Supplement to Seminar 4 Post

This doesn't relate exactly to the course material, but I really found this interesting. It's a brand name marketed placebo drug for children. Simply based on the effectiveness of placebo studies.

Seminar 4 - Oct. 26, 2009

Of all the articles that we read this week, I was most intrigued by 'The Influence of Natural Variations in Maternal Care on Play Fighting in the Rat' by Parent and Meaney. The findings were quite remarkable in many respects. Mostly, it gave me new insight into the cognitive capacities of rats that I had not known prior. I was surprised to find out that rats share so many emotional characteristics with humans. I would be very interested to see further studies that could tease out and uncover the correlations between the 'low LG' and 'high LG' females. In all the graphs presented, there is a clear demarcation and consistent trend within the female subgrouping. I was surprised and impressed to see how accurately this study depicted the highly valid results of the gender differences amongst the rat populations studied.

My only issue, as I presented in class and as discussed in the audio podcast, is the issue of generalizability of the animal model to the human model. I most definitely see the advantage of studies between animals and humans due to their many similarities. I, however, do not think that the correlations are as direct as some might assume. Just in examining cortical structure and the immense amount of differences that are apparent between human and rat behaviours, it is difficult to predict the exact mechanism by which 'anogenital licking' in rats can be generalized to a behaviour in humans. It appears that there may be tens of different behaviours in humans that can correspond to the rat licking behaviour. Perhaps in the future, a meta-analysis could be performed to determine which form of human behaviour most closely mimics the behaviours of rats. This type of study might unveil the characteristics that we have in common with our ancient evolutionary ancestry. I feel that these types of studies could most definitely benefit society as a whole in the coming decades if we could adequately correlate animal behaviour to our own.

Seminar 3 - Oct. 19, 2009

For me, this week's seminar truly stirred some feelings of doubt initially. Being on a path to pursue a career in medicine (MD), I was apprehensive about the lecture by Dr. Doran. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised with here knowledge and depth in which she knew her material. Due to the ever-present stigma of Western medicine vs. Eastern medicine, I have always believed there was something strange about the field of naturopathy. Dr. Doran really changed my viewpoint on this matter entirely. I have come to realize that doctors in this country truly focus on treating the illness, while a naturopath attempts to treat the person. Her calmness and interpersonal skills seem like they are the proper way that medicine should be addressed.

The only aspect that I am still highly sceptical about is the home birthing issue. I agree that the hospital is a difficult environment for a baby and that some of their practises (ie. epidural) may not be wholly conducive to health. (It's amazing how I just assumed that epidural's were safe, I never even considered the implications on oxytocin levels and it speeding up the process unnecessarily). My fear is of home births. I have spoken to my cousin who is a pediatrician and she has consistently told me that 'home births are great, until you have a problem'. Although she stated that the midwives only take on 'low-risk' pregnancies, a large percentage of the risk in pregnancy begins at labour. With no advanced lifesaving tools at their disposal, in the event of a mishap, what can the midwife do? I remain unconvinced of the benefits of home birthing. I condone a natural birth at a hospital without an epidural, I just feel that risking both the mother's and baby's life even if the risk is small is not worth taking. Today we have the means of saving premature babies that would never have survived 30 years ago. I can't imagine the feeling of knowing that a baby's life could have been saved if the mother had delivered in a hospital rather than at home.

I have come to accept that the best way to treat a patient is to take a holistic approach. We must combine all methods that strive to attain optimal health and recovery to the patient. Medicine in North America most definitely could learn a few things from Dr. Doran.

Another Supplement to Post 2

This is really interesting. Who knew licorice could be harmful? Who knows what things we will discover to be harmful in the future.

Here is the link to the article:
Licorice and Placenta

Supplement to Seminar 2 Post

I wonder if this has any relation to the cancer that we studied in class:

Mother can pass on cancer in womb

Seminar 2 - Oct. 5 2009

The movie “The Miracle of Life” exposed some hidden aspects of human development and the proliferation of cells that I had never seen before. It is one thing to learn about human body and its functions and it entirely another to see it in the raw. I found the journey from egg to foetus to be incredible. It is simply astonishing to realize how many things have to go right to form a healthy baby. We so often learn about the things that can go wrong that we don’t realize how many things almost always go right. The effects of the mother and the prenatal environment are so much more influential than I could ever have imagined.

After the seminar, I had a meal with my family in which I shared some of the findings that we had read about. I spoke with my sister, a family physician and my cousin, a paediatric fellow at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. I began describing all the complications and risk factors that can be induced by the habits and complications during foetal development and even more surprisingly in the delivery room. I had figured that my educated family members who specialized in this field would be well versed in these issues. I was wholly shocked when they began saying that I must have misread the information. They had never heard of any of the issues and links that were drawn between birth weight and disease and also the link between obstetrical complications and delinquency. It seemed to them to be two wholly separate issues entirely. I guess this error stems from the medical field’s focus on the Biomedical Model, while psychology is more properly integrated into the Biopsychosocial Model; allowing for biological, psychological and social aspects to be the components of a person’s overall health. I was slightly jolted to think that I want to go into the field of medicine and yet there is so much that they do not cover and simply ignore. I wonder if I will be able to integrate theses others portions of health in my practise as a physician to treat my patients entirely and offer them the most options that are available. I feel that it will be a struggle to provide such a service. I am looking forward to our seminar with Dr. Doran to see her view of health and wellness. Perhaps I will gain insight into how to practise and integrate her ideas of healing into my future endeavours.