Did you know? by M-W

In 1797, Swiss distiller Henri-Louis Pernod was the first to commercially produce an alcoholic drink from the bitter herb Artemisia absinthium, known commonly as wormwood. By the mid-to-late 1800s this bright green distillation, by then known in both French and English as “absinthe,” had become wildly popular, especially among artists and writers, but it also had a reputation for making people a little wild. In fact, it was linked to several nasty disorders, including convulsions and foaming at the mouth. The accused culprit? A toxin in wormwood — perhaps the very chemical that gives the plant its tapeworm-exterminating properties (and thus its name). Because of these reported side effects of wormwood, true absinthe was banned in many countries (including the U.S.) in the early 1900s, but that didn’t remove the taste for the drink. Wormwood’s name was later cleared (the real culprit turned out to be the drink’s high alcohol content) and the absinthe ban was lifted in the U.S. in 2007.

Jury Duty

Did you know? Jurors get paid $40/day for jury summons. I was going to go in the capacity of a trial juror (versus grand juror) and in civil court (versus criminal court). However, I got dismissal papers after being on one panel. The papers? Four years of no-need-for-jury-duty-and-if-they-try-to-get-me-I-can-just-show-them-the-papers-and-boo-hoo-for-them. No, it’s not five years. No, it’s not six years. Of course, this is in New York, Queens County, so I don’t know about the rest of y’all. All in all, the experience wasn’t as horrifyingly dull and boring as most of my friends painted. Then again, there are different courthouses and they may just have been going to the wrong ones 😉 Mine? We had movies on. And A.C.! What could be better? Oh yeah, and a halal food stand outside 😀

Sad Example of Commotio Cordis

A headline reads: “13-year-old killed by pitch in Arizona Little League game“. Why? Commotio cordis: a hit directly over the heart that alters the rhythm and, in the worst case, stops the heart. It’s weird one can forget how dangerous sports could be. Maybe it’s all those sports games you can play on Wii. But you… I mean, I… I definitely didn’t think about the implications of children playing sports… I mean, sure, there’s bound to be a few scrapes here and there but death? It completely jars me out of my cozy niche of fantasy.

Most Common Hereditary Bleeding Disorder

On one of my previous posts, I put up some info on ITP. Hmm this is becoming a chain letter (see aforementioned previous post). Anywayz… That previous post was inspiration [aka I stumbled on] the most commmon hereditary bleeding disorder: von Willebrand Disease (VWD). Since I am lazy (as most of you prolly already know since 1. I’m tapering off on my vigilant daily postings and 2. I always seem to have a dozen links in one post and 3. so many of my words are taken directly from the aforementioned links) here’s something from the link:

Von Willebrand disease is caused by a deficiency of von Willebrand factor. Von Willebrand factor helps blood platelets clump together and stick to the blood vessel wall, which is necessary for normal blood clotting. There are several types of Von Willebrand disease.

Von Willebrand disease affects men and women equally. Most cases are mild. Bleeding may occur after surgery or when you have a tooth pulled. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can make this condition worse. Bleeding may decrease during pregnancy.

A family history of a bleeding disorder is the primary risk factor. In women with heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding, von Willebrand is more common in Caucasian women than in African American women. The majority of women with heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding do NOT have Von Willebrand disease.

I was going to point out, Hey! no wonder the dentist asked if I was on any meds before pulling my wisdom teeth out! 😀

Since I’m interested in the drugs of treatment, the site says desamino-8-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) helps in certain types of VWD in raising the concentration of von Willebrand factor. Some may be given Alphanate (antihemophilic factor) prior to [invasive] surgical procedures to reduce the bleeding during said invasive surgical procedure (no brackets this time…. I mean, what are surgical procedures if not invasive?) Oh! Others may be given blood plasma or certain factor VIII preps to reduce bleeding as well!