336 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
336 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
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Chapter 9
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MEDICINE AND THE HUMAN MACHINE
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A Medical History
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In ancient Japan, teeth were extracted by dentists who used
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only their fingers.
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Hundreds of years ago, Chinese doctors were not paid by their
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sick patients, but only by those who they kept healthy.
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In the times of Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, people
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thought that the liver, not the heart, was the center of emotion.
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Now we know that it is not the heart, either.
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Before giving up on a patient they couldn't cure, doctors in
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the Middle East used to display that patient in the center of
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town, in case a passerby might speak up with a cure.
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After reading the books that interested him, Hippocrates (for
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whom the Hippocratic oath of medicine is named) supposedly burned
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down a library, so that his competitors would not have access to
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the same information.
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The barber's pole dates from the time when barbers were also
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surgeons. It represents a bandage wrapped around an injured arm.
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The Rx sign that pharmacists use was originally the
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astrological sign for Jupiter.
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While Europeans were dying by the thousands, the Chinese were
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using a vaccination against smallpox. They would inhale the
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powdered material from the sores of a smallpox victim.
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One of the remedies recommended for the Black Plague was to
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put the intestines of young pigeons or puppies on the forehead.
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A medical curiosity was David Kennison, who was born in 1736
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and participated in the Boston Tea Party. At the age of
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seventy-six, serving in the War of 1812, he lost a hand to a
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gunshot wound. Later, a tree fell on him, and fractured his
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skull. Some years later, while training soldiers in the use of a
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cannon, something went wrong and an explosion shattered his legs.
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He recovered. Yet later, a horse damaged his face. He died
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peacefully in 1851 at the age of 115.
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Cataract surgery (removal of lens from eye) was first done in
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1748. But the first anesthesia wasn't until 1842!
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In 1809, a woman had a twenty-two pound ovarian tumor removed
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without anesthesia.
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Here is some advice from a book 132 years old: (this is no longer
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corsidered correct)
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"DROWNING. - Attend to the following essential rules:
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- 1. Lose no time. 2. Handle the body gently. 3. Carry
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the body with the head gently raised, and never hold it
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up by the feet. 4. Send for medical assistance
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immediately, and in the meantime act as follows: 1.
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Strip the body, rub it dry: then rub it in hot blankets,
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and place it in a warm bed in a warm room. 2. Cleanse
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away the froth and mucus from the nose and mouth. 3.
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Apply warm bricks, bottles, bags of sand, &c. to the
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arm-pits, between the thighs and soles of the feet. 4.
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Rub the surface of the body with the hands enclosed in
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warm dry worsted socks. 5. If possible, put the body
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into a warm bath. 6. To restore breathing, put the pipe
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of a common bellows into one nostril, carefully closing
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the other and the mouth; at the same time drawing
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downwards, and pushing gently backwards the upper part
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of the windpipe, to allow a more free admission of air;
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blow the bellows gently, in order to inflate the lungs,
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till the breast be raised a little; then set the mouth
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and nostrils free, and press gently on the chest; repeat
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this until signs of life appear. When the patient
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revives apply smelling-salts to the nose, give warm
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wine or brandy and water. Cautions. 1. Never rub the
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body with salt or spirits. 2. Never roll the body on
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casks. 3. Continue the remedies for twelve hours without
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ceasing."
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And from that same old book:
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"LEECHES AND THEIR APPLICATION. - The leech used for
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medical purposes is called the hirudo Medicinatis, to
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distinguish it from other varieties, such as the
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horse-leech and the Lisbon leech. It varies from two to
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four inches in length, and is of a blackish brown
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colour, marked on the back with six yellow spots, and
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edged with a fellow line on each side. Formerly leeches
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were supplied by Sweden but latterly most of the leeches
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are procured from France, where they are now becoming
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scarce.
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When leeches are applied to a part, it should be
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thoroughly freed from down or hair by shaving, and all
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liniments, &c., carefully and effectually cleaned away
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by washing. If the leech is hungry it will soon bite,
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but sometimes great difficulty is experienced in getting
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them to fasten on. When this is the case, roll the leech
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into a little porter, or moisten the surface with a
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little blood, or milk, or sugar and water, Leeches may
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be applied by holding them over the port with a piece of
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linen cloth or by means of an inverted glass, under
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which they must be placed.
