Archive for the ‘Just For Fun’ Category

As much as medical dramas are just television shows, their portrayal of certain emergency situations can leave powerful impressions upon the viewer. For those who have had formal CPR training, how many times have you seen incorrect compression techniques used on tv? Now, a new Canadian study is calling attention to the incorrect management of seizures as portrayed on popular US medical dramas (Grey’s Anatomy, House, MD, Private Practice, ER), and how these depictions can cause the lay person to inappropriately intervene should they be in the presence of someone having a seizure. The researchers found that nearly 46% of the time  seizures were handled incorrectly by either holding the person down, trying to stop the involuntary movements, or putting things in the person’s mouth – all these are wrong ways to manage seizures. In nearly all these depictions, first aid was administered by nurses and doctors. The lead author described the findings as a call to action and urged those with epilepsy to “lobby the television industry to adhere to guidelines for first aid management of seizures.” This study will be presented this April at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto. [via Medical News Today]

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It’s time again for the annual dispelling of that old Thanksgiving myth: turkey contains tryptophan which can make one sleepy. While turkey certainly contains tryptophan (an amino acid used by our bodies to make serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain which helps to regulate sleep), so do most other meats. Surprisingly, gram for gram, cheddar cheese contains even more tryptophan than turkey! So, why does turkey get the dubious honor of sleep-inducing meat of the year? Probably because it is the centerpiece of what’s typically the largest meal of the year, full of fat and carbohydrates which increase the caloric content of the average Thanksgiving meal to upwards of 3,000 calories. After consuming more than the daily recommended amount of calories in a single meal your body will work hard to digest it, thus making you sleepy. Furthermore, alcohol is often involved, which has a sedative effect on most people. So, if not falling asleep after this year’s Thanksgiving meal is your goal then eating in moderation, as always, would be your best bet.

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Fact or fiction? Losing one’s ability to use a particular sense will heighten the other senses. Neuroscientists at McGill University, home of the world-renowned Montreal Neurological Institute, set out to test this idea and discovered that in certain circumstances blindness can, in fact, heighten the other senses. By testing blind and sighted subjects for pitch perception and their ability to locate sounds, researchers found that blind subjects generally scored higher, not surprisingly. However, they also discovered that those who were born blind performed the best, while those who became blind as young children were slightly worse, and those who lost their vision after age 10 did no better than the sighted subjects. The theory is that a young brain could be rewired so that visual-processing areas were used for other purposes. And sure enough, by looking at MRI scans of subjects’ brains, they discovered that blind subjects who performed the best were using both the visual and auditory regions of their brains. [via New York Times]

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The Science Museum of London has compiled a list of what they consider to be their top ten possessions, three of which have revolutionized the world of medicine. In the museum’s collection rests one of the world’s oldest x-ray machines, the original DNA double helix model created by Watson and Crick in 1953, and the original penicillin mold owned by Alexander Fleming that eventually led to the discovery of the penicillin antibiotic. Can you imagine medicine today without x-rays or antibiotics? Or what it must feel like to not know that DNA is the code to all life on Earth? The museum is currently displaying these items as part of their 100 Anniversary celebration. Visit the museum’s website to vote for your top scientific discovery.

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