Status Updates From The Merck Manual Of Medical...

If my doctor ever recommends psychological counseling for my sprained ankle, I'm getting a new doctor, that's all I'm gonna say.

Sorry, but if I had an expected lifespan of 28 years and somebody said I'd spend half of those attending school and generally being bored and miserable, I'd be like "Fuck you, no." They're like "good news, people with this condition can usually attend school and go to work like normal people." And I'm just like... yeah, fuck that. If I know my life's gonna be that short, I'm not wasting my time on that shit.

Oral contraceptives seem to come up A LOT as possible causes of things that are heart and lung related. I wonder if that trend will continue throughout this book.

"Blood-streaked sputum is rather common and usually not serious."

*collective wail from millions of fictional novelists and script writers*

IDK, I think talking about my feelings with a social worker would be stressful as heck. So maybe not after a heart attack, yeah?

Careful, your politics are showing with that incredibly imprecise "several times more" for blacks and people of low socioeconomic status. Gimme a number, a medical cause (oh wait, you can't, you don't know what causes this in most cases), or something real. Don't give me vagueness. You're not the kind of book that can get away with that.

Love how we basically created a heart disease by being like "Okay, but what if we injected people with stuff or cut them open and replaced their parts with other parts?" That's just funny to me. Obviously not to the people that get it, that's very sad, but... just... we made our own problem. Fun.

Heart stopping. Now called a side effect. That's not as reassuring as you guys think it is.

Wow, critics of generic drugs sound insane. I wonder if these are actual arguments they make or the fantasy version. If these are the actual opposing arguments, they're a bunch of nutters who belong in a home.

There it is in black and white: New drugs are usually not approved until almost a decade after being discovered. Ten. Years.
And that's just approval for use in the first place. It takes even longer before the drug is in common usage, and sometimes its approval is subsequently pulled as bad reactions manifest.

Let that sink in.

I reject your definition of placebo and substitute one that makes a lick of sense.

Too bad they didn't mention that we usually see the opposite of drugs with good track records changing to over-the-counter. But I guess they're fans of the FDA.

Wow, didn't know I was reading fiction, but that section on the elderly sure is hysterical. Y'all don't know much about dealing with/caring for the elderly do ya, sonny?

i am not yet done with this book never really think i will unless i am exepted into medical school but i am just focusing on the pathology of certain diseases more common to man like flu, trachea, alzehmires cornoroy mall funcion of the right vntrical.
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Ankylosing spondylitis is a connective tissue disease characterized by inflammation of the spine and large joints. The most common symptom is back pain.

Behçet's syndrome produces recurring, painful mouth sores, skin blisters, genital sores, and swollen joints.

Although polymyalgia rheumatica, which usually affects those over 50, causes severe pain and stiffness in muscles of the neck, shoulders, and hips, it does not cause weakness or damage.

Polymyositis is the inflammation and degeneration of muscles. When accompanied by skin inflammation it's dermatomyositis. Relapsing polychondritis is an uncommon disorder involving inflammation of cartilage. Vasculitis is an inflammation of blood vessels.

Almost all suffers of mixed connective tissue disease will present with an unusual antibody to ribonucleoprotein, but without the other antibodies associated with lupus.

The CREST syndrome (limited cutaneous sclerosis) is a less severe form of scleroderma. The acronym: calcium deposits in skin and body; Raynaud's; esophageal dysfunction; sclerodactyly (skin damage on fingers); and telangiectasia (spider veins).

Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis) causes degenerative changes and scarring in the skin, joints, and internal organs, as well as blood vessel abnormalities. First symptoms are usually thickening and swelling of fingertips, and Raynaud's phenomenon.

Discoid lupus erythematosus is characterized by clearly defined round, red patches on the skin, most commonly appearing on the cheeks, nose, scalp,and ears. Systemic lupus erythematosus results in episodes of inflamed joints, tendons, and other connective tissues. Lupus is highly variable in severity and organs affected.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the joints are symmetrically inflamed, resulting in swelling, pain, and the eventual destruction of the joints' interiors.

Immune reactions are characterized by inflammation, which is a normal repair process, that abnormally becomes chronic in autoimmune diseases. Diagnosis is based on symptom patterns, physical exam findings, and lab tests.

Disorders that affect joints and their components -- muscles, bones, cartilage, tendons -- are considered connective tissue diseases. Many are also a type of autoimmune disease.

Noncancerous bone tumors are relatively common; cancerous tumors are rare. Bone pain is the most common symptom of a tumor.

Osteoporosis is a progressive decrease in the density of bones. To maintain bone density, the body requires an adequate supply of calcium and other minerals and must produce the proper amounts of several hormones, such as parathyroid, growth hormone, calcitonin, and estrogen/testosterone. Also, vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium from food.

Bone is a constantly changing tissue. The hard outer part consists largely of proteins, such as collagen, and hydroxyapatite, a substance which stores the body's calcium and provides most of the bone's strength. Marrow is in the center, blood vessels run through it, & nerves surround it. Tendons attach bones to muscles, ligaments attach bones to each other. Bursa prevent rubbing between certain structures.

SECTION 5 - BONE, JOINT, & MUSCLE DISORDERS