‘The Orange County Health Department issued a warning to swimmers Wednesday concerning freshwater ponds and lakes after a 10-year-old boy died when an amoeba apparently entered his body.
Officials said Will Sellers was treated at Arnold Palmer Hospital for amoebic encephalitis after swimming in Lake Conway, WKMG-TV reported. Sellers died Wednesday at the hospital from amoebic encephalitis, or acute swelling of the brain
The amoeba suspected of infecting the boy usually enters a swimmer’s body through the nose and travels to the brain and spinal cord.’
‘A man was bitten by the decapitated head of a rattlesnake on his property near Prosser.
Danny Anderson and his son saw the 5-foot snake Monday evening while feeding horses. They pinned it with a pipe and cut off its head with a shovel.
When Anderson reached down to pick it up he says the snake head twisted around and bit his index finger. He says if felt like his hand was in a fire pit.
In the 10 minutes it took to reach Prosser Memorial Hospital the venom spread through his body and his tongue had already started to swell. He was treated with shots at the hospital and at Kadlec Medical Center in Richland.
State Fish and Wildlife Department biologist Mike Livingston says it’s possible the snake had the heat-sensing ability to make one last attack or it may have been a reflex.’
‘Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday sued the American Red Cross over the use by the relief group and its partners of J&J’s trademark red cross logo on first aid kits, hand sanitizer and medical gloves sold to the public.
Among other things, J&J asked the court to prohibit sales of those items and order the defendants to turn over unsold goods and related marketing materials and all monetary gains from sales of the disputed items, which are sold in stores such as Target and Wal-Mart.
In its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the maker of Band-Aids said it has for more than 100 years “owned exclusive trademark rights in the Red Cross Design for first aid and wound care products sold to the consuming public, including first aid kits.”‘
‘There’s a “new” over-the-counter drug available in the US that’s apparently flying off the shelves. It’s called alli (note the way trendy lower case!) and I use the term “new” loosely because it’s apparently a lower strength version of a prescription-only drug (Xenical) that’s been around for a while.
So what does this incredibly popular wonder drug do? Well, not to go all Bill Clinton on you, but it depends on what your definition of “do” is. You see, there’s (1)what the drug company markets it as, (2)the medical description of what it does and (3)the biggest effect you’re actually going to notice.
The drug company markets it as a weight loss pill. They say it will give “safe, effective weight loss”. Because it’s FDA approved it must be good. What could possibly go wrong?’
This is a repost, but the translations of the drugs warning information amused me.
‘A St. Paul man, complaining of chronic pain, wanted to have his testicles removed. When conventional medical staff refused to do the job, he hired other “professionals” to take off his testicles, according to a search warrant affidavit filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
Two or three people operated on the man, Russell Daniel Angus, 62, a couple weeks ago at his home in St. Paul. He was unconscious during the surgery, and when he woke up, his testicles had been removed.
And the “professionals” were gone.
His groin area was bleeding heavily, so he called his daughter. She called for help. When police arrived, they found a makeshift operating room set up in the upper level of the house. There were bright lights, an apparent operating table, medical supplies and equipment, and a camera. Angus was still bleeding, and there was blood in the living room, hall and bathroom, the affidavit said. He was taken to Regions Hospital.’
‘A 59-year-old German woman has had most of a pencil removed from inside her head after suffering nearly her whole life with the headaches and nosebleeds it caused, Bild newspaper reported on Monday.
Margret Wegner fell over carrying the pencil in her hand when she was four.
“The pencil went right through my skin — and disappeared into my head,’ Wegner told the newspaper.’
‘Scientists have explained mathematically why the famous silly walks of Monty Python’s John Cleese have never caught on in the long history of homo sapiens.
The giant, leg-twirling strides of silly walks may enable an individual to leap around swiftly but are simply too expensive in metabolic energy compared with conventional locomotion, according to a paper published by Britain’s Royal Society. [..]
“Inverted pendulum walking is energetically optimal at low speeds and step lengths, and impulsive running is energetically optimal at higher speeds,” they say.