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When applied to the gums, care should be taken to
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us a a leech glass, as they are apt to creep down the
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patient's throat; a large swan's quill will answer the
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purpose of a leech glass. When leeches are gorged they
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will drop off themselves; never tear them off from a
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person., but just dip the point of a moistened finger
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into some salt and touch them with it.
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Leeches are supposed to abstract about two drachms
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of blood, or six leeches draw about an ounce; but this
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is independent of the bleeding after they have come off,
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and more blood generally flows then than during the time
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they are sucking."
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One hundred years ago (1890), in Connecticut, Idaho, North
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Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, it was legal
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to practice medicine with no training whatsoever. Texas, however,
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required a high school diploma.
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Surgeons used to have to operate quickly, before the patients
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died of extreme pain or blood loss. Robert Liston worked so fast
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that one day he accidentally cut off his nurse's fingers. It is
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not known whether the rest of the operation was a success.
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As late as 34 years after the public introduction of
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anesthesia, some doctors refused to use it. Some said that the
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shock of pain is a necessary ingredient to recovery. Others were
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afraid, because some preachers said that anesthesia was the work
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of the devil.
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Most people don't realize that Charles Lindbergh was a
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pioneer in medical technology. He worked on an early heart-lung
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machine.
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The flu mutated into a killer in 1918 and killed 20 million
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people. Over half a million Americans died.
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In 1976, doctors in Los Angeles went on strike because of the
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rising cost of malpractice insurance. All elective and
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non-emergency surgery and medical attention were canceled. During
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that time, eighteen percent less people died than usual.
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From all our exposure to unnecessary penicillin through
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medication as well as through treatment of cattle and pork,
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life-threatening bacteria have grown resistant to our number-one
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line of defense. In 1960, 13% of staphylococci infections were
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resistant to penicillin. Now, 91% are resistant to penicillin.
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There were 1,647 heart transplants in 1988. There were 1,700
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liver transplants in 1988.
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In the future people will be able to regrow missing arms or
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legs like a salamander can grow a new tail. Research has shown
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promising results in getting bone to grow with the application of
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electricity. Children under age five who lose the tip of a finger
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up to half-way to the outermost joint, if left untreated, the
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finger will completely regrow. If medical attention is applied,
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stitches for example, the child's finger will not regrow.
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In Tibet, monks occasionally performed brain surgery
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successfully. They would bore a hole through a person's forehead
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and insert a tube into their pineal gland, at the bottom of their
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brain. This was to induce a "mystical state of consciousness."
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Medical Miscellaneous
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Dr. James Muatt lived to the age of 120 and spent 95 years in
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the practice of medicine.
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Two of every five Americans have never been to a dentist.
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Modern Medicine
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One out of every eight Americans will spend some time as a
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patient in a hospital this year.
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There is a phenomenon called noscomial disease. It means
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coming to a hospital for some reason, and catching another disease
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while in the hospital. Hospitals are not healthy places. One out
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of every 21 Americans admitted will catch something else merely
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from being in the hospital. Every year, 15,000 Americans die of
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something other than what they were admitted for.
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Of all the people who work in hospitals, only 1.78% are
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doctors. 17.27% are clerical workers. So there are nine times more
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people involved with the paperwork, than those involved in the
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actual work!
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An average person in America who is over 65 years old takes
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between ten and twenty prescription pills every day.
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A woman started showing a bunch of general symptoms that
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doctors could not diagnose. She went from one doctor to another.
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One recommended that she have her uterus removed. Finally, her
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problem was relieved by a dentist. He discovered she was
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suffering mercury poisoning from her fillings. He removed the
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fillings and substituted another material.
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EEG and EKG machines are not perfect. In one study EKG
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machines indicated a heart problem in healthy people 20% of the
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time. Sometimes in a room with more than one EKG, one machine
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will read the electrical leaks of another. In another study a
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researcher hooked up an EEG to a mannequin whose head was filled
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with lime jello and the EEG found signs of life.
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The average doctor goes to medical school for four years, yet
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gets only two and a half hours of education on nutrition as it
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applies to preventive medicine or curative medicine.
