Urangoo Baatarkhuyag needs helps to fight leukemia

"Urangoo Baatarkhuyag was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on Sept 5, 2009. She came to Provo, Utah from Mongolia when she was just 18 years old to attend Utah Valley University. A little less than a year ago, she was awarded a Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Drafting and graduated with honors....

"The blood test results showed leukemia cancer cells spread in the blood stream and deteriorated her immunity. After chemotherapy treatments during these last few days at the LDS hospital in Salt Lake City, the cancerous cells are still found active and further damaged the chromosomes. She is predicted to live few months unless she undergoes an immediate bone marrow transplant which is an extremely expensive procedure....

"She has about 60% survival rate if the procedure is carried out. Our goal is to raise $350,000 to cover the initial cost. She needs our help and generosity to live and smile again. Please, give her the gift of life and donate what you can; every dollar will count and make a difference. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity."

http://saveuvugirl.blogspot.com/

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=8505904

Health Care

"What Americans often consider a single unique system of health care is an illusion: we exist in a sea of not-so-unique alternatives. Like the citizens of Germany and Japan, workers in the United States share insurance premiums with an employer. Like Canadians, our older, destitute and disabled citizens see private providers with the government paying. Like the British, military veterans and Native Americans receive care in government facilities with the government paying the tab. And like the poor around the world, our uninsured pay cash, finagle charity care, or stay home."

--Abigail Zuger, "One Injury, 10 Countries: A Journey in Health Care," New York Times, 2009 September 14, review of The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T.R. Reid

to treat mental diseases

"While investigating Tibetan books in the library of a former lamaistic university of Gandan, I found a book, by Lovsan-Yondon and Tsend-Otcher, entitled in free translation Anatomical Dictionary for Recognizing Various Diseases. It was a typical Tibetan book, printed from woodcuts on long, narrow strips of paper. Each leaf was printed on both sides and each page was from a separately cut wooden plate. In the systematic discussion of the fauna of Tibet and adjacent regions I found on p. 24, in a group of monkeys, an illustration of a wild man. This illustration shows a biped primate standing erect on a rock, with one arm stretched upwards....

"While studying the literature in the central library of the Scientific Committee in Mongolia I found, in the Tibetan department, another, more recent, edition of the above book, printed a century later in Urga (now Ulanbator). The author of this edition was Jambaldorje. An illustration of the above biped primate, along with monkeys, appears in this book also as part of a systematic discussion of Tibetan natural history on p. 119....

"Left of the picture there is a Tibetan text which in free translation runs: 'The wild man lives in the mountains, his origin is close to that of the bear, his body resembles that of man and he has enormous strength. His meat may be eaten to treat mental diseases and his gall cures jaundice.'"


--Emanuel Vlcek, "Old Literary Evidence for the Existence of the 'Snow Man' in Tibet and Mongolia," Man, volume 59, 1959 August, pages 133-134

"Stayin' Alive," CPR

"'Stayin' Alive' might be more true to its name than the Bee Gees ever could have guessed: At 103 beats per minute, the old disco song has almost the perfect rhythm to help jump-start a stopped heart.

"In a small but intriguing study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the catchy, sung-in-falsetto tune from the 1977 movie 'Saturday Night Fever.'

"The American Heart Association recommends 100 chest compressions per minute, far more than most people realize, study author Dr. David Matlock of the school's Peoria, Illinois, campus said Thursday....

"It turns out the American Heart Association has been using the song as a training tip for CPR instructors for about two years.

"They learned of it from a physician 'who sort of hit upon this as a training tool,' said association spokesman Dr. Vinay Nadkarni of the University of Pennsylvania.

"He said he was not aware of any previous studies that tested the song.

"But Nadkarni said he has seen 'Stayin' Alive' work wonders in classes where students were having trouble keeping the right beat while practicing on mannequins. When he turned on the song, 'all of a sudden, within just a few seconds, they get it right on the dot.'

"'I don't know how the Bee Gees knew this,' Nadkarni said. 'They probably didn't. But they just hit upon this natural rhythm that was very catchy, very popular, that helps us do the right thing.'

"Dr. Matthew Gilbert, a 28-year-old medical resident, was among participants in the University of Illinois study this past spring. Since then, he said, he has revived real patients by keeping the song in his head while doing CPR.

"Gilbert said he was surprised the song worked as well as it did.

"'I was a little worried because I've been told that I have a complete lack of rhythm,' he said. Also, Gilbert said he's not really a disco fan.

"He does happen to like a certain Queen song with a similar beat.

"'I heard a rumor that "Another One Bites the Dust" works also, but it didn't seem quite as appropriate,' Gilbert said."

--CNN

Microbial resistance to antibiotics

Antibiotics are overused in Mongolia. Powerful antibiotics, generally Russian-made, are available over-the-counter in UB, and people take them often. When I have been ill, my friends have consistently advised me to take antibiotics. As I understand it, however, taking antibiotics indiscriminately, and especially for short durations, leads to microbes evolving resistance to the drugs.

This letter from 2001 concerns gonorrhoea:

http://sti.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/77/6/463-a

"We read with interest 'The antibiotic susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia' by Lkhamsuren. We also found high levels of resistance to penicillin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin. Of the 13 isolates which were successfully transported to our reference laboratory in Birmingham, Alabama. . . 3/13 (23%) were chromosomally resistant to penicillin, 2/13 (15.4%) were chromosomally resistant to tetracycline. . . We agree with the authors that antibiotic resistance is a significant problem in Ulaanbaatar and that a surveillance system for antimicrobial resistance is needed."