Terra Sigillata

A boy, a guitar, and an amplifier

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:02:16 -0500

For those of you in the North Carolina Research Triangle area wanting to extend your weekend as much as possible, you'll want to catch a a local music showcase at The Berkeley Café in Raleigh (217 W Martin St, 27601) tonight, Sunday 12 July at 7 pm. Yours truly will be playing a 30 min solo acoustic set of mostly original songs.

(Addendum: Cool! Eva Amsen just posted her interview of me yesterday for her Musicians and Scientists project)

Most notable on the bill are two fantastic roots reggae bands, Anchants and Curry Don (de Doc). I'm supposed to go on 8 pm or so.

Figure 1. This lovely 2001 Taylor 810 and SWR California Blonde amplifier will be driven by the author this evening at Raleigh's Berkeley Café near the campus of North Carolina State University (yes, the university with this week's robotic bat story).

Tickets are a little steep, IMHO, for a Sunday show ($8 adv/$10 door) but I've got a couple for any cash-challenged folks if they email me in the comments - first comment, first serve. My colleague, Bull City frontman Jim Brantley, calls the band versions of my music "powerpop" to give you some idea of the style. You can head over to the MySpace site to hear them - the unplugged versions of those and others will be available this evening for the listening pleasure of those in our glorious state capital.

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Dr Charles is back in The Examining Room

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:43:33 -0500

Great news hit my e-mail box overnight: one of the premier literary physician-bloggers of my childhood days in the blogosphere has returned.

Hi all, I missed you. I missed blogging.

Just wanted to let you know that I'm returning to writing at http://theexaminingroom.com
I hope you'll stop by, and I look forward to catching up with you all!

Dr. Charles
back from 2007 retirement

This is VERY good news for all of us, especially if you never had the pleasure of reading The Good Doctor before.

I cannot write with his clarity, of course. But I can say that Dr. Charles has a tremendous gift for communicating the depth of the emotional experience of the physician in a way that 1) restores/enhances one's faith in the idealism of medicine, 2) makes you wish Dr. Charles was your personal physician, and 3) gives voice to the suffering and triumphs of the human condition.

From his "Opening Shop" post:

I found that in writing about medicine, I was a better doctor for it. The poetry of people's lives, their loves, ills, and struggles was more easily perceived and appreciated. In writing about the ever-improving body of medical knowledge, I stayed better informed. In writing about my life in medicine, I sustained my energies in a healing art that has existed for as long as people have felt pain and tried to help one another with it. The reflective moment, embodied in the art, analysis, and literature we create, brings light to our present endeavors.

Several of my medblogger colleagues, many here at ScienceBlogs, do this exceedingly well when it is their focus (examples in links: (PalMD, Orac, Dr Signout). But for Dr Charles, it is a vocation.

Dr Charles actually did a short stint here at ScienceBlogs himself before closing shop. He is also the author of the 2005 book Legends of the Examining Room and was also kind enough in Fall 2006 to share with some of us trinities: writings in three, experiences of two, reflections of one.

While he is still adding to some of the back end of his pages, I certainly hope he will tell all of us where to find these books again. Dr Charles is also peppering his site with beautiful images from the NIH/National Library of Medicine online exhibition, Dream Anatomy, something I am sure will please readers and writers like Professor Tom Levenson.

Welcome back, Doctor. I'm feeling better already.

(P.S. - Doc, I am honored to be on your list of the first dozen med bloggers, especially since I am not a physician)

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Please re-write this sentence. Thank you.

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:02:13 -0500

Ahem.

I have privately received grief about the poor quality of a sentence I wrote yesterday while spouting off about my being quoted by ABC News on the first round of drugs reported used by the late Michael Jackson. (I suspect that the number of prepositions I just used here will elicit a response as well).

While I'm a half-decent pharmacologist, it seems an English major I am not.

Therefore, may I request that someone amongst this learned gathering kindly assist me in rewording the following statement:

I also enjoyed that fact, however, that my quote was missing from the responses of other experts to the reporters' queries for impressions on the list of drugs found at the Jackson home as cited by The Sun:

For your efforts, the winning entry will receive a hat-tip on the post (and hyperlink of your choice) and the satisfaction of setting me straight.

Kindly leave your suggestions in the comments.

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Terra Sigillata cited as source for ABC News Michael Jackson story, sorta

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:02:20 -0500

While invoking my little-known real name, the ABC News Medical Unit shows its commitment to providing scientifically-objective and medically-valid commentary to the Michael Jackson circus.

The post cited was from 26 June where I discussed the first Michael Jackson revelation that he had repeatedly been given the unusual opioid drug, meperidine, presumably for his chronic back pain.

