If the DOD can do it, why not the FDA?

FDA Should Begin a Collaborative Wiki to Innovate More Quickly

[Via Eye on FDA]

The FDA is now undertaking a glacially paced effort at examining the regulation of social media and the Internet. And slowly the agency has been increasingly using social media and emerging media tools to get word out, particularly during recalls, about products. Most notably, the agency was quite effective in using a widget that was regularly updated during the peanut recall to identify products associated with the recall.

But maybe it is time for a bolder course from the agency, which is still trying to regain its footing and golden image of yesteryear. Maybe it is time for a Wiki.

The Department of Defense (DOD) is all over social media. In January 2009, they launched a Webcast series called “Armed with Science” and one year later, began a blog along the same lines. The efforts come out of DOD’s “Defense Media Activity” (DMA) initiative. The mission of the DMA “is to provide a broad range of high quality multimedia products and services to inform, educate, and entertain DOD audiences around the world.” Further, the stated vision for DMA is “to be a world-class multimedia organization that skillfully uses and teaches state-of-the-art communications tools and methods…” Wow.

You have to figure, with the huge volumes of people turning to the Internet each day for health care information upon which they will make treatment decisions, someone should be doing something similar in health care in general, and medical products in particular. That would certainly protect and promote the public health.

This week, the Armed with Science blog carried a story about a Wiki begun by DOD for the purpose of increasing scientific collaboration called Techipedia.

Techipedia allows for a much more rapid exchange of information about various topics. As the blog post on the topic states, waiting for people to publish information and ideas in journals just takes too much time. The wiki was begun in 2008 and has over 11,000 entries. It provides a secure means of enhancing scientific collaboration along a whole range of topics.

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It is pretty amazing to see how much information there is at the DOD’s sites. And the idea of a Technipedia for those with clearances is really wild. The FDA should really get going here. It could have some real impact on healthcare.

[Listening to: The Americans from the album "Freedom's Road" by John Mellencamp]

Global Health Dialogues

The second Global Health Dialogues will be held February 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 in Seattle. Tell all your friends.

If you’d like to read about the first one, check out my Xconomy article Synchronicity is Not Just an Album by The Police. Nor is Serendipity Just a John Cusack movie. You should RSVP since space is limited.

Now that’s an eye-catching title!

by perpetualplum

Selective brain damage modulates human spirituality
[Via EurekAlert! - Biology]

(Cell Press) New research provides fascinating insight into brain changes that might underlie alterations in spiritual and religious attitudes. The study, published by Cell Press in the Feb. 11 issue of the journal Neuron, explores the neural basis of spirituality by studying patients before and after surgery to remove a brain tumor.

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Selective brain damage modulates human spirituality! Wow.

The main thing they found is that damage in a certain part of the brain resulted in a very rapid change in a certain behavior, in this case the feeling of self-trancendance – which “reflects a decreased sense of self and an ability to identify one’s self as an integral part of the universe as a whole.”

Ooookay. I guess they measured something by a test and saw that it only changed after brain surgery in a specific area.”If a stable personality trait like ST can undergo fast changes as a consequence of brain lesions, it would indicate that at least some personality dimensions may be modified by influencing neural activity in specific areas, suggests Dr. Salvatore M. Aglioti from Sapienza University of Rome.”

That sounds pretty straightforward. but then he adds this: “Perhaps novel approaches aimed at modulating neural activity might ultimately pave the way to new treatments of personality disorders.”

So human spirituality is like a personality disorder that needs treatment? That’ll go over well in some quarters.

Still, it is one of the most provocative headlines I’ve seen on a press release in quire a while.

No nicotine delivered by electronic cigarettes

by Kyle May

Study reveals a need to evaluate and regulate ‘electronic cigarettes’
[Via Eureka! Science News - Popular science news]

Electronic cigarettes should be evaluated, regulated, labeled and packaged in a manner consistent with cartridge content and product effect – even if that effect is a total failure to deliver nicotine as demonstrated in a study supported by the National Cancer Institute and led by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher.

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If you sell something that is supposed to deliver nicotine without tobacco carcinogens, it might be useful to actually deliver nicotine. In this study, smoking a cigarette resulted in detectible amounts of nicotine in the blood. smoking an electronic cigarette resulted in no nicotine in the blood.

As the principle investigator, Thomas Eissenberg, said:

In terms of nicotine delivery, these products were as effective as puffing from an unlit cigarette.

I guess now we know why nicotine patches are regulated – to prevent people from ODing on nicotine – but these things are not. You might as well regulate a dry stick.