For The San Diego Union-Tribune
Body of knowledge
The average person ingests approximately 100 milligrams (0.003 ounce) of dust and dirt each day. Doesn’t sound like much, but in an average lifetime, it adds up to six pounds. It gets worse: Scientists have estimated that the average person inhales around 50 billion dust particles an hour and over a lifetime, that works out to 45 pounds.
Sometimes, it’s not water weight. Just the opposite.
Get me that. Stat!
Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder: 5 percent of patients die within four years of diagnosis. The mortality rate nearly doubles if those patients have coexisting psychiatric disorders.
Counts
4.8 — Estimated amount of money, in trillions of dollars, spent on hospital care, clinical services, drugs and all other health spending in the U.S. last year
7.7 — Projected estimated amount by 2032
4.2 — Gross domestic product of Japan, in trillions, last year
Sources: Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Worldmeter
Stories for the waiting room
Long COVID remains a complex and poorly understood condition. It has at least 200 known potential symptoms, and manifests differently in each sufferer. Still, modern medicine requires an official definition.
Here’s the most recent, adopted by a special committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine:
Long COVID “is an infection-associated chronic conditions that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least three months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems.”
Tell that to your doctor.
Doc talk
Cacchination — a fit of spontaneous, uproarious, unrestrained laughter
Mania of the week
Klazomania — an obsession or propensity to scream
Food for thought
A lot of folks happily declare themselves lovers of meat, carnivorous by choice. Still, maybe there should be limits. All of the following are eaten by people of different cultures and in different places, also by choice: guinea pigs, horse, bull testicles, snake, possum, raccoon, milt (fish sperm), tarantulas, maggots, chicken feet, head of sheep or calf and iguana. None but the feet really taste like chicken.
Best medicine
A man goes in for a chest X-ray.
Radiologist: “I’ve got your images. It shows you have pimples on your left ventricle.”
Man: “Omigod. What does that mean?”
Radiologist: “You’re still a teenager at heart.”
Observation
“Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese.”
— Spanish and Mexican filmmaker Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)
Medical history
This week in 1965, the first U.S. surgical operation on a bull to correct a sperm blockage was performed. The Aberdeen-Angus bull, named Linderis Evulse, was worth $176,000 and, presumably, all of his potential progeny made the operation cost-effective.
Ig Nobel apprised
The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that’s hard to take seriously, and even harder to ignore.
In 2006, the Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine went to an international team of American and Israeli scientists for their published paper: “Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Message.”
Say no more, but please cough.
Medical myths
Potatoes are often vilified because they possess a high glycemic index, meaning their rapidly digestible carbohydrates can spike one’s blood sugar level — not a good thing in terms of conditions like diabetes.
But much depends on the type of potato, how it’s cooked and the total amount of carbohydrates consumed. Starchy potatoes have complex carbohydrates, which break down more slowly in the body than simple sugars. They’re also rich in vitamin C, potassium, fiber and other nutrients, especially when consumed with the skin. A whole baked sweet potato, for example, can be a fine addition to a meal; french fries, not so much.
Last words
“No.”
— Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1826-1906) reportedly stood up on his bed, protesting, after he overheard his doctor tell his wife he was looking better. (Ibsen suffered from tuberculosis.) Another version, however, he simply replied “Tvertimod,” which means “to the contrary,” and then died.
LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.
Originally Published: