The Swiss researchers who (some of them) two years ago did an “analysis of a piece of shit” now supply an answer to the question “Are shoes good for you?” They are two-fifths of the way towards completing the poetical list “shoes and shit [reverse sic] and sealing wax, cabbages and kings“. Their shit study is called “An In-Depth Analysis […]
Tag: disease
Water recreation illnesses
Now that Summer’s (kind of) on the way (for approx. half the globe) what better time to think about mucking around in an interactive fountain? Before you do, however, you could read Issue 1, Vol. 2 of The Wave, published by the US Govt. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There is no standing water […]
They do not suffer disease-mongering gladly
The PLoS Medicine Disease Mongering Collection has for been available for downloading since it was published in 2006. Its makers explain: To mark the first academic meeting on disease mongering (the “selling of sickness” in order to promote drug sales), which was held in Newcastle, Australia in April 2006, and to help provoke and inform a […]
Instrumental Maladies (part 3: Trumpets)
Another (partial) look at the health dangers to which musicians selflessly submit themselves – for our entertainment, edification and amusement … Part 3 : Trumpets • Cheilitis due to nickel contact allergy in a trumpet player. • Bilateral laryngoceles in a young trumpet player: case report. • Transient ischemic attacks caused by trumpet playing. • […]
When babies smell like food
Babies can smell like maple syrup, ripe cheese or even fish, rancid butter and several other things: Fleisher GR, Ludwig S (eds). Textbook of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 6th edition, page 405, 2010 These babies and others that smell like food may have a serious inborn error of metabolism. BONUS: For the hardcore
Bacteria and you (a healthy rant)
Mike the Mad Biologist writes, in his blog: During the last week, I’ve come across a couple sensationalist article about E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus being found on common surfaces. Here’s one article about shopping carts and E. coli… And here’s an article about Staphylococcus aureus (those S. aureus resistant to methicillin–and often other antibiotics–are […]
Whynot: 191 Pelvic Inflammations
Some people ask why. Some ask Whynot. Today we celebrate the work of medical researcher E. Whynot: “A Retrospective Study of 191 Cases of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease,” P. Kendall, E. Whynot and E. Gomber, Canadian Journal of Public Health, 1977 Jul-Aug;68(4):318-22.
When Earth Day was a medical hazard
Anything, even Earth Day, can pose a medical hazard. Mark Pendergrast‘s new book Inside Outbreaks tells the tale: On Monday, May 4, 1970, a few students at the Willis School — a junior high in Delaware, Ohio — felt hot and headachy, with sore throats. Their chests hurt. Over the course of the week, the […]