I went bowling last night with all my friends to celebrate my birthday early!! I had a ton of fun and I hope they did too. Thanks for making the party fun everyone!!

More pharm connection....

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- An illegal brew laced with industrial alcohol caused the deaths of 49 people in Kenya, medical workers said Sunday, while police continued to search for a woman suspected of distributing the drink to local bars.

More than 174 people were hospitalized Saturday and Sunday, after drinking the homemade brew containing methanol -- a toxic wood alcohol added to the concoction to give it more kick.

More poisoned patients were still arriving at Machakos General Hospital, medical superintendent Simon Mueke said by telephone.

"Two people have gone completely blind, and another eight have reduced vision of varying degree," he said.

Patients have overwhelmed the small hospital in Machakos district, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of Nairobi. Television footage from Saturday showed nurses in a crowded hospital ward working frantically to resuscitate poisoned patients. Other people were shown in beds being intravenously rehydrated, and some drunk patients were pictured struggling to stay on their feet.

"We are appealing for blankets and bed sheets for the patients," Mueke said. "The weather is very cold, and this is an extraordinary emergency that has stretched our capacity beyond its limits."

Police brought 15 bodies to the hospital Saturday, and another 34 people died while receiving emergency treatment Sunday, Mueke said.

Many of those hospitalized were suffering serious complications, he said.

Police have arrested several suspects, but did not say how many. They are still searching for a woman suspected of distributing the illegal brew, known locally as chang'aa, to several illegal bars, an officer said.

The suspects detained "are assisting the police in investigations in the source and distribution network of the brew," Eastern Provincial Police Officer Thomas Chigamba said.

Methanol is highly poisonous and can cause blindness and lead to death.

Test 2 tomorrow in Pharm!! If you are the praying type, I think I am going to need it :)

Pharm students might find this interesting or maybe not :-)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The heart failure drug BiDil was approved Thursday by government regulators for use by blacks. It will be the first medication marketed for a specific racial group.

The Food and Drug Administration called the approval a step toward "the promise of personalized medicine."

Studies showed that blacks benefited from the drug while the general population did not.

The drug is marketed by NitroMed Inc. of Lexington, Massachusetts.

"The information presented to the FDA clearly showed that blacks suffering from heart failure will now have an additional safe and effective option for treating their condition," said Dr. Robert Temple, the agency's associate director of medical policy. "In the future, we hope to discover characteristics that identify people of any race who might be helped by BiDil."

A study indicated that the drug led to a 43 percent reduction in deaths from heart failure among the blacks who took it. Research was stopped early after scientists realized the benefits of the drug so the data could be presented for the drug's approval.

BiDil is a combination of two older drugs, hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate, neither approved for heart failure. Some common side effects with the drug are headache and dizziness.

I can't believe I actually understand why this drug causes headache and dizziness. I wonder if they have found any drug-induced lupus in the trials.

One of my favorite songs

"She's Not Just A Pretty Face" Shania Twain

(Oh na, na, na)

She hosts a T.V. show--she rides the rodeo
She plays the bass in a band
She's an astronaut--
a valet at the parking lot
A farmer working the land
She is a champion--she gets the gold
She's a ballerina--the star of the show

[Chorus:]
She's--not--just a pretty face
She's--got--everything it takes
She has a fashion line--
a journalist for "Time"
Coaches a football team
She's a geologist--a romance novelist
She is a mother of three
She is a soldier--she is a wife
She is a surgeon--she'll save your life

[Chorus:]
She's--not--just a pretty face
She's--got--everything it takes
She's--mother--of the human race
She's--not--just a pretty face

Oh, oh, yeah
Oh na, na, na, na.....
She is your waitress--she is your judge--
she is your teacher
She is every woman in the world

Oh, la, la, la
She flies an airplane--
she dirve a subway train
At night she pumps gasoline
She's on the council--she's on the board
She's a politician--she praises the Lord

[Repeat Second Chorus]

No, she's (she's) not (not)--
just a pretty face
She's (she's) got (got)--everything it takes
She's--not--just a pretty face
She's got everything it takes
She's not just a pretty face

This sounds promising

WASHINGTON -- A common virus that is harmless to people can destroy cancerous cells in the body and might be developed into a new cancer therapy, US researchers said.

