carol ann kirkMay 8th, 2008 - 20:46:32

I live in Brighton england and im a thalidamide person, but because the doctors seargery lost my mothers records, They say sorry nothing we can do, I cant even get a reply from the thalidamide trust here

my telephone number is 01273672802 and if you can help in anyway it would be appreiated,
I live at
16 turton close,
Brighton
BN2 5DA

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Ivo CerckelMay 9th, 2008 - 02:15:54

Dear Carol Ann,

Don’t worry about having lost your mother’s records.

My father, a surgeon by trade, is still denying that he fed thalidomide to my mother.

(Of course, I was born in February 1962
and when was that thing in Dusseldorf, again?)

Fortunately, thalidomide deformities present a PATTERN which can be recognised by a radiologist.

Here are some of my notes from
Janet McCredie, “Beyond Thalidomide – Birth Defects Explained”, London, The Royal Society of Medicine Press, 2007:

p. 59
pathology = the study of disease

Most diseases have a characteristic PATTERN of abnormal signs or images on a radiograph that matches the gross pathology.

Radiological PATTERNS of disease are memorised by trainee radiologists
in order to build in their minds a databank of facts and mental images.
By comparing these known disease patterns with the image of the involved case in question,
the correct diagnosis may be deduced.
This so-called “PATTERN-MATCHING” is done in the radiologist’s mind.
It is an intellectual exercise that draws upon a thorough knowledge of medicine, pathology and the visual memory databank,
together with logic and experience.

A pattern of disordered anatomy may be characteristic and therefore diagnostic of one particular disease – in which case the diagnosis is clearly established.

Sometimes, the pattern of radiological signs may be common to several DIFFERENT DISEASES,
In this situation all alternatives (differential diagnoses) are short-listed in the radiologist’s report – preferably with some weighting of opinion in order to suggest to the referring doctor the most likely answer in that clinical setting/

p. 59
“No evidence is cancer is detected”
does not mean
“No cancer is present”

p. 60
Radiologists need to translate the image into the language of disease entities (pathological diagnosis).
The translation may require knowledge of several languages.

In the case of thalidomide deformities, one needs to know the languages of anatomy, neurology, embryology, neuropathology and radiology.
If one of these is disregarded, the message in the radiological images of these birth defects will remain unheard.
If the malformities are not submitted to organ imaging, the clues are not even obtained, let alone analysed.

Diagnostic radiology is in essence an intellectual exercise, inherently dependant upon, but separate from, the machinery of capturing an image by pressing a button,
the latter is radiography, not radiology

p. 60
Medical problems are solved every day by diagnostic radiology.
occasionally using controlled intellectual constructs,
but always observing the principles of the scientific method.
Because they understand the language of images.
radiologists are responsible for translating the information embedded therein into a diagnosis,
i.e., naming the disease entity that is present.

p. 61
Pasteur 1854
Where observation is concerned,
chance favours only the prepared mind

supra:
“the prepared mind of a radiologist is an intellectual library of recognised patterns of disease in all organs of the body.
Patterns of disease in the limb skeleton are but a small part of the total memory bank.
Diagnostic radiologists are the ultimate ‘limb-patterning”+experts
and are likely to be favoured by chance in any search for the cause of diseased limbs through the medium of imaging.

Some radiologists may have seen one or two cases of thalidomide embryopathy at most –
insufficient material to reveal the pattern
...
I was sent a group of cases with positive history of thalidomide exposure.
in that aspect, I was favoured by chance

END OF NOTES FROM DR MCCREDIE

OTHER NOTES

The universe is built on a plan the profound symmetry of which is somehow present in the inner structure of our intellect.
(Paul Valéry,
quoted by Marcus de Sautoy, “SYMMETRY – A Journey into the PATTERNS of Nature”, Harper, 2008, p. 1)

Absolute symmetry between left and right sides is unusual in nature. (McCredie, p. 80)

Mathematics is a subject dedicated to finding patterns and order,
(de Sautoy, “The Music of the Primes – Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics”, Perennial, 2003, p. 5)

We lack a fundamental important insight into physics without which we will never be able to comprehend the mind. This insight may be the same one that will be required before we can write a unified theory of everything.
(New York Times review of the book
quoted on the back-cover of
Roger Penrose,
“The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe”
London, Jonathan Cape, 2004)

The possibility that [the thalidomide] tragedy can also offer important lessons for the benefit of future generations is the main thought that seems to lie at the bottom of McCredie's work.
(McCredie’s book reviewed on amazon DOT co DOT uk by Martin Johnson (Cambridgeshire, UK))

Best regards,
Ivo
telephone +63 35 480 90 52 (GMT+8)

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