Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

sciencealert.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 215 posts

Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

#21

Post by adriand »

garbagetime wrote: post #18
wrinkl3 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've suspected for some time that medicine is actually closer to the dark ages than we like to think it is What does that even mean? Nobody's claiming that modern medicine is anywhere close to perfect but the "dark ages" medicine was Humorism, blood letting and faith healing. Surgeons didn't start washing their hands before childbirth until the 19th century. It's really weird to look back at the mind-boggling progr…

Imagine the following. Here's the spectrum of medical knowledge: ----------------------------------------- Here's where we were in the dark ages: --|-------------------------------------- Here's where we are now: -------|--------------------------------- Here's where people like to think we are: ------------------|---------------------- In this scenario it seems like what you're saying and what your parent said are b…

But then we’re in the dark ages for everything, except maybe siege warfare. So it becomes a meaningless comment.

Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

#23

Post by blablabla123 »

hilbert42 wrote: post #5

It seems almost unbelievable that in this day and age we could have missed something like this. In my opinion, it put modern medicine into perspective. I've suspected for some time that medicine is actually closer to the dark ages than we like to think it is, and this report seems like a good validation of that notion.

Yes there are some diseases that can be treated very reliably but a large share of commonly occurring issues can't. Also given that modern medicine is largely based on statistics, I have doubts that the sophistication of statistics in use is really appropriate. I think Physics or Psychology do a lot better in that regard. That said, I think many diseases can be treated or prevented with a high success rate without any invasive procedure. For instance the risk of coronary heart disease can be lowered a lot with good diet and mild exercise. It surprises me that doctors never pro-actively mention how to prevent such lifestyle diseases until it's too late. Probably the subject of medicine needs to be broadened a bit.

Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

#24

Post by DoreenMichele »

dynamite-ready wrote: post #20

A bit of a random, uneducated question, but somewhat related... For anatomists with a strong knowledge of both, which is more complicated? The human head, or the human gut? I suppose I'm wondering about the potential for something like this to happen again.

It wasn't hugely long ago that the mesentery was making the news as the newest official organ identified in the human body. It is in the gut:

2017: It's Official: A Brand-New Human Organ Has Been Classified

https://www.sciencealert.com/it-s-official-a-brand-new-human...

The neurological system for the gut is so complex that it gets called a "second brain" in some literature.

Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

#26

Post by garbagetime »

adriand wrote: post #21
garbagetime wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine the following. Here's the spectrum of medical knowledge: ----------------------------------------- Here's where we were in the dark ages: --|-------------------------------------- Here's where we are now: -------|--------------------------------- Here's where people like to think we are: ------------------|---------------------- In this scenario it seems like what you're saying and what your parent said are b…

But then we’re in the dark ages for everything, except maybe siege warfare. So it becomes a meaningless comment.

How do you figure?

Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

#27

Post by DoreenMichele »

This paragraph in particular impresses me:

Preliminary data – based on a retrospective analysis of 723 patients who underwent radiation treatment – seem to support the conclusion radiation delivered to the tubarial glands region results in greater complications for patients afterwards: a result that not only could benefit future oncology, but also seems to strengthen the case that these mysterious, overlooked structures really are salivary glands.

So we already have existing data we can kind of "retrofit" to this new mental model and get meaningful feedback that this new conclusion seems to fit with verifiable experience. That's actually pretty darn cool for a variety of reasons.

Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

#28

Post by meheleventyone »

ThePowerOfDirge wrote: post #15
wrinkl3 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've suspected for some time that medicine is actually closer to the dark ages than we like to think it is What does that even mean? Nobody's claiming that modern medicine is anywhere close to perfect but the "dark ages" medicine was Humorism, blood letting and faith healing. Surgeons didn't start washing their hands before childbirth until the 19th century. It's really weird to look back at the mind-boggling progr…

Blood letting is still the treatment for iron overload.

Right but only because we know the mechanism of action and it's efficacy. It's also performed in a different manner to blood letting as a historical treatment.

Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head

#30

Post by trollied »

hilbert42 wrote: post #5

It seems almost unbelievable that in this day and age we could have missed something like this. In my opinion, it put modern medicine into perspective. I've suspected for some time that medicine is actually closer to the dark ages than we like to think it is, and this report seems like a good validation of that notion.

One day in the distant future, people will look back at us having treated cancers with radiation & wonder what the hell we were thinking!
Post reply on HN