From this morning's ABC News story by Vic Walter and Richard Esposito with contributions from JoAnna Schaffhausen:

One pharmacologist blogged about [p]ropofol this week and explained in his science blog how Demerol abuse could have caused cardiac problems and could have increased his risk for heart rhythm disturbances from the [p]ropofol: "As I wrote last week in my blog post on Demerol® (meperidine), Jackson's reported long-term use of this analgesic for back pain may have already primed him for cardiac problems due to the accumulation of a toxic metabolite, normeperidine," Dr. David Kroll said. "However, most relevant to the Jackson case is that propofol can cause cardiac tachyarrhythmias (rhythmic disturbances at high heart rate), especially in people predisposed to cardiac problems."

Unfortunately, I drew no direct hyperlink to the blog and my real-life academic affiliation(s) were not noted. But the quote was a good one and meperdine (together with Diprivan/propofol) continues, as far as I know, to be a viable avenue of investigation in the death of Mr Jackson.

I also enjoyed that fact, however, that my quote was missing from the responses of other experts to the reporters' queries for impressions on the list of drugs found at the Jackson home as cited by The Sun:

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The Friday Fermentable: Wine Authorities Spread the Gospel of Roséism

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:02:42 -0500

As I agonized over what I'd write about for this week's installment of The Friday Fermentable, my Wine Authorities newsletter arrived followed by their tweet on their inaugural music video.

Wine Authorities, my local wine merchants and community gods, have been spreading the gospel of rosé wines as a summer alternative to the red wines we enjoy most of the rest of the year. But contrary to the sweet white zinfandels and such that might turn off those who enjoy good wine, there is now a plethora of foreign and domestic wine offerings (and values) that show off red grapes in a lightly-crushed version. (Briefly, by minimizing the amount of time the red grapeskins are incubated with the must, some color and flavor compounds in the skins are extracted without the heavier tannins of a fully-extracted red.)

From the circle of the magnificent rose collection at the Sarah P Duke Gardens, I present The Pope of Pink, The Right Reverend of Rosato, and The Rabbi of Rosé, "(We Always Promised You) A Rosé Garden."

(We Always Promised You a) Rosé Garden from Wine Authorities on Vimeo.

At Wine Authorities we practice Roséism - the drinking of dry pink wine. Our mission is to convert the unconverted. We want to teach wine lovers that pink wine is not necessarily sweet. Drink the pink. We donate a percentage of every rosé bottle sold to the Triangle, NC Susan G. Komen Foundation.

There are too many highlights to list but as a former Polish National Catholic altar boy, I particularly appreciate the incensing technique of the Jewish co-owner, Seth Gross, using a bottle of rosé. The nod to Jimi Hendrix at the end was also a nice touch of reverence.

Please excuse me while I find my asthma meds and change my pee-soaked underwear.

Special thanks to:
Chris Boerner (Sound Pure Studios, Durham, NC)
Dennis Scoville (pedal steel guitarist extraordinaire)
Charles Stern (Best Boy, Key Grip, Fluffer - I can't believe they said "Fluffer")
Larry Gottschalk (Photographer, Cinematographer)

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With love and admiration: Congratulations PharmGirl, MD!

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:02:39 -0500

Dear PharmGirl,

We wanted to make this note public today because a great many of our blog friends know of your dedication as a physician, wife, and a mother.

Yesterday you finished an association with an academic medical institution where you have been for half your life. From young women with breast cancer to old men in the V.A. Hospital, literally thousands have been touched by your gifts of intelligence, remarkable clinical judgment, and, perhaps most importantly, compassion. The recognition from your patients was abundant and we were privy to the personal notes of just how much you have made a difference to families faced with one of the most feared of diagnoses. Dozens of students, interns, and residents have been the beneficiaries of your tutelage and example as they pursued their own sacred paths in medicine.

But while closing this chapter for now, today you embark on a new journey and a new application of your medical training and dedication to relieving human suffering. We understand the magnitude of fortitude and soul-searching you invested to get to this day. It takes great courage to change direction in an academic medical career but we all know this is the right choice for you. In this venue, you will no doubt help thousands, if not millions, with your new knowledge and training.

You are a tremendous inspiration to your daughter of just what a woman can do with enough determination and hard work. And you are a role model for your husband to dig down deep and be the best person and soul mate that he can.

We are thrilled to be taking this exciting journey with you.

Love,
Pharmboy and PharmKid

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Michael Jackson: Cherilyn Lee, Diprivan® (propofol), and Myers' Cocktail

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:00:16 -0500

Judging from the press inquiries I've had since 5 am EDT today, expect today's focus in the Michael Jackson case to be on the anesthetic drug, propofol (Diprivan®).

