I Heart Guts » Medical Guts

Two Better Than One?

gutsy — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:25:31 +0000

Why do we have two kidneys, but just one heart? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have extras of everything in case something goes wrong? Why can’t we be like the lowly earthworm, with five different hearts? Or those girls with two bladders and two uteruses? Or that other girl with four kidneys? Some extras make sense — for example, having two eyeballs gives us better, binocular, vision. The heart and brain have two parts each, of course, but each side has a different function. One chamber of the heart pumps out oxygenated blood, the other pumps in deoxygenated blood; and each lobe of the brain is responsible for different functions and operations. The liver regenerates, so need for two of those, and you can live without the spleen and gallbladder. But as for the double kidneys, we’re not sure why one wouldn’t suffice to clean the bloodstream, and why do we need two lungs? Rutgers University anthropologist Susan Cachel told Discovery Health the one heart/two lung system started about 300 million years ago, when we emerged from the muck onto land. For whatever reason, that’s what we needed to survive on land, and it’s remained the same ever since. Not a very satisfying answer, if you ask me, but there you go.

Urine My Heart

gutsy — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:14:42 +0000

Will you take this kidney to be your lawfully wedded wife? I do! Rick White and Kelley Agard, both of Iowa, were married on Monday and Kelley’s donating her kidney to Rick — who has polycystic kidney disease — today. What a fabulous bride!

Pimp My Prostate

gutsy — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:05:38 +0000

I imagine that going in for a prostate exam ranks low on any man’s to-do list, but how about when it’s combined with a vintage car show? Sound better? A number of classic car shows across the country and now including free prostate screenings along with the chrome bumpers and candy-colored automobiles. Last weekend’s 6th Annual Classic Aircraft and Car Show/Prostate Cancer Awareness Day was hosted by the Urology Center of Colorado, and the 11th annual Cruisin’ for a Cure Car Show is going on at the Orange County Fair & Event Center this weekend. There’s more in Texas, Utah and one on New York’s Long Island. So if you love someone who loves cars and needs to pay better attention to his prostate, check out one of these events near you!

Jelly Brains

gutsy — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:50:15 +0000

Just when you thought you couldn’t take another earnest medical drama, along comes Adult Swim’s new series “Children’s Hospital,” a fabulously demented and sick (in a good way) parody of the doctor drama genre. Don’t let the blood-stained scrubs on that clown and Henry Winkler cameo fool you — it’s not kid-friendly.

Print Me a Liver

gutsy — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:40:58 +0000

So they can print blood vessels now — but how about hearts? It could be coming sooner than you think. Wired magazine has a great photo essay covering company Organo’s fascinating bioprinting business. The printed veins will soon undergo testing in animals, and later, clinical trials in humans. Amazing stuff! Photo by Dave Bullock/Wired.com.

Popping Pills

gutsy — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:26:23 +0000

These pill heads could pass for pharmaceutical swag, but they are actually collectible figurines called Zee, made by Swiss artist PIX in conjunction with URFabulous and Character Station. Just slap “Merck” or “Hoffman-LaRoche” on it and you’re done. We haven’t been able to determine if these things actually serve as containers for pills, but that sure would be swell.

Kicking Cancer

gutsy — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:11:58 +0000

Some photos from the Grab Your Gonads event near Houston, Texas, which raised money to help a fellow with stage 3 testicular cancer pay for the aggressive treatment not covered by insurance. We helped design custom shirts especially for the event, which raised $6,000 for Matt!
Looks like everyone had a great time, despite the seriousness of the event, and more than a few people donned a testicle pin or two. Thanks to Kandice McBride for the photos and for setting up the fundraiser and thanks to everyone who banded together to help.

Lungs at Work

gutsy — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:46:03 +0000

Thousands of hearts and minds — and lungs — will be won at the U.S. Transplant Games, which begin tomorrow in Madison, Wisconsin. The games were started by the National Kidney Foundation, but double-lung transplant, bone marrow and heart recipients will compete in sports ranging from badminton to basketball to track and field. More from the Washington Post. {photo Nhat V. Meyer/San Jose Mercury News}

Like a Lady

gutsy — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:32:34 +0000

Here’s two things men don’t need — a machine that helps them menstruate and a foot nipple. Fantastic.

Hormonal Circus

gutsy — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:24:04 +0000

Dear Thyroid guest blogger Dr. Sara Gottfried wrote a fascinating post about the endocrine madness caused by the hormones released by the adrenals, thyroid and sex glands. “Once I got how all these crazy thyroid, adrenal and sex hormones fit together, much of the thyroid chaos fell away, both for my patients and myself.” Dr. Gottfried writes. Read on for some fascinating lessons on this wild hormonal soup that can wreak havoc on your thyroid and how you can balance your system.