Categories
Population

Invent

The article below may be copied or published but must remain intact, with attribution to the author. I also request that the words “First published in the Durango Herald” accompany any publication. For more information, please write the author at: richard@population-matters.org.

 

Invent

© Richard Grossman MD, 2008

 

            A number of years ago I came up with a brilliant invention—a rip-stop condom. Like rip-stop Nylon, it was thin but had a mesh to make it stronger.

I enjoyed the challenges of patenting this invention. The next step was to sell the patent to a manufacturer. The companies I talked with wanted proof that my design was superior to current condoms.

The Akron Rubber Development Laboratory was happy to help test my design. We worked together for several months until I realized that my invention was actually inferior to what was already on the market. I had to give up my dream of making it big in condoms.

            We have many different family planning methods available, but none is perfect. Some have side effects that make them unacceptable to some people. Other methods require a high level of compliance, such as taking a pill every day. One, the male condom, has a high failure rate due to ruptures.

Some methods are so expensive to be prohibitive for many people. For instance, it costs a woman several hundred dollars to get one of the two IUDs that are available. Even birth control pills cost several hundred dollars each year. This high cost may be justified by the price of bringing a new contraceptive product to the market—many millions of dollars.

Fortunately there are imaginative, dedicated people working on finding better family planning methods. Some of them have better ideas and better backing than me.

A few years ago I met Dr. Marcus Filshie at dinner during a medical meeting. I had never thought about the Filshie clip as having been invented by a real person, but I was to learn more at lunch the next day. His invention proved to be more successful than mine.

            Dr. Filshie finished his training in obstetrics and gynecology shortly after The Population Bomb hit the bookstores and raised interest in human population. He worked in Uganda, Africa, where miscarriages are a major problem. Without good medical care, an early pregnancy loss can lead to life threatening hemorrhage or infection. It is essential to remove the dead tissue from the woman’s uterus before it causes a problem. The traditional medical way is with a D&C, but that is “resource intensive”. This minor surgery is usually done with general anesthesia in a hospital. In a developing country there are just weren’t enough facilities or trained people.

Dr. Filshie investigated ways to simplify the care of women with miscarriage. He refined an easy-to-learn technique by perfecting the use of simple instruments that don’t require electricity. It is so straightforward that medical assistants can perform it safely, freeing physicians for more complicated care. He described this technique in a paper published in the prestigious medical journal “Lancet”. His article drew the attention of a medical think tank, the Simon Population Trust, which funded an instructional video illustrating care of a miscarriage.

            The Trust decided that a safe, effective method of doing tubal ligations would benefit women’s health by reducing unwanted fertility. A clip already in use for female sterilization had a high failure rate. The Trust sponsored Dr. Filshie’s research to invent a better clip that is easy to apply using minimally invasive surgery.

            This little clip is titanium around soft Silicone rubber. If a woman wishes sterility, one can be put on each Fallopian tube. This can be done right after the birth of a baby through a small incision in her belly button, or by other surgical techniques. Over 4 million women worldwide have had voluntary sterilization with these clips.

Although Filshie clips are not available in Durango because of cost (destroying a tubal segment with electricity is less expensive), they have at least two advantages over other methods of female sterilization. These clips have a very low failure rate. Furthermore, they only destroy a short segment of the woman’s tube. If she changes her mind and wants another baby, the chances of success with reversal surgery are quite good.

            Worldwide it is estimated that there are two hundred million couples who want to limit their fertility, but don’t have access to modern contraceptive methods. Offering them modern contraceptive choices will go a long way toward slowing the population explosion and toward solving the climate change crisis. Even in this country there are people who have difficulty finding and affording a method that will work well for them. There definitely is need for innovative people to find new ways to help control fertility.

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Action Durango Herald Environment Global Climate Change

Get the Best Mileage

The article below may be copied or published but must remain intact, with attribution to the author. I also request that the words “First published in the Durango Herald” accompany any publication. For more information, please write the author at: richard@population-matters.org.

 

Get the Best Mileage

 

© Richard Grossman MD, 2008

 

            The cost of gasoline is over four bucks a gallon and diesel is getting close to five—what a horror! So what did I do? I went out and bought a macho four wheel drive turbo diesel truck!

            Can you imagine all the grief that I got from friends about increasing my carbon footprint? Well, most of the time this truck (which already has almost a quarter million miles on its odometer) will stay parked while I drive my Prius. The truck’s former owner told me that it gets 19 miles to the gallon, but I know that a gallon will take the hybrid 52 miles.

            I think that a hybrid is a nice gimmick, but it is not the solution to the petroleum crisis. It is too complicated. Furthermore, there is a lot of lithium in a hybrid’s battery, which is toxic to mine and process.

            The future holds small, efficient vehicles. Europeans have already recognized this. You’ll find Smart cars and similar vehicles everywhere in Europe. The price of gas there is much higher there—over seven dollars a gallon in many countries.

            We have been slow to change our driving habits in the USA. Domestic car manufactures are finally catching on that fuel efficiency is vital, although they have fought this for years. Fortunately, many imported vehicles are quite efficient. My current favorite (not a carefully researched opinion) is the Honda Fit. Two friends have bought these cars and rave about their flexibility and performance. Although it is predicted to get 34 miles to the gallon on the highway, one friend gets over 40!

            There are ways to optimalize your car’s efficiency. You probably know that it is important to check tire pressure every month, but let that gauge rest for several months at a time. Try increasing the pressure two pounds above the recommended level when you finally do check the tires—but not above the maximum pressure on the tires’ sidewall. Buying gas in the morning when it is colder and more dense will get you a few more drops per fill up, but the savings sure won’t make a significant difference.

            Leave jack rabbit starts for the really rich; they significantly reduce mileage. You know to use your air conditioner when necessary rather than leaving the windows open—especially when going fast. The cruise control is also a big saver of gas since it is smoother than most people’s accelerator foot. A gas engine doesn’t need to be warmed up more than a few seconds; any longer is just a waste of fuel.

            My big trick for increasing mileage is to drive so I don’t have to use the brakes—much. I learned this from my driving teacher when I was 16. Whenever you apply the brakes you turn energy into heat and it is wasted. Judicious driving can harvest more of your momentum.

To lay off the brakes safely I leave a little extra space behind the car ahead of mine. That space allows my car to slow down gradually if the one ahead stops, so my momentum is used effectively. I pay attention to the stop lights of vehicles ahead. If one flashes red, I immediately take my foot off the accelerator. Likewise with traffic lights; if I see amber, I start coasting.

Idling is a big fuel waster. One of the tricks my Prius uses to optimalize mileage is to turn off the engine when it is not being used. If you are going to be sitting for more than a minute or so, switch off the ignition.

All of these tricks help to save money. They are also important for the planet’s future. Although we concentrate on the cost of the fuel going into our vehicles, perhaps what comes out of them is even more important. Greenhouse gas emissions released by humans appear to be causing permanent changes to our climate. Storms, floods, forest fires and drought all seem to be worsened by climate change. These natural disasters already have had grave effects on people, but predictions are that the worst is yet to come. It helps that Americans are driving less since the cost of fuel has skyrocketed. Fewer people driving would also help.

What about that diesel-guzzling truck? We bought it to occasionally pull a horse trailer short distances and to share with our neighbors for agricultural work.

Our progeny will appreciate whatever we can do to slow global climate change, including driving less and more efficiently.