MEDICINE: EAST MEETS WEST

HONR 210-01A: FALL 1997

COURSE SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Henry Jakubowski

READING MATERIAL:

  1. The Web That Has No Weaver: Understandng Chinese Medicine. Ted Kaptchuk;
  2. Making Gene Therapy Work, Scientific American, June 1997
  3. Reprints from various sources on reserve at Clemens Library
  4. Web based materials

TIME: 9:40 AM-10:50 AM; Days 1-3-5

LAB: Some day 3's, 8:15 - 10:50 AM; ASC 202 (announced in class)

ROOM: ASC 127

OFFICE: ASC 245

OFFICE HOURS: 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, Days 2-4-6

TOPICS (TENTATIVE)

INTRODUCTION

WESTERN SCIENCE/MEDICINE

CHINESE SCIENCE/MEDICINE

MIND/BODY MEDICINE

COURSE OBJECTIVES

CONTENT

  1. to describe how simple chemical and physical principles that describe small molecules can be used to understand the chemistry of proteins, nucleic acids, and biological membranes - the chemicals of life
  2. to describe the central dogma of biology and how gene expression is regulated
  3. to describe how the immune system attacks foreign invaders while it recognizes and does not attack the body itself
  4. to describe the difference between viral, bacterial, chronic, and acute, diseases.
  5. to describe the bases of autoimmune disease, cancer, and cardiovascular disease
  6. to describe the basis of drug development and the molecular basis of drug action
  7. to recognize the constitutents of a valid study and the role of placebo effects in health restoration
  8. to summarize studies which show links between emotional health and disease
  9. to describe the cellular and biochemical links between the immune and nervous system
  10. to describe generally the basic features of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) including Yin/Yang theory, the five elements, the fundamental substances and organs
  11. to describe the causes of "disharmony", methods of diagnosis, and bases of treatment (herbal therapy, acupuncture and acupressure, and moxibustion) in TCM
  12. to undertand the proposed bases and treatment regimes of alternative medical practices such as homeopathy, western herbalism, aroma therapy, light therapy, chiropracty, osteopathy, and healing touch.

PROCESS

  1. to understand the bases of scientific inquiry and experimentation, and the concepts of induction, deduction, correlation, causation, and falsifiabilty
  2. to describe how different scientific paradigms arise and change
  3. to understand how historic, religious, philosophical, political, and economic forces shaped the nature of science and medicine in both East and West
  4. to understand articles that describe new findings in the etiology and treatment of diseases and be better able to critically analyses the validity of various treatment strategies
  5. to take more personal responsibility for maintenance of your own health
  6. to become aware of and be able to articulate the intellectual and emotional components to one’s decision making processing.

LABORATORY

At least six labs will be scheduled. Prompt arrival at the lab, and advanced preparation for the lab is required. Only with adequate preparation for the labs can some of them be completed in the allotted time. You will be given details on lab safety and on each laboratory exercise about one week prior to the lab. Failure to complete a lab or labs, without a valid reason, will have the following consequences on the FINAL COURSE GRADE:

1 unexcused absence - not eligible for S/U grading in the course. Each additional unexcused absence will result in a final course grade reduction equivalent to half a grade, e.g., from AB to B. (NOTE: An unexcused lab will result in an F (0 points) grade for that lab. This grade will be averaged in with the student's other lab grades for the semester when calculating the final laboratory grade. The lab grade will contribute 15% toward the final course grade. It is this final course grade which will then be lowered by unexcused absences.) To complete a lab, you must BOTH attend the lab and complete the report.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is considered an act of academic dishonesty. One act of such dishonesty is committed by students who submit laboratory reports for experiments which they did not do. The Department's policy for handling such acts is as follows:

  1. The grade which the student would have received for the course will be lowered one grade unit (e.g. from BC to CD)
  2. The student will be prohibited from receiving an S/U grade for the course, even though the student may have requested such grading prior to committing plagiarism.
  3. The student will be required to speak with the Dean of his/her respective institution about the offense.

READINGS

The readings for the course will come from a combinations of articles on reserve and from two required books. The first, Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Marc Micozzi, editor (1996) is the best readable text I have found on alternative medicine. A second text, Scientific American, September, 1996: What you Need to Know About Cancer is quite timely for the course, and represents a compilation of excellent resources on cancer. For the rest of the course, dealing with the biochemistry of healthy and diseased states, I have found no book that is appropriate for this course. Therefore, we will used selected readings from a variety of sources. Two copies of most of the reading material for this course will be held on reserve in each library (Clemens and Alcuin). I suggest that one member of each base group in class be designated as the primary copier for that group. It is the responsibility of that member to make one copy from the main reserve article for that day. The other members of the group can then make one copy each from their group copy. To insure that every reads the material, I will often either require a written summary of the material, or will give a small, possibly unannounced quiz on the assigned material.

GROUP WORK

We will be doing some group activity each day. Hence attendance each day is important. Most of the group work will result in identical grades for each member of the group. Group grades will often be assigned by grading work from one member of the group, chosen randomly. Nonattendance in class will result in lower grades, or, at my discretion, being asked to withdraw from the class.

COMPUTER USE

I will make extensive use of Microsoft Exchange instead of VAX notes for online conferences during the semester. I have set up the permissions so you are all authors, and can add or delete only your own messages. To get to the conference, click on INBOX to get to Microsoft Exchange. On the left hand side scroll down to ALL PUBLIC FOLDERS and click on the icon. Next click on CHEMISTRY, then Henry Jakubowski , followed by Medicine-EW. The files in this folder will appear on the right hand side. Click on a file to open it . To post a reply to this file, select the file, click and hold on COMPOSE on the top menu bar of the document, and scroll down to POST REPLY TO THIS FOLDER. If you want to post your own message, click on the main MEDICINE-EW folder and then select NEW POST IN THIS FOLDER.

In addition, we will be using the Silicon Graphics Workstations in the computer lab, ASC 233 for molecular modeling. Each of you has a unix account. Your user name consist of the the first letter of your first name, followed by the first initial of your middle name, followed by the first 6 initials of your last name. For example, the user name of John Fitzgerald Kennedy would be JFKENNED. The initial password for all your accounts is the word greeting. You will be prompted to change this at the initial login.

Finally, I expect you to make use of reliable Internet sources for the class. I have setup a homepage for the course with links you should find interesting. The links are avaiable from the homepage for the course,

EVALUATION

I will use the following evaluation methods for the class:

EXAMS

The two exams and final during the semester will be a combination of multiple choice, essay, and may include group components. The times for the exams will be announced in class. Exams will cover both content and process issues.

GROUP PROJECT

You will be asked to do a group project consisting of a paper and a presentation. You will receive more information concerning this project later. We will discuss in class the focus of the project.

CHANGES IN COURSE/SYLLABUS

I reserve the right to change the course and syllabus during the semester to accommodate changes in the course that I deem necessary to improve it.

Last update on September 1, 1997