Last evening, California nutritionist and registered nurse Ms Cherilyn Lee gave an interview to Campbell Brown on CNN (and this AP exclusive report) describing Michael Jackson's repeated requests of her for the intravenous sedative drug for his insomnia. She wisely rejected his requests, instead providing him with a vitamin and mineral "energy" injection called Myers' cocktail.

However, four days before Jackson's death she reported a frantic phone call from a Jackson staffer to her that led her to believe he had somehow procured the drug or something like it:

While in Florida on June 21, Lee was contacted by a member of Jackson's staff.
"He called and was very frantic and said, `Michael needs to see you right away.' I said, 'What's wrong?' And I could hear Michael in the background ..., 'One side of my body is hot, it's hot, and one side of my body is cold. It's very cold,'" Lee said.
"I said, `Tell him he needs to go the hospital. I don't know what's going on, but he needs to go to the hospital ... right away."

"At that point, I knew that somebody had given him something that hit the central nervous system," she said, adding, "He was in trouble Sunday and he was crying out."

[. . .]

"I don't know what happened there. The only thing I can say is he was adamant about this drug [Diprivan]," Lee said.

In the photo of Ms Lee that accompanies the AP report and the video interview now at ABC News, she looks terrifically distraught and was obviously very concerned about Mr Jackson. My thoughts go out to her as I suspect she is second-guessing what she might have done differently to help him.

What is Diprivan (propofol) and how is it normally used safely?

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Pediatric cancer patient checks in at age 55; beneficiary of Dr Charlotte Tan's actinomycin D work

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:02:34 -0500

I love it when new readers stumble upon old posts.

Such was the case when I received the following delightful comment from Seattle-based psychologist, Dr Gary Grenell, on my April 2008 post about the passing of Dr Charlotte Tan, a pediatric cancer chemotherapy pioneer:

I was probably in one of her earliest actionmycin-D trial groups for Wilms tumor in 1957. Now at age 55, 52 years later, still going strong!

Most of you scientific youngsters today probably only know of actinomycin D as a laboratory tool for inhibiting RNA synthesis. But here in the following repost, learn about the bacteria-to-bench-to-bedside application of actinomycin D:

This post appeared originally on 4 April 2008.

Childhood cancer chemotherapy pioneer, Dr Charlotte Tan, dies at 84
http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2008/04/childhood_cancer_chemotherapy.php

Actinomycin D was the first antitumor antibiotic isolated from Streptomyces parvallus cultures by the lab of 1952 Nobel laureate, Dr Selman Waksman, at Rutgers University. However, it took a young Chinese physician and the confidence in her by a future US Surgeon General for this natural product drug to positively impact the lives of children with cancer.

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The Friday Fermentable: Beer Y'all: "Craft brewing, original music, and entrepreneurial righteousness"

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:24:13 -0500

In this special Saturday edition of The Friday Fermentable, here's just a quick plug for a great North Carolina documentary that is screening here this evening in the City-That-Tobacco-Built:

Beer. Rock & Roll. North Carolina.

In July 2008, seven friends assembled from across North Carolina to tour 27 microbreweries and brewpubs from the mountains to the coast in a seatless cargo van. Beer Y'all follows their nine days of hanging out with brewers, partying at rock shows, and drinking many, many beers as they celebrate friendship, music, and a Southern microbrewing explosion.

Beer Y'all shows in screenings across North Carolina, Summer 2009. Available on DVD.

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Michael Jackson as racial unifier

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:16:41 -0500

As is half the world, I was reflecting today on the realities of Michael Jackson's contribution not just to music but to society as well.

What is true, and is not at all melodrama, is that Michael Jackson was one of the greatest talents in popular music - 750 million albums sold worldwide is beyond my comprehension. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, he was an incredible contributor to racial crossovers in musical styles. Just as Elvis Presley introduced gospel and blues to white folks, Jackson will be cited (and already has been) for cultivating R&B among white listeners and performers. I'd go so far as to say that we wouldn't have suburban white kids posing as rappers and hip-hop stars if not for the musical diplomacy of Michael Jackson.

This morning's Montreal Gazette article by McGill University history professor Gil Troy speaks particularly eloquently to this point.

Long after we forget Michael Jackson's degeneration and demise, we should remember how he helped heal America. Jackson used his celebrity to blur the lines between black and white, as well as between gay and straight.

[. . .]

Jackson was an amazing dancer and an even better businessman. He choreographed the release of his 1982 album Thriller to undermine what the Washington Post called "the cultural apartheid of MTV and pop radio." Rock and roll had become resegregated since the 1950s. MTV was overwhelmingly white. On radio, "rock and roll" was usually white; "R and B," rhythm and blues, usually black.

Defying pigeonholing, Jackson's enticing rhythms had great crossover appeal. Still, to ford the gap when marketing Thriller, Jackson first released This Girl is Mine, a playful duet with the Beatle great Paul McCartney. This pairing created "a Trojan horse to force white radio's hand," Steve Greenberg, the president of S-Curve Records, later explained.

