Medical updates

"Don't take it personal...Take the bitter with the sweet...Good things come to an end..." Those Jermaine Jackson lyrics are so predictive!

There will be days like this, when the bitter-sweet will have to co-exist, unfortunately. No, I am not going anywhere.

In fact, I like it just fine here right now. Have you noticed the change from medscil.blogspot.com to medskil.com? Yes, I have come quite a long way, haven't I? Hurray! Ha-ha.

However, there is nothing funny about this little five-year old girl's condition. Her name is Lillie, not Crystal, but her rare kidney disease condition, if left untreated, could turn her to biblical pillar of salt.

the whole thing kind of reminds me of the comic book and movie superhero The Iceman - a rather more immobile and terminal version though. Most victims are said to live only up to age nine.

Yes, she has cystinosis, which turns cells in all her organs into crystalline cystine, an amino acid. Here's a relevant excerpt about the condition: ".....The condition is so rare, it is estimated that only about 2,000 people worldwide suffer from it, although the numbers are unclear because the conditions is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed....."

According to this news item, the US FDA is looking into the safety inherent in imbibing a cocktail comprising caffeine and alcohol.

The famous song with the lyrics, "Should I stay or should I go....Oh baby, won't you let me know...." comes to mind when I think of the conflicting actions of these two ingredients in one drink.

In my humble opinion, that highball energy drink is as ineffective as tea or coffee loaded with full cream milk and sugar to a dieter.

In fact, according to an old episode of the Hawaiian detective movie starring Joe Penny - Jake and the Fatman, I believe - a person who creams his or her tea can be indicative of a spendthrift capable of pinching a penny or two when the pennies begin to pinch.

The swine flu pandemic is easing off in the colder northern climes, according to this report from the World Health Organization - ostensibly because of the early onset of winter this year.

Yes, the first case in tropical Nigeria was reported a week or two ago in Lagos, I think, on the local television news.

The H1N1 score card so far, from the WHO, is as follows:

"....The pandemic virus has now spread to 206 countries, with the latest reported laboratory-confirmed cases in Somalia, Nigeria and Burundi. There have been more than 6,250 deaths to date, mostly in the Americas region, according to the WHO toll....."