Portal:Medicine/Did you know
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Did you know
- ... that Fanconi Syndrome is a disorder in which the proximal tubular function of the kidney is impaired, resulting in decreased reabsorption of electrolytes and nutrients back into the bloodstream?
- ... that Cretinism is a condition of severely stunted physical and mental growth due to untreated congenital deficiency of thyroid hormones?
- ... that mythomania is a condition involving compulsive lying by a person with no obvious motivation?
- ... that a jet injector is a type of medical injecting syringe that uses a high-pressure narrow jet of the injection liquid instead of a hypodermic needle to penetrate the epidermis?
- ... that an iridectomy is the surgical removal of part of the iris, most frequently performed in the treatment of closed-angle glaucoma and iris melanoma?
- ... that the most common cause of acute coronary syndrome is disruption of atherosclerotic plaque in a coronary artery?
- ... that the polymeal is a diet-based approach to combating heart disease, proposed in December 2004 by Oscar Franco?
- ... that a mammotome is a device that uses a computer-guided probe to perform breast biopsies, and that it can be conducted on an outpatient basis under local anaesthetic?
- ... that lagophthalmos is the inability to close the eyelids?
- ... that Beck's triad of arterial hypotension, raised jugular venous pressure and muffled heart sounds is pathognomonic of cardiac tamponade?
- ... that dark chocolate contains the highest antioxidant content of any food? It contains phosphorus, magnesium, iron and potassium. In addition, dark chocolate can lower blood pressure.
- ... vinca alkaloids are chemotherapy drugs that inhibit the polymerization of tubulin, whereas taxanes are produced by plants of the genus Taxus that inhibit tubulin depolymerization?
- ... that Sydenham's chorea (or St. Vitus' dance) is a one of the major criteria in the Jones diagnostic criteria for rheumatic fever?
- ... that rare mistargetting of somatic hypermutation is being investigated as a mechanism in the development of B-cell lymphomas?
- ...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?
- ...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?
- ...that the Rinne test and Weber test are quick screening tests which allow differentiation between conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss?
- ...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?
- ...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?
- ...that Count Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is by profession an orthopedic surgeon?
- ...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.
- ...the keratolytic effects of over-the-counter salicylic acid are used to treat viral warts?
- ...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.
- ...Peyer's patches are an example of gut-associated lymphoid tissue?
- ...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.
- ...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?
- ...anyone who falsely claims to be a biomedical scientist in the UK commits an offence and could be fined up to £5000?
- ...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.
- ...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.
- ...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?
- ...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.
- ...that the 47,XXY karyotype produces Klinefelter's syndrome, while 45,X causes Turner syndrome?
- ...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.
- ...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.
- ...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 Developing countries, where it saves millions of children from diarrhea— the second leading cause of death (after pneumonia) in children under five. According to The Lancet (1978), ORT is "potentially the most important medical discovery of the 20th century".
- ...Arsenic in the form of potassium arsenite was used even in the second half of the 20th century for psoriasis, and in the form of arsenic trioxide was approved in 2000 by the FDA for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia that is resistant to ATRA?
- ...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".
- ...Genotoxicity is the proper term for the DNA damaging property of many carcinogens. These chemicals alter DNA to induce mutations and then apoptosis. While this is a common property in chemicals that cause cancer it is also a property in drugs that fight cancer; these drugs alter the DNA of cancerous cells leading to mutations in cancer cells and eventual cell death.
- ...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.
- ...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.
- ...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?
- ...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.
- ...bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity?
- In 2006, according to the World Health Organization, at least 171 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes?
- Snoezelen or "controlled multisensory stimulation" might be beneficial to people with autism and other developmental disabilities, dementia, and brain injury?
- 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).
- ...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?
- ... that in Prehistoric medicine, a hole was cut into the skull to release evil spirits (Trepanning) and that there is evidence that many people survived the operation?
- ...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?
- ... that cystatin C (pictured) is a human protein mainly studied as a biomarker for kidney function?
- ... that FOLFOX and FOLFIRI are chemotherapy regimens for colorectal cancer?
- ... that palivizumab is a humanised monoclonal antibody against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) used in the prevention of bronchiolitis in high-risk infants?
- ... that a pulmonary contusion (pictured) is a bruising of the lung that occurs as a result of chest trauma?
- ... that a solitary pulmonary nodule or coin lesion is a mass in the lung smaller than 3 centimetres in diameter that can be an incidental finding found in up to 0.2% of chest X-rays and around 1% of CT scans?
- ... that lovastatin, a statin derived from the fungus Aspergillus terreus, is naturally present in red yeast rice?
- ... that Raynaud's phenomenon, or vasospasm causing discolouration of the extremities (pictured), can be the presenting symptom in conditions like scleroderma?
- ... that gestational diabetes occurs in women without previously diagnosed diabetes who exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy?
- ... that catamenial pneumothorax is a condition of collapsed lung occurring in conjunction with menstrual periods, believed to be caused primarily by endometriosis of the membrane surrounding the lung?
- ... that enfuvirtide and maraviroc are HIV entry inhibitors that interact with the viral gp41 and CCR5, respectively?
- ... in many developing countries indoor air pollution from cooking fire smoke (often using biomass fuels such as wood and animal dung) is a common cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, especially in women?
- ... that pain in the right iliac fossa during deep palpation in the left iliac fossa is called Rovsing's sign, a test for appendicitis?
