EXTRACTS FROM
MEDICAL MISCELLANY
EAR WAX
Women who have soft ear wax have a much higher risk of breast cancer than those with hard ear wax..
ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
The Id, Ego and Superego are terms used in Freudian psychoanalytic theory (a method of assessing the personality). The ego describes the conscious sense of the self - the 'I' - which is part of the personality that deals with the outside world by maintaining a balance between the drives of the id (primitive, unconscious instincts) and the restrains of the superego (the conscience or set of moral values).
PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANIOSIS
The above word (I can’t be bothered typing it again in lower case) is the longest word used in medicine, and for obvious reasons it is used rarely. It is a lung disease caused by breathing in the microscopic particles of ash emitted by a volcano.
STRENGTH
Kilogram for kilogram, men are 37% stronger than women.
AIDS HISTORY
The story of AIDS begins in central Africa, where it is now believed a form of AIDS has existed in apes for thousands of years. These animals come into close contact with humans in this area, and are butchered and eaten by the local population. At some stage in the early part of the 1900s, the virus spread from apes to humans. In apes, due to natural selection over many generations, the virus causes few or no symptoms, and is harmless.
The AIDS virus has been isolated from old stored tissue samples dated in the 1950's, found in Kinshasa hospital, Zaire. From Africa, AIDS spread to Haiti in the Caribbean. Haiti was ruled by a vicious dictator (Papa Doc Duvalier), and many Haitian Negroes fled to Africa to avoid persecution.
Once "Papa Doc" and his son "Baby Doc" were removed from power, these exiles returned, bringing AIDS with them. The virus mutated in humans and became more virulent, causing a faster and more severe onset of symptoms. Viruses mutate routinely (eg. different strains of influenza virus every year).
American homosexuals frequented Haiti because it was very poor, and sexual favours could be bought cheaply. They returned home from their holiday with the AIDS virus, and it has spread around the world from there.
The first cases were diagnosed in California in 1981, although cases occurred in Sweden in 1978 in the family of a sailor who had visited Haiti, but the disease was not identified as AIDS until years later. There may also have been some movement of the disease directly through Africa to Algeria and France..
WASH IT, PEEL IT, OPEN IT, COOK IT OR TOSS IT
This is the basic advice all travellers should follow when travelling in any except the most developed countries..
VITAMIN C
3000 Californian users of Vitamin C supplements followed for 10 years had the same morbidity and mortality as a control group of nonusers.
SMOKING
Smokers were found in a Boston study to have 50% more traffic accidents and 46% more traffic violation convictions than non-smokers.
AIDS ACRONYM
AIDS is an acronym for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and should always be written in full capitals as AIDS, and never aids or Aids.
PEWTER
Pewter plates, jugs and mugs will kill Staphylococci and other bacteria. These were widely used in 18th. Century hospitals to reduce infection, although there was no contemporary knowledge of the method of disease transmission by micro-organisms.
WINE
Wine has been found to be beneficial to health for thousands of years, provided it is taken in moderation. This means taking no more than 250 mLs of wine a day for a woman, or 500 mLs a day for a man. Men can drink more than women because they are generally heavier than women and less of their natural body weight is made of fat (which does nor absorb alcohol well). An average man is considered to weigh 80 Kg and a woman 60 Kg.
Wine contains between 80 and 90% water, 8 to 15% alcohol (more in fortified wines), sugar (less in dry wines), and acids. There are also trace amounts of minerals, vitamins and amino acids (the building blocks for proteins). Wine also contains the most potent antioxidants known which are probably the main ingredient to give health benefits, mainly by converting the bad low density cholesterols into the good high density ones.
Wine has health benefits over other forms of alcohols because of these additional ingredients. Spirits are generally bad for overall health, and beer neutral, while moderate wine drinkers tend to live longer than both total abstainers and those who drink excessive amounts..
The primary benefit of moderate red or white wine consumption is in the area of vascular (blood vessel) disease, as it reduces the incidence of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots. Other benefits described in various scientific papers include a reduction in depression and anxiety, better sleep patterns, an overall reduction of up to 24% in the incidence of all cancers, improved memory in the elderly with less dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, fewer gallstones and stomach ulcers and even better vision as it helps to prevent the eye disease macular degeneration. Wine has been used for centuries as an antiseptic, and its use in nursing homes is well recognised to improve morale.
Wine has also been used medicinally to ease nausea, improve appetite, as a sedative, to purify contaminated water, as a tonic, to prevent scurvy, as a diuretic (increase urine output), to disguise bad tastes and as a liniment.
The “French paradox” which shows a nation of people who eat a lot of animal fats (eg. paté) but who have a lower than average incidence of heart disease is explained by their regular but moderate (in most cases) use of wine throughout life.
Some doctors are now arguing that NOT drinking moderate amounts of wine regularly is the second biggest health risk after smoking..
CASTRATION
The British aristocracy believed until late in the 19th. century that hemi-castration (removal of one testicle) would give them male heirs, as sperm from the right testicle was meant to produce sons, sperm from the left daughters.
