February 2003 Vol. 3 Issue 2
An Internet Newsletter publication of the American Society of CIM Alumni, Inc.
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February 2003 Vol. 3 Issue 2 |
An Internet Newsletter publication of the American Society of CIM Alumni, Inc. | |
THE ASOCIMAI OFFICERS: : Dominador Ong, M.D. Board Members: Horace Cabasares, M.D. CME Coordinator: Ways and Means Committee BRAIN WAVES STAFF: Editorial Board: Editor: Staff Correspondents: Guest Correspondents: Send news, articles, pictures, announcement, obituary, etc., to:clems3ra@adelphia.net
| Editor's Column"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning today is young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." -- Henry Ford
The Camotes Island where I came from was under the district of Congressman Ramon Durano of Danao, Cebu, who, was in the same political party with Marcos and was one of Marcos' henchmen. Ramon Durano had goons he assigned and rotated to the different towns of Camotes every election and during that election, there were more of them. Camotes was always a solid vote for Durano and Durano wanted to keep it that way. And so he used every means which he had many at his disposal, his favorite of which was sending his goons, although the combination of massive vote buying and the intimidating presence of those mean-looking goons was the most effective and irresistible. They would make you an offer you could not refuse. Terror was like the insurance benefit that provided Durano his constant rock solid election victory as well as those in his party. Lethal Weapon Well, if there is one thing my friends and I in Camotes had never lost, come tempest and terror, or come hell and high water, it's our sense of humor. It's about the only effective weapon we've got against anything. It's really nothing more than the willingness to accept a situation after seeing that you really don't have that much choice. So if you've got to go, you've got to go. You might as well humor and laugh your way through it. In any case, those goons would walk the streets of our small town with eyes shifting from side to side, never smiling, like they were looking for anyone who dares to draw his gun. They would threaten and intimidate particularly those of us who made the mistake of staring at them. They would at least attempt to buy your vote, and if your vote is not for sale, some of them would tickle your back with the barrel of their gun as you are selecting the candidates to fill up your ballot. If one of those guns fired accidentally, I, for one, would probably have only one kidney left if I would ever survive. And whoever the candidates you have selected to vote for, your vote would be useless because those goons guarded those ballot boxes and the official election results. You could pretty much presume that they have the keys to those boxes too. Durano was someone who thought of everything to get his way, and that, I had given him credit for. You've got to admire the man for his devious and very effective method. For your vote, you are offered two easy choices - money? or goons and guns? You either get the money for your vote and shut up, or no money, no vote for them, and get the barrel of a gun poking on your back? There was another choice though and that was - stay out of the polling place and not vote. That's what I did after that incident. My admiration also came from my assessment that Durano has got to be cunning and ruthless to keep his district and Camotes "on a string sitting on Danao with the string wrapped around his fingers" for so many years, probably since I was still peeing on my pants. Dare and Die God looks after people with a sense of humor. We thanked Him for small favor, for with the plastic bag over our friends' head tied tightly around their neck, those hermit crabs that delight on feasting anything that feels soft and smells bad, were not able to get into our friends' eyes to munch on them. A little comfort for the parents, able to bury their son's body still in one whole piece with a reassuring thought that when their son meets his Maker, he would still be able to open his eyes and blink. However, their son's balls and part of their penis were gone, nibbled by those nasty shit-eating little crabs. We could not really blame those little creatures. They are parts of that something big and mysterious called Nature. These little creatures simply took advantage of what Nature had offered to them, and the offer was something they could not refuse. |
The vote that always counts
But here in the U.S., the election is free, peaceful and quiet at least in our city in Virginia. Thus if there is one thing in politics I'd recommend particularly to those of you who are U.S. citizens, it is - take time to exercise your right to vote. It's the only thing that gives you the feeling that you are justified to get disgusted of the blood-sucking creatures you did not vote for, and feel proud of the ones you voted for particularly if they start delivering their promises you are in favor of. It doesn't matter who you'd vote for. Here in the U.S., your vote always counts, unless of course you don't follow instructions.
