Friday, January 15, 2016

Medical news

CDC reports on sudden deaths in oil/gas workers: usually associated with inhaling fumes from tanks, without using a respirator.

the report is a "headsup", because they suspect more deaths or unreported adverse incidents not ending in the death of the worker.

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the heart attack of the mummies

related item: ForWhatTheyAre blog recommends the PBS series on early human migration.

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via Improbable Research:


Cow Catalyser Combats Climate Change (new patent)

 Although hydrocarbon-burning factories and power stations belching CO2 might be first spring to mind when considering greenhouse-gas emissions, some say another kind of belching, from cows, causes even more damage. A newly patented (1st Dec. 2015) invention from Caldeira et al., entitled ‘Treatment of ruminant exhalations’ suggest that cows’ methane-loaded exhalations might be mitigated if the animals were to be fitted with a pair of catalytic-converters (one in each nostril). The electronically controlled methane oxidiser can use metallic catalysts in a similar way to those currently fitted to vehicles.

heh. But wait till we all become vegetarians. From Treehugger: LINK 

 the relative significance of direct human flatulence to the total carbon dioxide and methane loads was shown to have increased dramatically by a massive human shift to a highly legume- and cabbage-dependent diet. More vegetarian farts, in other words.
ah, but yes, there is a remedy for that: UNDER EASE UNDERWARE

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when I worked in Africa, we sterilized polyester fishline  because it was stronger and cheaper than using prepackaged silk or expensive plastic based sutures.

well, now a study shows using mosquito netting to reinforce hernias works as well as the more expensive and usually imported dacron/polyester mesh.

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Fatty liver in diabetics is not new, and rarely goes on to liver failure in my experience, but in the last 20 years there has been an increase in fatty liver disease in adults and also in children, and it makes me wonder what is going on.

the official blame goes to the high fat, high sugar American diet, and better dietary habits improve the  liver.

but I still suspect the increase is due to chemicals, either directly toxic or because they are endocrine disrupters.

Scientists have suspected that exposure early in life to BPA and certain other chemicals that disrupt the action of hormones, called endocrine disruptors, may promote obesity in adulthood, 

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I mentioned that huge methane well leak in California a couple weeks ago, but MomJones has the details.

it's been going on since October....and locals are now starting to evacuate the area.



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