Opinion Topic
Medical Controversy – When Does Life Begin?
One of the most contested questions in history is a seemingly simple one: When does life begin? Different cultures and societies have battled to answer this question, and to date no consensus has been reached. Of course, the answer to this question has profound ethical, legal, moral, and philosophical implications. As the United States debates the merits and pitfalls of topics like embryonic stem cell research and abortion, the arguments for the beginnings of life have found themselves renewed. Along the timeline from preconception through birth and beyond, there are several stops where one group or another has drawn a line in the sand and proclaimed that life has officially begun. In the interest of providing some clarity on this issue, let us examine the rationale behind why these groups picked their points. As a reference, a textbook on developmental biology will provide some framework.
Emotions and the Brain
I’ve recently started to think about emotions. I’m not a very emotional person. I guess I’m just like many other men. I admit that I’m stereotyping here so I hope you don’t mind. However, I often wonder why men and women tend to differ so much when it comes to our emotions. There are so many stereotypes and many of them seem to be true most of the time.Do emotions come from our brains, our hearts, or from some other organ? Does it come from hormones and other chemicals circulating in our bloodstream?
Relying on a Peripheral Brain
In the old days, medical students used to walk around with pockets bursting at the seams. Why? Because they were carrying around hand-written notes, cards, and mini textbooks to help them remember all the information they were trying to learn. Many people have described the medical school experience as “drinking out of a fire hydrant.” The volume of information is so great that our limited brains quickly get saturated with information and we’re unable to retain any more data.
How Many Babies Is Too Many?
Like many of you, I have watched as the world has been captivated by the birth of the octuplets to Nadya Suleman. To say that this case has opened heated debates on the ethical and psychological issues related to in vitro fertilization (IVF) would be a gross understatement. What makes this case especially newsworthy is the fact that Ms. Suleman not only has a total of 14 children, all with the help of IVF, but is also single and unemployed.This is not the first octuplet birth to rock the medical community worldwide. In London 12 years ago the The Lancet produced an editorial on the story of Mandy Allwood. That case was also interesting for its many ethical questions: Ms. Allwood was secretly taking fertility drugs without medical supervision or informing her significant other.
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Comments
- peter: I also see things the same way
- Scapadas Amorosas: Lets patent it, package, marke
- Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments, Matt
- Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments and s
- Alex: While we have our eyes glued t
- Richard Kensinger, MSW: Carla,You are absolutely c
- Soraya L. Valles: I'm interested in astrocytes.
- Raymond Tallis: Dear Kitty, I have come to you
- Steven: After smoking for 17 years dai
- Matt: I'm just interested in hearing
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- Isabel (retired RN): I second that query for resear
