Sometimes, medical therapy is just funny. Disulfiram, one of the drugs we had to learn for pharmacology months ago, is a treatment for chronic alcoholism.
We’re familiar with antibiotics working with the body’s immune system to destroy bacteria and resolve infections. In this case, antibiotics typically interact directly with the bacterial organism (halting protein synthesis, preventing cell wall formation, etc.) and the body has a chance to “catch up” with its immunological onslaught.
Disulfiram works in an interesting way. Since you can’t “target” chronic alcoholism, it’s mechanism is quite simple – if you’re caught drinking alcohol while on disulfiram, you’re going to regret it. Yes, it’s a drug therapy of intimidation.
Alcohol is metabolized by the liver to acetaldehyde (one of the main culprits of the “hangover”) which is subsequently metabolized to harmless acetic acid through acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Disulfiram acts by inhibiting said enzyme and effectively raising the levels of acetaldehyde in the blood. The result? If you drink even a little alcohol, you’re going to have a miserably prolonged hangover – based on statistics, this has been a sufficient reason for chronic alcoholics to practice abstinence. 
Most of us are guilty of an interesting paradox – we sleep with the air conditioning on yet like to wrap ourselves in blankets or hide under a comforter. Although it seems like a waste of electricity, why are we still inclined to sleep this way? Read more
We’ve all heard stories of seniors showcasing incredible feats of detailed memory recall from their childhood after receiving electroshock therapy. How about savants like Kim Peek who effortlessly digest volumes of information with inconceivable retention, even over extended periods of time. How exactly do we learn, store, and recall things as we move through life? Read more
Today’s last lecture was a patient presentation by a neurologist from Methodist Hospital. The patient had a memory disorder which the class tried to discern based primarily on his medical history. We soon discovered he had Alzheimer’s disease. Read more
It just isn’t possible to convey how excited I am to be on Baylor Med’s admissions committee beginning next year. As many of you know, this school was the only medical school I wanted to attend since early grade school, and now I have the privilege of being able to interview applicants who (hopefully) share a similar passion for the institution.