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16 out of every 100 doctors will be sued this year.
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A sociologist did a study that turned up some mortifying
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results. It seems that the people who work in hospital emergency
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rooms are more likely to administer resuscitation attempts on
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patients who are brought in dead on arrival who are good looking,
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than on those patients who are uglier.
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Anyone who thinks Western medicine is a joke should realize
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that in Guinea, where modern medicine is not practiced, over 75%
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of the people die before the age of 50.
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Surgery
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Theoretically, a human can survive without the stomach, most
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of the intestines, one kidney, 3/4 of the liver, and one lung.
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Furthermore, the legs and arms and sex organs can be removed
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successfully. Don't try this at home.
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A Case of Do-it-Yourself Surgery
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In the 1600's a locksmith was suffering from bladder stones.
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Being a locksmith, he was used to logical repairs to problems. He
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took matters into his own hands, and removed his own bladder stone
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with a kitchen knife.
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In Kenya, African fire ants are what doctors use to close
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surgical wounds in place of sutures. The ant is induced to bite
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the two sides of the wound with its mandibles, and hang on.
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The longest operation on record took 96 hours. During
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February 4 - 8, 1951, surgeons in Michigan removed an ovarian cyst
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from a woman. When they were done, she weighed 308 lbs less.
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Joseph Ascough who was born in 1935 holds the record for the
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most major operations. He has had 327 surgeries for warts in his
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windpipe.
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Sometimes doctors make mistakes that are like simple
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bookkeeping errors. Surgeons once removed a kidney from a man who
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had a kidney tumor. The problem was that they removed the good
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kidney. And they have been known to saw the wrong leg off an
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amputee.
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Sometimes surgeons take an organ totally out of a person,
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overhaul it on a workbench, like a car mechanic working on a power
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steering unit, then re-install it. This is done most often with
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kidneys to remove difficult tumors.
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Want to improve your vision without using glasses or contact
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lenses. Here's what you do: 1. Get a donated cornea. 2. Cool it
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to -70 degrees. 3. Fasten it on a lathe and trim it to the proper
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shape to refocus light. 4. Stitch it on over your present cornea.
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- Or have an eye surgeon do it for you. This new technique is now
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in frequent use.
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One out of every 243 Americans will have plastic surgery this
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year.
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There is a new twist in plastic surgery. Surgeons can take a
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bone from your body, smash it into paste, then mold it like clay
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into a new shape and replace it. This has been done with one
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seven-year-old boy whose skull was misshapen. They removed the
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whole top of his head, pulverized it, then re-formed it and put it
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back on. The headache the boy suffered was less than the ones he
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was otherwise doomed to due to the previous shape of his head.
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Perhaps surgeons of the future should be encouraged to play with
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Play-Doh when they are growing up.
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Birth
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Scientists are working on the possibility of removing a dying
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woman's ovaries and save the eggs so that the woman can still have
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children, even after she is dead.
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If you split a human embryo when it is less than a week old,
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identical twins will develop. This is already done with cattle.
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Fetuses have gills.
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One out of every 88 births is twins.
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One out of every 512,000 births is quadruplets.
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One out of every 16 children are born with defects. Most of
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these are minor, such as the babies born with tails. When a baby
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is born with a tail, the doctors cut it off right away. Most
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people do not know if they had a tail.
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"Ten years ago 80% of underweight, premature babies died,
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while today 80% survive." - Allan Maurer
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"If you're pregnant, you go to the doctor and he treats you
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as if you're sick. Childbirth is a nine-month disease which must
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be treated, so you're sold on intravenous fluid bags, fetal
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monitors, a host of drugs, the totally unnecessary episiotomy, and
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- the top of the line product - the Caesarean delivery!" - Dr.
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Robert S. Mendelsohn, from his book, Confessions of a Medical
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Heretic
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The infant mortality rate in Canada is 25 percent lower than
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in America.
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In 1793, in France a true cyclops was born. She was a girl
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who lived to fifteen years old. She had a single eye in the middle
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of her face.
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In Finland babies were born in saunas until the 1920's. The
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babies probably were more comfortable arriving in a dark, warm
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room than in a bright, cold hospital room.
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