Man removed 5.5-foot tapeworm from his anus and took it to the ER in a plastic bag.

Fresno docs were baffled by the unexpected visit of a sushi fan who waltzed through the emergency room carrying a 5.5-foot tapeworm. The man, who later was treated for tapeworm infection, told the ER physician that he himself pulled the tapeworm out of his anus.

Fresno Tape Worm Featured on Popular Podcast

Because a 5.5-foot tapeworm cannot go unnoticed, the case, which was recently treated at the Fresno Community Regional Medical Center, became the subject of the ‘This Won’t Hurt a Bit’ podcast. The narrator of this rather odd incident was Kenny Bahn, the ER physician who handled the case.

Bahn recalls that a Fresno resident came to the hospital’s emergency room complaining of blood in the stool. The man also asked the doctor to give him treatment for tapeworms.

However, the doctor did not honor his request, arguing who come in with this symptom believe that they have a tapeworm infection. But the man was not your regular patient, but one who brought along a compelling piece of evidence.

According to Bahn, before going into the consultation room, the patient went to the bathroom and observed that something resembling a small piece of intestine was dangling from his behind. Instead of panicking, the man grabbed the thing and yanked it out of his anus, only to find out that it was a living, breathing tapeworm.

The man simply wrapped the tapeworm around a cardboard TP tube which he then placed in a plastic bag. Bahn recalls that after telling his patient that he probably doesn’t need a deworming treatment, the patient casually opened the bag, revealing the menace.

Conclusion

Obviously, since he was the physician on call, the job of measuring and documenting the critter was Bahn’s. The patient received a deworming treatment and was sent home.

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Ottawa woman admitted to the hospital after developing severe allergic reaction to glue used to fix fake eyelashes.

A 20-year-old woman from Ottawa was recently admitted to the hospital with a severe allergic reaction after she went to a beauty salon to have fake eyelashes applied. The doctors said that the woman might be allergic to the glue estheticians use to apply the eyelashes.

Fake Eyelashes Sends Woman Straight to the Hospital

Isabelle Kun had fright of her life when she discovered that her face was all swollen up, making it difficult for her to see or breath. The woman recalls visiting the Sara Beauty iLash Lounge to have fake eyelashes applied, and the session went on without any incidents.

Still, Kun remembers asking her esthetician about what kind of glue she uses to apply the fake eyelashes, to which the woman told her that she doesn’t know and that she’ll probably have no problem with it.

However, the very next day the woman woke up with her face swollen and she had difficulties breathing and seen. Kun declared that she was with her girlfriend when she discovered the aftermath of her beauty salon appointment.

The woman was rushed to the nearest emergency room where the doctors admitted her. After a few days of antihistamine pills and IV steroids, Kun was released home. Still, she’s not of the woods yet, as she still must take antihistamine pills.

Although the doctors assured Kun that she’s not in any danger and that the swelling will go away, the woman believes that there’s no visible improvement and that her face looks more swollen than before.

Sara Du, the beauty salon’s owner, has commented on Kun’s incident and declared that her spa could perform on-demand allergy tests. However, miss Kun was unaware of this choice and of the fact that one can develop an allergic reaction to the glue used to fix fake eyelashes.

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The Tide pods challenge trend seems to be everyone’s Darwin awards favorite.

Remember the cinnamon challenge or the ever-popular rub-alcohol-and-set-yourself-on-fire challenge? Well, brace yourselves, because yet another Darwin-worthy award is about to make headlines. Reportedly, the new Tide pods challenge trend is sending people to the emergency room or, in their case, to the washing machine complaints department.

What Exactly is the Tide Pods Challenge?

It’s exactly what it sounds like – biting, chewing or ingesting pods of liquid detergent just because someone dared you to do so. How does it work? Obviously, the idea is to gulp those little wonders without having to end up in the ER for plumbing maintenance.

Reportedly, this challenge can take all manner of forms from biting the capsule until the liquid soap comes out, to chewing, ingesting, and yes, even snort it. In the most fortunate cases, the experience sends the ‘challengee’ on a bathroom merry-go-round, but others are not so fortunate.

