In a landmark case, the Supreme Court has affirmed that physicians have the right to help terminal patients end their lives. The 1997 Oregon law was under attack from the administration, even though two other courts upheld it. Interestingly, though the AMA’s code of ethics says it’s unethical, practitioners of palliative medicine are grateful for this ruling because now dying patients who are in pain will no longer be denied the medication they need because doctors are afraid of prosecution.

So the upshot seems to be while the Federal government can pursue drug dealers, it holds no jurisdiction in the legitimate practice of medicine. This decision will allow doctors to offer some small peace and comfort to many who suffer in their last months, and to those who must watch their loved ones die. It was a difficult decision on the part of the Justices (the vote was 6 to 3 in favor); they are to be commended for their courage.

I’ve written about relieving stress with HeartMath before. And if you love golf, here’s a story about a really exciting way to use their powerful feedback mechanism (called the FreezeFramer).

Researchers have identified a link between two different pathways–formerly thought totally unrelated–and also a way to manipulate what they now recognize as a single system. One potential benefit could be medications that can still take advantage of the benefits of COX 2 inhibitors like Vioxx for treating inflammation without danger. The discovery shows that iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) boosts the effects of COX 2–and thus may allow an effective dosage that’s low enough to prevent risks of heart attack or stroke. Read all about it at Johns Hopkins Gazette.

The human body and all its systems continue to be a huge mystery–an endless puzzle that scientists are working, and for each piece they find that fits, they discover endless other possibilities. Finding a link like this is likely to lead to a whole passelful of ’em.

Yep, the U.N. has approved a plan to create a giant frozen warehouse near the North Pole in which all the varieties of seeds from the world’s food crops will be stored. The hope is that by preserving these specimens, world famine can be avoided in cases of global destruction caused by disaster, terrorism, weather, or whatever.

The story is written with a sense of humor, despite the fact that the action is taken with doomsday in mind. “The new Fort Knox for the world’s crops will start by taking seeds from the network of seed banks run in the Philippines, Mexico, Syria, Nigeria and elsewhere…”

Then they’ll continue adding samples from elsewhere until this permanent library of crop varieties is complete. The World Bank will help fund the project. I guess it’s good to know that we will be prepared in case of global disaster–though the images it conjures up aren’t the kind you want to linger on.

I’ve been wondering for months now how in the world the doctors were going to deliver all these stem cells we are all so excited about. Well, I don’t know if this is going to be relevant, but it sure sounds like it to me.

Stents have traditionally been used mainly to hold open blood vessels that weren’t free-flowing enough. Lots of issues arose around that, including narrowing of the stents themselves, and inflammation caused by the coatings.

Now researchers have been able to coat bare metal stents with therapeutic genes that help heal surrounding blood vessels, thus avoiding the inflammation of other types of coatings. Right now, it’s being done with Animal Heart Vessels, but the promise for humans is great. Delivering a beneficial biological substance on a metal surface. So this means that if you get a metallic implant (they mention artificial joints and orthopedic pins and rods, pacemaker electrodes, and titanium tooth implants–I wonder about heart valves?) you can get some good stuff delivered, too.

Could they use this approach–say, temporarily insert a metal device that can deliver stem cells to the tissue that needs healing? I don’t know if I’m interpreting this right, but it sure would be nice if it turns out that way.

The end of the year–a time for reflection. This past year we’ve talked a lot about finding less painful, less invasive ways to treat diseases and illnesses. We’ll probably keep that focus for 2006.

And here’s another good one. A new non-surgical treatment for uterine fibroid tumors–called embolization–has given great relief to 85% of a thousand women in a study. Tiny cut, little grains of sand injected, tumor’s blood supply is cut off. Can’t beat that compared to major surgery.

Have a peaceful beginning to your new year.

If you know people whose future may include heart surgery (bypass or valve), you can now tell them that even though one of the aftereffects common with heart surgery is frequent, sudden bouts of out-of-control heartbeating, scientists think they’ve found a medicine that will control these events pretty well. If you’ve ever had cardiac surgery, you’ll undoubtedly agree that taking a medication (even thought it’s not yet been proven 100% safe), sounds a lot more appealing than going in for another surgery to fix the problem the first operation created. The PAPABEAR (I love it) trial showed that amiodarone given both before and after surgery significantly reduced tachyarrythmias.

If you’re staring at a potential cardiac surgery yourself, it may make sense to ask your cardiologist if he/she knows about this.

The superbug bacterium known as MRSA-resistant staph is on the rise–dramatically. An ever-increasing percentage of people who’ve been hospitalized are ending up battling some version of the relentless infections it produces. You might be one of the one in every hundred Americans carrying this bug around on your skin or in your nose, and even though you’re not sick, you could easily pass this on to someone around you who is ill or injured, has a weakened immune system, and who will develop a staph infection that could prove extremely serious–even life threatening.

Do you know someone who saves antiobiotics and reuses them? Do you know anyone who insists the doctor prescribe antibiotics for even a simple cold? Do you know anyone who insists he/she feels better and takes only part of the prescribed antibiotics and throws the rest away? If you know anyone who does one or more of these things, share with them the information in these articles:
1) “Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: The Way to the Wound Is through the Nose” as reported from the Journal of Infectious Diseases in a MedPage Today story; and 2) all about you and the superbug.

Okay, so even if up until now you haven’t been listening to health advice about washing your hands frequently (because you, like many of us, are waltzing through life believing you’re invulnerable), it’s time to start doing it now, especially if you or someone around you is sick or injured. Antibiotics just aren’t the superguns they used to be–and some of the monsters they have to shoot are getting bigger.

On that note, enjoy your holiday-end-of-year time. Eat, drink, be merry–and wash your hands afterwards.

Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases are characterized by the death of cells in certain areas of the brain. Now chemists in Spain are working on a compound that may be used one day to help slow the progress of these heart-breaking conditions.

It is humbling to think about the cross-relationships of various substances within the human body–how some of this does one thing and too much of the same thing does completely opposite things. Nitric oxide is one of the most mysterious and powerful of these substances. Here’s another one on how erectile dysfunction (NO is instrumental in this condition) has a strong association with heart disease.

There’s a reason scientists do the work they do–they don’t just have the brains to comprehend all this complexity, they also have the patience to go through all the minute studies over time that are required to learn something new about this mystery called life.