Silly walks gathered cult status in the British television comedy show Monty Python’s Flying Circus, when the gangling Cleese, dressed in a pin-stripe suit and bowler hat, cavorted around as a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Silly Walks. ‘
‘The enormous difference between male and female sexual behaviour may be explained, in animals at least, by a tiny organ in the nose rather than by any gender difference in brain circuitry. [..]
In a study published by the British journal Nature, the team engineered female lab mice so that the rodents lacked a gene called TRPC2, effectively short-circuiting the so-called vomeronasal organ. [..]
The findings are important, because they amount to a massive blow to those who for decades have looked for underlying differences in brain structure to explain why sexual behaviour between males and females is so dissimilar.
The answer appears to be this: in the mice at least, there is no difference. The hard-wiring of the brains is the same.
“In the big picture, it suggests that the female brain has a perfectly functional male behaviour circuit” which is repressed by signals from the vomeronasal organ, Professor Dulac says.’
‘A mentally ill man was able to roam a busy emergency department, masquerading as a doctor and “consulting” patients, in a serious security breach that exposes the worsening staffing crisis in Australia’s hospitals.
In the recent incident at Wyong Hospital on the NSW central coast, the intruder was able to examine five patients before being challenged while trying to escort one of them outside for a cigarette. He then ran off.
While none of the five patients was harmed, hospital sources describe the incident as a near miss. They say emergency department rosters are now dominated by “transients” such as locums – making it all but impossible for regular staff to spot someone who should not be there.’
‘Australia’s top heart specialists believe they have found a treatment to stop heart disease in its tracks, potentially saving millions of lives worldwide.
Experts from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital will today unveil the groundbreaking discovery which involves using adult stem cells from patients to repair their own hearts.
The world-first treatment has been shown to generate new blood vessels and repair dead tissue in the heart.
Importantly, the changes appear to be permanent.’
‘High up on the Mesa, in the Grand Valley town of Collbran, a tiny four legged wonder sticks close to its mothers side. It is the latest addition to the ranch owned by Larry and Laura Amos. But this is a once-in-a-million, genetically impossible occurrence of a mule giving birth.
The mother of this beauty, is named Kate. She is a mule. Mules are a hybrid of two species, a female horse and a male donkey. Breeding the two results in a species with 63 chromosomes. A horse has 64, a donkey has 62. A mule can’t reproduce because you need an even number of chromosomes to divide into pairs.
This little wonder came into the world in late April to the shock of the Amos family. Doting mother Kate has no idea what she has accomplished.’
‘A three-day-old lamb at Canterbury Vets’ Methven surgery bleats for its feed just like any other newly born sheep. But this one has seven legs.
Two of the legs hang useless behind the lamb’s forelegs. The lamb has three rear legs, one of these with two hoofs. It walks using its two forelegs and three hind legs. [..]
Canterbury Vets veterinarian Steve Williams said he believed a misprint in embryo formation had resulted in the lamb being polydactyl – with many legs – occurring once in several million sheep.
Williams said the lamb was also hermaphrodite, and was missing a portion of its bowel so was unable to pass faeces and so would have to be destroyed.’
‘Ever since scientists convicted sunlight of causing skin cancer, many seemingly sensible people have been running around slathered in sunscreen, using hats and long sleeves to hide our skin from the sun as if we were vampires. Now it looks like we may have gone too far: We may be missing out on the benefits of sunshine.
A study (press release) released today in the journal Neurology indicates that children who spend more time in the sun may have a decreased risk of multiple sclerosis. In pairs of twins where one twin had multiple sclerosis, the MS-free sibling had spent more time outside, playing team sports and sun tanning. Scientists theorize that ultraviolet rays in sunlight trigger a protective response that protects the body from this chronic nervous system disorder, either by altering the immune system or by producing vitamin D. Twins that spent more time in the sun decreased their risk of getting MS by almost 50%, despite their genetic predisposition toward the disease.’
‘Researchers at the University of Sydney have found that adolescent rats are more vulnerable to adverse effects of cannabis than adult rats.
