Category:
Medicine
Medicine
Couvade Syndrome
Wikipedia offers this definition of Couvade Syndrome:Couvade syndrome is a medical/mental condition which "involves a father experiencing some of the behavior of his wife at near the time of childbirth, including her birth pains, postpartum seclusion, food restrictions, and sex taboos".
Another term for it is a sympathetic pregnancy. But some cultures take the concept a step further. From The Art of Folly by Paul Tabori:
In Brazil the new father is deliberately made ill. They use the sharp teeth of the aguti to gash his body. Then the wounds are washed with poisonously burning tobacco juice or a liquid in which black pepper has been mixed. The "father/mother" suffers duly while playing his strange role. In some other tribes he is subjected to a strict diet, not for days, but for weeks, during which he gets so little to eat that he becomes skin-and-bone. Among the Vaga-Vaga tribe, for instance, he is forbidden to eat bananas, coconuts, mangoes, sugar cane, poultry, pork, and dog meat.
No dog meat. That's rough. But my favorite Couvade ritual comes from the Huichol Indian tribe:
During traditional childbirth, the father sits above his labouring wife on the roof of their hut. Ropes are tied around his testicles and his wife holds onto the other ends. Each time she feels a painful contraction, she tugs on the ropes so that her husband will share some of the pain of their child's entrance into the world.
The thumbnail shows a yarn drawing owned by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco that depicts this ritual.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 03, 2008 -
Comments (7)
Category: Babies, Medicine
Brain Worms
Brain worms can be contracted by eating undercooked pork, as well as by coming into contact with someone who has worm eggs in their body and who hasn't washed their hands.But the good news about brain worms is that they're generally less dangerous than having a brain tumor. Which is why a Phoenix-area woman was relieved when her brain tumor turned out to be a brain worm. The reason I'm posting this on Weird Universe: because Fox 10 Chattanooga has a video of the worm being removed (still alive) from her brain.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 20, 2008 -
Comments (2)
Category: Health, Disease, Medicine
Epidemics
Some epidemics recently in the news, in declining order of magnitude (and importance):• The world is facing a global diabetes epidemic.
• The United States is realizing it has an epidemic of obesity.
• Great Britain is in the throes of a whiplash epidemic.
• Toronto has been hit by a bed bug epidemic.
• Plattsburgh, N.Y. complains that it has an epidemic of public urination. They say, "It happens all the time throughout the city streets, especially in the early morning hours after the local bars close."
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 17, 2008 -
Comments (4)
Category: Medicine
Fonzarelli Syndrome
A 77-year-old man presented with a 1-year history of upper limb rest tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia. He reported focal dystonia affecting the right thumb over the preceding 7 years, resulting in a constant "thumbs up" gesture reminiscent of the fictional television character Arthur Fonzarelli. Subsequent levodopa therapy reduced his bradykinesia and rigidity, but did not ameliorate the dystonia.
While foot dystonia is a common feature in late Parkinson disease (PD), dystonia may precede the development of PD by several years. Writer's cramp has been described as an early manifestation, with extension of the great toe also noted (the striatal foot).
While foot dystonia is a common feature in late Parkinson disease (PD), dystonia may precede the development of PD by several years. Writer's cramp has been described as an early manifestation, with extension of the great toe also noted (the striatal foot).
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 06, 2008 -
Comments (19)
Category: Medicine, Science, Television
Medical Museum
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 03, 2008 -
Comments (14)
Category: Medicine, Museums, Birth Control
Follies of the Mad Men #37
We saw how the advertising industry created the concept of "B.O." for "body odor." Here, less successfully, they tried to triple the problem. Note how coyly the term "other personal odors" is used to refer to farting.
Is there any scientific proof that chlorophyll tablets do anything in the human body?
And don't you just love the look of disgust on that gal's face?
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 13, 2008 -
Comments (12)
Category: Body, Business, Advertising, Products, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Hygiene, Medicine, Obsessions, 1950s
When to amputate?
Trevor Wikre broke his pinkie during football practice. The doctors planned to set the bone, but they warned him that the injury might end his football career, and the healing process would certainly prevent him from finishing his senior year as a Mesa State College offensive lineman. So Wikre opted for a more radical procedure. He told the doctors to amputate his finger.Is Wikre a hero or an idiot? His teammates are treating him like a hero ("No doctor is going to tell him what he can do or can’t do. I have nothing but respect for him." and "It’s awesome. That’s a pretty amazing commitment and sacrifice to go the rest of his life without a pinkie.") Personally, I'd classify him more in the idiot category. Poetic justice would be if the coaches benched him for the rest of the year.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 06, 2008 -
Comments (9)
Category: Medicine, Sports
Shamans in Peru
Time to look at some curanderos. The best part comes after the three-minute mark.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 04, 2008 -
Comments (1)
Category: Medicine, Paranormal, Religion, Foreign Customs, South America
Placenta Facials
CNN reports on some alternative beauty treatments including:A human placenta facial treatment. The beautician who specializes in these notes that people don't get them "because it's hip" but rather because they're concerned about their skin. It certainly isn't hip. It's placenta.
Dehydrated nightingale poop facials. Aesthetician Lula Pacheco reports that at first people are hesitant about the bird poop, but "when it's done they just love how their skin feels and looks."
Other treatments include a "Fanny Facial," a breast message, and an aura lift.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 03, 2008 -
Comments (6)
Category: Hygiene, Medicine
Guess the Scientist!
What famous Victorian-era scientist does this passage describe? (Follow the "extended" link for the answer.)He suffered from incessant retching or vomiting, usually brought on by fatigue; and from painful bouts of wind that churned around after meals and obliged him to sit quietly in a private room until his body behaved more politely. Reading between the lines, his guts were noisy and smelly. "I feel nearly sure that the air is generated somewhere lower down than stomach," he told one doctor plaintively in 1865, "and as soon as it regurgitates into the stomach the discomfort comes on." He was equally forthright with his cousin...: "all excitement & fatigue brings on such dreadful flatulence that in fact I can go nowhere." When he did go somewhere, he needed privacy after meals, "for, as you know, my odious stomach requires that."
He also had trouble with his bowels, frequently suffering from constipation and vulnerable to the obsession with regularity that stalked most Victorians. He developed crops of boils in what he called "perfectly devilish attacks" on his backside, making it impossible to sit upright, and occasional eczema. There were headaches and giddiness. He probably had piles as well.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 07, 2008 -
Comments (2)
Category: Medicine, Quizzes, Guess the Scientist, Science
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |