What if I didn't need to sleep?

If I could take a pill preventing me from the need of sleep, would I take it? Despite I love sleeping and enjoy it as much as I can, it seems to me as wasted time in all the busy days. Or I would appreciate a few hours longer days or whatever, nobody has enough time in this world.

Now there is such pill which could be used to prevent sleeping like a contraceptive pill prevents pregnancy somewhere on the horizon. Uff, I can hardly imagine what this would be, if people could sleep only 2 hours a day, for example. More time to study, more time to read, more time for my friends...

But is it really possible to bear it, several weeks without a long, weekend morning rest? Wouldn't I run mad if not in months, then in years of taking it? On the supposition that it would be totally safe physically, what would it do with the mind and with the soul? Would anybody want to take it permanently? For how long want I actually live without sleeping?

Lactic acid myths

The next proof that nothing we know must be absolutely and forever true are findings that the lactic acid in muscles is actually its fuel, not a waste product.

You can find the story in The New York Times and the original news release on the UCBerkeley News site. (Published on 04/19/06)

If these new discoveries are really right, I wonder how many years students will learn the wrong old theories. It can take about 20 years until all new things reach secondary school classes. But this would be a fundamental one.

Tip: 10 things you should know about lactic acid.

Different research, different English

I finally finished translation of another two articles for the Czech version of Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications yesterday night. I had these articles to translate this time:

• Urinary creatinine concentration is inversely related to glycaemic control and the presence of some diabetic complications in patients with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes.
• Periodontal status of diabetics compared with nondiabetics: a meta-analysis

The first article by a Danish team, the second by a Jordan one. It's interesting to observe how the English of different country's teams varies. While the articles of non-english speaking authors are generally easier to understand, native speakers are naturally more complicated to take in. Nevertheless, the Jordan article was really curious. I wonder whether it's caused by the otherness of Arabic from european languages or just a coincidence.

War on fat

Just two links: Goodbye, war on smoking. Hello, war on fat:

This stage of the fat war will be a rout. In schools, the audience is young and captive, and the facts are appalling. According to a government report, 75 percent of high schools, 65 percent of middle schools, and 30 percent of elementary schools have contracts with "beverage"?i.e., soda?companies.

Fast food healthiest in Denmark, worst in US:

A large meal of chicken nuggets and french fries at McDonald's in the United States contained 10.1 grams of trans fatty acids, while the same meal in France contained 5.9 grams and just 0.33 grams in Denmark, Steen Stender, who headed the research project, told AFP.

Healthy tip: You should eat at least 400 g of fruits and vegetables per day.

How often can you discover a new bacteria?

We discussed this question the last week and the microbiology teacher answered that about once or twice in twenty years (concerning diseases causing bacteria). And the moment probably has just turned up as news @ nature is referring - quite new specie Granulobacter bethesdensis has been discovered.

Absurd numbers

Today's class on antibiotics prescription in Basic Treatment of Infectious Diseases has been nearly fascinating. Annual antibiotics expenses are about 3 billion CZK ($120 million) in the Czech Republic and (at least) about 50 % of this amount is just wasted because of improper prescription.

For example, most of the patients (70 % or more) with common respiratory diseases simply don't need antibiotics and recover themselves by symptomatic treatment. Antibiotics are quite pointless for them, because such diseases are mostly caused by viruses.

Physicians who had a feedback were able to decrease their antibiotic prescription to 30 % of original amount in about 3 years. There was similar situation in prescription of penicillin as the drug of choice instead of macrolides and other alternatives.

Education and regular feedback (an audit of prescription in one month each year compared with average, ideal and individual results) were the only things necessary to change prescription habits of these physicians. Expenses for a national educational program for physicians should cost about 10 million CZK each year, but could safe about 1,5 billion each year.

The Czech Republic is about average in ATB prescription in Europe. The most they prescribe in France, the less in Netherlands (let's say six time less than in Fr.). The causes (and consequences) of this situation are very complex and we talked about it more than one afternoon, but the results of the studies and the numbers are more then convincing.

People should know.

A good course

I've enrolled for Basics of treatment of infectious diseases not because I love the subject so much, but because it was probably the last one which wasn't completely full (and therefore isn't very popular) and could be somehow useful.

So we had the first class today and it wasn't that bad. Actually, it was even good and exceeded my expectations (which weren't very high, ok). All courses should be like this - absorbing people who would have prefered something else. But it was the first class so far.

Fat people

In fact, there isn't a disease of the body causing people to be fat. Whoever is fat eats too much and the only exception from this rule are extremely rare metabolic diseases (glycogenoses etc.) which a doctor might not see once in his or her life.

(The most) important cause and risk factor for Type 2 diabetes is obesity, and diabetes treatment expenses cut one third of health care budget. Therefore I don't like fat people who brought on obesity themselves.

Man is created to be hungry not to have a cram-full fridge.

Leonardo's inventions in use

I've seen a document about Leonardo da Vinci on TV. They manufactured several Leonardo's inventions exactly as he designed them in his notes and tried whether they'll really work. A parachute, a hang glider (with one minor modification) and a diving suite worked perfectly. Impressive.

All Leonardo's inventions were forgotten and when discovered again, all of them were already reinvented by someone else (in many cases hundreds years after Leonardo died). NASA inspire with his notes to project its robots today.

How many inventions wait for its rediscovery? Could there be such invention in times of science we witness? Maybe not, but I really have to admire Leonardo as a greates genius of all times.

Homosexual marriages - giant leap for tolerance and freedom

Homosexual marriages are now legal in the Czech Republic. Despite the law might not be perfect, I agree. I've never heard any single sensible argument why such same sex partnerships should really harm the traditional family. As though homosexuals married just for the marriage, same sex or not. There won't be less heretosexual families and they won't be even worse from now on.

On the contrary, homosexual couples now gain needed guarantees for their common life. The law may be improved, but the most important is already certain - the majority once helped to a minority.

That's one small arm rise for deputy, one giant leap for tolerance and freedom.