Professor Ian McGregor says rats’ brains basically respond to drugs the same way as humans but they are easier to work with because they are not polydrug users.
He says his team gave the rats cannabis then took them off the drug for two weeks before testing their long-term memory.
“We found that the adolescents that had been given cannabis had impaired memory, relative to adolescent rats that hadn’t had cannabis exposure,” he said.
“Then when we compared them to adults we found there was very little memory deficits in the adults rats that had been given cannabis.”‘
‘Smoking one cannabis joint is as harmful to a person’s lungs as having up to five cigarettes, according to research published on Tuesday.
Those who smoked cannabis damaged both the lungs’ small fine airways, used for transporting oxygen, and the large airways, which blocked air flow, the researchers said.
It meant cannabis smokers complained of wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness, the study by experts at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand found.’
‘Scientists have jump-started the consciousness of a man with severe brain injury in a world-first procedure in which electrodes were inserted deep into his brain.
The 38-year-old, who had been in a minimally conscious state for six years after an assault, could only move his fingers or eyes occasionally and was fed through a tube.
Now he can chew, swallow and carry out movements like brushing his hair and drinking from a cup, say the US neuroscientists who carried out the procedure, known as deep brain stimulation.
“He regularly uses words and gestures and responds to questions quickly,” said Ali Rezai, of the Cleveland Clinic’s Centre for Neurological Restoration.’
‘Pennsylvania inmate Shakira Staten says she was left alone screaming in her cell for four hours while she went into labor and gave birth to her daughter.
Despite her constant pleas, Staten said it wasn’t until she gave birth, the baby fell on the cell floor and she held her child up to the cell bars that she finally got the attention of a guard, who cut the umbilical cord with her fingernails.
Staten, 22, filed a civil rights lawsuit Monday claiming she and her newborn baby were subjected to cruel and unusual punishment when the staff at the Lackawanna County Prison left her alone in her cell without providing medical care or transporting her to a hospital. [..]’
‘Emissions from office laser printers can be as unhealthy as cigarette smoke, according to an Australian professor who is now calling for regulations to limit printer emissions.
Office workers breathing easy since smoking was banned in public places in the United States and the United Kingdom have new reason to worry, according to research from the Queensland University of Technology’s Air Quality and Health Program, led by physics professor Lidia Morawska.
The average printer releases toner particles that can get deep into the lungs and cause respiratory problems and cardiovascular trouble, according to Morawska’s team, part of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, and specialists in atmospheric particles.
The team tested 62 laser printer models–all relatively new–and found that 17 of them were “high emitters” of toner particles. Despite using similar technology, office photocopiers do not emit particles, the team found. ‘
Here’s a collection of funny stories by emergency physicians and the like. Quite a lot of them. Also, more in part 2.
I’ve chewed up a whole day reading through these. Good way to kill some time. 🙂
Followup to Nee Naw – Blog of a Dispatcher in the London Ambulance Service’s Control Room.
‘Using marijuana increases the risk of one day developing a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, according to a study that provides some of the strongest evidence yet linking the drug to a mental disorder.
Marijuana is one the most commonly used illegal substances in many countries with up to 20 percent of young people in places like Britain reporting either some use or heavy use, British researchers said, citing government statistics.
Many consider it on par with alcohol or tobacco but the results shows marijuana poses a danger many smokers underestimate, said Stanley Zammit, a psychiatrist at Cardiff University and the University of Bristol, who worked on the study.’
‘An oral surgeon who temporarily implanted fake boar tusks in his assistant’s mouth as a practical joke and got sued for it has gotten the state’s high court to back up his gag.
Dr. Robert Woo of Auburn had put in the phony tusks while the woman was under anesthesia for a different procedure. He took them out before she awoke, but he first shot photos that eventually made it around the office.
The employee, Tina Alberts, felt so humiliated when she saw the pictures that she quit and sued her boss.
