10 Aug 08 You Can Swallow, If You Really Want To
While it may prove a bit more difficult to break down than organic foodstuffs, chewing gum gets no special treatment from the digestive system.
Doctors figure this old wives’ tale was invented to prevent kids from swallowing the rubbery substance.
Tags: chewing, chewing gum, digestive system, doctors, foodstuffs, gum, nonsense, old wives, old wives tale, urban legend
04 Aug 08 Heard On The Street
I was telling my friend Shirley about a recent diagnosis of my high blood pressure.
“The doctors told me to quit eating red meat,” Shirley said,
“Well, did you quit,”? I replied, “Sure I did. You think I’m a dummy or something? I haven’t had a drop of ketchup on my hamburgers since!”
Tags: diagnosis, doctors, dummy, friend shirley, hamburgers, high blood pressure, ketchup, red meat
29 Feb 08 My Liver, With Love
Daniel Foster was dying from primary sclerosing cholangitis, which was diagnosed more than ten year ago. The only way forward was to have a liver transplant. and doctors said he needed one within a year. In the UK, like the rest of the world, the list of those waiting for a transplant far exceeds donors. Jennifer Foster saved her husband Daniel’s life by donating more than half her liver. It was the first of its kind in Scotland, and took place in January this year.
The risks were high, said experts. The procedure at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh lasted about 10 hours. Mrs Foster was discharged from hospital after 6 days, and also her husband too, who is on the road to a full recovery.
The liver is capable of rapid regeneration. The right lobe can be removed and transplanted into a recipient. This is followed by regeneration in both the recipient and the donor so that the liver has the potential to grow to full size in both patients.
8,000 patients across the UK wait for a life-saving transplant, and about 1,000 die or are taken off the waiting list because their health has deteriorated to the point where a transplant is no longer viable.
Tags: daniel foster, doctors, donor card, donors, health, husband daniel, jennifer foster, liver transplant, mrs foster, primary sclerosing cholangitis, rapid regeneration, recipient, rest of the world, royal infirmary of edinburgh, scotland, suitable donor