The State of the Union
I don't know about you, but I had always watched and listened to every Presidents' State of the Union since President Carter. I believe that the State of the Union is the most important speech every U.S. President has to deliver. For it is during this address that the President tells every American not just in the U.S. but all over the world, what direction he wants the country to be going, what destination he wants it to arrive, and how he is going to do it for the country to get there. Many of the previous Presidents' speeches were directed toward tooting its horn - toward the rhetoric in that great line called sound bite - but without the sincerity and authenticity behind them. They were politics as usual. It's like using artificial sweetener in your coffee; it doesn't have the sweet genuine taste. President Bush's speech last month was a departure in that regard. It had thoughts, not sound bites, and it was delivered with sincerity. It was rousing. Perhaps I'm just getting old because I was moved with gratitude. There is no doubt of the depth of his seriousness and his conviction of what is right. There is a profound authenticity to him as well as fearlessness. He showed true grit, guts and grain that I've never seen in a politician before.
President Bush was like John Wayne, Wyatt Earp, Jimmy Stewart and James Bond rolled into one, someone who is determined to pursue what he is convinced of is right. No hesitation. George W. didn't bother trying to please every one, let alone trying to appease other nations to gain their favor, so they would come along with him and do the right thing. In Exodus 17:5 , it says: "The Lord said to Moses …. Walk on ahead of the people. Strike the rock and water will come pouring out." In his speech, President Bush clearly indicated that he would "walk on ahead." He will strike, not the rock, but Iraq, and missiles will come pouring in. He knows that he cannot take others where they are not willing to go. That's what leadership is all about. You've got to go first and go on to meet your objectives. It's like driving a bus. Some people will get on and others will get off, but you've got to keep on driving to arrive where you need to go. You cannot lead if you are bogged down with indecision and thus unwilling to lead yourself to where you want to go. If others tell you that there is no car or any other transportation available for you to use, you calmly say to them: "Then I'll walk."
Let's consider these few lines from the President's speech: "We exercise power without conquest, and sacrifice for the liberty of strangers. Americans are free people who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity." ["The course of this nation does not depend on the decision of others." ["If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning." ["We do not claim to know the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life and all of history."
Freedom Under Threat
Of course, there are always those who would disagree with President Bush's State of the Union. But I've never felt so grateful in my life with the freedom I have here in America that so many Americans are taking for granted. I was always convinced that a country and thus its people could never actually have peace and freedom if there is an evil threat that hangs over their head like a proverbial sword of Democles. To ignore and tolerate the existence of evil that threatens our freedom, and wait until the threat materializes before doing something about it, made me imagine what would have happened if Noah ignored God's words to build the ark. I imagine some catastrophe has a good likelihood of happening if we ignore evil threat.
We should not just depend too much on defense like our Homeland Security for the safety and security of our freedom. The principle of security doesn't involve waiting for a catastrophe or an unpleasant event to happen before you take action. It involves removing threats that make it possible for a catastrophe to happen. It is not - "If it is not broken, don't fix it." It is - "Fix it before it breaks."
That's why I wholeheartedly support for disarming Iraq by force if necessary without the full blessings of the United Nations. I may be biased, but the United Nations have long been manned and dominated by countries that don't like the U.S., if not envious of the U.S. These countries would love to see the U.S. defeated and humiliated all because America is great and people are free. Many of these countries have never been able to understand that it's freedom that makes a nation great - the freedom to achieve, succeed and prosper. While America is protecting its freedom, other countries are destroying theirs.
When a citizen is free to achieve and enjoy his achievements like we do here in the U.S., that citizen is willing to take risks and work hard because he knows his survival, comfort and pleasure depend on his guts and the "sweat of his brow," not on the government. And as he works hard and starts producing and consuming, he would soon find out that for him to become a consumer, he must first be a producer. Then he would realize that he must produce more than he can consume, because if what he produces is barely enough for his own consumption, or he consumes all that he produces, his future is doomed. A person who consumes without producing is not a consumer. He is a parasite. He doesn't contribute anything to the welfare of the country. In fact, being a parasite, he is a burden for his country. And as we've learned from our Biology class or from the medical school, as the parasites continue to multiply, they would deprive the host of the essential means of living and would ultimately kill the host. But when the host dies, the parasites die too. Unfortunately, this is what's happening in many countries, for the lack of freedom left many of its citizens without much choices.
