Discoblog » Diseases, Injuries, & Other Ailments

So Long, Colostomy Bag: British Man Gets Remote-Controlled Sphincter

Andrew Moseman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:15:40 +0000

Briton Ged Galvin survived that vicious car wreck that nearly took his life. Unfortunately, the accident crushed some of his organs and left him needing a colostomy bag to go to the bathroom.

That was until his doctors created his cyborg sphincter. Yes, you read that correctly. Doctors removed muscle from above Galvin’s knee, wrapped it around his damaged sphincter, and attached electrodes to the nerves. Now, when Galvin goes to the bathroom he simply presses a button on a remote control.

From The Telegraph:

Mr Galvin, who had previously endured the indignity of carrying a colostomy bag, added: “I thought that in these days of modern medicine surely there was something they could do. They’d mended everything else – why not this? Anything was better than a colostomy bag.

“The operation changed my life and gave me back my pride and confidence. Because of the remote control I can lead a normal life again.”

Outstanding. Though hopefully Galvin’s remote has a lock that prevents him from accidentally triggering it while it’s in his pocket.

Image: Anna Lythgoe/SWNS.COM

Soccer Star Seeks Out Serbian Placenta Massage to Speed Healing

Andrew Moseman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:00:05 +0000

It’s official, ladies and gentlemen: There’s nothing that athletes won’t try.

Here in the United States we’re inundated with stories of athletes doping with steroids and human growth hormone, as well as resorting to more… unusual forms of physical treatment, like when former Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou once mentioned that he urinated on his hands to toughen them up. Europe, however, has some equally bizarre treatments and alternative medicine that have yet to enter the American sporting zeitgeist. Take Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie’s new hope of returning quickly from a recent injury: placenta massage.

The Dutch footballer tore ankle ligaments in a recent match against Italy. In hopes of returning in less than the standard six-week recovery period, Van Persie is off to Serbia for a procedure about which he knows almost no particulars. “She is vague about her methods but I know she massages you using fluid from a placenta,” he said. “I am going to try. It cannot hurt and, if it helps, it helps.”

Despite the lack of detail, Arsenal’s physicians consented to Van Persie receiving the placenta procedure. Why not? BBC News reports that there are health benefits associated with placenta, and besides, there’s no talking athletes out of something that has even the slimmest chances of improving recovery or performance:

England footballer Wayne Rooney used an oxygen tent prior to the 2006 World Cup to help him recover from a broken foot and six years ago runner Paula Radcliffe rubbed oil from the belly of an emu to ease injuries sustained in a collision with a cyclist.

No word yet, however, on whether Major League Baseball is considering a ban on placenta and emu oil.

Image: flickr/ Wonker

Italy’s New Swine-Flu Defense: High-Tech Holy Water Dispenser

Andrew Moseman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:02:50 +0000

With a global pandemic afoot, the last thing many people want to do is put their hands in water that many other people have already touched, even if it happens to be holy water. But in Italy, where about 30 people have already died from swine flu, many Catholics will soon be able to get untainted holy water as part of church sacrament.

Catholic churches around Italy are scrapping their traditional water fonts in favor of new automatic, motion-activated holy water dispensers invented by Luciano Marabese.

BBC News reports:

The design of the dispenser is similar to a traditional water font, but with an infra-red light that reads the presence of a hand and squirts holy water onto the person’s fingers.

Mr Marabese says he is receiving hundreds of emails from all over the world requesting information about the product.

“Some people had stopped dipping their hand into the holy water font as they were afraid of infections,” he told Reuters.

“Some people even pretended to touch the water but they just touched the marble edge of the font.”

Afghanistan isn’t taking any chances with swine flu, either. In response to concerned zoo visitors, the predominantly Muslim country has been keeping its only pig under quarantine. The pig should be glad: It’s more likely it would catch “swine flu” from humans than the other way around.

Image: flickr / DominusVobiscum

Learn Beaker Safety and Other Lab Tips from Singing Sock Puppets

Brett Israel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:00:15 +0000

When OSHA comes knocking on your lab’s door, you’d better be prepared to explain just how careful you are with your acids, Bunsen burners, and the like. With that in mind, check out The Safety Song from The Sounds of Science, a small group of Berkeley grad students and alums that express their love of science and music with… puppets.

For more from The Sounds of Science, click here.

Video: YouTube / nanomonster1

Musical, Fahrvergnügen-Inspired Staircase Makes Commuters Less Lazy

Eliza Strickland — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:31:03 +0000

It’s tough to get people to make healthier decisions about the way they live their lives. Public health officials have tried for decades to stem the obesity epidemic by getting people to exercise more, but all their tactics–lecturing, scolding, scaring, informing, inspiring, empowering–have had very little effect.

But at a subway station in Stockholm, a band of inventive social engineers had amazing results when they decided to get commuters off the escalators and onto the stairs. They asked themselves, “Can we get more people to choose the stairs by making it fun to do?” And then they turned the staircase into a piano keyboard, complete with black and white keys.

The project was part of a larger initiative sponsored by Volkswagen called “The Fun Theory,” which aims to prove that people will change their behavior for the better if you let them have a little fun in the bargain. Have you pulled off a similar trick? Tell Volkswagen about it and you can win more than $4,000.

Video: Volkswagen

The Creepy World Of Old-School Medicine

Brett Israel — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:18:41 +0000

The International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago is like a walk through time—a time when removing part of a patient’s skull for “therapeutic” purposes was considered normal.

