Comments on: North Korea’s prescription for prosperity http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2007/02/21/north-koreas-prescription-for-prosperity/ News and analysis of the North Korean economy Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:26:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Bob Walsh http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2007/02/21/north-koreas-prescription-for-prosperity/#comment-4774 Bob Walsh Mon, 26 Feb 2007 16:21:03 +0000 http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2007/02/21/north-koreas-prescription-for-prosperity/#comment-4774 Actually, the NK's do have a few things going on. They have a tetrodocaine analgesic injection which is well-documented as a sodium channel blocker. A Canadian company, Wex Technologies, tried but failed to develop something similar, based on tetrodotoxin, derived from blowfish ovaries. Another group of surgeons in NK have a practice for breast cancer surgery techniques they have developed, using low-dose tamoxifen and electrostimulation. From what I know, they have a good cure rate. As for the other stuff, it's very much "buyer beware". At the Da Jong Hotel in Beijing (nice place, has a good NK restaurant), they sell neoviagra, but also NK knockoff's of cialis. I suspect there's probably a bit of viagra's active ingredient in the neoviagra. (South Korean) traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) people I've talked to seem to have greater trust in NK TCM products than those coming from China, insisting that they have fewer contaminants from industrial pollution. I've never seen any published literature that supports this assertion. -And therein lies the problem. I don't doubt that the Nk's have some cool stuff, but they don't publish in peer-reviewed journals. In the world of evidence-based medicine, if it's not published and reviewed, then it just didn't happen. Actually, the NK’s do have a few things going on. They have a tetrodocaine analgesic injection which is well-documented as a sodium channel blocker. A Canadian company, Wex Technologies, tried but failed to develop something similar, based on tetrodotoxin, derived from blowfish ovaries.

Another group of surgeons in NK have a practice for breast cancer surgery techniques they have developed, using low-dose tamoxifen and electrostimulation. From what I know, they have a good cure rate.

As for the other stuff, it’s very much “buyer beware”. At the Da Jong Hotel in Beijing (nice place, has a good NK restaurant), they sell neoviagra, but also NK knockoff’s of cialis. I suspect there’s probably a bit of viagra’s active ingredient in the neoviagra.

(South Korean) traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) people I’ve talked to seem to have greater trust in NK TCM products than those coming from China, insisting that they have fewer contaminants from industrial pollution. I’ve never seen any published literature that supports this assertion.

-And therein lies the problem. I don’t doubt that the Nk’s have some cool stuff, but they don’t publish in peer-reviewed journals. In the world of evidence-based medicine, if it’s not published and reviewed, then it just didn’t happen.

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