A curious case of Lazarus Syndrome

Mr Wilkinson was pronounced dead by staff at the Royal Preston Hospital on February 1.
But 30 minutes after he was given the Last Rites doctors realised that his pulse had returned. He survived for two days before being pronounced dead a second time.
An inquest in the city heard that his return to life was known as Lazarus Syndrome - the spontaneous return of circulation once attempts at resuscitation have failed.
The syndrome takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. There are only 38 recorded cases in the world.
John Whittaker, a consultant at the Royal Preston's accident and emergency department, said it was "not a small thing" to pronounce a patient dead. "You make absolutely certain," he added.
In Mr Wilkinson's case medical staff had worked on him for 15 minutes before acknowledging that there was nothing more they could do to help him.
Mr Whittaker told the hearing: "There is a phenomenon known as Lazarus Syndrome. It is incredibly rare - there have only been 38 cases of this ever in the world."
He said that the patient's pulse had returned as a result of the drugs he had been administered.
Mr Wilkinson, a roofer, was pronounced dead a second time on February 3.

And the reason I posted this curious case is because a similar thing happened to a friend of mine who lost her 27 year old daughter suddenly to an allergic reaction. When the daughter was pronounced dead, the hospital administered a drug to help preserve her organs for she was to be a donor. The same thing happened though---within an hour, her heart started beating again. My poor friend--she had to sit around and wait for her daughter to die, again.

Wouldn't wish that on anybody!!

Organ Donor Dolls

These dolls are all heart - and lungs, eyeballs and brains. David Foox, an artist based in Denver, Colorado, has created a collection of organ donor dolls

I like normal heads on my dolls but they are kind of cute.

Is that a kidney?

Man swallows scissors

Chinese surgeons saved a man's life after he accidentally swallowed a pair of nail scissors he was using to clean his teeth.
These are the astonishing X-rays that show how surgeons saved a man's life after he cut his throat with a pair of scissors - from the inside.

Lin Kong had borrowed a four-inch-long pair of nail scissors to use instead of a toothpick to clean his teeth after a meal.
But as one of his friends told a joke, the 27-year-old laughed and swallowed the clippers.
As he tried to cough up the scissors, the points, which were facing upwards, dug deeper into his throat, causing serious damage.

Guess there are worse things you can clean your teeth with (steak knife).

Kells Well found

I think I have found the actual Kell Well. 5 km outside Kells, Ireland is Ciaran's Well. It seemingly has some mysterious power:From the Kells, Ireland, On-line website:

Different areas of the well have different curative powers. Drinking the water, as above, is said to heal ailments of the throat. Lower down the stream, the water is said to cure problems with the feet and ankles. Elsewhere there is a stream for healing backs.

I think we could claim the patent on this water...

Best Online Hangover Cure

ALCOHOL ßG KILLER®;

premium refreshing non-alcoholic beverage,8.4-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24)FREE AK™ T-shirt

Regular price: $99.98
Sale price: $74.99

Product Description: non-alcoholic premium beverage with a refreshing citrus taste, AK™ contains a unique blend of high-quality natural ingredients, and spring water from the Austrian Alps. The great taste and natural ingredients make AK™ a popular daily beverage for refreshment, as well as an effective remedy for hangovers.

I wouldn't count on being able to find this in the local convenient store and if you don't have time to send for this product, I would suggest large amounts of water, eating fatty foods before drinking, and lots of sleep or just stay home and watch movies tonight.

www.alcoholkillerstore.com

Another use for your hardhat

Ah, the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...an American tradition...

but bring your 'space junk' hardhat with you here, for balloons and other parade things are always falling, dropping, getting wrapped around, swinging through windows and you name it. Here are just a few recent examples:

In 1986, there were two incidents: a 61-year-old bagpiper had a fatal heart attack while marching in the parade, and a spectator fell out the fourth story window he was watching from and landed on someone below.

In 2006, two sisters were attacked by M&Ms. The ropes of the 515-pound balloon promoting the tasty chocolate morsels got caught up on – yes – a lamppost. Neither of the girls were hurt too badly – just some minor scrapes and bruises. In exchange for their ordeal, they received V.I.P. seats in the grandstand and a lifetime supply of M&Ms (that’s 384 packets every year, in case you’re curious).

I guess the good thing is if you get flattened by the Miss Piggy balloon you may get free pork chops for life. The bad thing...it's hard to eat without a digestive system. For more parade incidents: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20362#more-20362

GoodSearch

GoodSearch.com (the bar just below the Kell Well header) is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up! Just click on the button and you will be taken right to the search engine... A high school friend whose son suffers from a disease called UMDF sent me this. I will use this search engine now and will donate to his cause but you can choose any cause.
GoodShop.com (added near the end of the sidebar) is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause.
Once you are on http://www.goodsearch.com/ be sure to enter [a charity] as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!

