WeirdMedical™

Tired of that drafty ol’ back door?

You’ll soon bee in luck!…perhaps the next time you visit your doctor’s office.

British patients scheduled for their next physical or ob/gyn examination may soon be treated with dignity. US-born top fashion designer, Ben de Lisi has said “enough!” to the traditional tie-in-the-back gown. He has designed a wraparound gown that is being tested in the city of Bristol, England. As of Tuesday, local hospital officials’ report that patient feedback has been positive.

(The Times Online)

The new gowns may not be quite what Kate Winslet or Demi Moore would wear floating down the red carpet at the Oscars. However, these utilitarian wraparounds will be unveiled next month, and the British government hopes to have them in hospitals next year.

And since most of us don’t have cute enough bumms, this design has arrived none too soon!

As the one of the more obscure U.S. holidays comes to a close…and with 6 more weeks of winter to endoure…

It is time we all learned more about…you guessed it…Punxsutawney Phil.

Yes, today was Groundhog Day Tuesday, and Phil saw his shadow! But did you know that this little guy is a huge American tradition? The Christian Science Monitor shares with us 5 little known facts about our little PA buddy:

1) Phil is immortal.

2) Phil’s about as accurate as your average meteorologist.

3) Phil’s got competition.

4) Phil’s gone high tech.

5) There’s no Groundhog Day in Alaska.

Hey…this post is fair game. We never promised consistent medical oddities but we always promised consistent weird.

Stay tuned for Fastnacht Day Tuesday – now that IS a medical condition waiting to happen!

Here we go again with fish…can you believe that the fountain of youth is now believed to be found in the sea?…

Researchers recently completed a study that confirms previous findings –> Omega-3 fatty acids promote long, healthy telomeres!

For those who are scratching their heads, telomeres are part of our DNA. They are the “nonsense ends” at the end of our chromosomes that allow accurate, reliable DNA replication (“copying”) during cell division.But repetitive cell division causes these ends to be chewed-up. If they get too short, inaccurate DNA replication occurs. And then…you guessed it…you are more likely to get cancer or other diseases caused by “cellular aging.” More reliable accuracy dictates longevity. So the longer your telomeres are, the better.

“What we’re demonstrating is a potentially new link between omega-3 fatty acids and the aging process,” according to Ramin Farzaneh-Far, a clinical cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. UCSF and other hospitals studied 608 patients and found that those with high omega-3 fatty diets had significantly less telomere shortening over a 5-year period. While they did not distinguish if sources other than specific fishes are best to get your omega-3, they did note that it requires about two (2),  1000 milligram servings a day to have an effect.

Article Source: The Wall Street Journal, Image Source: ABC News, Chicago

Bad news is you will smell a bit fishy…but good news is you will live long to annoy others with it!

“Live long and prosper!” - Spock, StarTrek

Preclinicals – not for just rats, mice and pigs anymore…

Now, zebrafish…For the treatment of Insomnia researchers from Harvard have recently found a new surprising option to aid in therapy development.

Found in tropical regions, this fish proves a worthy test subject in either adult or larvae form. One interesting point noted by the researchers was that zebrafish generally show more relation to humans in sleep patterns than other animals. Also, zebrafish can be cheaply and quickly raised as test subjects. In all, the researchers found 463 sleep altering compounds in the fish, of which many resembled human characteristics.

Sleepy head:
Credit: Albert Pan and Alexander Schier

Having trouble sleeping? Oddly enough you may a sleep study with this fish!