DailyDirt: When You Hear Hoofbeats, Think Horses -- Not Zebras (Usually)
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
There are plenty of fictional medical dramas where doctors miraculously discover a wrong diagnosis that leads to a recovery or a cure or... a highly suspicious murder suspect. Some of these stories are based in reality, but they aren't filed under suspense or drama for no good reason. For all the budding script (not of the computer code variety) writers out there, here are just a few medical curiosities that might come in handy.- Melioidosis is a disease that is usually restricted to southeastern Asia and Australia. However, the bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, that causes this disease is apparently spreading from 45 known countries to 34 more nations with tropical climates. The germ can kill a person in under 48 hours and can survive in distilled water for decades. [url]
- The headline-grabbing Ebola outbreak has been officially declared as over. The virus still lurks in survivors, though, and there have already been some cases of flare-ups from patients who had recovered. [url]
- After Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, a strange rise in symptoms related to Parkinson's Disease were reported. A volatile compound released by mold, 1-octen-3-ol (aka mushroom alcohol), seems to be the culprit. The extensive amount of water damage caused an incredible amount of mold to grow, releasing this environmental toxin. [url]
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: bacteria, burkholderia pseudomallei, diagnosis, disease, ebola, environmental toxin, medicine, melioidosis, mold, parkinson's disease, virus
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I've always hated that saying.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Actually...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
I'm guessing they don't use it in Africa. ;-)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: typo
[ link to this | view in thread ]