Wellnews by Scott LaFee

While the filamentous finery of silkworms and spiders gets all of the press, it may be the product of the lowly caddis fly larvae that becomes a star inside the operating room and, perhaps, inside you.

Unlike spiders, moths and butterflies, caddis fly larvae spin their silk underwater, using the stickiness of its spun silk to bind together grains of sand into a portable shelter that the insects carry around with them. Russell Stewart, an associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Utah, thought the larva's sticky-when-wet silk had possibilities as surgical adhesive tape.

"I picture it as sort of a wet Band-Aid, maybe used internally in surgery — like using a piece of tape to close an incision as opposed to sutures," Stewart said. "Gluing things together underwater is not easy. Have you ever tried to put a Band-Aid on in the shower? This insect has been doing this for 150 million to 200 million years."

After much testing, Stewart and colleagues determined that the difference between caddis fly silk and the silk of other organisms is extra phosphates. Phosphates are well-known adhesion promoters, used in dental fixtures like crowns and fillings and in latex paints.

Stewart said that if researchers can learn how to synthesize caddis fly silk, they might produce a minor medical miracle.

"Their adhesive is able to bond to a wide range of surfaces underwater: soft and hard, organic and inorganic. If we could copy this adhesive, it would be useful on a wide range of tissue types."

OBSERVATION

Death is not the end; there remains the litigation.

—American satirist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

STORIES FOR THE WAITING ROOM

In the 14th century, the French physician Henri de Mandeville touted the healing powers of a good bedside manner, an idea that isn't so revolutionary now (although some patients say a good bedside manner is still uncommon).

De Mandeville was a sort of Patch Adams of the Middle Ages, employing humor and music to cheer his patients. He even resorted to deceit, telling patients almost anything if he thought it would make them feel or get better. Among his preferred methods: "using false letters about the deaths of (a patient's) enemies, or if (the patient) is a spiritual man, telling him that he has been made a bishop."

GET ME THAT. STAT!

The incidence of dementia among people 65 years and older is roughly 6 percent to 10 percent, with Alzheimer's disease accounting for two-thirds of cases. Live long enough, however, and dementia becomes almost inevitable. A rare study of people 90 years and older found that the incidence rate of dementia (all causes) is 18.2 percent annually for both men and women, doubling every five years in those 90 and older.

That portends a looming and worrisome health care issue: In 2007, there was an estimated 2 million Americans age 90 and older. By 2050, the number is expected to reach almost 9 million, making the "oldest-old" the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.

PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Ephebiphobia — fear of teenagers

MEDTRONICA

MD GUIDELINES

mdguidelines.com

This site is primarily intended for doctors and health care providers, but it's rich in straightforward talk about everything from asthma to torticollis, an ailment that involves strained neck muscles. There are sections on the top 20 diagnoses and procedures, which are quite revealing and likely to tell you things your doctor might not.

LAST WORDS

"Put that bloody cigarette out."

— Writer Hector (Saki) Hugh Munro, who joined the British army at age 43. He reportedly muttered those fateful few words while hunkered in a shell crater, just before being shot by a sniper in 1916.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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