Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Australians Win Nobel Prize in Medicine
AP ^ | October 3, 2005 | MALCOLM RITTER

Posted on 10/09/2005 8:14:48 AM PDT by Dave Burns

Two Australians won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for a discovery that defied decades of medical dogma and revolutionized the treatment of ulcers. They showed that bacterial infection — not stress — causes ulcers in the stomach and intestine.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 1982 discovery by Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren eventually transformed peptic ulcer disease from a chronic, frequently disabling condition to one that can be cured by a short regimen of antibiotics and other medicines, said the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: award; medicine; nobelprize; sweden; winners
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-33 last
To: knuthom
The "elites" were wrong.... The medical establishment laughed at Marshall

First, the established punters and pikers in a field are not the "elite." Second, when the word came out regarding this research, most scientists that I know pricked up their ears and were quite interested to see if it would be confirmed. I don't know of anyone who is "disappointed" in the result, actually. It is a victory for good science and shows why we continue to need science - something by the way that Bush and his "intelligent design" friends do not especially support.

21 posted on 10/09/2005 9:06:46 AM PDT by AndyJackson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: starfish923

Stress is NOT related to ulcers except that PAIN causes a lot of stress.

Please release your mind from its preconceptions.

H. Pylori has been ACCEPTED as the cause of gastric ulcer disease for 16 years.


22 posted on 10/09/2005 9:12:55 AM PDT by GEC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: AndyJackson
"It is a victory for good science and shows why we continue to need science - something by the way that Bush and his 'intelligent design' friends do not especially support."

I have no idea what the last half of this sentence either means or refers to.

Would you care to explain?

23 posted on 10/09/2005 9:19:14 AM PDT by GEC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Dave Burns
defied decades of medical dogma and revolutionized the treatment of ulcers

Hogwash! The fact that H. Pilori bacteria causes stomach ulcers goes back to the 1940s when a veterinarian (sorry, I don't recall his name) made the discovery of the foreign bacteria when a pig farmer was on the verge of going broke because much of his herd had stomach ulcers. Ulcers in swine have since been treated with antibiotics. This is well known in livestock journals so it's funny how this info never got transposed as a possible cause for human ulcers.

24 posted on 10/09/2005 9:27:31 AM PDT by drypowder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GEC
Stress is NOT related to ulcers except that PAIN causes a lot of stress. Please release your mind from its preconceptions. H. Pylori has been ACCEPTED as the cause of gastric ulcer disease for 16 years.

Oh I am SO sorry for having a QUESTION.
PARDON ME for having an IDEA.

How dare I even question you?
Stress has NOTHING to do with exacerbating an ulcer beyond the pain factor.
Stress has NOTHING to do with the immune system.
Stress is ONLY the result of pain....absolutely NOTHING more, "Dr." GEC.
It's ALL merely an infection brought on by....bacteria, nothing more. Certainly not stress. Strange that "stress" seemed to always be in the mix. Odd, but NOW negative "stress" is completely out of the picture beyond what the pain causes. Wow.
And SIXTEEN whole years? That is a lock on the entire problem now.
Double wow.
I guess that YOU know all the answers now. When are you accepting your Nobel prize? Lol.

< sarcasm >

25 posted on 10/09/2005 9:27:44 AM PDT by starfish923 (It's never right to do wrong. Socrates)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: drypowder
defied decades of medical dogma and revolutionized the treatment of ulcers

Hogwash! The fact that H. Pilori bacteria causes stomach ulcers goes back to the 1940s when a veterinarian (sorry, I don't recall his name) made the discovery of the foreign bacteria when a pig farmer was on the verge of going broke because much of his herd had stomach ulcers. Ulcers in swine have since been treated with antibiotics. This is well known in livestock journals so it's funny how this info never got transposed as a possible cause for human ulcers.

SHAME ON YOU!
"Doctor" GEC knows all the answers.
How DARE you come up with, gulp, history that CONTRADICTS?
Bwahahaha!

26 posted on 10/09/2005 9:31:26 AM PDT by starfish923 (It's never right to do wrong. Socrates)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: AndyJackson
which so-called experts. Going against the grain with solid research bothers no true professional.

I know this will cause a ruckus, but scientists are far from immune to having sacred cows and personal stakes. These men were laughed at and mocked when they first presented their research. If it is your point that the majority of scientists aren't truly professional, then I accept your statement.

27 posted on 10/09/2005 9:40:33 AM PDT by SampleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: drypowder
Hogwash! The fact that H. Pilori bacteria causes stomach ulcers goes back to the 1940s

One must assume that bacteria has caused most ulcers (but not all) for long before 1940. But I see your point ;) Discoveries are generally credited to the one that stood by their guns and made the discovery recognized. Many Europeans likely found the New World, but Columbus gets the credit because he made it irrefutable.

28 posted on 10/09/2005 9:46:44 AM PDT by SampleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: SampleMan

Science is not a matter of personal opinions, though all scientists have opinions. It is about confirming hypothesis, or answering questions, through a clear and irrefutable presentation of empirical evidence in support. A lot of people may have behaved badly. In the end, science won. It dispelled mythology and prejudice with fact and logic.


29 posted on 10/09/2005 9:52:04 AM PDT by AndyJackson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: starfish923

ignorance kills.


30 posted on 10/09/2005 9:55:12 AM PDT by GEC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: GEC
ignorance kills.

Now that YOU mention ignorance, you WOULD know all about it, wouldn't you?
Aphorism for aphorism: Practice makes permanent.

31 posted on 10/09/2005 10:30:19 AM PDT by starfish923 (It's never right to do wrong. Socrates)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: AndyJackson
Scientists, especially academic ones, often have a lot of baggage (written work, grants, prestige) that clouds their objectivity to new ideas.

If science is a methodology of objective confirmation of a hypothesis by peers, then I think science often loses. Pressing on and delivering irrefutable facts that silence the opposition (not necessarily convince them) is all that matters.

In less provable areas of science (dinosaur extinction, global warming), herd mentality reigns. It doesn't appear as important to be correct, as it is to be accepted. Going off the reservation is counterproductive to getting grant money.
32 posted on 10/10/2005 4:24:31 AM PDT by SampleMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: SampleMan
It doesn't appear as important to be correct, as it is to be accepted.

I take it you are not a scientist. All of the pressures that you have listed on those who do science is true, to some extent. In the end, however, the only thing that counts is being right. Pursuing a career in sciece by perpetuating untruth is very very precarious, because sooner or later someone will come along and show to the whole wide world just how wrong you are. It is, to understate the case, very very embarassing. If academic fraud is involved you can lose your job and be banished from research.

No human activity is free of politics, but science does have ultimate objective standards, and is about finding the truth. Virtually every professional scientist, except on a bad day, will tell you that that is what he has signed up for.

33 posted on 10/10/2005 5:59:55 AM PDT by AndyJackson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-33 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson