Portal:Medicine/Did you know archive

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• ...that Erdheim-Chester disease or polyostotic sclerosing histiocytosis is a rare form of non-Langerhans-cell histiocytosis that may present with, among other things, bone pain, retroperitoneal fibrosis, diabetes insipidus and exophthalmos? January 8, 2007 - ...
• ...that over time, essentially every vasectomized man experiences an epididymal blowout, which is the formation of a sperm granuloma in the epididymis, to relieve the high intra-luminal pressures in the delicate epididymal tubules? January 8, 2007 - ...
• ...that the Rinne test and Weber test are quick screening tests which allow differentiation between conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss? October 21, 2006 - January 8, 2007
• ...that in March 2005, a government clinic for Internet addiction was opened at the Beijing Military Region Central Hospital in People's Republic of China? October 21, 2006 - January 8, 2007
• ...that canine transmissible venereal tumor is a tumour of the dog and other canids that mainly affects the external genitalia, and is transmitted from animal to animal during copulation? October 8, 2006 - January 8, 2007
• ...that Count Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is by profession an orthopedic surgeon? October 8, 2006 - October 21

• ...that a toddler with a syndrome of rash (pictured), arthralgia/arthritis, abdominal pain and renal disease, preceded by a viral upper respiratory tract infection, is likely to have Henoch-Schönlein purpura? September 28, 2006 - October 21
• ...Empty nose syndrome is caused by excess surgical removal of turbinate tissue, e.g. because of severe chronic congestion, and may severely impact quality of life? September 11, 2006 - October 8
• ...hair transplantation is a surgical baldness treatment? September 9, 2006 - October 8
• ...the general adaptation syndrome was discovered almost accidentally by Hungarian endocrinologist Hans Selye? He was searching for new hormones by injecting mice with organ homogenates, but found they all displayed an acute stress reaction. August 25, 2006 - September 28
• ...the keratolytic effects of over-the-counter salicylic acid are used to treat viral warts? August 16, 2006 - September 11
• ...in 1906, Frederick Hopkins suggested the existence of vitamins and suggests that a lack of vitamins causes scurvy and rickets? He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, and also discovered the amino acid tryptophan in 1901. August 16, 2006 - September 9
• ...Peyer's patches are an example of gut-associated lymphoid tissue? August 16, 2006 - August 25

• ...the brain itself is not sensitive to pain, because it lacks pain-sensitive nerve fibers? Several areas of the head can hurt, including a network of nerves which extends over the scalp and certain nerves in the face, mouth, and throat. August 11, 2006 - August 16

• ...that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may sometimes have an acute onset and develop after an infectious illness, and that this "Post infectious IBS" (IBS-PI) is drawing much clinical investigation? August 4, 2006 - August 11

• ...anyone who falsely claims to be a biomedical scientist in the UK commits an offence and could be fined up to £5000? August 4, 2006 - August 16

• ...the Rules of surgery include "Don't mess with the pancreas", "Don't stand when you can sit, Don't sit when you can lie down, Don't lie down when you can sleep" and "See a donut, eat a donut"? August 4, 2006 - August 16

• ...Hyperkalemia (hyper is high, kalium is the Latin name for potassium) is an elevated blood level (above 5.0 mmol/L) of the electrolyte potassium? Extreme degrees of hyperkalemia are considered a medical emergency due to the risk of potentially fatal arrhythmias. July 18, 2006 - August 4

• ...infantile pyloric stenosis is a not uncommon pediatric condition where there is a congenital narrowing of the pylorus (the opening at the lower end of the stomach)? Babies with this condition usually present within the first few weeks (usually between 2nd and 3rd) of life with poor feeding, weight loss and progressively worsening vomiting leading ultimately to projectile non-bilious vomiting. July 18, 2006 - August 4

• ...the Cotard delusion (or Cotard's syndrome, le délire de négation) is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his blood or internal organs? July 18, 2006 - August 4