My Grizzly Bear Friends

While I'm on the subject of bears, I found this on CNN:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The majestic grizzly bear, once king of the Western wilderness but threatened with extinction for a third of a century, has roared back in Montana.

The finding, from a $4.8 million, five-year study of grizzly bear DNA criticized by Republican presidential candidate John McCain as pork barrel spending, could help ease restrictions on oil and gas drilling, logging and other development. How ironic...

McCain, in stump speeches and in an advertisement earlier this year, erroneously said the study cost $3 million, adding "I don't know if it was a paternity issue or criminal, but it was a waste of money."
The study was backed by Montana ranchers, farmers and Republican leaders as a step toward taking the species off the endangered species list. Since 1975, the bear has been threatened in the lower 48 states, a status that bars hunting and restricts any kind of development that could diminish the bear's population.
"If it is going to remove it from the list, it is money well spent," said former Montana Gov. Judy Martz, a Republican, McCain supporter, and backer of the research. When asked about McCain's stance, Martz said "unless you live among these issues it is pretty hard to understand what is going on."
Former Sen. Conrad Burns, the chairman of McCain's campaign in Montana, helped secure the funding. It was paid in part through add-ons to the U.S. Geological Survey budget, and a $1.1 million earmark for the Forest Service in 2004.

I guess the true irony about the whole bear issue, specifically the polar bear, is that the Alaskan government (who is suing the National government because they put the polar bear on the endangered species list), will need an earmark to study the creature in order to get it OFF the endangered list so oil drilling can be expanded. Maybe this time the earmark will not be considered pork barrel spending. The polar bear is also on another list. A list that is only looked at or maybe noted by a diabetic or someone who watches someone shoot themselves up with insulin four times a day in order to stay alive (that would be me). For some reason, the female polar bear is resistant to diabetes. Studies are needed to research this resistance and maybe someday that research can be applied to humans...

Dutch smoking ban?

From the BBC:

For years locals and tourists have been coming here to relax in easy chairs, roll up a joint and lose a few hours as they take advantage of Amsterdam's famously relaxed approach to marijuana.
But now, there is a cloud on the horizon. From Tuesday 1 July, the Dutch will impose a nationwide ban on smoking tobacco in cafes, bars and restaurants - meaning any joints rolled using tobacco will be illegal.
Strictly speaking, marijuana is illegal as well - but it is tolerated. So, perhaps oddly, the smoking of pure grass or hash will still be allowed.

Note to Iowans: looks like the Dutch imposed the same smoking bans on July 1st but appears the ban is only on Tobacco and not on Cannabis. Obviously, in the states, a ban on Cannabis already exists but the similarity of these two cases is the general greed of the government:

You can still smoke in casinos in Iowa-the government doesn't want to jeopardize the income they produce for the state.

In Amsterdam-the government is who sells the cannabis sales permits to the coffeehouses and then taxes their income by about 45% and I'm going to tell you this cause I've been there-the vast majority of the tourists to Amsterdam are not there for the tulips and windmills they are there because of the tolerance (not legality) of cannabis.

In other words, governments are pretty much the same wherever you go: they say they want to impose laws that protect our health but really... is smoking in a casino safer than smoking in your farm building? I guess as much as cannabis is safer than tabacco...

Exploding Head Syndrome

The little factoid in the sidebar today says that 'exploding head syndrome' is an actual medical condition that most people haven't heard of. How many times have we all said, "my head is going to explode?" I say it at least once a week when I'm making out my work schedule but didn't think it had actually been documented. I had to search 'the' Google for this answer...

People with this condition describe a terrifyingly loud noise — often described as a bang — that lasts only a moment and doesn't occur with headache or other pain.
Exploding head syndrome occurs most often in adults older than age 50. The cause isn't clear. But it may be due to a delay in the "switching off" of some of the brain-alerting pathways, which normally occurs as sleep begins. Attacks may occur only once or with varying frequency for weeks or months and then stop, sometimes permanently.

I certainly haven't experienced this and I think the name is a little deceptive. I like 'I just heard a terrifyingly loud noise syndrome.'

Don't worry, be happy

I first visited this website years ago. It's got some neat things on it. It was designed, after typing in a small amount of info about yourself, to tell you when you were going to die. After rearranging my info many times (to see what I would have to do to live longer), I found that the simple answer was to be optimistic. I think I can handle that. Actually, your attitude matters more than if you are a smoker or not. You can also figure your BMI (body mass index) and has a very large catalog of how famous people died.

http://www.deathclock.com/

Note: figure your BMI first. If you are in the obese category, don't continue. Go to weightwatchers.com and return to the deathclock when your BMI is normal.