>And ulcers did eventually turn out to have a bacterial origin - so you just never know.
However, highlighting the odd relationship between bacteria and the human body some research now points to the fact that the drop in number of people infected with Heliobacter pylori is directly related to the increase in people suffering reflux as the bacteria helps regulate the strength of sotmach acid.
The Economist -subscription required So you do just never know...!
Indeed.
I remember an interview of his where he discussed his ideas around satellites. The amusing thing to him was in fact how wrong he had been. He had imagined them as (relatively) enourmous, crewed space stations. A limitation of the technology at the time he was envisaging them, where you only had unreliable vacuum tubes (or whatever they would have been) which needed constant replacing, and hence a human crew.
Also a salutory lesson out there for all the people who like to predict what the future holds technology wise. It is just impossible to know what is going to come along out of the blue and knock your world view on its head.
The real tragedy of Vioxx and similar medicines, was that, despite the side effects (which were broadly known about) they were actually a very powerful medication that when prescribed correctly i.e. to people who were in severe pain from arthiritis, were very much worth the risk.
The problem lies in the companies then trying to push them further, and have them prescribed to people whose symptoms did not justify the (low) risk that usage of these medicines presented. In this case the pharmaceuticals were definitely victims of their own greed, but the FDA should also take some of the blame for not picking up on this mis-prescribing.
Not ignoring the people who may well have died from this, the tragedy of this also includes the 1000's (or more?) of people in chronic and severe pain, who now cannot have it properly alleviated.
Slashdot Mirror
>And ulcers did eventually turn out to have a bacterial origin - so you just never know.
However, highlighting the odd relationship between bacteria and the human body some research now points to the fact that the drop in number of people infected with Heliobacter pylori is directly related to the increase in people suffering reflux as the bacteria helps regulate the strength of sotmach acid.
The Economist -subscription required
So you do just never know...!
Heh, the headline is also wrong. Instead of:
North Korea Launches "Communication Satellite" Rocket
It should read:
North Korea "Launches" "Communication Satellite" "Rocket"
...or scientist coated in a white lab (the mind does boggle a bit)
That there is nothing you cannot solve with some judicious use of duct tape.
Indeed. I remember an interview of his where he discussed his ideas around satellites. The amusing thing to him was in fact how wrong he had been. He had imagined them as (relatively) enourmous, crewed space stations. A limitation of the technology at the time he was envisaging them, where you only had unreliable vacuum tubes (or whatever they would have been) which needed constant replacing, and hence a human crew. Also a salutory lesson out there for all the people who like to predict what the future holds technology wise. It is just impossible to know what is going to come along out of the blue and knock your world view on its head.
The real tragedy of Vioxx and similar medicines, was that, despite the side effects (which were broadly known about) they were actually a very powerful medication that when prescribed correctly i.e. to people who were in severe pain from arthiritis, were very much worth the risk. The problem lies in the companies then trying to push them further, and have them prescribed to people whose symptoms did not justify the (low) risk that usage of these medicines presented. In this case the pharmaceuticals were definitely victims of their own greed, but the FDA should also take some of the blame for not picking up on this mis-prescribing. Not ignoring the people who may well have died from this, the tragedy of this also includes the 1000's (or more?) of people in chronic and severe pain, who now cannot have it properly alleviated.