Why the Love? Every one has a reason for loving something. Mine was that it was the only thing I had. That one sure thing. I loved it because I had nothing, and it cost me nothing. At times I had no idea what was going to happen to me, or where I was going to be. The shore is ...more
In this tutorial, Sarah Sheppard teaches us how to conduct a closed suction procedure. First, wash your hands, apply gloves, and identify yourself to the patient. Now, you will do vital signs such as, heart rate, respiratory rate, and lung sounds. After this, check the suction ...more
How to produce strange noises using your mouth and throat. Guttural Noises Guttural noises are a staple of making people avoid you by imitating animals, aliens, and other such things. The main idea here is to use your throat and lots of mucus to produce variations of a sort ...more
It's a rare person who enjoys swallowing pills—and equally rare to find those who can toss a pill back easily and effortlessly without gulps of water and coughs. The transition from liquid medicine to pills, tablets, and capsules can be a rough one, and some of us still strugg ...more
Sometimes I forget that I'm also a fiction writer, so I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share one of my stories with you. I wrote this piece awhile ago for an anthology that never came together and I'm tired of just sitting on it. It's one of the more odd stories ...more
Remember Willy Wonka's magical gum? Wonka promised the flavors of tomato soup, roast beef, baked potato, blueberry pie and ice cream. As the avid gum lover Violet Beauregarde tested it out, she exclaimed: “It’s hot and creamy, I can actually feel? it running down my throat!” U ...more
What's in a sneeze? Quite a lot—dirt, mucus, and infectious germs—it seems. And sneezing the right way can reduce the germs you share with neighbors. It's just a sneeze right? Everybody sneezes. So if you share a few germs when you are sick (or not sick), it's not such a terr ...more
How can bacteria that lives in the throat of 10%–35% of people—without causing an infection—cause life-threatening meningitis and sepsis in others? A new study published in the journal PLOS Pathogens by scientists from Stockholm University in Sweden, led by Sara Sigurlásdótti ...more
A state of emergency has been declared in Malaysia's northeastern Kelantan state after an outbreak of avian influenza virus H5N1. The Kelantan state's government acknowledged the emergency after H5N1 was identified in 28 locations in six districts. Authorities disposed of 33, ...more
Could your fever, body aches, cough, and sore throat be the flu? Soon, finding out may not involve a trip to the doctor. Right now, diagnosing the flu is something done at your doctor's office or hospital and involves a gag-inducing brushing inside your nose to collect cells ...more
The ability of one microbe to adapt is giving it a whole new career as a sexually transmitted disease. Usually content with the back of the throat and nose of those who carry it, the dangerous pathogen Neisseria meningitidis has adapted to cause an illness that looks a lot lik ...more
Many people deal with motion sickness on a daily basis, and if you're reading this, chances are you're one of them. Kinetosis can make your stomach roll, your entire body sweat, and make you feel fatigued and dizzy at even the slightest movement, whether it's related to carsic ...more
When a stuffy nose hits, it feels like breathing clearly and easily may never come again. Allergies, colds, and even changes in weather can leave our sinuses blocked, with medicine seeming like the only option. But don't break out the medication just yet — relieving the pressu ...more
The beauty of southern Europe won't protect it from invasions of disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes—in fact, the Mediterranean climate and landscape may be part of the reason the bloodsuckers are expanding there, bringing unique and terrifying diseases in their wake. Arthr ...more