Verses About DOCTORS and their PRACTICES, part #2

This offering of collected nonsense is a continuation of themes developed in a much earlier post of December 10, 2018.

(mayd-SEHn sahn frohn-TYAYR)

Authors' Note: A small group of French doctors and journalists, in the wake of the horrific Biafran famine in 1971, founded Médecins Sans Frontières (occasionally for English speakers translated as Doctors Without Borders). Designed to deal with humanitarian crises in the developing world in regions beseiged by overt war, armed internal conflicts, epidemics and natural disasters, the charity has repeatedly distinguished itself, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. It currently operates in over seventy countries worldwide.

Authors' Note:

diabetologist: a super-specialized endocrinologist who deals with diabetes mellitus and its control

Glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1C), reflects a chemical influence of ambient glucose levels in blood. This simple but subtle alteration of hemoglobin carried by the blood's red cells was discovered in 1958. As the average lifespan of red cells in the blood is three to four months, the biochemical test of blood levels yields a number that reflects blood sugar control over the previous few months. Generally, as your diabetologist will explain, a value less than 7% has been found to reflect good control.

Authors' Note: 

 (kap-SAY-sin, or kap-SAY-uh-sin)

  Capsaicin is a chemical derived from hot peppers that creates a sensation of heat on the human skin and in the human mouth. Almost all other mammals also dislike the sensation, so the chemical has come to play a role as the major ingredient in many products touted for repelling mammalian pests.

  Despite the mostly-true story related here, the drug has seldom been prescribed as a treatment by psychoanalysts or other psychiatrists. Moreover, the difficulty of repeated applications (repetition may be needed after each rainfall) to rooftop sites makes its use in this setting hazardous. 

Authors' Note: 

orthopod: a casual name for the orthopedic surgeon (surgical bone specialist)

For many sites in the upper and lower limbs where trauma has resulted in fracture with angulation or rotation of the fragments, surgical treatment ('ORIF, or open Reduction, Internal Fixation') has become the standard of treatment.

You can find out more about Pete's professional life by proceeding to a blogpost entitled "Breaking News: FUNNY BONES". Click HERE! 

Authors' Note: 'dais' may apparently be pronounced DYE-uhs or DAY-uhs, although the authors had been familiar with only the former pronunciation.

Check out the version of this verse on our companion blog 'Daily Edifying Nonsense' for a photo-collage related to the  above verse. Click HERE.

Authors' Note: 'Essential', an outdated-sounding modifier, is used to imply 'idiopathic', i.e. without known cause. There are some underlying risk factors, e.g. genetic disposition, and kidney disease, that may contribute, but well over 90% of hypertension is without a definable underyling cause. 'Essential hypertension' is a well-known (although archaic) term for your health-care provider, but is confusing and even counterintuitive for patients. 

Authors' Note: Stitches: the Journal of Medical Humour is a monthly Canadian humour magazine. Founded by an Ontario family physician, the journal in its original paper format, became the most widely read Canadian medical journal, was licensed in a handful of other countries, and prevailed from 1990. Although targeted at the general public, drug advertisements for medical professionals originally bore the major costs of the project. Since 2007, the journal has survived in a reduced form as a monthly online publication; the author laments that it is no longer a widespread tool for waiting-room diversion.

Authors' Note:  The rapid pace of scientific and technical developments in the field of medicine makes ongoing education for physicians essential. Moreover, regulatory bodies, conscious of public perception, promulgate standards for current best practices. ‘Maintenance of competence’, recertification’ and ‘lifelong learning’ have become buzzwords.

  The serendipitous discovery in 1989 of the use of sildenafil (eventually marketed by Pfizer in 1998 as Viagra, 'a little blue pill' for erectile dysfunction) ushered in an era in which post-graduate medical conferences often featured updates on this now-treatable common disorder. The putative distribution of drug samples to lecture attendees is apocryphal.

Readers who appreciate wordplay might also enjoy a posting entitled 'electile dysfunction' that can be found by clicking HERE.

Here's a LIST OF LINKS to collections of intriguing poems (over 160 of these!) on medical/dental topics that can now be found on various posts. 

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