Source article: https://www.thegreenjournal.com/article/S0167-8140(20)30809-...
The dumbed-down article seems to miss that inadvertent irradiation of the tubarial glands contributes to dry mouth in patients with cancer.
Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
41–50 of 215 posts
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#42It 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.
Medical research is devoted to diseases, particularly where there's confidence something can be done about it. It's easy to imagine science being weak on something if it doesn't cause life-threatening problems.
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#43Earlier 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.
"Rationally designed" drugs do this now. An example: Exjade ;
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#44NYT's title is a bit more cautious: >Doctors May Have Found Secretive New Organs in the Center of Your Head https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/health/saliva-glands-new-... >Dr. Alvand Hassankhani, a radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said he was hesitant to label the structures “new organs.” In addition to the three pairs of known large salivary glands, some 1,000 minor salivary glands are sprinkled acros…
> Secretive Organ
Good one.
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#45I find this weirdly amazing, as to this day I was reading some medical news and documentaries where it was said that entire human bodies were sliced by millimetre slices. So, somehow I always imagined that each part of body and tissue is 100% known and that only left is to find out what are inner workings on the nano-meter scale, deep molecular levels or genetic level.
But in 2018 there was a similar news about Interstitium: https://www.livescience.com/62128-interstitium-organ.html
In 2017 there was mesentery: https://www.livescience.com/57370-mesentery-new-organ-identi...
Now we have this. So, reading this left me with one though "hidden in plain sight" and wondering what else is there.
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#46Earlier 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…
People can only see progress and have no idea where we actually are until they look back in retrospect, so I think it's more accurate to say:
Here's where we were in the dark ages:
-|---------------------------------------
Here's where we are now:
---|-------------------------------------
Here's where people thought we were in the dark ages:
----------------------------|------------
Here's where people like to think we are today:
------------------------------|----------
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#47A 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.
Also, this book, The Second Brain, is a bit older, but relevant:
https://www.amazon.com/Second-Brain-Groundbreaking-Understan...
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Blood letting is still the treatment for iron overload.
Leaches produce enzyme that prevents blood cloth from forming. It also improves oxygenation. For some wounds, leaches would protect leg or arm from amputation.
* leeches
Leaching is a process in which you percolate a liquid (like water) through something, and it picks up chemicals and carries them out. Brewing coffee, for instance.
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel like the fact this is rare, big news kind of negates your point.
Agreed, though it also makes me think of the numerous cases of drugs developed with a specific purpose, but then afterwards found to have a completely different effect to what was originally intended. Medical science is an incredible thing, but science, by definition, does not have all the answers. A small part of me is actually somewhat surprised, that people (both lay, and professional) are surprised. Though I am n…
> drugs developed with a specific purpose, but then afterwards found to have a completely different effect to what was originally intended
I don't find that surprising. You have to do the early phases of drug development in model systems like cell cultures for practical reasons: It makes evidence obtained more reproducible and has less ethical concerns than experimenting on humans immediately. It's like how software components usually get implemented and tested in simplified environments (e.g. unit tests use doubles), and just like with drugs, sometimes we find that software components interact with each other in unexpected ways when combined into a whole.
Re: Researchers discover new salivary glands in the human head
#50A 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.
I've read a little about the complexity of the gut and it's nervous system connections, but was just thinking of a rough comparison of the two sites.
I mean, if you include the anatomy of brain, the head is conclusively more complicated.
But if you consider the brain, and perhaps the nervous network to be a single, extremely complex part, then I suppose you'd still have to believe the head is the more complicated of the two, because of the eyes, and the array of muscles around the face...
Was just musing, tbh.