Back in his youth, TPR thought Tom Lehrer’s songs were the funniest things he had ever heard. Lehrer, whose real career was as a Professor of Mathematics at Harvard and UC-Santa Cruz, turns 82 today. We wish him a happy brithday!
Here is one of his best known songs, The Elements, which traverses the entire periodic table in the jaw-breaking time of a minute and a half. As you listen, see how many toxins you can identify:
Octreotide’s Role in the Management of Sulfonylurea-Induced Hypoglycemia. Dougherty PP, Klein-Schwartz W. J Med Toxicol [published online 30 March 2010]
Sulfonylureas help control hyperglycemia in type II diabetics by enhancing insulin release from pancreatic β cells. A frequent source of clinical frustration in treating sulfonylurea toxicity is recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia, caused by the following vicious circle: intravenous …
Recreational Use of Mephedrone (4-Methylmethcathinone, 4-MMC) with Associated Sympathomimetic Toxicity. Wood DM et al. J Med Toxicol (published online 01 April 2010).
Back in January TPR reported on the alarming reports that were appearing in the British dailies about meow meow (mephedrone), a new synthetic drug that was a derivative of khat (cathinone). Articles tabloids such as …
This retrospective study reviewed patients from 1998 to 2007 in the Mayo Clinic Rochester (MN) database with measured gabapentin levels and known medical outcomes. The study design has a number of flaws, including the fact that …
This jaw-dropping, utterly bizarre musical number is from the movie Murder at the Vanities(1934) starring Victor McLaglen, Jack Oakie, and Kitty Carlisle. The Internet Movie Database reports that “Sweet Marijuana” is omitted from most prints today.…
ProMED reports that cases of the chronic neurological disease konzo — spastic paralysis caused by cyanide toxicity from eating improperly prepared cassava root — have become epidemic this year in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cassava is a vitally important crop worldwide, serving as a major source of calories for 200-300 million people. It produces more carbohydrate per acre than …
Very funny video from Mellohippo. Tip o’ the hat to Life in the Fast Lane for featuring this clip as part of their instructional series on how to navigate admissions to hospital from the emergency department.
1) Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI): Chronic lithium use causes resistance to antidiuretic hormone, impairing the ability to concentrate urine. While this condition sometimes resolves when lithium is stopped, in can be irreversible. Lithium-induced NDI …
This fascinating clip, from the Wellcome Film Library of Medical History, describes identifying characteristics of various poisonous snakes, as well as state-of-the-art treatment as of the mid-twentieth century. It is especially interesting to see the first-aid recommendations at that time, which included a tourniquet, incising the wound at multiple locations, and sucking out the venom by mouth.