Woo’s insurance company, Fireman’s Fund, refused to cover the claim, saying the practical joke was intentional and not a normal business activity his insurance policy covered, so Woo settled out of court. He agreed to pay Alberts $250,000, then he sued his insurers.’
‘Whether it’s screaming brats at the pool, impossibly long lines, or stolen luggage, summer vacations rarely deliver the stress-free escape you’ve been hoping for. But stop your bitching. It could be much worse. From Salmonella smeared BBQ pits to amusement park rides that sever limbs (as one did in June to a 13-year-old girl at Six Flags), the season is full of perils most of us are lucky enough to avoid. Then again, the most rewarding experiences always come with a little risk. If you’re tired of the same old sanitary, injury-free, cookie-cutter holiday routine, we recommend the following itinerary from hell. Strap yourself in. It’s going to be a terrible trip.’
‘Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours.
His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.
“He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.’
‘A grandad has just discovered he has been living with a broken neck for 59 YEARS.
John Richards, 74, did not know he had fractured vertebrae when he fell from a tree while stealing apples as a 16-year-old in 1948.
He was treated at the time for a broken wrist but doctors missed the other life-threatening break.
John, who felt no specific pain in his neck, got on with an active life working on a farm, and playing football and cricket.
He even BOXED for 15 years at a gym with no idea that one “wrong” blow could kill him.
The break was only spotted when John went for a routine check-up with his GP last month.’
‘After three years on the ADHD drug Ritalin, kids are about an inch shorter and 4.4 pounds lighter than their peers, a major U.S. study shows.
The symptoms of childhood ADHD — attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — usually get dramatically better soon after kids start taking stimulant drugs. But this benefit may come with a cost, says James Swanson, PhD, director of the Child Development Center at the University of California, Irvine.
“Yes, there is a growth suppression effect with stimulant ADHD medications,” Swanson tells WebMD. “It is going to occur at the age of treatment, and over three years it will accumulate.”‘
‘Scientists have genetically modified goats to make a drug in their milk that protects against deadly nerve agents such as sarin and VX.
These poisons are known collectively as organophosphates – a group of chemicals that also includes some pesticides used in farming.
So far, the GM goats have made almost 15kg of a drug which binds to and neutralises organophosphate molecules. [..]
The drug, called recombinant butyrylcholinesterase, could be used as a protective “prophylactic” drug and also to treat people after exposure to nerve gas.’
This woman is absolutely terrified of clowns. I s’pose it’s better than pickles. 🙂
(8.6meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘Purdue Pharma L.P., the maker of OxyContin, and three of its executives were ordered Friday to pay a $634.5 million fine for misleading the public about the painkiller’s risk of addiction. [..]
Designed to be swallowed whole and digested over 12 hours, the pills can produce a heroin-like high if crushed and then swallowed, snorted or injected.
From 1996 to 2001, the number of oxycodone-related deaths nationwide increased fivefold while the annual number of OxyContin prescriptions increased nearly 20-fold, according to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2002, the DEA said the drug caused 146 deaths and contributed to another 318.’
‘A man with an unusually tiny brain managed to live an entirely normal life despite his condition, caused by a fluid buildup in his skull, French researchers have reported.
Scans of the 44-year-old man’s brain showed that a huge fluid-filled chamber called a ventricle took up most of the room in his skull, leaving little more than a thin sheet of actual brain tissue.
“He was a married father of two children, and worked as a civil servant,” Dr Lionel Feuillet and colleagues at the Universite de la Mediterranee in Marseille wrote in a letter to the Lancet medical journal.
The man went to a hospital after he had mild weakness in his left leg.’
Update: Nature has a CT image.
‘Scientists have converted an organism into an entirely different species by performing the world’s first genome transplant, a breakthrough that paves the way for the creation of synthetic forms of life.
The team, led by Craig Venter, the man who raced to sequence the human genome, wants to build new microbes to produce environmentally friendly fuels.
The group’s study, details of which were revealed in the US journal Science yesterday, proves it is possible to transplant a complete set of genetic instructions into an organism, in effect turning it into the same species the DNA was taken from.’
