What Doesn't Kill You..

What doesn't kill you might not make you stronger.

It might just be waiting to kill you later on.

At least that's what happens with thrombosis and thromboembolism.

At any rate, the person would be toast. Or was that ptosed?

Say NO To Bacteria!

Isn't it ironic the stuff that helps in reproduction (more specifically the thing that causes things to rise to the occasion) is also the same thing that might kill you?

Or maybe it's not that ironic after all.

End of Pharmacy As We Know It?

Now THIS is the stuff that young boys with fertile imaginations and the health sector have in common!

ZAP! And you're free of that pesky virus..

Wonder if it will work by the time the workforce is hiring me.


[That's it! Rest time is OVER! RAWR!]

A Treatise on the General Effects of Demasculinisation or Feminisation of a Male Secondary to Chronic Ingestion of Harmful Levels of Alcohol: Excerpt

"Here the doc is palpating for the breast tissue. See? This confirms that this man has gynaecomastia."

"Man-boobs?"

"We prefer gynaecomastia."

____________________________

"And there he is..palpating..the other side? Hmmm..I guess that's to confirm it again.."

"-_-" Yeah, riiight.."

What does the future hold?

Geriatrics is depressing.

No wonder those in the health services and the elderly are at increased risk of depression. (Actually, the elderly will be at greater risk of dementia than depression in a few years time.)

Imagine, for the vast majority of people, the last few years of life (no matter when you die) will probably be wrought with a host of disabilities and impairments. And the only thing you can do for now is to delay the onset of the symptoms so that they are compressed within a shorter time frame.

Old folks without family support would probably end up in residential aged care centres, places that are like hostels. Imagine that! Living in a hostel for the rest of your twilight life! Curfew after a certain time, meals at fixed times at the canteen, no wandering out without supervision, no customisation of rooms, no more than 12 books in the room etc. There's a host lot more of restrictions believe me. Heck, even the old hall was better than this! At least you get lots of friends, plenty of jacking sessions (thanks CY for all the fun you provided =p), freedom to eat what you like whenever whereever you like (provided you're willing to go out and splurge a little..meaning if you're not YTH wahaha).

By the age of 80, $5000 is spent on average per elderly person per year. And that's just hospital costs alone! About a quarter of that amount is spent in addition for medication.

And there's this thing about frailty. A case of "reduced redundancy". Well, sounds good when you put it that way, but it just means your body is less equipped to upkeep itself properly. Anything from dehydration to a slight bout of flu would be enough to push you over the edge, to the point where you can't even move around on your own.

And yeah, although it might seem like a wonderful fantasy where a nurse helps to bathe you and feed you, I don't think it would seem all that fun when it has to be done everyday, for the rest of your life. No sirree..

And supposedly, there's some pros if you manage to transition from young and pimply to old and wrinkly. Please do tell me what they are if you do find out.



"40 is the old age of youth, 50 is the youth of old age."

French Proverb

"60 is the new 30!"

Some random comic character which for the life of me I can't remember who it is right now.

*launches into dementia*

Huh? What?

Most of the people I know who were from Malaysia should know this phrase that I'm about to talk about.
And most consider it rude.
Or vulgar.
So imagine my surprise when the speaker today started talking about it. Him, a respected cardiovascular interventionist, saying..

CCB

Yup, CCB.
Yes, many medical students are actually quite profane. I've known quite a few. And they make others who say things like "let's ... to achieve eternity" sound like little children. Yes, I'm talking about you! You know who you are..hahas..

CCB indeed.

Until he clarified. It was Calcium Channel Blockers.

Ah, of course! Calcium Channel Blockers. Silly me..

