Randomized controlled trials of pagan spells are rarely reported in the medical literature. Here is a new addition to the world’s collection: “Testing the Pagan Prescription: Using a Randomized Controlled Trial to Investigate Pagan Spell-Casting as a Form of Noncontact Healing,” Charmaine Sonnex, Chris A. Roe, and Elizabeth C. Roxburgh, The Journal of Alternative and […]
Tag: medicine
Lipstick obsession and red urine [case study]
“A 28-year-old woman presented to the nephrology clinic with a 5-day history of passage of red-colored urine (Figure 1a) without dysuria flank pain, rigors, or chills. She denied any history of recent exposure to medications, beet intake, or coloring agents in food. On examination, the only noticeable feature was her bright-red lipstick (Figure 1b). Her […]
Natesto®. What Else? (drug-naming study)
If you’re a manufacturer of medicines, thinking up a suitably snappy name for (2S)-1-[(2S)-6-amino-2-{[(1S)-1-carboxy-3-phenylpropyl]amino}hexanoyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid [generic name Lisinopril] might not be an easy task. And, according to a recent paper in the journal Names : A Journal of Onomastics, Volume 66, Issue 2, 2018, picking the ‘wrong’ name can make a huge difference to your […]
The Paper Clip: Its Various Uses in Medicine
“The Paper Clip Nasal Dilator” is one of several studies featured in the article “The Paper Clip in Medicine,” which is one of the articles in the special Medical Surprises issue of the Annals of Improbable Research, which is one of the 143 issues published so far! Subscribe to the magazine, and a new batch of fresh-cooked improbable research […]