Note:The parasites I am referring to here are those able-bodied and able-minded individuals who are free to choose to work and support themselves. And yet they chose to indulge on booze, drugs, and criminal activities to maintain their habits at the expense of others, or at the expense of the government and the taxpayers. Further, they continue to procreate often like rabbits when they know they could not even support themselves, let alone their children. In the present society, the politically correct term for these individuals is the unmotivated, but the actual term is the lazy. Instead of using their God-given mind to become producers or productive citizens, they use their mind to manipulate the government system and to violate other's individual right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by cheating, stealing, and even killing to keep on indulging on their laziness. They are not only the burden of the country, they are the menace to society.
The haves and the have-nots
Freedom is the force that releases one's creativity, and the freedom to enjoy the fruits of that creativity serves as an incentive for boldly going to where no one has gone before. If you're one of those who have observed geopolitical events, you must have noticed already that the "haves" have freedom. It is freedom that the "have-nots" have not. Confiscatory taxes and corruption that many government leaders in many countries are indulging on, are the impediments to that freedom. They are akin to increasing ludicrous lawsuits and skyrocketing malpractice premium for doctors. Sadly, for these government leaders, they have to indulge on corruption because without it, they could not achieve, let alone maintain power that is the main reason for many of them in many countries to get into political office in the first place, anyway. Lord Aston once said: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Corruption often leads to chaos and disorder, and so, these corrupt leaders have to use threats, intimidation, force and oppression to maintain order and to hang on to their power. These stifle, not stimulate, individual's creativity. There is no incentive in working hard and in taking risks anymore when a good part of the money a working citizen makes goes to an inept government whose corrupt leaders are no longer concern for the safety, progress and prosperity of its productive citizens and businesses, but for the wealth they want to steal and accumulate for themselves. So instead of using their money as capital for investing in more businesses that would provide jobs and promote the country's economic growth, businesses and people with money have no choice but to hide their money in safe places like other countries to secure their own future survival. Can you blame them? You can't because you'd probably do the same if you were them.
Corruption has a way of encouraging thieves, robbers, kidnappers, killers for hire, and other evildoers, because it provides every one with an easy justification for their evil deeds. If politicians are above the law and are enriching themselves, then why someone who is strong or someone with a gun isn't? Ultimately, these corrupt leaders would impoverish the country. The poorer the country, the more vulnerable its society or its people would become to harboring the destructive feeling of envy. Instead of using their energy on thinking of an honest way to produce, acquire and achieve, envy makes them use their energy on planning how to seize, snatch, or destroy the achievements of others.
The United Nations' Irony and Contradiction
For someone who at least tries to keep up with world events, it's not hard to lose respect of the United Nations, all because of its too obvious if not too overwhelming irony and contradiction. In fact, its recent U.N.'s ironies have made me feel disgusted. Simply consider these: Next month, Iraq will take over the chairmanship of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. In January 23 of this year 2003, Libya was elected president of the 53-member United Nations Human Rights Commission on a wave of African solidarity. Only the U.S. objected and two other countries voted with the U.S. against it. Imagine Iraq not cooperating with the U.N. inspectors in revealing or accounting of its nuclear, chemical and biological weapon, will become the Chairman on Disarmament. Libya with a horrible human rights record becomes the president on the U.N. Human Rights Commission. It's as bad as it gets. It's like having Joseph Estrada to chair on the Committee of Corruption in the Philippine government. They might as well invite Fidel Castro to talk about democracy. The U.N. would have been a lot more respectable if it gets Imelda Marcos to chair on the Committee of International Shoes.
Yet for whatever reasons, so many people even in the U.S. have constantly ignored the U.N.'s ironies. They want to keep their freedom and yet, they are not willing to support in eliminating its threat, let alone in the fight for it. In fact, many of them are against getting rid of the threat and leave it to the United Nations to make the decision. Despite the U.N.'s ironies, they continue to trust the United Nations whose inspectors have been cheated and expelled by the country involved in hiding weapons of mass destruction 12 years ago. And the U.N. had done nothing about its inspectors' expulsion except to hope that the threat to peace would simply go away. This is the kind of principle and philosophy that, if allowed to dominate, makes a country, a nation or the whole world vulnerable to the dictates of the forces of evil and would only succumb to those forces.
