LegendaryLife Blog

Larval (Maggot) Wound Therapy, also known as Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT), involves using maggots to clean a wound. Maggots aren’t these evil little worms that eat people alive, they actually benefit the victim (and themselves) by feeding off dead flesh. Let me repeat, they only eat what is dead, they have no interest in live tissues… hence their incredible value at cleaning up infections.

History of Maggot Therapy

Maggot therapy isn’t anything new, flies have been directly applying this therapy on just about every living thing since the dawn of time, what is new, is we finally realized the benefits. Sometimes humans are slow to realize that what may seem nauseating to some, is actually mother natures way of helping us get over some battle damage. Using maggots as wound vacuum cleaners all started with anecdotal evidence by field surgeons during war that soldiers who had maggot infestations in their wounds seemed to recover quicker and better then those them. In fact, when antibacterial medicines and other modern techniques fail, maggot infections can help those who otherwise would have had to suffer extreme medical procedures to save their lives.

What are maggots?

Maggots are the larva stage of the regular house fly and is the second of four life cycle stages (after egg, before pupa). Once the fly deposits its eggs, the maggot emerges within a day and it eats until it’s ready to enter the third life cycle stage. After the maggot has eaten it’s fill, it then proceeds to a moist area away from the food source to enter the pupa state, which then leads to the emergence of the fly.

The bad maggots

Although maggots are only interested in dead flesh, they sometimes get under the skin of animals and even humans, changing from a beneficial insect to one that is parasitic. These type of infestations, known as myiasis, are usually caused by direct interactions with maggot infestations, such as putting your hand in rotting garbage. Flies don’t normally deposit eggs on living things unless they have an open sore or wound.

Summary

This is a rather graphic video, so I have posted it at the bottom of this summary:

• Medicinal maggots are our best friends, they are used for improvised debridement purposes in both field and clinical settings
• the periphery of a wound is covered with a tincture of benzoil to both clean up and make the application of a hydro colloid dressing easier
• sterile nylon chiffon mesh is then applied over the wound, trapping the medicinal maggots and the dressing they reside upon in place
• sterile medicinal maggots are removed from a sterile lab container using a tongue depressor and put in the middle of a dressing
• chiffon (with dressing) is then applied directly to the wound with the maggots place in them middle of the dressing
• maggots tend to work their way out from a wound rather quickly
• waterproof neoprene tape is then applied around the entire wound (except the center of the wound to allow aeration), holding the entire dressing assembly together

The Bottom Line

Maggots are our friends, we should be so lucky to get a wound infested with them, as it could save your life if you are far away from medical facilities.

Buzzvia

http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/com/pathology/sherman/home_pg.htm

Paraphrasing what Maya Angelou said during an appearance on the Opera Winfrey show “my breasts seem to be in a race to reach my knees”. It’s no secret, age, gravity and motherhood all take their toll on womans breasts. Well, a company in Israel has had enough and developed a solution that requires relatively minimal surgical intervention.

Replacement for cosmetic breast surgery?

Up until now, breasts where augmented or reduced for optimal perkiness using laborious surgical techniques that involved risks (as all surgeries do) that didn’t always give the desired results once the healing process was complete. The recuperation is painful and only temporary as the race for the knees continues.

What is MIM (Minimally Invasive Mastopexy)

Israel researchers have developed a much simpler technique which essentially holds the breast tissue in a silicon bra cup using the patients own internal architecture as a support. As such, the name of the new technique is MIM or Minimally Invasive Mastopexy and promises better results in a fraction of the recovery time over a far longer extended period of time. Put another way, MIM is essentially an internal bra that feels and acts the same as a normal breast.

Alternatives to ANY surgery

As the breast tissue is mostly composed of fat, there is little that can be done to form them naturally but strong pectoral muscles will go a long way along with a healthy diet if you are out of shape. Although still in the experimental stage, I would expect this to become a standard procedure in a very short period of time.The Bottom Line

All surgeries carry risks, the less a technique requires, the safer it normally is.

Buzzvia

http://crunchgear.com/2007/08/14/technology-marches-forth-better-breasts-on-the-horizon/

Buzzedvia

http://israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El1738&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Health&

I found out yesterday that my childhood dentist has been diagnosed with colon cancer… I then realized something I hadn’t previously thought about. No matter how impeccable your health is in one area, it’s the one that you are ignoring that will end up getting you.

The Irony of it all

My dentist had the most amazing teeth I have ever seen in an older person, very healthy gums, white teeth and always told me to brush, brush and brush some more. He was the embodiment of fanatical oral hygiene which is a difficult thing to achieve but in hind sight, my reply to him instead of “yes, I will brush some more” should have been “when was the last time you went for a colonoscopy”? His oral hygiene prevented him from getting gum disease, tooth loss and decay but he neglected a far more easily preventable condition that didn’t have to happen.