The virus, called adeno-associated virus type 2, or AAV-2, infects an estimated 80 percent of the population.

"Our results suggest that adeno-associated virus type 2, which infects the majority of the population but has no known ill effects, kills multiple types of cancer cells yet has no effect on healthy cells," said Craig Meyers, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Penn State College of Medicine in Pennsylvania.

"We believe that AAV-2 recognizes that the cancer cells are abnormal and destroys them. This suggests that AAV-2 has great potential to be developed as an anti-cancer agent," Meyers said in a statement.

He said at a meeting of the American Society for Virology that studies have shown women infected with AAV-2 who are also infected with a cancer-causing wart virus called HPV develop cervical cancer less frequently than uninfected women do.

AAV-2 is a small virus that cannot replicate itself without the help of another virus.

But with the help of a second virus it kills cells.

For their study, Meyers and colleagues first infected a batch of human cells with HPV, some strains of which cause cervical cancer. They then infected these cells and normal cells with AAV-2.

After six days, all the HPV-infected cells died.

The same thing happened with cervical, breast, prostate and squamous cell tumor cells.

All are cancers of the epithelial cells, which include skin cells and other cells that line the insides and outsides of organs.

"One of the most compelling findings is that AAV-2 appears to have no pathologic effects on healthy cells," Meyers said.

"So many cancer therapies are as poisonous to healthy cells as they are to cancer cells. A therapy that is able to distinguish between healthy and cancer cells could be less difficult to endure for those with cancer."

AAV-2 is being studied intensively as a gene therapy vector -- a virus modified to carry disease-correcting genes into the body.

Gene therapy researchers favor it because it does not seem to cause disease or immune system reaction on its own.

Having a Good Weekend!

Just wanted to give a little report on my weekend. I went on Friday after class to spend some time with my family for Father's Day weekend.

On Friday, Grandpa and Carol Sue came over to go swimming, so I talked with them a while. Mom, Nick, and I also had polichinka for dinner that night. It is a dish that she learned how to make from her grandmother. It is always a great eat!

Saturday, I went to lunch with my parents to 54th Street Bar & Grill. Pretty uneventful, but tasty. That afternoon, my dad and I went to see Batman Begins. I think we both enjoyed it a lot. It was nice to spend some quality time with my dad. Later in the evening, mom and I decided to go to Walmart just to pick up a couple things. It turned out to be a crazy trip. Blue Springs just opened a Super Walmart about a month ago and closed the other smaller one. This new Walmart is not only HUGE, it is crazy busy too. We ended up being in line for over 30 mins. We went in the self-checkout lane and it was insane. The receipt tape ran out for the people in front of us, then for my $100 cashback, I got it in $5 and $1s, and then it ran out of any money to give my mom! By the end, my cashier skills of knowing the helper girl's drawer at her register had money it helped. They wanted us to wait until the Cash Office came up to give us our change. That would have taken even longer! By, the end, we both concluded that this new Walmart is horrible!! I think that is what most of Blue Springs is thinking

Today, Dad's day, Nick and Dad went down to Boy Scout camp to hang out for visitor's Sunday. Mom and I stayed home. We went to see Sisterhoood of the Traveling Pants this morning. We got bagels on the way there, so that hit the spot during the previews. Tonight mom is making lasagna and Grandpa and Carol Sue are coming over. Hopefully, it will be fun and tasty.

Well, that's been my weekend. Hope you all had great ones as well.

One test done and four more to go!! Finished my first test yesterday and started the cardiovascular section of the class today. The test went surprising well, especially after my crazy weekend. I think I actually scored the highest that I have ever scored in a LONG time. I hope I will be able to keep it up.

Not too much else going on, just studying.....thought I would up-date though.

Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths. -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe


This is the way my life was been feeling lately. I have a feeling I am still at the bottom of the mountain though.

Read and Enjoy!