The Medical Thread

Wait, are we talking about space travel or time travel? There are very different considerations when discussing this topic.

EDIT: Okay, I'll assume that we're talking about viruses here. I'm not that good with speculative fiction, but in order for a space virus to infect humans, I'm assuming it has to be carbon-based life with nucleic acids compatible with life on Earth, or it's not getting anywhere.

edited 25th May '16 8:28:56 AM by Pyrite

My understanding of common viruses, such as the cold or flu, is that they have multiple common variations, and the biggest epidemics have been when one of the uncommon variations hit a population ... after which they become one of the common variations. The so-called "Spanish Flu" was one example.

That said, if you have someone going back in time, it is probable that the modern people would end up causing at least a mid-level outbreak because the mutations that are common to us are probably not the same ones common to whenever they're going. The reverse is also true, but unlike anyone from pre-1950s, we could come up with vaccines and have quarantine procedures worked out to stop a virus from the past from causing too much havok in the modern day.

The biggest problem for a time traveler would be diseases that we don't normally encounter, like cholera, tuberculosis, smallpox ... cholera had a horrendous death rate.

A downside of modern-day technology is that with advances in travel, it's become much, much easier to achieve widespread dissemination of infectious diseases - there's always a lag time for setting up quarantine procedures and producing vaccines.

I've never considered that. That's a good point.

Today I've seen the first time HeLa cells in a laboratory.

It is somewhat impressing how far that cell line has gone since 1951, starting from a cervical cancer. 20 tons or so of them have been developed in total, from what I know. And all the major research and use that has gone into a cell line of such questionable origin.

So I came across the Wikipedia article for the often-mentioned "abdominals" or "abs" (formal name: rectus abdominis muscles), and it says that rarely one could be born with ten separate abs instead of the typical eight (of which usually only six are visible after intensive training, thus the commonality of "six packs" and the coveted rarity of "eight packs"). Does this mean that it is possible to have a "ten pack"? And assuming that it's a rare genetic mutation that adds this additional separation to the muscle group, are there any actual consequences upon one's anatomy/physiology for having this?

Dunno. Wouldn't be too weird. Probably wouldn't confer any advantage either because it just means that you've got an extra band of fascia, not more muscle or something.

But the kind of fascia that the linea alba (the structures that do the actual separation of the rectus abdominis muscle into groups) belong to do have a function: They reduce the friction of muscular force and absorb energy... though I have no idea how that benefits the body.

edited 3rd Jun '16 7:15:23 AM by MarqFJA

@Septimus: Was it as contamination or part of the actual work you were doing?

Actual work, not as a contamination. We were trying to transfect it with Cas 9 but it seems incubation time was too short.

I'll admit it's somewhat scary to be working with live cancer cells.

It's not like it's contagious.

Cancers being transmitted as a contagion are a thing. See the Tasmanian devil facial tumour, a canine venereal tumour, sporadic incidents in humans. Never mind virus or bacteria mediated ones. Besides, a cancer only becomes contagious after it's been transmitted at least once - it always needs that "first time".

A question: how bad are the odds of someone, who has not access to modern medicine, surviving a couple stabs in the gut? One of the answers to this Quora topic says that the blade could push the bowels around and slide in between without perforating them (which I reckon would likely cause a deadly infection), how likely is that to happen?

Heavily depends on the stabbing weapon. If it is a piercing weapon, it has a far greater chance of not critically damaging any internal organs and will heal fast. If the weapon is rusty, wet and not been cleaned, you're dead.

I see how the weapon being rusty or dirty would be a problem, but wet?

Water is more likely to harbor bacteria, and therefore leave that foreign bacteria in your abdomen, where it can multiply and cause a deadly infection.

At least, that's my thinking.

A wet surface is far more likely to have large amounts of stuff growing on it. Dry surfaces usually have mostly dormant structures. The dormant forms can last a long time, but they are less dangerous.

I've woken up today with an unexpected powerful case of vertigo that persists until now (i.e. about 10 hours at the moment), which was accompanied by occasional nausea that caused me to dry heave within 2-3 hours of waking up. The symptoms go down considerably when I lie down, but even sitting up was practically impossible to maintain since my brain feels like it's about to fall out of my skull in such a posture. By now it's become manageable after getting some bits of food down my throat (which makes me suspect that my Ramadhan fasting exacerbated the problem), especially after getting the appropiate medicine from the pharmacy, though I will still have to check in with a doctor after the weekend finishes.

In the meantime, can any of you enlighten me on what could cause such symptoms so abruptly? I swear I didn't feel anything wrong when I went to sleep last night, nor over the past week. My mom — who is a doctor, though a hematologist (albeit with a rather wide breadth of medical knowledge and experience beyond her chosen field) — suspects a problem with my inner ears since they're what controls my sense of balance, and issues with their functioning can lead to motion-sickness, which is pretty much the best fit for what I'm suffering right now. It doesn't explain how I could go to sleep perfectly fine and then wake up about 8 hours later to find myself in such a bad shape, though.

edited 10th Jun '16 3:39:24 PM by MarqFJA

I am thinking a rupture of the inner ear but this is a case where I say: Formal medical consultation is preferred.

Damage to the inner ear would be my first guess. Nothing creates vertigo like it—unless you recently moved to a space station?

The worst vertigo I ever got was right before a particularly nasty cold. Although it wasn't close to what you are describing. Such a source of vertigo is easily checked. You will be running a very high fever if this is the case.

Yawning can sometimes temporarily relieve vertigo, as well as properly hydrating and eating high energy foods.

Can such an injury happen without pain? Because while at one point I did realize that I am feeling something wrong with my inner ears, the worst that I felt at the time I could only roughly describe as similar to the throb of a swelling or bruise (i.e. not intense enough that would suggest major damage, IMO; Mom says it could be the organ in question is "just" inflammated due to some sort of infection), and that went away long before we got the medication that finally took the worst of the remaining vertigo away.

And yes, I am planning to seek professional medical attention ASAP. Unfortunately, none is available on the weekends, so I'll have to wait until Sunday.

I have been drinking plenty of water over the past few days whenever I can, since I'm fasting for Ramadhan and I have no intention of accidentally suffering dehydration in the middle of the day from eating too much salty food and drinking too little water.

You could have a virus that otherwise doesn't show itself much, even though it's putting strain on your system. But, the fasting might be prompting it to make your life hell.

Whatever's up, if regular meals help minimise the problem, you might have to break Ramadan for health reasons. Which, is permissible, you know.

You'll need that check up: could be heart, inner ear, virus... there's a list.

edited 11th Jun '16 4:02:33 PM by Euodiachloris

Woke up today with absolute no negative symptoms whatsoever. The medication should've been washed out of my system by that time, and if it wasn't, it definitely did by the time iftar came around. Weirded me out to the point that I could barely believe I suffered so horribly the previous day.

And for the record, I couldn't even stomach eating an actual meal until the worst of the vertigo went down; when I said morsels, I literally meant morsels, in the form of three measly dates (along with a bit of water).

Also, do note that I haven't suffered any negative symptoms from the previous days of fasting; everything just crashed down on me all at once yesterday from left field.

Still going to book a hospital appointment ASAP, though; I do not like at all not knowing why and how this had happened, and neither my mom does.

edited 11th Jun '16 6:07:20 PM by MarqFJA

Does it matter what time you sleep whether it is night or day?

It will affect your mood, but that can be fixed with vitamin D pills and fluorescent lights.