Althouse: "I really did not believe there are structures in the body that we are not aware of."

June 3, 2015

"I really did not believe there are structures in the body that we are not aware of."

"I thought the body was mapped. I thought that these discoveries ended somewhere around the middle of the last century. But apparently they have not."

26 comments:

Gahrie said...: Get backto me when they explain male nipples....; 6/3/15, 10:56 AM
Michael K said...: "Jonathan Kipnis"

Oh oh, a Title IX complaint will be coming along.

I'm not surprised although the lymphatics are usually studied below the heart. Autism and Alzheimers are mentioned and I doubt there is any relationship there. MS is a possibility.; 6/3/15, 11:00 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: So the science was not settled in this case. Hmmmm.; 6/3/15, 11:01 AM
Etienne said...: I'm still trying to find out how my wife can pee in less than a minute, and it takes me three.; 6/3/15, 11:01 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/3/15, 11:02 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Get backto me when they explain male nipples....

They're for the clothespins. Don't they teach anything in sex ed anymore?; 6/3/15, 11:03 AM
rehajm said...: MS patients are made well aware of the lack of medical knowledge of the blood/brain barrier. This is a game changer.; 6/3/15, 11:04 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: This seems odd to me. If the network is that extensive, why hasn't it been found by contamination before? You would think that in a trauma injury (like a car accident), the lymphatic vessels would be broken and blood would enter them and pollute the spinal fluid.; 6/3/15, 11:11 AM
PB said...: Coupe: Both of you seem to have a problem...Average time for all mammals to empty bladder is 21 seconds.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2013/10/17/regardless-bladder-size-mammals-urinate-approximately-21-seconds/#.VW8omc9Viko; 6/3/15, 11:18 AM
Fernandinande said...: Mike said...
So the science was not settled in this case. Hmmmm.

Science is never (completely) settled. Sometimes political activists claim otherwise, but they're just political activists.

PB said...
Coupe: Both of you seem to have a problem...

He is not alone.; 6/3/15, 11:25 AM
Scott said...: An aside: I follow John Althouse Cohen's Facebook page. He always posts good stuff -- he's one of my favorites, along with Janis Ian, George Takai, and Robert Downey Jr.; 6/3/15, 11:36 AM
Megaera said...: Re settled science, "they who say" used to say that tonsils and appendices were useless structures, remarkable only for the problems they were capable of causing. NOW they tell us that the tonsils and the appendix are actually functioning bits of the immune system, and their loss/removal -- however necessary -- can have significant negative implications for the patient years down the line. Uh oh.; 6/3/15, 11:38 AM
Etienne said...: "he is not alone"

Hey, Hank lives just across the Red River from me!; 6/3/15, 11:43 AM
Anonymous said...: Interesting work done by those second class researchers. mere PhD's, none have the coveted MD seal of approval.; 6/3/15, 11:47 AM
Roger Sweeny said...: What the researchers have done may turn out to be very important. But EurekAlert has simply passed on a press release from the University of Virginia's publicity people. As it says at the bottom, "Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system."

University press offices routinely exaggerate the importance of research findings coming from their institution. (They are basically the advertising agency for the university.); 6/3/15, 12:14 PM
Bob R said...: Very few MDs are scientists, just as few mechanics are automotive engineers. On the other hand, don't count on a PhD in neuroscience to remove a tumor or a PhD in engineering to rebuild a transmission.; 6/3/15, 12:18 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is...

The brain is three dots? That is surprising.; 6/3/15, 12:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: Another thought is that a lymphatic system's physical connection to nerve fibers tying them into the immune system may help explain why Marijuana helps alleviate nervous system damage.; 6/3/15, 12:35 PM
traditionalguy said...: The revolution will be in understanding a physical mechanism for MS so that it is potentially treatable. So far the medical field has been unable to do more than apply a word describing the symptoms.; 6/3/15, 12:41 PM
Gabriel said...: @Megaera:"they who say" used to say that tonsils and appendices were useless structures, remarkable only for the problems they were capable of causing. NOW they tell us that the tonsils and the appendix are actually functioning bits of the immune system, and their loss/removal -- however necessary -- can have significant negative implications for the patient years down the line. Uh oh.

Anything short of absolute perfection is worthless. Leeches and homeopathy for all! You'll save a lot on insurance premiums.; 6/3/15, 12:48 PM
Jaq said...: An acquaintance suffers an auto-immune disease that visibly worsens under stress. Hmmm...; 6/3/15, 1:05 PM
Jeff Boulier said...: "You would think that in a trauma injury (like a car accident), the lymphatic vessels would be broken and blood would enter them and pollute the spinal fluid."

Lymphatic vessels carry lymph, not blood.

Any accident sufficient to break the lymphatic vessel inside the brain would do significant damage to many other structures, which would get the blame.; 6/3/15, 1:57 PM
southcentralpa said...: When Albert Sabin died, one of the NPR shows played a clip from an interview with him where he said that he nearly didn't go into research out of a feeling that all the important things had already been discovered.

In a larger sense, there is a difference between something being mapped, and understanding the way(s) things work together as a whole, let alone how.

(Albert Sabin was the inventor of the oral polio vaccine); 6/3/15, 4:06 PM
David said...: The PostDoc who discovered this is French. Click through to the site for the research arm of the UVA Medical Center and you will see numerous names which suggest either that they are not Americans or are recent immigrants. Doing the jobs Americans can do, or at least can't do without this help.; 6/3/15, 4:29 PM
Peglegged Picador said...: Wahoowa; 6/3/15, 7:01 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Supposedly giftedness and autoimmune problems are associated. Always wondered why that would be. Perhaps this is a clue.; 6/4/15, 12:40 AM