If one could know for sure how iffy things are for English-speaking doctors compared to how iffy things are for French-speaking doctors, one might reach the same conclusions as are reached in this study: “The ‘iffiness’ of medical research articles —A comparison of English if and French si,” Shirley Carter-Thomas [pictured here], in Language and […]
Tag: medical
And no more with the hearty handshakes, they suggest
While some researchers urge the public, especially children, to come in more contact with common dirt — and thus presumably boost their immune systems by exercising them against a wide range of threatening thisandthat — other researchers point adults towards the opposite direction. At present, it seems unlikely that these two research camps will soon join hands. […]
For Burns Night: Til All the Drip Dries Up
For Burns Night, again this year, we remind you about this song: “Till All the Drip Dries Up (The Doctor’s Woeful, Skinny Spouse)“: Till All the Drip Dries Up (The Doctor’s Woeful, Skinny Spouse) by A.S. Kaswell (with apologies to Robert Burns) (NOTE: this can be sung to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne“) O, my love’s got […]
Ballet Dancers doing splits in an MRI scanner [hip study]
Quite a number of professional ballet dancers suffer from medical conditions brought about by their requirement to perform very extreme leg movements. To accurately evaluate such problems physicians would, ideally, like to be able to carry out MRI scans of ballet dancers whilst performing the splits. [that’s the dancers, not the physicians] And, impractical as […]
Improbable medical research about Christmas
A revisit to the medical literature: A Collection of Christmas Science, Part 1 and Part 2. (Thanks to investigator Ivan Oransky for reminding us about our own files, which we are all too prone to forget. There’s more buried in those files…)
Spanish Medical Folklore: Inducing Milk
A 1910 British medical article about Spanish medical folklore includes some stories about how to induce milk: “Spanish Medical Folklore,” British Medical Journal, October 15, 1910, p. 1168. The unsigned article explains that its information comes from “two articles on Spanish superstitions, by Dr. Martin arrera y Dellunder, which appeared in the Gaceta Medica Catalana of […]
Unscrew You, Spontaneously [a medical report]
When one has a screw loose, there can be medical implications. This study documents one such: “Spontaneous expulsion of a screw: An unusual complication 3 years after internal fixation of posterior acetabular wall fracture,” Francisco Chana-Rodríguez, José Matías Tabernero Fernández, Manuel Villanueva-Martínez, José Rojo-Manaute, Javier Vaquero-Martín, Injury Extra, vol. 43, no. 9, September 2012, Pages […]
How to remove an eraser from an ear
In this video, Professor Larry B. Mellick, MD, of Georgia Regents University, explains and demonstrates how to remove an eraser from a person’s ear: Professor Mellick’s biography remarks of him: “His current academic ranks include being Professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics. His medical training was accomplished in the United States Army where he attained […]
Bloody, difficult to believe: Menstruation by the Ear
This is one of the few medically documented claims of ear menstruation: “Menstruation by the Ear, ” New York Medical Journal, August 5, 1899, p. 201. Here’s the beginning of that report: (Thanks to the Amboceptor Blog for bringing this to our attention.)
Startling Coffee Study of the Day: Ding’s “Coffee burns hepatic fat”
Today’s Startling Coffee Study of the Day is: “Drinking coffee burns hepatic fat by inducing lipophagy coupled with mitochondrial β‐oxidation,” Wen‐Xing Ding, Hepatology (2013).