• ...the nomenclature of monoclonal antibodies is a naming scheme for assigning generic, or nonproprietary, names to a group of medicines called monoclonal antibodies. This scheme is used for both the World Health Organization’s International Nonproprietary Names and the United States Adopted Names. In general, suffixes are used to identify a class of medicines; all monoclonal antibody pharmaceuticals end with the suffix -mab. However, different infixes are used depending on the structure and function of the medicine. July 10, 2006 - July 18 2006

• ...that the 47,XXY karyotype produces Klinefelter's syndrome, while 45,X causes Turner syndrome? June 26, 2006 - July 18 2006

• ...that during the "Age of Heroic Medicine" (1780-1850), educated professional physicians aggressively practiced "heroic medicine", including bloodletting (venesection), intestinal purging (calomel), vomiting (tartar emetic), profuse sweating (diaphoretics) and blistering? These medical treatments were well-intentioned, and often well-accepted by the medical community, but were actually harmful to the patient. June 23, 2006 - July 18 2006

• ...Thalidomide is a drug that was sold during the late 1950s and 1960s to pregnant women as an antiemetic? It was later found to be teratogenic, causing amelia and phocomelia. However, it is still used for other indications such as for leprosy and multiple myeloma, with close regulation through the System for Thalidomide Education and Prescribing Safety (STEPS) program. June 19, 2006 - July 10, 2006

• ...Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is a simple, cheap, and effective treatment for diarrhea-related dehydration? It is used around the world, but is most important in the Third World, where it saves millions of children from diarrhea—still their leading cause of death. According to The Lancet (1978), ORT is "potentially the most important medical discovery of the 20th century". June 16, 2006 - June 26, 2006

• ...Arsenic was used even in the second half of the 20th century for psoriasis, and was approved in 2000 by the FDA for the treatment of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia that is resistant to ATRA? June 16, 2006 - June 23, 2006

• ...the term "dengue" is a Spanish attempt at the Swahili phrase "ki denga pepo", meaning "cramp- like seizure caused by an evil spirit"? "Beriberi" on the other hand, originates from the Sinhalese (Sri Lankan) language meaning "I cannot, I cannot". June 6, 2006 - June 20, 2006

• ...erythema infectiosum is the fifth disease of childhood, also known as slapped cheek syndrome, slap face or slapped face? It's caused by parvovirus B19, and usually follows a mild course. June 6, 2006 - June 20, 2006

• ...Reye's syndrome is a potentially fatal disease that causes detrimental effects mainly to the brain and liver? The cause of Reye's syndrome remains unknown; however, a link was found with the use of aspirin or other salicylates in children and adolescents who have a viral infection such as influenza, chicken pox or the common cold. The potentially increased risk of contracting Reye's syndrome is one of the main reasons that aspirin is not recommended for use in people under the age of 16. June 6, 2006 - June 19, 2006

• ...systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) is a chronic, potentially debilitating or fatal autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage? May 30, 2006 - June 16, 2006

• ...the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease as a distinct entity were first identified by Emil Kraepelin, and the characteristic neuropathology was first observed by Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist, in 1906? In this sense, the disease was co-discovered by Kraepelin and Alzheimer, who worked in Kraepelin's laboratory. Because of the overwhelming importance Kraepelin attached to finding the neuropathological basis of psychiatric disorders, Kraepelin made the generous decision that the disease would bear Alzheimer's name. May 30, 2006 - June 16, 2006

• ...bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity? May 30, 2006 - June 6, 2006

• In 2006, according to the World Health Organization, at least 171 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes? May 24, 2006 — June 6, 2006

• Snoezelen or "controlled multisensory stimulation" might be beneficial to people with autism and other developmental disabilities, dementia, and brain injury? May 24, 2006 — June 6, 2006

• The therapeutic index of a medication is a comparison of the amount that causes the therapeutic effect to the amount that causes toxic effects. Quantitatively, it is the ratio of the dose required to produce the desired therapeutic effect and the toxic dose. A commonly used measure of therapeutic index is the effective dose of a drug for 50% of the population (ED₅₀) divided by the lethal dose for 50% of the population (LD₅₀). May 24 — May 30, 2006