Throat a bit parched from ineffectually yelling at the Wired News homepage? Not feel like you're being heard? Sit back, grab a refreshing glass of water and let your fingers do the griping (and praising, please!) in Rants and Raves. We've pulled the best and bitterest e-mails from our inbox to show you how your comments make us laugh and cry on a daily basis. Here's what a few of you had to say about some of our recent stories.
Also, don't forget about our feedback forums. To post a remark online, just go to the end of any story and enter your comments in the text box (registration required).
Re: Shock Therapy, Version 2.0
By Elizabeth Svoboda
From: Jeff Hudgins
I worked in psychiatry for 14 years, and saw hundreds of patients who received ECT.
Three points about the article:
ECT was not originally used as a treatment for depression (neither has lobotomy ever been used such); thus the mention of it being replaced by Thorazine is irrelevant to its use as a treatment for depression. ECT was originally used to calm down violent psychotic patients (generically referred to as "schizophrenic," but including other psychotic disorders; this was also the use for lobotomies); it was because physicians noted that such patients had an improved affect (facial expression associated with mood) after receiving ECT that it was then used as a treatment for depression.
And ECT has not resembled a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for decades. Patients are put under general anesthesia to receive the treatment; the seizures they experience are completely unnoticeable except via the EEG readout.
Lastly, ECT works not merely by "altering electrical activity inside the brain"; rather, it is believed that the seizures that are induced cause an increase in the level of serotonin in the brain.
Some cursory research by the author could easily have avoided these small inaccuracies in the article.
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Re: No Opinions? No Problem
By Lore Sjberg
From: Thomas J.
This article was fantastic, we need more like it. Because of this article, I will now be able to use "owned" more times then any human being has ever used on this planet.
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Re: Law Annoys Private Cord Banks
By Suzanne Leigh
From: Rita Kennen at Cordblood.com
Your article is a poorly researched, inflammatory attack on family cord blood banking. Misleading to consumers, it fails to mention the numerous press releases by banks such as Cord Blood Registry endorsing cord blood legislation as a way to educate and raise cord blood awareness.
Immediately after the national legislation was passed, Cord Blood Registry (CBR), the nation's leading family cord blood bank issued this statement: "This new legislation will help ensure that all expectant parents learn about the value of cord blood stem cells, family banking, as well as the societal benefit of public donation," said Tom Moore, CEO Cord Blood Registry.
Donating cord blood is not as simple as it sounds. A pregnant woman remains dependent on having a qualified technician is on duty to collect her baby's cord blood, a fact not likely to change, even with the legislation. And although $34 million in funding for 2006 is in the cord blood authorizing bill, the dollar amount in the Labor/HHS appropriations that is yet to pass is only $4 million.
Just as it is impossible to predict which newborns will need treatment utilizing their own stem cells, or what emerging therapies will utilize cord blood therapies, it is equally unfeasible to foresee that scientists will find all the cord blood stem cells they need from the public cord blood network.
Turning the discussion about private and family cord blood banking into a controversy seems to be a popular media pastime. While it may bring in more page views, articles like this represent irresponsible reporting and poor journalism. Worst of all, the biased viewpoint expressed here fails to offer consumers the fair and balanced perspective they need to make an informed decision about whether to family bank or donate their newborn's cord blood.
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Re: Law Annoys Private Cord Banks
By Suzanne Leigh
From: The National Association of Family Cord Blood Banks
Contrary to the story by Suzanne Leigh, private cord blood banks fully support the development of a public cord blood banking system. The National Association of Family Cord Blood Banks, which includes the California Cryonanks Family Cord Blood Services, ViaCord, CBR and Cryo-Cell all strongly support this new law and will provide any support and assistance we can reasonably provide to that end.
We do believe that the expectant parents have the right to determine for themselves whether to donate to a public bank, or to store their child's cord blood for the benefit of their family.
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Re: Sometimes There Is a Free Lunch
By Clive Thompson
From: Ben
Hey, just wanted to give you kudos for an article well writen. As I said in my user comments (below your article), it was definitely a breath of fresh air to read something a little 'off the beaten path'. I won't get much replayability out of these gems, but they were definitely worth a look see. Arcadia, in specific, brought a smile to my face, maybe because it felt like Atari x4! I know your article wasn't meant to be exhaustive, but I would like to see a comprehensive article in the future on the best alternative games to play, period (ie, katamary damacy, which I have been dying to play).
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