Now even after General Powell's presentation to the U.N. Security Council of the overwhelming evidence that Iraq is not disarming and has never intended to, France and Germany are still not swayed because these two countries, the Old Europe, are still hoping that Saddam Hussein will cooperate and disarm. To me, the leaders of these two countries are full of it. They want to fit in with the peace activists, the obnoxious pacifists, the Hate America crowds, and the likes of Edward Kennedy who simply want to talk, debate and dawdle, instead of decide. I guess France and Germany just don't like the idea of the U.S. being the only greatest nation on earth with its freedom and culture that many people in many different countries would prefer. They are using the U.N. Security Council as a global condom to prevent the American virus from spreading. Fortunately, we have President Bush who is determined and who has basically told every one already including France, Germany and Edward Kennedy to stuff it and move out of the way. That's why I like George W. because he is the kind of leader who is not afraid to stand up to the devil and without even the blink of an eye, he would look at that devil straight in the eye and say: "Up yours!.. Saddam." And he would then send in those Tomahawk missiles with a message written on the body of the first missile that reads: "Happy Valentines!"
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"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the
man who will win." -- Roger Bannister "What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he
finds it." Alexander Graham Bell "The longer I live, the more I am certain that the great difference between the great and the insignificant, is energy -- invincible determination -- a purpose once fixed, and then death or victory." -- Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton "The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's
determination." -- Tommy Lasorda "The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." -- Vince Lombardi "Once while St. Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, he was asked, 'What would you do if you were suddenly to learn that you were to die at sunset today?' He replied, 'I would finish hoeing my garden.' " -- Source
Unknown
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Back to the Future
In the December 2002 issue of Brain Waves, we told you about the future outlook of oil, that oil which price is being controlled by few oil-producing countries, will soon succumb to the discovery of alternative fuel specifically the hydrogen fuel cells that will be used to power automobiles instead of gasoline. If you have watched and listened to the President's State of the Union Address last month January 28, 2003, you would not have been wondering about the hydrogen-fueled automobiles he was talking about in the future. He said that a child born today will be driving a clean-burning, hydrogen-powered car by the time he or she gets a driver's license which is issued at age 16. The U.S. government will spend $1.2 billion for this research for the next five years that will finally keep America and hopefully other countries as well from being dependent on few oil-producing countries.
In the October 2002 issue of Brain Waves, we told you about the pigs as the sources of organs for human transplant. Well, scientists in the University of Nebraska have successfully grafted a pig's heart to a sheep by manipulating the immune systems of both animals, a step that may soon allow scientists to grow organs for human transplantation. The February issue of the Annals of Surgery has already picked up on it. The researchers first took bone marrow cells from the sheep and transfer them to a pig fetus. After the pig was born, they took disease-fighting white cells from the pig's spleen and transferred them back to the sheep. These cells contained genetic material from both animals.
When the pig matured, the pig's heart was grafted onto the outside of the sheep and connected to blood vessels located below the sheep's neck. The sheep retained their own hearts. Out of the 13 sheep with grafted pig hearts, only one rejected the new heart and five had minor signs of rejection but was successfully treated with anti-inflammatory drugs. The remaining sheep showed no signs of organ rejection for as long as 70 days.
A trial using humans and pigs would follow similar method, with the pig fetus receiving human bone marrow cells. Growing pig organs for human use would take about six months according to the researcher. And besides hearts, the technology could be applicable to kidney, liver and pancreatic islet cell transplants. I wonder what the Muslims would say about this. Would they accept pig's organs for organ transplantation to save their lives?
Once again…..
As was stated in the past, Brain Waves does research every now and then to bring strategic and hope-providing knowledge to its readers, like the future of oil, Saddam Husein's brutal sons, AIDS vaccine, etc., that the mainstream media hasn't picked up yet. We, the staff of Brain Waves, take pride in our job. Although we get absolutely nothing for what we are doing, we are not complaining. We are not expecting to make an impact on anything, just hoping to make a little difference. After all, doing so helps us achieve personal growth and development, and that should count for something. We believe in sharing thoughts, ideas and knowledge that could enlighten and help our readers grow brains. It's our belief too that if we make our readers' brains grow big, we make ours grow bigger. Where else can you subscribe to a newsletter for free that helps you think better, deal with your own unpleasant emotions better, reason better, and acquire practical and hard-hitting knowledge that can alter the way you think? Where else can you get such kind of newsletter that helps open your mind, broaden your horizon, and keeps your reflexes from winning against reasons? Where else can you get such kind of newsletter that gives you the laughs, insights and inspiration to brighten your day and keep your mood up and steady, not swing from breathless heights to boring lows like it's out of control? We don't brag, we don't nag, we simply hope that what we do may help remove the clog of negativism and skepticism that jugs the minds of many.