According to the official numbers, approximately 10,000 children, age 5, have been rushed to the emergency room after ingesting Tide Pods. This year, only 37 teenage cases were registered so far. The consequences of eating Tide pods can be extreme, including death.

The same records indicated that since 2012, approximately eight children have died after ingesting liquid detergent pods.

Perhaps this is just stating the obvious, but it’s not really a great idea to eat liquid detergent, given the fact that they are highly toxic. Chucking on these tiny wonders can irreparably damage your stomach and can cause severe burns to the esophagus.

Conclusion

Moreover, snorting Tide pods can result in severe asthma attacks and other respiratory issues. The inevitable conclusion is that this too shall pass, like any other fad, and a tiny moment of glory is not worth getting shipped to the emergency room to have your stomach pumped.

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New baby brain theory acknowledges condition and says it usually occurs during the first trimester.

A new theory regarding the baby brain has recently been published in the Medical Journal of Australia.  Widely contested, the new paper acknowledges baby brain as a real phenomenon and shows that it usually affects woman starting with the third trimester.

What is the Baby Brain?

Often called mental fogginess, baby brain affects the memory center during pregnancy. The phenomenon is usually characterized by, forgetfulness, suboptimal decision-making, planning, and decreased and inhibited social interaction.

The new  theory acknowledges that this folklore-spun condition is a real mental phenomenon and, statistically speaking, it affects four out of five women during pregnancy. For the purpose of the study, the researchers invited 701 pregnant women. Subsequently, they’ve solicited the help of 521 non-pregnant individuals to serve as a control group.

Identifying Baby Brain

To assess the degree of these mental changes, the team used memory-based tests such as the digit, in which participants are asked to memorized number sequences and to reproduce them. Other tests targeted social interactions, decision-making, and planning skills.

The results showcased a slight decline in brain areas associated with the above-mentioned skills, but not to the degree that impeded the participants to function. More specifically, the subjects reported a slight delay and increased effort in carrying out those tasks.

Based on test results and past accounts of this condition, it occurs during the third trimester but begins to stabilize to the end of the pregnancy.

What Causes Baby Brain?

Albeit the phenomenon is officially recognized, the scientists are still unsure regarding the cause of this condition. Most of them agree that the pregnancy-related hormonal shifts might inhibit certain brain areas.

Another plausible explanation would be that during pregnancy, the brain might ‘reconfigure’ itself, thus preparing the individual with the hardships associated with motherhood.

Maryland University medical center under fire after viral video shows patient in gown abandoned in bus station.

The staff of Maryland University’s Medical System is currently investigating an alleged patient care misconduct. According to a University of Maryland spokesperson, a video that went viral across multiple social media platforms has sparked an intense controversy, making people question the quality of services patients received while committed to medical institutions.

Woman in Gown Seen Outside Maryland University Bus Station

The movie that inflamed the public opinion was originally posted on the Facebook account belonging to Imamu Baraka, a Doctor of Health Administration student, before being shared on countless other social media platforms.

While on campus, Baraka noticed a woman dressed in white, hospital gown was sitting all by herself in an empty bus station, apparently waiting for something or someone. In the Facebook post accompanying the video, Baraka wrote that the visibly distressed woman was being watched by four hospital security guards, one of them leaning of an empty wheelchair.

Appalled by this display, the man went to the security guards in order to confront them. Baraka also said that the woman must have been discharged or kicked out of the medical institutions since all of her belongings, including her clothes, were carefully wrapped in plastic bags and placed near her in the bus stop.

After approaching the security guards, Baraka tried for minutes at an end to get an answer from them regarding the woman’s condition. At one point, one of the security guards, probably annoyed by the man’s insistence, told Baraka to talk to his supervisor.

Much to his surprise, the guard’s supervisor was standing right beside him. When asked about the woman he simply stated that had he known his condition he would have understood. The man decided to approach the distressed woman in order to question her, but all that he could get from her was a low-pitch scream.

Conclusion

Baraka’s video and Facebook posts rallied quite a lot a people and, very soon, an official answer came from the Maryland University Medical System’s board. The spokesperson said that this case is being looked into in order to determine if there were any breaches of patient care policies.