Wired.com has an inside look:

From graphic paintings of childbirth to a vast collection of often-ghastly tools of the trade, the Surgical Museum is a morbidly fascinating journey into the blood-spattered beginnings of modern medicine. After a look at these hair-raising exhibits, you might remark that while the United States may be in serious need of health care reform, at least we have anesthetics and the germ theory of disease.

Click over to Wired.com for a photo tour of the museum.

Image: flickr / brain_blogger

Will Swine Flu Take Down the Internet?

Boonsri Dickinson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:48:45 +0000

Swine flu has returned, just as predicted, and is getting the better of us—46 states have reported cases of the flu already. And even if you want to take precautions by getting vaccinated, there aren’t enough vaccines to go around.

In any case, when you take sick days to recover, the last thing you’d want to do is be at home without access to the Internet. The Washington Post brings up a good point: If the flu truly becomes a pandemic, then the sick will begin accessing their Internet from home en masse. Such an increase in traffic might overwhelm the system and clog networks run by Comcast, AT&T, Cox, and Verizon. The Post reports:

The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of communications networks during times of national emergency. But it doesn’t have a strategy to deal with overloaded Internet networks—an essential resource to keep the economy humming, and residents informed and connected during a pandemic, the GAO said. Furthermore, the DHS hasn’t coordinated with agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission to create guidelines for how telecom, cable and satellite providers can minimize congestion.

There are solutions, but each has its downsides. Adding bandwidth capacity would be a little too late, and cost too much. Slowing connections to some ‘hoods would violate service agreements to those customers. And blocking traffic to Web sites would require government approval.

Related Content:
Discoblog: Michael Jackson’s Death Causes Internet to Slow
DISCOVER: Swine Flu Has a Warning Shot

Image: flickr/ hitthatswitch

Dentists Organize A Cash-For-Candy Program on Halloween

Boonsri Dickinson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:32:01 +0000

Many children are anxiously awaiting Halloween this weekend. But with all these sugary treats come a price: cavities. In fact, one out of every four children in the U.S. currently has at least one cavity in their baby teeth, a number that’s the highest it’s been in 40 years— and has been blamed on today’s sugary diet. Even worse, British researchers found that when kids consumed candy every day, they were more likely to be criminals when they grew up.

This Halloween, two Michigan dentists, Shawn Morris and Daniel Simmons, are encouraging kids to turn in their candy for cash. The mission is called Operation Gratitude—children will receive $1 per pound of sweets, so the dentists can collect a large candy stash. The candy, however, won’t go uneaten: The dentists will send it to U.S. troops stationed in Iraq so they can hand out the candy to local children.

So what is the incentive for candy-heavy children to turn in their loot? Hometownlife reports:

Youngsters who trade in their candy — a maximum of five pounds per child and total 1,000 pounds for the event — will receive a new Firefly glow-in-the-dark toothbrush and a goody bag of gifts. The youngsters will also be entered in a raffle to win one of three Nano iPods.

Along with reducing damage to young teeth, the candy collection also will benefit U.S. troops.

Good habits taught when you’re young could go a long way—especially considering that 80 percent of U.S. adults have some sort of gum disease. Plus, if cavities are left untreated, they can lead to permanent damage including loss of teeth and gum disease, which has been linked to stroke and heart disease. Seriously, more candy, more problems.

Related Content:
Discoblog: Is Your Halloween Costume Safe?
Discoblog: Top Ten Science Halloween Costumes Part I
Discoblog: Top Ten Science Halloween Costumes Part II

Image: flickr/ spundekas

Pesticides Can Increase Suicidal Thoughts

Boonsri Dickinson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:52:20 +0000

China has an incredibly high suicide rate —44 percent of the world’s suicides occur there. In 2007, China Daily reported that more suicides were happening in rural areas than urban ones, which is the opposite of the trend in other countries.

Now, scientists believe they’ve found the reason why: Exposure to agricultural pesticides increases the number of suicidal thoughts a person has. China still uses agricultural pesticides, or organophosphates, even though they’ve been banned in Western countries because of their known toxicity when ingested and the adverse mental health problems caused by long-term exposure.

Researchers from Tongde Hospital Zhejiang Province and King’s College London studied residents of central and coastal China and found the “first epidemiological evidence to suggest possible effects [of pesticides] on suicidal thoughts.” Leading the study, psychiatrist Robert Stewart took a survey of nearly ten thousand rural Chinese residents to find out how they stored pesticides. People who kept their pesticides in the house were more likely to think suicidal thoughts. Also supporting this casual link: The areas that reported higher numbers of home pesticide storage had a higher suicide thought rate overall.

Physorg reports:

Dr Robert Stewart comments: ‘Organophosphate pesticides are widely used around the world although are banned in many countries because of their risk to health. They are particularly lethal chemicals when taken in overdose and are a cause of many suicides worldwide. Our research findings that suggest that higher exposure to these chemicals might actually increase the risk of suicidal thoughts provides further support for calls for tighter international restrictions on agricultural pesticide availability and use.’

With suicide being the leading cause of death in people ages 15 to 34, public health officials should think about ways to minimize exposure to the pesticides—like making it mandatory to keep them out of the house.

Image: flickr/ jefvandenhoute

Newsflash: Swallowing Swords Is Bad For Your Health

Brett Israel — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:49:36 +0000

Fresh on the heels of the 2009 Ig Nobel Awards come six mini-movies about the research of past winners, including this doozy, Sword Swallowing and its Side Effects, which took home the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize in 2007.

Check out this episode below:

Video: Minimovies.org