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Apr 18, 2024 · In the world of innovative therapy approaches, a new player has taken center stage: ducks. College of Nursing PhD student Alex Sargsyan, decided to investigate the effects of Animal Assisted Therapies with Farm Animals (AATF) and its effects on depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy on individuals with traumatic brain injuries.
This overview presents the importance of substance abuse and addiction in society; reviews the development and refinement of animal models that address crucial areas of biology, pathophysiology, clinical treatments, and drug screening for abuse liability; and discusses some of the unique veterinary, husbandry, and IACUC challenges associated wit...
- Wendy J Lynch, Katherine L Nicholson, Mario E Dance, Richard W Morgan, Patricia L Foley
- Comp Med. 2010 Jun; 60(3): 177-188.
- 2010
- 2010/06
- Overview
- Techniques of quacks
quackery, the characteristic practice of quacks or charlatans, who pretend to knowledge and skill that they do not possess, particularly in medicine. The quack makes exaggerated claims about his or her ability to heal disease, generally for financial gain.
The conditions usually treated by quacks are those for which specific methods of treatment have not yet been developed; those particularly feared, such as cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, and, in the past, tuberculosis; those with frequent remissions and recurrences, such as arthritis, neuritis, and migraine; and mental disorders. People yield to quackery in times of great stress, pain, or sorrow. In the absence of exact knowledge, and sometimes even in its presence in the face of insurmountable difficulties, the credulous person craves a miracle and is ready to be overwhelmed by the personality and the claims of the charlatan.
Whenever a new discovery is made in any field of science, the charlatan may take advantage of public interest and lack of information to utilize it with exaggerated claims. Lack of general knowledge tends to encourage occultism, and the characteristic claim of the quack is the possession of a formula, method, device, or product unknown to other physicians or scientists. At the time of the American Revolution, for example, a quack named Elisha Perkins (1741–99), aware of public interest in the recently discovered electricity, invented “metallic tractors” to draw disease out of the body. These were two rods of brass and iron, about three inches (less than eight centimetres) long, one of copper, zinc, and gold, the other of iron with some other metals. The rods cost one shilling to manufacture and sold for $5.00. James Graham (1745–94) in England set up a temple of healing in which he burlesqued the principle of electricity, promising cures and rejuvenation.
Knowledge of powerful drug substances derived from plants (digitalis, belladonna, cascara sagrada, quinine, and opium poppy) led to the development of nostrums that were exploited with false, misleading, or exaggerated claims to cure such diseases as tuberculosis, syphilis, cancer, kidney diseases, and gynecological, digestive, and rheumatic disorders. Sometimes the quack or purveyor of nostrums did not trouble to include a potent drug but merely used any bitter-tasting dark herb or vegetable with common salt or sulfur. Toward the end of the 19th century, alcohol was used as a solvent, and it yielded its typical effects to the satisfaction of the users. Many modern nostrums depend principally on aspirin.
With the discovery of radium, claims were made for mixtures said to contain this substance. In a few instances some radium actually was included, and users died years later from the effects of radium on the body. Radium was said to be incorporated in magical magnetic belts, and radium plasters with infinitesimal amounts of radioactivity were purveyed.
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Increasing knowledge of the glands of internal secretion gave rise to preparations for rejuvenation, beautification, and sexual power. Vitamins have been incorporated in preparations for growing hair or preventing grayness, without any real evidence that they could be helpful. Indeed, in the realm of cosmetology, quackery and nostrums seem destined forever to reap a pecuniary harvest. At times, homeopathy, recital of ritualistic codes, manipulation of bones, muscles, and tendons, complicated machines of no particular merit, lights (plain and coloured), static electric currents, and even radioactivity have been vaunted as useful in the control of disease and the promotion of health.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jul 7, 2023 · By Steve July 7, 2023. Ducks are fascinating creatures with a wide variety of vocalizations that they use to communicate with each other. In this article, we will delve into the world of duck vocalizations and explore the different sounds they make, including their well-known quacks, cheerful whistles, and distinct calls.
Jun 1, 2012 · Research involving animal models of drug addiction can be viewed as a sort of reverse psychiatry. Contrary to clinicians who seek to treat addicted people to become and remain abstinent, researchers seek to make drug-naïve animals addicted to a drug with known addictive properties in humans.
- Serge Ahmed
- 2012
The term “addiction” represents a broader concept than that of alcoholism, alcohol use disorders (AUD), or alcohol dependence. Substance-related and addictive disorders (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013) encompasses psychiatric diagnoses of AUD and drug use disorders (DUD). Moreover, the addiction construct is sometimes applied ...
Nov 12, 2013 · Madagascar Pochard (image via: Frank Vassen) The Madagascar Pochard (Aythya innotata) is an extremely rare diving duck native to the island nation of Madagascar.Never especially common, the species’ population on Lake Alaotra, Madagascar’s largest lake, dropped dramatically in the late 1940s and early 1950s in conjunction with increased human activity and especially the introduction of non ...
