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The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows

blogs.scientificamerican.com

131–133 of 133 posts

Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows

#131
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lucky you. I've had injections into my eyeball every few years due to a retina issue. Imagine a metal clip holding your eyelid open, and watching the tip of a hypodermic needle approaching your eyeball, held by an older ophthalmologist with shaky hands.

You don't ask your friends if that's normal, and never go back to that eye doctor?

Funny you mention that... He was the fourth ophthalmologist I went to complaining of difficulty seeing. The first three recommended reading glasses.

He, the fourth, was the only one that had me look at an Amsler Grid whereupon, for the first time, I realized my vision in one eye was completely warped. Turned out I had a big blister, more or less, behind my retina.

So, is he old with shaky hands? Yes. But, better an old shaky-handed doctor who knows what the hell he's doing than a young steady-handed doctor who knows nothing.

Pars Planitis is what it's called by the way. A shot of steroid into the back of the eyeball and the swelling -- and distorted visions -- disappears for 6 to 18 months. (You don't want to know how you get a needle into the BACK of the eyeball.... suffice to say, the shaky-handed doctor grabs your eyeball, rotates the shit out of it until you are staring into your own brain, and then jabs you with the needle... all the while saying comforting things like, "Don't move or you might go blind.")

Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows

#132
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a great idea, to have sleep deprived surgeons. Really, the legal limit should be much less than that for safety reasons alone (patient safety, not surgeon safety).

Part of the problem apart from handover (which wouldn't typically affect surgeons ), is the level of complexity. Much of the idea of the modern surgical training (and many other fields) is that the only way of learning well enough is to do, as much as possible. So we push surgeons to carry out as many surgeries as humanly possible. Whether we have the balance right in terms of maximizing repetition vs. minimizing mis…

The grueling schedule of medical students is the result of a coke fueled dean about a hundred years ago.

The airline industry was forced to stop pushing people so hard, the medical profession should do the same.

Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows

#133
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's not the surgery, it's that the surgery was required due to gum disease

Right - I understand that. I'm asking why you would assume that gum disease caused Alzheimer's since it appears that CURING it directly preceded the Alzheimer's.

Because pulling all teeth is a sign that you had life-long problems with infections in the mouth area.
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