, we use the term when we remove impurities in the blood based upon their ability to pass through a membrance. Until now.
Continue reading New Use for Old Word?
Gut check? Not such a bad idea, if you are going in for cancer chemotherapy. Because the microbial flora in our gut may been the difference between a successful chemo course- or not.
Way back when I became interested in dialysis, the buffer of choice was sodium bicarbonate. Now this compound is not exactly easily dissolved in water. But, since we were making batches of dialysate that were used for a single treatment, it didn’t matter that a concentrate couldn’t be produced.
Too much?
We always thought when a patient could withstand chemotherapy (both physically- and with no illness that would impede the function), we should provide these chemicals. As a last ditch effort to save the patient and improve the quality of life. (Just so you know, I didn’t abide that sentiment. I demanded they stop this ridiculous effort for my dad some 30 years ago; with the combination of leukemia, lymphoma, and sarcoma, it was clear that there was no cocktail that would work for all three- and any treatment would render the other diseases worse.)
Continue reading Stop! In the Name of Love!
Yesterday, we spoke about two new approaches to cancer therapy. Today, we’ll consider other aspects of these new treatments. No. We really aren’t. Because yesterday, we spoke about new tools in our arsenal against cancer. What we are really going to talk about today is a paradigm shift, something that is sometimes termed ‘precision medicine’.
Continue reading More on cancer
Genetic engineering? Immunotherapy? These are terms often mentioned in the news, but we don’t totally grasp their significance- especially for cancer victims.
Continue reading New Tools Against Cancer
