tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post6607734928553126391..comments2023-11-19T00:42:48.156-08:00Comments on balancing life: Truth and miraclesSunilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-72555827341053589642006-12-28T05:57:00.000-08:002006-12-28T05:57:00.000-08:00yes....well, at least my phd was in molecular phar...yes....well, at least my phd was in molecular pharmacology. But the life sciences are all so very closely related now, so it's really hard to bracket yourself in a specific field.Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-75104631265759624532006-12-21T07:46:00.000-08:002006-12-21T07:46:00.000-08:00I see your point. And quite a valid one indeed. Bu...I see your point. And quite a valid one indeed. But I'd like to have you know that if I ever use the term 'miracle drug', it's not because I think it's a miracle :P<br /><br />If you don't mind my asking, what field of research do you work in? Pharmacology?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-75808116182099639982006-12-17T07:02:00.000-08:002006-12-17T07:02:00.000-08:00witnwisdumb...I understand why people call somethi...witnwisdumb...I understand why people call something a "miracle drug", but using the word miracle here is what I object to. It is not a miracle. Even if we don't know how exactly it works, that still doesn't make it a miracle.<br /><br />"Wonder drug"? Quite acceptable (to me). "Miracle drug"? No way.<br /><br />And as far as paracetamol (or some other drugs) goes....yes, I understand that we don't know how <i>some</i> of them work. But scientists constantly try to figure it out (that is part of what I do in my own research), and slowly but surely make progress. With paracetamol itself, recently scientists have found that it selectively inhibits a new enzyme COX-3 (and not Cox1 and 2), which would explain why it would not be an anti-inflammatory, or have strong gastrointestinal effects like other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. See PNAS. October 15, 2002, vol. 99(21),pp13926-13931, and continue to read many of the citations of this paper which further the work.<br /><br />Still doesn't make it a <i>miracle</i> drug.Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212356.post-1025042454778143282006-12-17T02:03:00.000-08:002006-12-17T02:03:00.000-08:00Uh... the term 'miracle drug' refers simply to a d...Uh... the term 'miracle drug' refers simply to a drug which is highly, extremely effective. It has nothing to do with people's understanding of the functioning of the drug.<br /><br />And while you're on the subject of "understanding what a drug does", let me take the liberty of pointing out the fact that even to this day, the functioning mechanism of even the common paracetamol, is not clearly known.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com