Word: penicillin
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...medicines to use against diseases and disorders that by present methods are either difficult to treat or incurable. One of their most fortuitous finds was made in a Peoria (Ill.) market, where they scraped from an overripe cantaloupe the parent strain of mold that fathered millions of doses of penicillin. Now that most of the world's land surface has been finecombed for microbes that might yield new antibiotics, the scientists are turning to the sea. One useful drug, cephalothin (which is effective against many germs that are resistant to penicillin), has already been developed from a mold that...
...good for the doctor to ask a patient whether he has previously had a reaction to a certain drug. "Patients are commonly unaware of what medication they receive, multiple irrational drug mixtures abound, and memories tend to be much less persistent than antibody-forming capacity." Reaction to penicillin injections cause an estimated 100 deaths annually in the U.S. What is most tragic about these deaths, say Kalman and his colleagues in citing a number of cases, is that the penicillin was injected for a sprained tee, an injured finger, and mild upper respiratory infections. "Penicillin could have served no useful...
...prescription trade, so their makers are not likely to put up much of a fight for them. Some contain streptomycin, which may cause deafness, especially in children, and so should never be used unless it is the only drug that will kill the particular microbes involved. Others contain penicillin, which can cause a sensitivity shock reaction. The sulfa components are less risky, but can also cause dangerous reactions when not administered properly...
...neurophysiologists now see it, when a man gets a shot of penicillin in the buttock, the stab sends an impulse along the nerve fibers to the fourth lumbar vertebra (see diagram). Then the impulse travels upward and soon crosses over to the opposite side of the spinal cord for its journey toward the brain. Along the way it triggers an automatic reflex that causes the man to flinch and tighten his gluteal muscle. After the impulse reaches the thalamus, a major (and evolutionally ancient) junction box at the base of the brain, where it is perceived as pain, it proceeds...
...interpreted depends as much on the pained as on the pain. For in most everyday situations, the emotional component is more significant than the underlying sensation. A man getting a penicillin shot knows that "it's for his own good" and accepts the little stab without protest. A four-year-old who cannot grasp this concept will probably scream. The adult will almost certainly make some vocal protest if he is taken unawares, and he may do so at the first touch of the dentist's drill if he has been expecting it to hurt. Both surprise...