NSAIDs

Another post about these things called Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.
A type of non-narcotica painkiller, if you will. Not an aid package for those who are in NS.
Hard to imagine something so beautiful could cause things so ugly.
Like to miss the shot at gold.
Or increase the risk of getting renal failure.
Or just plain allergies.
That's crystals of aspirin, by the way. Acetyl salicylic acid.
But that's just the way of Nature. Beautiful, yet with far-reaching and devastating consequences. Just like some things in life, where behind the mask of beauty and wonders, lie so many ugly and dangerous things.
Like ancient Chinese proverb says, "The dagger hidden under the coverings of the bed."
Or "The kris behind the smile"
Or "The serrated barb on the tail of the stingray."
Did you know some cultures refer to the ray as the devil-fish? Interesting..and slightly ironic, since some of its smaller cousins have ended up as a nice plate of ikan bakar. Quite delicious I assure you, provided that the hawker knows how to whip up a nice spicy and sour-ish sauce that quite drowns the ray.
Ah, but I digress.
We were talking about the salicylate group. It's not some big multinational corporation, just a group of drugs, some of which are actually toxic to the body. In fact, most are toxic to the body, it just depends on the dosage that is used. Hahas..but it's interesting to note how such a humble group has radically influenced us all, from providing school labs all over the world standard experiments to synthesise drugs [providing great fun for kids, not to mention laborously long lab reports for older kids], to providing the world with a wonder drug, capable of reducing pain as well as a host of benefits like reducing risk for heart attacks, colon cancer and many many other things!
So much so that some people say that "an aspirin a day keeps the doctor away."
Haha..we'll see about that.

In any case, here's a skew line moment. Somebody told me that "the guy in red has such a figure! He seems to be the only one that remotely looks like a girl."
A great compliment, I would say! =p
What's the link you ask? None.
That's why it's a skew line moment. Doi!

Pre-anniversary post..

I just discovered the reason for the discrepancy between the blogger dashboard and the archive section. Somewhere near the beginnings of this blog, a transcription error caused a duplicate entry to emerge from the murky depths of this scribe. Haha..Whatever~
So, now this will be the pre-100th post..must make the best of it..
Went to this bookstore opposite KL GH. MMMC hardgay was the first to bring this to my limited and blur attention. According to him the prices there was quite reasonable. So, there I went with my dad. Before we left, my mother asked me to look out for a teaching book there.
Which sadly to say [or, rather this strikes me as being quite funny now] it was not there. The reason? "Kamal's MEDICAL Bookstore". That was the name of the bookstore. Sigh~
Anyway, according to the previous generation, this store has been around since their time. And it still looks exactly the same! Which is to say, small, cramped and totally old. In fact, it's not a bad thing. Shows how good the business is. Man, I'd really like to run such a store too..where you don't even need to improve or renovate anything since the business just keeps pouring in. In fact, if this keeps up it'll really get a "rustic old charm" look that buildings such as the Coliseum or the Colosseum acquire. =p
Anyway, about business..I estimate they sold at least rm1000 worth of books in the short time I was in the store. Which would roughly make their daily takings somewhere in the region of rm15000. Easily the amount a moderately good specialist earns! Man, I might just give up on university and buy a share in that store =)
But I can't..
Cause..
I got me Moore..
It's one of the 2 textbooks that I got! Haha..The other is Guyton..
So these 2 books are there as a constant reminder to give up on the pigging and concentrate! Like what is shown before any Tenchu match starts: "Focus!" Complete with flames..haha..
But why did I choose moore and not snell? Maybe because there's More nice pictures? Haha..but I think that Moore has a better layout compared to Snell. No offense Snell, but your layout is not exactly the best. Had to flip back and forth whenever I wanted to refer to things. Hope I'll have a moore good experience with Moore. Lolz..
Anyway, the reminders are coming on strong! Time to hit the books, before I hit the sack..
As my friend said, hopefully I won't be hitting the wall [long-piak]
Or writing 38, Ward B, Tg. Rambutan as my new address..


MUG MUG MUG!

