death by inhalation of poop-vomit

I can't get over this... hahaha. I was browsing around this awesome blog... when I came upon a link to a study on "Death From Clozapine-Induced Constipation". Clozapine is used to treat schizophrenia, and apparently a couple of people taking it have become so constipated they've vomited their own poop, inhaled it into their lungs and died due to pulmonary shit-dema.

I quote the study:

"The aforementioned fatality, described by Drew and
Herdson,3 occurred in a 49-year-old man with paranoid
schizophrenia who was treated with clozapine (500 mg/day)
for 2 years. He died unexpectedly in a psychiatric ward.
Postmortem examination revealed severe pulmonary
edema secondary to inhalation of feculent vomitus"

Wow what an awesome way to die!

the 5 medical terms that get stuck in my head the most

I have pseudo-OCD brought on by my medication (Adderall) so sometimes I get words stuck in my head. These words are always medical terms, and in any given day one will be playing in my brain over and over again like some sick, meaningless mantra. Here are the three words that seem to get stuck in my head the most often:

1. Sternocleidomastoid
I genuinely love this word. I don't know why, but it literally makes me smile. The good thing is that I will never ever forget where this muscle is. The bad thing is that I can't remember any other muscles.

2. Decubitus ulcer
This one's not too weird... until you realize it's just a fancy way of saying "bedsore"

3. Necrotizing Fasciitis
Synonymous with "bad fucking day" and also known as an infection of flesh-eating bacteria, necrotizing fasciitis is the only term that replays in my head that actually represents something bad-ass.

4. Oogenesis
The process of the creation of ova (eggs... female sex cells). I have to thank Ms. Moore, the best biology teacher in the world for this one, and for calling all things microscopic and living "wee beasties"

5. Atelectasis
Sounds like: an awesome metal band, a violent video game, an action movie with gaudy special effects, an edgy new company
Really is: a collapsed lung. Yawn.

An ode to textbook "patients" part 1

I just realized that someone could mistake these for pictures of real patients. I have no idea who these people are, I found these pictures in textbooks.


I see therapy in this child's future. Lots of therapy.

This is how the elderly get jiggy with it.


Heeeeey.... maaaacarena!!!!

the more I learn, the more I yell at my TV

I know, I know. I can't expect TV to portray medical scenarios without flaw. But still... you think they could pull their heads outta their asses for 2 seconds and at least do some research on whatever they're depicting. Hell, you could even google most of this stuff. Here's some of my favorite medical TV blunders.

CARDIAC ARREST ≠ HEART ATTACK
This one really pisses me off, because it happens constantly. It doesn't bother me so much when a fictitious show makes this error, but I usually see it on supposedly informational shows like the news. They're genuinely misguiding the public. Here's a good example. This little girl clearly did not die from a "massive heart attack". If she had arrhythmia, she obviously died from cardiac arrest. Although it's great that they televised this story, 9News is actually undermining the Brianna Badger's Foundation's mission, which is to educate the public about cardiac arrhythmias. The impact of this common mistake on public thought is evident because I know that many, many people think that cardiac arrest and heart attack are the same thing.
So let me clear this one up:
heart attack AKA myocardial infarction - The heart is still pumping. The blood supply to the heart muscle is interrupted, usually because one of the arteries servicing the heart has become blocked. (may later deteriorate into cardiac arrest)
cardiac arrest AKA clinical death - the heart stops pumping. In children, respiratory arrest or arrhythmia are the typical causes. In adults, a heart attack may eventually lead to cardiac arrest, but they are two distinct conditions.

TV MEDICS ARE RETARDED
My dad would not allow me to change channels from some overly dramatic episode of CSI... in which one of the characters was wandering lost in the desert after being trapped under a car and yada yada yada. Now I have no idea why CSI was doing search and rescue, but of course they found her collapsed, unresponsive and pulseless. Enter the most incompetent air medical team on Earth. They landed the chopper ridiculously close to the victim without a landing zone set up and threw a non-rebreather on her and stuck her with an IV before loading. That's the only treatment she had. They also allow her fuckbuddy partner guy to come along for the ride. While in the air, she randomly opens her eyes and smiles. (I'll get to this point in the next section)
What the fuck?!
I would rather be treated by drunk chimps. Any average joe who's taken your average CPR class knows that a pulseless person gets CPR. DUH. And why the hell would you put a non-rebreather on someone who's not breathing?! She needs a BVM and chest compressions you morons! And there is no way in hell you would have full crew, a patient, and a random dude on a chopper due to weight restrictions and HIPAA and not wanting some random dude getting in the way. Air ambulances have enough weight problems without allowing bystanders on the chopper; they often have to take a patient and leave a nurse on scene due to weight.

PEOPLE DON'T WAKE UP IMMEDIATELY AFTER CPR
So last night I was watching the Baywatch movie in Spanish with my boyfriend (don't ask) and some overly tan and muscular dude drowned and died, so some overly tan and muscular Baywatch dude starts giving him CPR. The fact that he was only giving 5 compressions is an entirely different story, but the thing that really made me yell at the TV was how the once-dead guy spontaneously stood up and kissed his girlfriend after about 3 minutes of CPR. WHAAAAAAT?
Ok, if you need CPR, you're pretty much dead. Sometimes, the hospital can make dead people come back to life with fancy defibrillators and medications and procedures. CPR is essentially a prehospital measure to keep your brain alive long enough to get you to the hospital with a chance to be genuinely resuscitated. If you're really damn lucky, your heart may start weakly beating again, but there is no way in hell you're going to wake up, stand up, kiss your girlfriend, dance around, and go swimming. Even if you get to a hospital, you're probably SOL. Even if the hospital does get your heart beating again, you're not going to fucking wake up, get off the table and hug the nurses.

what I know so far