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#1 Jan 12 2015 at 7:51 AM Rating: Good
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Back in the mid 19th century this Viennese Doc, Ignaz Semmelweis, had been looking to figure out why so many women were dying of Puerperal fever during child-birth.

He studied two maternity wards in the General hospital of Vienna. One was staffed by all male doctors and medical students, and the other was staffed by female midwives. It was pretty plain to see that more women were dying from Puerperal fever in the former maternity ward than the latter.

After a couple failed theories he hit on 'hand-washing' with bleach. See, the all-male doctor ward also performed autopsies on their dead patients. Semmelweis concluded that the pregnant women in their ward were being exposed to microscopic bits of cadaver that were causing the disease. He choose bleach, not because it killed germs (germs weren't yet discovered) but because it eliminated the 'dead' smell.

His hand-washing procedures worked. incident rates dropped from about 10% to 1-2%. A pretty dramatic decrease.

The learned fellows from the all-doctors ward though didn't' buy though. Apparently the theory implicated 'them' as the contributors to the high-rate of this disease. The hand-washing practice was discontinued, Semmelweis was fired and eventually committed.

It wasn't until Louis Pasteurs germ discovery 3 or 4 decades later that good hygiene practices were put in place.

Doc Ignaz's ultimate contribution to science....
Semmelweis Org wrote:
THE SEMMELWEIS REFLEX
The Semmelweis reflex or “Semmelweis effect” is a metaphor for the reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts established norms, beliefs or paradigms.
Sounds familiar.

Consider this your public safety tip of the day: The single best method of preventing germs from being spread is, still today, hand-washing.





Edited, Jan 12th 2015 8:18pm by Elinda
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#2 Jan 12 2015 at 7:54 AM Rating: Good
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Elinda, keeping the forums alive by reposting the daily NPR reports.

Smiley: wink
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#3 Jan 12 2015 at 8:00 AM Rating: Good
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TirithRR wrote:
Elinda, keeping the forums alive by reposting the daily NPR reports.

Smiley: wink

The all-male docs giving preggo women sepsis and then refusing to take responsibility for it hit me as a worthy topic. But then i decided against another rail on white-male privilege and go with the science-skeptic route instead.

I know....I listen to MPBN too much.
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#4 Jan 12 2015 at 8:48 AM Rating: Good
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It's like the 1900s were a different time.
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#5 Jan 12 2015 at 12:49 PM Rating: Good
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I think you meant the 19th Century, or the 1900's, not the 1900th century, that doesn't happen for 1879 more centuries.

ETA: But I will forgive you, cause I know you are a girl, and math is hard for girls.

Edited, Jan 12th 2015 10:50am by stupidmonkey
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#6 Jan 12 2015 at 1:04 PM Rating: Good
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Quote:
ETA: But I will forgive you, cause I know you are a girl, and math is hard for girls.


I'm not as good at math as you are at provoking women, but I'm pretty good.

I'll be happy to have a math-off with you anytime. For what it's worth in college I breezed through 5 terms of calc without really missing a beat (intro, single variable, multivariable, vector analysis and differential equations)

What does ability to manipulate numbers and theorums have to do with a forum typo?

edited to remove the bad name I called Mr. Monkey. i'm sorry. Smiley: frown

......wish I could edit away all the nasty things I say to people.



Edited, Jan 12th 2015 9:00pm by Elinda
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#7 Jan 12 2015 at 1:12 PM Rating: Good
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What does ability to manipulate numbers and theorums have to do with a forum typo?


The Kraken black spiced theorum is my favourite religious alcoholic beverage.

Take THAT, blood of Christ.
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#8 Jan 12 2015 at 1:12 PM Rating: Excellent
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Woah woah I just thought of a genuinely funny joke okay bear with me here.

Q: How do we know Jesus wasn't white?

A: He was always bloody tannin.
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#9 Jan 12 2015 at 1:16 PM Rating: Excellent
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Semmelweis never got over his inadvertent role in the deaths of hundreds of women and babies. He eventually sank into depression and drank himself to death.

I read a biography about him when I was a kid, maybe the first biography I ever read. That inability to move past his mistakes stuck with me. On the other hand, at least he cared, right?
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#10 Jan 12 2015 at 1:21 PM Rating: Good
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He eventually sank into depression and drank himself to death.


Livin' the dream.
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#11 Jan 12 2015 at 1:22 PM Rating: Good
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It's weird that the docs were apparently doing autopsies in the same wing of the hospital as women were having babies.

My fist biography was on Clara Barton. Odd I remember that.




Edited, Jan 12th 2015 8:50pm by Elinda
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#12 Jan 12 2015 at 1:24 PM Rating: Excellent
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#13 Jan 12 2015 at 1:29 PM Rating: Good
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I just read Avengers - No More Bullying.

I bet I laughed more.
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#14 Jan 12 2015 at 1:38 PM Rating: Good
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Elinda wrote:
Quote:
ETA: But I will forgive you, cause I know you are a girl, and math is hard for girls.

What does ability to manipulate numbers and theorums have to do with a forum typo?


I would love to know what it is that prevents you from recognizing a joke.
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#15 Jan 12 2015 at 1:44 PM Rating: Good
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A uterus!
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#16 Jan 12 2015 at 1:50 PM Rating: Good
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lolgaxe wrote:
A uterus!

See now that was funny.

Must be in the delivery.
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#17 Jan 12 2015 at 2:06 PM Rating: Excellent
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As long as the doctor washes his hands, at least.
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#18 Jan 13 2015 at 7:41 AM Rating: Good
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Elinda wrote:
It's weird that the docs were apparently doing autopsies in the same wing of the hospital as women were having babies.

My fist biography was on Clara Barton. Odd I remember that.

Perhaps the childbirth ward was a steady supply of fresh corpses, even before the corpse-childbirth cross contamination problem?

Fun fact: the most prolific infectious disease vector in hospitals now is doctor's ties. There's one doctor who knows this, and winds up with bundles of ties in his car from taking them off before working. Doctors in scrubs are a good thing.
#19 Jan 13 2015 at 8:29 AM Rating: Good
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Aripyanfar wrote:
Perhaps the childbirth ward was a steady supply of fresh corpses, even before the corpse-childbirth cross contamination problem?
One out of a hundred, though the sepsis probably didn't help. Kind of a problem feeding on itself at the time, but this was also a time when drilling holes in people's heads were a credible procedure to cure headaches.
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#20 Jan 13 2015 at 10:31 PM Rating: Decent
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lolgaxe wrote:
Aripyanfar wrote:
Perhaps the childbirth ward was a steady supply of fresh corpses, even before the corpse-childbirth cross contamination problem?
One out of a hundred, though the sepsis probably didn't help. Kind of a problem feeding on itself at the time, but this was also a time when drilling holes in people's heads were a credible procedure to cure headaches.

Random comment: I'd always known of trepanation but never knew the actual word until I started playing Counter-Strike.
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we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
#21 Jan 14 2015 at 1:24 AM Rating: Good
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I love saying trepanation. "Tre pan ay shun". It just massages my mouth.

I also love Adipose. "A di pohse"
#23 Jan 14 2015 at 2:16 AM Rating: Good
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If Ari said "trepanation" on Skype to me, I'd be soooo happy.Smiley: tongue
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#24 Jan 14 2015 at 3:21 AM Rating: Good
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You should hear her when she's watching puppy crushing.
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