Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 113
Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF, introducing the Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 113
Question 1
What did Valsalva (1666-1723) note as:
..leaving the tongue tingling unpleasantly for the better part of the day
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Gangrenous pus
He also noted that it did “not taste good“.
The things we do for science….
Question 2
What does the acronym “GOMER” (or goomer) stand for? Which book first featured the use of the acronym? What is the sequel to that book?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Get Out of My Emergency Room
Features heavily in the Samuel Shem book “The House of God” (1978) and used to refer to patients who have “..lost —often through age- what goes into being a human being”.
The lesser known sequel is “Mount Misery“
Question 3
The non-fiction book “The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston, features a scene when two scientists sniff a culture flask for the distinctive smell of Pseudomonas contamination. What does the flask actually contain?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Reston virus
Reston virus is one of the filoviruses.
While this belongs to the Ebola virus genus, it is not known to be pathogenic to humans. Not such good news if you are a crab-eating macaque…
Question 4
Who wrote this?
A Great Physician should not pay attention to status, wealth or age; neither should he question whether the particular person is attractive or unattractive, whether he is an enemy or friend, whether he is a Chinese or a foreigner, or finally, whether he is uneducated or educated. He should meet everyone on equal grounds. He should always act as if he were thinking of his close relatives“
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Sun Simiao (581-682)
Sun Simiao wrote the text – “On the Absolute Sincerity of Great Physicians“, from which the excerpt is taken. It is often referred to as the “Chinese Hippocratic Oath”.
Question 5
While examining your patients neck you notice that the carotid pulse is absent on one side. What might this be due to, and what is this sign called?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Berry sign
Eponymous sign named after Dr James Berry (1860-1946) relating to malignant thyromegaly – tumour encasing the carotid and muffling the pulsations. The absence of carotid pulsation in a patient presenting with a thyroid swelling suggests malignancy.
- Berry J. Diseases of the thyroid gland and their surgical treatment. 1901: 87-89
FFFF
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five
Medical Registrar fascinated by the quirky history of medicine and those crazy microbes.