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Psychotherapy professor declared that gut feelings could be explained by a brain Wi-Fi.

The life-long quest to find a scientific explanation to gut feelings seems to be at its end following the statement of a South Yorkshire based clinical psychotherapy professor. Digby Tantum of the Sheffield University announced that intuition, considered by many the cornerstone of human thought, could very well be the result of a shared brain Wi-Fi network, capable of processing micro-signals far beyond the conscious threshold.

Gut Feelings Related to Brain Wi-Fi

Intuitions or gut feelings, as they are called, are those little funny people who dwell inside our heads and their job is to give us insight on a problem, without us even thinking about how we could solve that particular situation.

Intuition has always been a subject of arduous debate, in both art and science. For a grasp of the obvious, gut feelings can help us make quick decisions long before our rational side has had a chance to go through all the facts.

Professor of Clinical Psychotherapy Digby Tantum has discovered that gut feelings have a common denominator with Wi-Fi networks. To explain how gut feelings work, the professor and his colleagues wheeled in a new type of psychological phenomenon called the ‘interbrain.’

According to Tantum’s mystically-ingrained interbrain, all human brains are somehow interconnected through a Wi-Fi network which, in turn, allows us to make decisions based on various type of micro-signals.

What that boils down to is that one brain can establish a direct connection to another one and by following this thread, one person could understand another person without having to process information on a conscious level.

Another implication of Tantum’s interbrain theory might be laughter. This shared brain Wi-Fi connection, capable of decoding hundreds of thousands of micro-signals, can explain why we burst into laughter when we hear and see another person laugh.

The sense of smell also plays an important role in the inner workings of the interbrain. As Tantum pointed out, the proximity of the orbitofrontal cortex to the nose could explain why the sense of smell can be considered the cornerstone of human connections.

Conclusion

In his book ‘The Interbrain,’ professor Tantum also warned that prolonged exposure to online communication mediums could result in a total alienation of this Wi-Fi connection, making us lose track of all the micro-signals perceived in a face-to-face conversation.

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According to a new study, facial exercise can help people look younger.

Stop using anti-aging creams and start doing facial exercise every day, claims a team of specialists. A recent study shows that doing these exercises could help one look younger.

Doing facial exercises for 30 minutes every day can reportedly help people maintain the health of their skin. The team claims that even five months of these exercises could wipe off three years.

What Does a Facial Exercise Actually Entail?

Face yoga or facial exercises is a recent beauty trend that promises people that they will look younger without using invasive alternatives like surgery or botox.

These exercises help increase the blood circulation in all of the layers of the skin. By doing so, people could lower the risk of wrinkles. As such, the skin is reportedly going to age slower.

Some of the poses used as an anti-aging method are The Joker, fishy lips, and the lion. This technique is known for stimulating the elastin and collagen production in the dermis. It could help ensure a fresh look.

Northwestern University researchers are behind a new study that shows that the exercises might actually work. The team recruited twenty-seven middle-aged.

They were monitored while performing 30 minutes of facial exercise over a period of 5 months. An independent panel stated that they appeared to look three years younger after they completed all of these exercises. The study lead mentioned that this is just the beginning.

There is little known about facial exercise or their effects. One good thing is that they can’t hurt. Unfortunately, nobody knows for sure whether these exercises actually work.

Strengthening and enlarging the facial muscles are their usual purpose. By doing so, the face should look younger and more toned. Also, this method is free, non-invasive, and non-toxic.

Image Source: Pexels

The mummy had been suffering from hepatitis B, which left smallpox-like marks

A team of researchers from McMaster University in Canada made a big discovery with the help of a 16^th century mummy. This belonged to a two-year-old child who was initially believed to have been suffering from smallpox. However, they decided to perform a genetic analysis and discovered the actual cause of death was hepatitis B. This proves the disease has been around for more centuries than we thought.

The mummy had actually died of hepatitis B

The child must have died sometime around 1569, and was found buried in Naples, Italy, in the Basilica of Saint Domenico Maggiore. Researchers discovered the mummy between 1983 and 1983, and saw it was covered in some strange marks which resembled smallpox. After studying the marks, they discovered traces of smallpox particles in them, so they assumed this was the cause of death.

