Dispensary Corner 17 May 10
May 17, 2010
A SKINNY-DIPPING tourist in
New Zealand paid a high price
recently after a venomous spider
bit him on the penis.
The incident, reported in the
NZ Medical Journal, happened
when the 22-year-old from
Canada left his clothes on the
beach when he went for a nude
swim and then lay on the sand for
a snooze afterwards.
“He woke to find his penis
swollen and painful with a red
mark on the shaft suggestive of a
bite,” the article says.
Doctors said the man was bitten
by a Katipo spider, which live in a
“highly specialised habitat” in
NZ’s sand dunes.
He recovered quickly after being
given anti-venom in hospital.
A WOMAN in the US has been
charged with theft after leaving a
hospital with a heart monitor still
attached.
Police said that patient Wendi
Mingus was fitted with a wireless
heart monitor when she left her
ward and walked outside to have
a cigarette.
Staff told her she couldn’t go
outside to smoke unless she had
been discharged, so Mingus just
kept walking.
THE genetic makeup of the
people of Tibet may contribute to
their ability to live at high altitude,
according to researchers at the
University of Utah in the USA.
The study, reported in the
Science journal, found 10 genes
unique to the Tibetan people
including two linked to lower
levels of haemoglobin - meaning
they suffer less incidence of
altitude sickness which is
characterised by high red blood
cell counts.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 17 May 10To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 17 May 10