Certainly, we understand your doubts and skepticism. We really do, because they are actually essential part of human behavior. As a matter of fact, an adequate dose of doubts often gives you a peace of mind. You must have found yourself at one time or another saying: "I'm glad I did not believe in what my friend said. There was something in it that I was skeptical of." You might have even wished you said to your friend the charming American expression: "Get the fuck out of here!" But being constantly doubtful or skeptical of something or someone even if you are given the opportunity with no hassle to prove whether or not your doubt or skepticism is legitimate, is no longer a desirable part of human behavior.
An overdose of doubt and skepticism closes your mind and keeps you in the dark. As we had emphasized in the previous issues of Brain Waves, without light your brain stops growing. Even a plant needs light to grow. Like fertilizers that if you give too much would make a plant wilts and withers, too much doubt and skepticism can be toxic. They could readily lead to paranoid fantasies of demons and delusions. Your brain may swell initially, however, but it would shrink later on. Believe me. I had the experience of dealing with people who isolated themselves, all because of their doubts and paranoia. Those we took CT scan have atrophy of their brain. I must admit though that there is really no evidence whether their doubts and paranoia had caused their brain to atrophy, or the brain atrophy was the cause of their doubts and paranoia. But what have you got to lose by taking every opportunity to open your mind and clear your doubts? That's what Brain Waves is offering free - that kind of opportunity.
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A woman tried to board a bus but her skirt was so tight that she couldn't make the step up. So she reached behind her, lowered her zip and tried again. Still the skirt was too tight. So again she reached behind her, lowered her zip a little more to negotiate the step. But still the skirt was too tight. Determined to catch this bus, she once more reached behind her, lowered the zip a little and attempted to climb aboard.
Then suddenly she felt two hands on her butt which helped her on the bus.
She turned around angrily and told the man behind her: "Sir, I don't know you well enough for you to behave in such a manner."
The man replied: "Lady, I don't know you well enough for you to unzip my fly three times either!"
Everybody on earth dies and goes to heaven. God comes and says,
"I want the men to make two lines. One line for the men that dominated their women on earth and the other line for the men
that were dominated by their women. Also, I want all the women to go with St. Peter." With that said and done, the next time
God looked, the women are gone and there are two lines.
The line of the men that were dominated by their women was 100 miles long, and in the line of men that dominated their women, there was only one man. God got mad and said, "You
men should be ashamed of yourselves. I created, you in my image and you were all whipped by your mates. Look at the
only one of my sons that stood up and made me proud. Learn from him! Tell them my son, how did you manage to be the only
one in this line?"
And the man replied, "I don't know, my wife told me to stand here."
A Texan on a steamer trip along the Alaskan coast was boasting to locals about how the Lone Star State had the biggest and best of everything. Just then a huge iceberg came into view. The Texan was rendered speechless for a second. "Hell," he said, "I have to admit you've got bigger ice cubes."
A preacher wanted to raise money for his church and on being told that there was a fortune in horse raising, he decided to purchase one and enter it in the race. However, at the local auction, the going price for a horse was so high that he ended up buying a donkey instead. He figured that since he had it, he might as well go ahead and enter it in the race.
To his surprise, the donkey came in third! The next day the Local paper cried this headline: PREACHER'S ASS SHOWS
The preacher was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and this time it won. The paper read: PREACHER'S ASS OUT IN FRONT
The bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the preacher not to enter the donkey in another race. The paper headline read: BISHOP SCRATCHES PREACHER'S ASS
This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the preacher to get rid of the donkey. The preacher decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent. The paper headline the next day read:NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN
The bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she should have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for ten dollars. The next day the paper read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.00
This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild. The next day the paper read: NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE
The Bishop was buried the following morning.
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An Upcoming Potentially EffectiveWeight-Loss Drug
As many of us know, there are about 20 different drugs for weight loss and many more are probably undergoing trials right now ready for the market in months or a year. But at present, there are only two dominant drugs for obesity: Roche's Xenical and Abbot's Meridia. There are almost 40 million people who are clinically obese in the U.S. But all over the world, World Watch has estimated that there are now 1.1 billion overweight people. Almost one-third of the people living in Europe are now overweight. It's not hard to believe that anti-obesity drug market is about $1.2 billion per year. Last year, Xenical of Roche sale was about $656 million worldwide and Meridia of Abbot was $300 million.