Go forth and read. Well done, Professor Troy.

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Death of Michael Jackson: How could Demerol (meperidine) cause cardiac arrest?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:02:12 -0500

AOL's celebrity gossip page TMZ.com was first yesterday to report Michael Jackson's death, in part due to their direct line to one or more Jackson family members.

They appear to have had another scoop today in referencing a family member who reported that Mr Jackson had received an injection of the opioid analgesic, Demerol (meperidine), at 11:30 am yesterday. It is not clear whether this shot was administered by Dr Conrad Murray, the physician who was present when the 911 call was made to L.A. dispatchers. (Non-US readers may also refer to meperidine as pethidine or the trade name, Pethadol.)

[Note: See also this post from DrugMonkey that he put up while I was composing this one]

But how might Demerol/meperidine have caused cardiac arrest, the cause of death reported universally in the press?

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The Friday Fermentable: "Mixing Drinks With Work and Staying Sober, Too" (NYTimes)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:02:31 -0500

Figure 1. SouthernFriedScientist (@SFriedScientist) and Kevin Zelnio (Deep Sea News; @kzelnio) and their 40s preparing to leave to attend the 4th International Symposium on Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems - Hydrothermal Vents, Seeps and Other Reducing Habitats - in Okinawa, Japan. Yes, Dr Zelnio, those are absolutely gorgeous beards.

I don't know if Kim Severson of the New York Times knew this when writing her thought-provoking article earlier this week, but it coincided with the annual meetings of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) and the College of Problems on Drug Dependence (CPDD). (btw, this timing is annoying for researchers who work in the general area of substance abuse who would normally like to go to both meetings. DrugMonkey has pointed out that the pending merger of NIH's NIDA and NIAAA, a logical step, has not been met with enthusiasm by RSA, further reflective of the rift in the substance abuse research community).

But I digress.

My point of bringing up Severson's article is a question that interests me given the context of The Friday Fermentable; namely, what happens if you have a career in the alcoholic beverage industry but become an alcoholic or alcohol abuser?

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"Cosmetic Acupuncture" - seriously?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:02:08 -0500

While I lack the intestinal fortitude of my colleague, Orac, who actively seeks out the most impressive examples of pseudoscience and quackery, examples come to me without even looking for them.

This week's case is in the form of a book announcement press release from a Denver-based "practitioner" who specializes in cosmetic acupuncture. Yes, the needle without the Botox®.

Martha Lucas, Ph.D., L.Ac., Denver-based acupuncturist and practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has authored "Vanity Calamity: Your Guide to Cosmetic Acupuncture for Anti-aging." The announcement is made by Dr. Lucas who says "Vanity Calamity tells the history of vanity and what women have been willing to do to look younger or more beautiful. Now there's a healthy, safe option - Cosmetic Acupuncture.

Note that the qualifiers are "healthy, safe" and not "effective."

And if procedures and books aren't enough for you, you can blow $375 on a workshop:

An internationally known instructor, Dr. Lucas leads seminars for TCM practitioners about both Cosmetic Acupuncture and Pulse Diagnosis theory. For more information visit: http://www.cosmeticacupunctureseminars.com or http://www.pulseseminars.com

Seems to me that the only wrinkles you'll fix are the ones on your buttocks where your wallet used to sit.

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Pharm Girl, not mine

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:02:18 -0500

I just learned last week from Insider/Jack Friday at Pharmagossip that Reese Witherspoon will be starring in (and producing) a movie entitled, "Pharm Girl." (btw, if you are interested in the pharma industry and don't follow Pharmagossip, you must do so.)

Reese Witherspoon is going into Big Pharma

Universal Pictures is developing "Pharm Girl," an aspirational comedy centering on one woman's odyssey through the drug industry.

"Bad Santa" screenwriters Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are writing the screenplay and in talks to direct. Witherspoon is producing via her Type A banner and will play the lead role.

The project concerns a woman who gets a job at a pharmaceutical powerhouse and begins to see the underbelly of the industry as she rises through the company's ranks.

Regular readers know that my lovely and brilliant wife goes here by PharmGirl MD. (This is sometimes confusing because people sometimes think that PharmGirl is my daughter, hence why I add the "MD" - it's also confusing because I call myself Pharmboy and not Pharmman. For the record, our daughter is PharmKid.)

So, I am grateful that Witherspoon has decided to name her movie after my wife. We will be more than happy to accept a cut of the revenues and royalties.

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Artificial Biomechanical Exploration Lifeform and Person Hardwired for Accurate Repair, Masterful Battle and Online Yelling

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:02:27 -0500

Get Your Cyborg Name

h/t Karen James and Brian Switek (Laelaps)

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