Australians Win Nobel Prize in Medicine

AP ^ | October 3, 2005 | MALCOLM RITTER

[AndyJackson]

The "elites" were wrong.... The medical establishment laughed at Marshall

First, the established punters and pikers in a field are not the "elite." Second, when the word came out regarding this research, most scientists that I know pricked up their ears and were quite interested to see if it would be confirmed. I don't know of anyone who is "disappointed" in the result, actually. It is a victory for good science and shows why we continue to need science - something by the way that Bush and his "intelligent design" friends do not especially support.

[GEC]

Stress is NOT related to ulcers except that PAIN causes a lot of stress.

Please release your mind from its preconceptions.

H. Pylori has been ACCEPTED as the cause of gastric ulcer disease for 16 years.

[GEC]

"It is a victory for good science and shows why we continue to need science - something by the way that Bush and his 'intelligent design' friends do not especially support."

I have no idea what the last half of this sentence either means or refers to.

Would you care to explain?

[drypowder]

defied decades of medical dogma and revolutionized the treatment of ulcers

Hogwash! The fact that H. Pilori bacteria causes stomach ulcers goes back to the 1940s when a veterinarian (sorry, I don't recall his name) made the discovery of the foreign bacteria when a pig farmer was on the verge of going broke because much of his herd had stomach ulcers. Ulcers in swine have since been treated with antibiotics. This is well known in livestock journals so it's funny how this info never got transposed as a possible cause for human ulcers.

[starfish923]

Stress is NOT related to ulcers except that PAIN causes a lot of stress. Please release your mind from its preconceptions. H. Pylori has been ACCEPTED as the cause of gastric ulcer disease for 16 years.

Oh I am SO sorry for having a QUESTION.
PARDON ME for having an IDEA.

How dare I even question you?
Stress has NOTHING to do with exacerbating an ulcer beyond the pain factor.
Stress has NOTHING to do with the immune system.
Stress is ONLY the result of pain....absolutely NOTHING more, "Dr." GEC.
It's ALL merely an infection brought on by....bacteria, nothing more. Certainly not stress. Strange that "stress" seemed to always be in the mix. Odd, but NOW negative "stress" is completely out of the picture beyond what the pain causes. Wow.
And SIXTEEN whole years? That is a lock on the entire problem now.
Double wow.
I guess that YOU know all the answers now. When are you accepting your Nobel prize? Lol.

< sarcasm >

[starfish923]

defied decades of medical dogma and revolutionized the treatment of ulcers

Hogwash! The fact that H. Pilori bacteria causes stomach ulcers goes back to the 1940s when a veterinarian (sorry, I don't recall his name) made the discovery of the foreign bacteria when a pig farmer was on the verge of going broke because much of his herd had stomach ulcers. Ulcers in swine have since been treated with antibiotics. This is well known in livestock journals so it's funny how this info never got transposed as a possible cause for human ulcers.

SHAME ON YOU!
"Doctor" GEC knows all the answers.
How DARE you come up with, gulp, history that CONTRADICTS?
Bwahahaha!

[SampleMan]

which so-called experts. Going against the grain with solid research bothers no true professional.

I know this will cause a ruckus, but scientists are far from immune to having sacred cows and personal stakes. These men were laughed at and mocked when they first presented their research. If it is your point that the majority of scientists aren't truly professional, then I accept your statement.

[SampleMan]

Hogwash! The fact that H. Pilori bacteria causes stomach ulcers goes back to the 1940s

One must assume that bacteria has caused most ulcers (but not all) for long before 1940. But I see your point ;) Discoveries are generally credited to the one that stood by their guns and made the discovery recognized. Many Europeans likely found the New World, but Columbus gets the credit because he made it irrefutable.

[AndyJackson]

Science is not a matter of personal opinions, though all scientists have opinions. It is about confirming hypothesis, or answering questions, through a clear and irrefutable presentation of empirical evidence in support. A lot of people may have behaved badly. In the end, science won. It dispelled mythology and prejudice with fact and logic.

[GEC]

ignorance kills.

[starfish923]

ignorance kills.

Now that YOU mention ignorance, you WOULD know all about it, wouldn't you?
Aphorism for aphorism: Practice makes permanent.

[SampleMan]

Scientists, especially academic ones, often have a lot of baggage (written work, grants, prestige) that clouds their objectivity to new ideas.

If science is a methodology of objective confirmation of a hypothesis by peers, then I think science often loses. Pressing on and delivering irrefutable facts that silence the opposition (not necessarily convince them) is all that matters.

In less provable areas of science (dinosaur extinction, global warming), herd mentality reigns. It doesn't appear as important to be correct, as it is to be accepted. Going off the reservation is counterproductive to getting grant money.

[AndyJackson]

It doesn't appear as important to be correct, as it is to be accepted.

I take it you are not a scientist. All of the pressures that you have listed on those who do science is true, to some extent. In the end, however, the only thing that counts is being right. Pursuing a career in sciece by perpetuating untruth is very very precarious, because sooner or later someone will come along and show to the whole wide world just how wrong you are. It is, to understate the case, very very embarassing. If academic fraud is involved you can lose your job and be banished from research.

No human activity is free of politics, but science does have ultimate objective standards, and is about finding the truth. Virtually every professional scientist, except on a bad day, will tell you that that is what he has signed up for.