But the new anti-obesity drug that is yet in its phase III trial and has the potential of dominating the market is called Axokine. What is interesting about this drug is that this was initially studied by a group of Nobel Prize-winning research physicians to treat Lou Gehrig's disease, (or ALS - Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis), an incurable and fatal neuromuscular disease. Lou Gehrig was one of the best Yankee baseball players who had the disease sometime in the 1940s.
It started first in the late 1980s when the first neurotrophic factors were cloned. These neurotrophic factors are natural occurring proteins present during the development of the nervous system. In laboratory experiments, these proteins can re-grow nerves. Lou Gehrig's was the first and easiest disease to treat with these new compounds, because the nerve damaged by ALS are not inside the brain, but out in the body. Scientists found neurotrophic proteins called "ciliary neurotrophic factors," or CNTF that were originally discovered in mice brains, and in humans and animal studies, it could re-grow nerves. Unfortunately, in 1994, the clinical trials were found to be a complete waste. None of the 700 patients on trial experienced nerve re-growth. CNTF as a treatment for Lou Gehrig's disease was a total failure.
But the scientists did not give up in their study and experiment of CNTF. They found that CNTF doesn't normally circulate in the blood. Thus it's not very soluble and is difficult to administer. It tends to stick to other tissues or structures in the body and attract the attention of the immune system, giving it a short effective half-life in the body. Then they discover that CNTF contains one free covalent "cysteine" that makes it stick like a magnet to every structure of the body. So the scientists did the following: they crystallized the CNTF and got rid of the free covalent cysteine or the magnet so that CNTF would not stick to every structure. Next they bent the structure of the CNTF so that it attaches or latch on to its receptor better and improve its binding affinity. Then they clipped the CNTF's tail, the part of the protein that was just flapping around and attracting the attention of the immune system. The modified version became more powerful, few side effects and only needs small doses unlike the original that needed huge doses to administer.
The reason why the scientists did not give up on CNTF was because something strange happened to the patients in the Lou Gehrig's disease clinical trials. All of them lost weight, lots of weight. Too much weight loss against the placebo group to be attributable to chance alone. The weight loss was so severe in some patients that it was considered a dangerous side effect of the drug. That's how Axokine was developed - a modified CNTF.
But how do Axokine help people lose weight? There is a protein called leptin, made in fat cells that was reported few years ago to be the "cure" for obesity. When this leptin was given to extremely obese mice, the mice went on to lose a tremendous amount of fat. This protein acts on a receptor in the hypothalamus - a part of the brain that controls most of the vital functions of the body. It was known that people with genetic mutation that prohibits the production of leptin are all obese - meaning leptin-deficient people are obese. This is a genetic obesity. Anyway, it doesn't mean that obese people are leptin deficient. So Leptin worked only for leptin-deficient genetic obesity and doesn't work in others because it never turns down the appetite. People treated with it still over eat.
Nevertheless the leptin studies led to the discovery that CNTF activates the same pathway in the hypothalamus as leptin, but it uses a different receptor than leptin to reach the appetite control. So CNTF or Axokine curbs the appetite, and it's effective on both leptin-deficient and non-leptin deficient. What's more, it doesn't have a "rebound effect" in the obese mice study, meaning that it keeps weight from coming back even after the mice have stopped taking the drug. But what works in mice may not necessarily work in humans. Well, in phase II of the Axokine controlled study of about 170 obese men and women with the average weight of 240 pounds, all those taking Axokine lost an average of 9 pounds in 12 weeks, while the placebo group gained 3.5 pounds. And 24 weeks after treatment, they lost an additional 5 pounds, while the placebo group gained another 3 pounds. It means that an obese person could potentially lose 40-45 pounds a year and is gradual and less drastic. But there is one common side effect - cough. So if you are a police officer, you should not get involved in a stake out or in something that stealth is needed. Your cough would expose your position.
At present, Axokine is on the phase III trial that would probably last for another 12 months. So when you encounter this drug in the near future, you are already familiar with it. Ain't that nice? But to me, however, the best way to lose and maintain weight is mind control in curbing our appetite, and regular exercise. Obesity makes you vulnerable to so many diseases that often stays with you for the rest of your life like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and even cancer.
