TIME: The Year in Medicine
Time.com has an article that looks at medical discoveries in 2005 from A-Z.
First to pop out at me are that air bags, which are required by the government may increase deaths, and that marijuana, banned by the government, has more legitimate medical uses than previously thought.
Air Bags:
AIR BAGS The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s boast that inflatable air bags have saved nearly 14,000 lives since 1998, when they were required in all new cars, was challenged by a University of Georgia statistician. By analyzing a random sample of all accidents (rather than just those in which a death occurred), she found that air bags were actually associated with a slightly higher chance of death in an accident. Some of that discrepancy may be attributed to the greater risk of air-bag injuries to children who ride–against all advice–in the front seat of a car.
Marijuana:
MARIJUANA Research into the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis continued to bolster the case for the medicinal use of marijuana, making the “patient pot laws” that have passed in 11 states seem less like a social movement than a legitimate medical trend. One trial–the first controlled study of its kind–showed that a medicine containing cannabis extracts called Sativex not only lessened the pain of rheumatoid arthritis but actually suppressed the disease. An earlier study published in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that synthetic cannabinoids, the chemicals in marijuana, can reduce inflammation in the brain and may protect it from the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Ironically, the article never notes the obvious: government intervention in the marketplace can be hazardous to your health.
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