Colonoscopy

I went for a colonoscopy about a year ago, sure I was 30 but something wasn’t right and I always prefer to be safe then sorry. I was fine btw, what was causing my condition was eating rotten wheat germ for 3 months straight… that stuff smells like feet fresh or rotten! Anyways, after the age of 50, it is recommended that you get a colonoscopy for the prevention of colon cancer every 5 years. I dare say, go every year or two. It isn’t any fun but the peace of mind is well worth whatever feelings you may have and which would make you feel more embarrassed, showing your cute butt to a doctor or telling your family you have easily preventable colon cancer? The procedure is relatively painless and if your good, they give you a lolly pop at the end of it… kinda tough to refuse huh?

What is Colon Cancer (Colorectal Cancer)?

Colon cancer is one of the easiest cancers to prevent, regular screening and a very well sourced, high fiber diet will pay you huge dividends in this area. Although it’s unknown why it starts, like many cancers, part if it is genetic and an even larger part in my opinion is… you guessed it… LIFESTYLE. We take our bodies for granted, they will have the last laugh each and every time. Smoking, diabetes, alcohol consumption, being a couch potato and obesity are all leading risk factors as well. If you have stomach pains, anal bleeding and blood in your stool get yourself checked-up ASAP. Having Crohn’s disease is also a major risk factor.

What should you do if in doubt?

If you never got yourself checked-out, symptoms or not, then stop reading this, pick up the phone and give your doctor a call for a referral. Throw away all your junk food, adopt a healthy lifestyle that includes a lot of physical activity and turn your life around. Doing nothing is the best way to die a preventable early death. Still reading this? Call the doctor!

Realizations

I guess this whole experience made me realize how much WORK is involved in keeping yourself in top shape! Evaluating your general health, creating new exercise regimens, sourcing new diets and getting enough sleep at the end of the day to repeat this all over again the next. In a way, I am lucky because I spend much of my time researching health, constantly being exposed to what happens if you DON’T follow a healthy lifestyle is a great motivation for those days when the bed seems more attractive then stack of weights.

The Bottom Line

90% of ALL cancers are preventable by proper diet and lifestyle choices. Yes, 90%!

References
http://myfoodcount.com/healthylife/whatis/colorectalcancer.html

Seems like every once in a while, there is a show (in this case, a confirmed hoax) that really sparks worldwide condemnation even if it actually serves a greater good.

The State of Organ Donations

People around the world are truly upset at how a TV show by Dutch TV channel BNN, which also created “Big Brother”, could have even done such an evil thing as possibly awarding a much needed organ for our entertainment but let’s look at some (although dated) very sobering facts.

USA

• There is a constant critical shortage of organs, in 2002 out of the 80 thousand waiting patience, less then 13 thousand organs where made available
• Organ transplantation waiting lists are growing at a faster rate then that of organ donation
• In 2001, over 6 thousand people DIED waiting for a much needed organ

Canada

• Between 1996 and 2000, waiting lists grew 62% while number of transplants grew by just 22%
• By 2001, there where almost 4 thousand patients waiting for organs
• In 1999, 170 people waiting for an organ died due to their condition which represented 40% of those ON the list

Organ Donation Rates (worldwide)

• USA: 22 per million
• Canada: 15 per million
• Europe: 15 per million

Let’s put this into perspective

In 2001, there where a reported 2,416,425 deaths reported in the United States, which includes 6 thousand waiting transplant patients representing 0.2% of this total. Based on this, more people died simply WAITING for an organs to be made available to them than almost twice the number that died during the September 11th terrorists attacks in New York City, yet, where is the worldwide outcry? Where is the hundreds of billions of fresh investment into educational and alternative technologies that benefit the health of ALL of mankind? Where are the UN resolutions upon resolutions casting a solid mandate towards solving this solvable problem? Where is the leadership? The sad fact is, diseases and health simply are NOT a high priority until they are needed by those in power. If you keep tabs on the marketing you see around you and you will quickly realize that there is far MORE money spent by companies promoting alcohol and tobacco consumption to the general public then those promoting healthy lifestyles!

What does all this mean?

If you believe in God, screw asking for a great afterlife, if you are in need of a transplantation, ask to live long enough for a donor to become available!

BNN Chairman defends the show

I don’t know if at the end of the show, the hoax was simply a way out of the controversy or the original intent was to actually award the organ, but I am happy that once again, a REAL AND GROWING problem has been pushed to the forefront around the world. As the chairman of BNN (Laurens Drillich) states while defending the show from the great criticism he and his network has received:

“At least in this case… the contestants in the show have a 33 percent chance of getting a new kidney. They would have to wait much longer in real life for the same deal.”

I couldn’t agree more!

Solutions

I do know that this is a Worldwide problem, some governments have decided to pursuit a “sign if you DON’T want to be a donor” instead of the conventional “sign if you DO want to be a donor” with great success. There is also the emergence of “living donors” for such items as kidneys but the problem is that a few years alter, these donors may themselves need a transplant. There IS a black market in third world countries for organs including China where “inmates” are routinely made available to wealthy individuals for organ transplantation before their execution.

The Bottom Line

Organ transplantation is the easiest sacrifice you could ever make as they no purpose to you once your dead. I always sign my organ donation card, do you?

References:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ICF/is_1_30/ai_n18615365

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14570230