So stop nibbling on those cakes, cookies and icecream in your refrigerator. How about lechon or siopao? Uhmm.....Yummy!..
(Source: Pirate Investor by Porter Stansberry and David Lashmet. To subscribe call: 1-888-261-2693)
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Politics in Medical Malpractice
by Clem S. Estrera, Jr., Class 1972
"Democracy: The state of affairs in which you consent to having your pocket picked and elect the best man to do it." --Benjamin Lichtenberg
Almost 20 years ago or perhaps a little longer, believe it or not, I saw this malpractice crisis coming. I just didn’t think it would get this bad or this proportion in which many doctors are leaving their practice. I attended a Medical Society meeting during that time and the special speaker was a lawyer who advocated the formation of Political Action Committee (PAC), but no one paid attention, let alone interested in what that lawyer was implying that could happen in the future. It was my feeling at least during that time, that physicians are too independent and too confident in the future like things will always be alright or stay the same, if not would get a lot better with regards to the medical profession. But I knew it would only get bad. I was wrong. It has gotten worse.
I listened to what that lawyer was talking about and as I mulled over its significance, it got me started reading news about the different bills discussed and approved in the state legislative assembly, and tried to understand the assembly process. Also, I used to work with a couple of dentists who were active in politics and we talked and discussed politics a lot. There were five of us physicians working together at the time in our hospital as compared to only three now, and thus we had lots of free time and we spent most of our afternoon dozing off in our office. But I spent most of my afternoon in the dental clinic talking about politics and many other things with my dentist friends. I realized then that politics is a game that every profession should learn to play well, if it doesn't want to be a loser. It's not the glory of its profession that makes it win the game; it's its influence on the legislatures of how they would vote and approve bills that involve such profession. But doctors have always been more concerned of their privacy than principle, progress in their medical practice than the process that could put their practice in a precarious situation, and so politics is the last thing in their mind they would talk about, let alone get involved with.
It always gets me started thinking when something I believe could be important in the future is taken for granted by most people in the present. During that time, I was planning to go back working in the ER as my immigrant visa was approved, and make more money, a lot more than I was making in the state hospital at that time. But as I started making sense of politics, I saw many potential problems for the medical practice coming, although not the escalating malpractice insurance premium. I knew it would soon go up but not in this crisis magnitude. I was more concerned of the increasing malpractice suits, the increasing number of lawyers advertising for the injured, and the escalating paper work requirements from health insurance before they would send payment. So I decided to stay working for the state hospital and forget about making more money. After all, I used to shovel shit at my parents’ backyard in Camotes. Hell, this was a whole lot better. Also, I was always sick with URI working in the ER, anyway. Money doesn’t do me any good when I feel bad.
The past five years at least, malpractice insurance crisis after crisis from one state to another is spreading like an epidemic that so far our profession hasn't got the cure, let alone its prevention. The question is, what can we, the physicians, do now to put this epidemic under control that would probably not have happened if we haven't ignored the political virus for years? Are we simply to say: It doesn’t affect me. I’m about to retire, anyway. And all other cheap rationalizations or justifications many of us could think of as long as we can avoid confronting it. Well, working for the state hospital, I myself am not worried about malpractice insurance. I'm safe and I can retire in the next few years if I want to with full retirement pay for the rest of my enjoyable life. But the fact of the matter is, whether we like it or not, as long as we are M.D.s and whether we work as one or not, whatever is going on, it affects our profession. It strips our profession of its dignity layer by layer. Are you going to simply watch our profession losing its dignity and glory that it took most of us up to twenty years to achieve from college to internship and residency specialty training? If you say, “Yes,” then I’ll say to you the charming American expression: “Get the fuck out of here!”
Last month, our main newspaper here in our area, The Richmond Times Dispatch, had run articles on its front page daily for more than two weeks about bad doctors and how to punish them. It made me ashamed of my profession. Of course, there are bad apples among us, but this daily issues of the newspaper made it look like that there are more bad apples than good ones. At least it was insinuating that there are many more bad ones, only they are not caught yet. I don't think this wold have become front page if not fo the malpractice insurance crisis. Furthermore, the penalty or punishment is not directed solely to the bad ones, but to all of us physicians through legislations. It is this kind of bad publicity that makes it hard for us to intervene and change the legislation toward fairness to our profession particularly that physicians don't seem eager to help and support each other and be united. Physicians hate politics. Who doesn't? But the reality is, we've got to learn to play politics well, or we'll end up sore losers.
