Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 074

Glanzmann thrombasthaenia

Patients with this condition have defects in their gpIIb/IIIa receptors that prevent their platelets from aggregating. As a result they are prone to bleeding complications, including epistaxis (nose bleeds). Various blood products or surgical procedures are often needed to control epistaxis in patients with this platelet disorder. An alternative approach, using nasal tampons consisting of salted pork (!), has been described in at least one case.

How the pork works is unclear – it could that it is rich in tissue factor, or the salt may induce mucosal edema and assist the tamponading effect of the pork ‘tampons’… or it could be coincidence.

Unfortunately, given that Glanzmann thrombasthaenia is more prevalent among Arabic speaking people, I’m not sure this treatment will be well received by all those affected.

• Humphreys I, Saraiya S, Belenky W, Dworkin J. Nasal packing with strips of cured pork as treatment for uncontrollable epistaxis in a patient with Glanzmann thrombasthenia. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2011 Nov;120(11):732-6. PMID: 22224315.

Yes

Well, it was at the Calvary Mater Hospital in Newcastle, Australia: “Of 91 patients with violent and acute behavioural disturbance, 21 (23%) presented during the full moon — double the number for other lunar phases (P = 0.002).”

• Calver LA, Stokes BJ, Isbister GK. The dark side of the moon. Med J Aust. 2009 Dec 7-21;191(11-12):692-4. PMID: 20028313.

Alcohol

Legend has it that William the Conqueror (also known as William the Bastard) was so fat he couldn’t get on his horse. To combat this he devised a personalised dietary regimen: he locked himself in a room with alcohol the only substance available for him to consume. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the strategy has been scurrilously questioned on the following basis: when William the Conqueror died he was so obese he could not be squeezed into his sarcophagus and he stunk out the chapel with his decaying corpse

Stendhal syndrome is also known as hyperkulturemia and Florence syndrome.

“It is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place.” (Wikipedia)

The renowned 19th century French author, Stendhal, experienced the condition on a visit to Florence in 1817.

• Nicholson TR, Pariante C, McLoughlin D. Stendhal syndrome: a case of cultural  overload. BMJ Case Rep. 2009;2009. pii: bcr06.2008.0317. Epub 2009 Feb 20. PMID: 21686859;  PMCID: PMC3027955.

Cycling

She most likely suffers from a condition known as ‘bicyclist’s vulva‘. That’s right, as if cyclist’s nipples, cycling-related peripheral neuropathies and saddle sores weren’t bad enough there is a condition known as ‘bicyclist’s vulva’.

Bayaens and colleagues described 6 cases in a 2002 paper in the BMJ – the patients cycled an average of 462.5 km per week).  They all had unilateral lymphoedema thought to be due to compression of the inguinal lymphatics, with identifiable abnormalities on lymphoscintigraphy.

• Baeyens L, Vermeersch E, Bourgeois P. Bicyclist’s vulva: observational study. BMJ. 2002 Jul 20;325(7356):138-9. PMID: 12130610; PMCID: PMC117232.