童话 (Fairy Tale)

Once upon a time, in a land that mappers nearly forgot [oh, they did end up putting a small red dot in the end], there once lived an unusual creature. Its origins are still shrouded in mystery til this day, and none know how it came about to be. Nevertheless, this creature was constantly reminding others of its presence simply by virtue of being there. Ah yes, also since it also kept spewing forth an infectious blend of substances, collectively known jokus lamus, or in layman's terms the "Lame Jokes". Through thorough examination and observation of the victi--, er, I mean the interaction subjects, it can be concluded that this particular jokus is a particularly infectious form of disease. All that is required is a living vector that is able to possess locomotion, particularly the ability to generate audible coherant sound waves, and any form of stimulus that will result in the vector to open its mouth. Once these requirements are met, all subjects within listening radius would instantly be infected. This, in itself, is really scary. Just take a moment to reflect on this. The Spanish bird flu which wiped out millions in the early 20th century could only be passed by physical methods, such as eating infected chickens or through the particulate that is ejected from infected individuals when they sneeze. Now, imagine the jokus lamus, which is transmitted through sound waves! If but 1 infected individual got hold of the ingenious device called a radio, the whole world would be at his/her mercy! Ah, the horror!

Now, in our haste to impress on you, the reader, the severity of this malady, we have perhaps missed out on important descriptions of the origin. As we have mentioned, the creature in question is a singular creature. On the one hand, it's facial structure resembles what is known as the Animalia Chordata Aves Anseriformes Anatidae, or simply, the common duck. Careful scrutiny would lead the observer to notice a plate-like protrusion resembling the beak of a duck. On the other hand, some others have noticed that this creature resembles the squidm, or more commonly known as the sotong. Furthermore, owing to its back, it resembles the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, except for the kung-fu part, and perhaps the mutant part, and in fact after this year even the teenage part would cease to hold true. =p This fusion of characteristics lead some to adopt a name for this creature, which shall be forthwith known as the Sortoise sp.

In this story, the Sortoise moved, for reasons still unknown, from the Caves of Stone to the Red Dot in the Middle of the Ocean. Successfully infiltrating Victoria JC, it then insinuated itself as a member of the class. Mixing around with the unsuspecting populace, it began its schemes of being a highly successful vector. One by one, the denizens of 11 began to succumb to this malady. As this is being written, 1 such incident comes to mind. The giant of 11 was good-naturedly teasing this sortoise about their height difference, until the sortoise came up with an excellent comeback, which unfortunately was another of the Lame Jokes. This is an important point in history, where the L Rule traces its origins.

For the uninitiated, the L Rule is a simple, thought-provoking and rather encompassing rule to swear by. It is infinitely easier to comprehend than the famed Einsteinian Theory of Relativity, and is so much more definite than the theories of science. Simply put, it states that Man can be compared to the letter L. In this world, there are 2 groups of such people. For one, there is the upright Ls.

Then there are the prone Ls.

For example, the giant is classified as the upright L. A tall person, he is quite lacking in his lateral growth, exactly as the L suggests. Sortoise, on the other hand, is slightly vertically challenged, but makes up for it by being incredibly endowed laterally. Just like the 2nd L.

Interesting, no?

Anyway, now this story is coming to an end. Since this is but a chronicle of the origin of the L Rule, we must leave sortoise alone for now, for fear of angering it and bringing about the terrible wrath manifesting itself in the form of the Rain of the Lame!

Which brings me to a point. Seeing so many NUS people using laptops during lectures and for their assignments, maybe it would be wise to develop proper typing skills, not the type of short-forms typically found on instant messaging. However, it is a sobering thought..would the L Rule apply here too? Would reverting back to the long form result in shortening of other, ahem, things? ARGH!

I'm so Bo Liao these days.

Anybody has any recommendations for medical textbooks? Perhaps starting with Anatomy, Physiology and Biochem. Perhaps even Histology.

I really need to get a life and end such Bo Liao entries. Lolz..

Ah, the centennial celebration of this blog is coming close! Just another post and we're there!

Gambateh!