Do you ever wonder why America is dominated by lawyers? It's not because there are so many of them, but it's mainly because they know how to play the politics game well like the back of their hand. The trial lawyers in particular are united and have a very strong organization that lobbies the Congress both state and Federal. Moreover, they are willing to spend and they know where to put their money where it provides more influence and buys more favor. Depending on how you look at it, what they're doing is probably equivalent to kissing the politicians' ass. They are not concerned of what is moral as much as what is legal. In politics, moral is subject to legal interpretation. What is moral is certainly desirable and may almost always be legal. What is legal may not be moral, but it is the legal that kicks the moral ass. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves this question: Which one is better; to kiss ass or to have our ass kicked? To answer this question properly is to ask not what is legal or what is moral, but what is practical, for what is practical has a terrific chance of winning in what is political.
So here is my ten-cent worth suggestion. I’m sure many of you must have already started joining with the political action in your state medical society. But one thing I’ve found effective for politicians to take you seriously is to make personal financial contribution to their campaign, like $50-$100 for the candidates you favor, and exercise your right to vote if you are a citizen, for crying out loud. If you can contribute more, do it regularly. It’s tax-deductible, anyway. The benefit of this is that when you call them or send them a letter or an e-mail message, you are basically putting a fire under their butt to look into your concern, all because you have become essential to them. They are getting not just your money, but also your vote. At least they think they are. Just consider this: Would you be comfortable calling or writing to the legislatures in your state knowing that you don’t even vote? But if you have been contributing to their campaign, it would make a lot of difference. Well, whether you have regularly exercised your right to vote or not, just send them a message about your opinion regarding this crisis and promise yourself to contribute and vote next time.
Another of my ten-cent worth suggestion is for our officers' next meeting and that is, we should invite and include in one of our CME speakers someone who knows his way around politics involving malpractice legislations. I'm not talking about someone who tells us how to properly document, etc., to prevent from being sued. I'm talking about someone who can provide us the scientific knowledge in how to effectively make our voice heard by the legislative assembly, or where to put our money to be able to purchase more political beef. We need guidance, scientific guidance, to play the politics game. As of now, many of us are left with disappointment, disgruntlement and resentment with the system that is unfair to our profession. But avoiding the game when our profession is at stake would surely make us a perpetual loser.
Knowledge is very important. As my good friend Teddy Remandaban used to advised me every time I got into a new form of physical exercise: You've got to do it the scientific way. Otherwise you're likely to get hurt." I must admit that he was right on the money. When I started cycling for exercise, with the kind of bike that has pedals that need special shoes in which you've got to expertly remove at least one of your shoes anytime you want from the pedal, to prevent falling or crashing with your bike, Teddy gave me a book to read. You see, when your foot is stuck on the pedal and you have to stop and thus can't remove your foot, you fall with your bike, for you have no foot to support or keep you from falling. Well, I did not bother reading the book and went ahead riding my bike. I crashed twice. The second time shook me up pretty bad. The whole right side of my back was scraped. I was chased by a German Shepherd and I decided to outrun the dog, but I had to turn around a dead end road. That's when I crashed. While on the ground, I looked up to the sky and the sky was blocked by the face of the dog staring down at me. I thought I was going to die and so I just closed my eyes. But instead of attacking, mauling and biting me, the dog started licking my face. It was a relief and the owner was surprised why the dog was friendly to me when I was in their residential area. Anyway, if I read the book that Teddy gave me, there was a chapter on riding around the neighborhood and what to do if you encounter or chased by an animal when you're riding a bike.
So we need expert on politics regarding malpractice issues to give us scientific knowledge. We've got to learn to play the game. We must remember that this is not just about the malpractice insurance, but mainly about the dignity of our profession. So let's get rid of the what's-in-it-for-me mentality. We cannot win, let alone enjoy this game, unless we support each other and work together with others to try to change the system that is unfair to our profession through politics because the system is politics. None of us wants our profession, who we are, what we are, to be stripped naked of its dignity and be constantly fucked over by trial lawyers. And we must also remember that if our alumni colleagues' medical practice is getting rough, tough and constantly bothered with a system that is full of crap, they are not likely to participate with our alumni reunion just to have some laughs.
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