Reading & Research

There hasn't been an addition for a couple of days as I have been researching and reading. A favoured professor, Dr. Eli Mandel a noted Canadian poet and English Literature lecturer at York University, used to say that "Everything is Relevant." We had some fine graduate seminars when students tried to challenge his verbal dexterity to prove that bizarre comments and analyses just didn't hold water. We were never able to best him. For me, the conclusion drawn, which has been a life long precept, is the formation of a steadfast belief in serandipity. The happenstance of what one reads can be very influential. It is also a fervant conviction that fiction has much to contribute to our understanding of the real world. So here are some of the materials I'm looking at.

1. Synvisc. In an earlier blog I indicated I would reseach the product and work towards a decision on whether to use it. The web wasn't particularly helpful as most of the easily available information was marketing type stuff.

At the suggestion of friend Alison, I contacted the Patient & Family Library at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. What a great resource with extremely helpful people. They willingly have taken on the task of finding future oriented research on knee replacement.

With the librarian's help, I leaned that synvisc is a brand name for 'Hyaluronate acid' & derivatives. Synonyms which may be useful for further searching are Hyaluran, Hyaluronan, Hyaluronate, Hyaluronate Sodium, Hylan, Hylan Polymers, and Sodium Hyalurnate. It is used for knee, skin and eye problems.

W. Neal Roberts, Jr. writing in the Online Journal, 'UpToDate' in September 2006 offers an analysis of cortisone and Hyaluronic Acid Defivatives. www.utdol.com/online/content/topic.do?topicKey=tx_rheum/5757&view=print

Dr. Roberts' recommendation is that use of the injection comes with modest expectations primarily in OA of knees in patients who have failed to improve with cortizone shots. He suggests limited usage because of the expense and the 3-5 injections needed for treatment. He does note that it may be a good solution for diabetics who become uncontrolled on cortizone treatment.

It seems that the Hyaluronic Acid treatments only post pone the need for surgery if I read the literature correctly. Perhaps it will be useful to manage the second knee while recovering from the first operation.

2. Karen Armstong. The Case for God. Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 2009
Ms. Armstrong lectured in Ottawa last week but unfortunately we weren't able to attend. Instead we bought the book based on the review two Sundays ago in The Citizen. I was particularly influenced to look further into her writings by the comments about compassion and her interest in having the subject included on TED: Ideas Worth Spreading http://www.ted.com/ which is always an interesting site to visit and browse. As I said above, everything we are exposed to can be relevant and we will see what comes from the book.

Part I of the book is an analysis of religions throughout history and the way different cultures have developed an approach to what could be considered God within their context. The first reference to compassion is in the discussion of Buddha.

"The texts indicate that when the Buddha's first disciples heard about anatta (no self,) their hearts were filled with joy and they immediately experienced Nirvana. To live beyond the reach of hatred, greed and anxieties about our status proved to be a profound relief. By far the best way of achieving anatta was compassion, the ability to feel with the other, which required that one dethrone the self from the centre of one's world and put another there. Compassion would become the central practice of the religious quest." p. 24

It strikes me that these thoughts focus on a failure of this blog and indeed on the fundamental characteristics of much posted material. The point of view is clearly self-oriented as we document the process of arthritis progression. Perhaps it will prove helpful if in some way we can insert a compassion for others into the thread of thought. I'm not sure how to follow up on this notion but it no doubt will come to the surface again. Maybe just the motivation to share the few simple things I discover through this blog is helpful.

Other reading materials will be mentioned in future postings.