These findings were important for establishing the evolution of smallpox throughout time. Researchers couldn’t tell how early the disease appeared, and this would have been the oldest evidence of its presence in the Medieval world. However, it turned out it wasn’t actually smallpox that killed the boy.

Hepatitis B left marks on the body similar to those of smallpox

This wasn’t the only disease which could leave blister marks on a person. Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver but, if small children contract it, they are left with similar marks on the face, legs, arms, and bottom. On all these areas, the mummy showed blisters.

To solve the mystery, researchers collected samples from the skin and bones of the mummy and performed a genetic analysis on them. This way, they reconstructed the genome of the disease which killed the boy. The result wasn’t smallpox, but hepatitis B.

They also performed an advanced type of electron microscopy, and what they found didn’t resemble none of the viruses they were looking for. This way, they concluded that, during mummification, the virus might have been altered and took an unrecognizable form. Also, this explains why they mistook the virus for Variola at first (the virus that causes smallpox).

The study was published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
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A probiotic might ease colic in newborns who are exclusively breastfed

The most horrible nightmare for all new parents is the mysterious affliction called colic, which causes babies to suffer sudden and intense fits of crying which won’t end for a few hours. Although there are plenty of treatments available on the market, there’s no proof they are actually effective, since the real cause of the condition is unknown. Now, researchers have discovered one option which might really work.

Colic doesn’t seem to have a medical explanation

A recent study managed to collect plenty of evidence that a probiotic is the secret to end the colic nightmare. The probiotic is called Lactobacillus reuteri, and was already commercialized as a treatment. Now, it turns out it is really working.

During previous studies, researchers doubted the efficacy of the probiotic. However, for this new paper, researchers investigated four trials documenting the cases 345 babies with colic. These trials took place in four different countries, namely Canada, Poland, Australia, and Italy, and documented the use and effects of Lactobacillus reuteri.

The trials reached more conclusions, but researchers took the data they collected and analyzed it separately. This is how they observed the probiotic could combat colic in those babies who were only breastfed. These infants had double the chances to cut their fits of crying by 50 percent.

The treatment is effective for breastfed babies

However, the studies had few data on the formula fed babies, so there’s not enough evidence to prove the probiotic works universally. This prevents the scientists from guaranteeing this method as the best, since mothers who don’t breastfeed their babies might face difficulties in treating their colic when administering them Lactobacillus reuteri.

However, they advise parents to go see a pediatrician if their baby’s colic doesn’t seem to end. In many cases, the crying might have a medical cause, which usually needs a customized treatment to work. However, even this potential option is worth trying when your baby won’t stop crying for hours.

The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
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The new guidelines inform people on how to split their daily calories

The health authorities in England want to help people regain their silhouettes after these holidays, and start the new year in better health. They knew the secret to a better physical condition lay in the calories consumed daily by people, so they decided to release some new dietary guidelines which were more at their benefit.

The campaign informs people on how to consume their daily calories

This campaign is developed by Public Health England, and it should be presented starting March 2018. The officials decided to modify the eating guidelines after they discovered people ate between 200 and 300 calories more than they should.

There is a certain number of calories people should consume per day to assure their well-being. This recommended number is 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men, and this won’t change. However, they should be consumed after a stricter pattern during each meal, and the new guidelines will deal with a better management of these calories.

Therefore, the campaign will split the calories as such: 400-600-600. This means people should consume 400 during breakfast, and 600 during both lunch and dinner. If people stick to this eating schedule, they are less likely to consume more than they should. This means they can get better at preserving their health and physical condition.

This is an attempt to reduce obesity rates

You have probably observed that, if you put together all these calories, there’s still room for some more until you reach the recommended daily intake. This means the campaign has taken into account drinks and snacks you are allowed to consume during the day, so that you won’t disturb your metabolism.

This campaign is a new attempt to reduce obesity rates. First of all, this has led to huge healthcare costs, which can definitely be avoided. Then, the condition can ease the development of type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.
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