ForumsThe TavernYour medical questions answered!

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Strop
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Strop
10,816 posts
Bard

In an effort to procrastinate doing everything...okay, really simply to revise my material for next semester when I start working at hospitals (but the first one sounds less dorky D

...anyway...

In an effort to revise my material, I'm inviting each and every one of you to ask any questions you had on the human body (and mind). As long as it's medical, it can be pretty much anything- and I'll attempt to answer it as quickly as possible, hopefully off the top of my head.

HAVE AT IT

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invisiman
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invisiman
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Peasant

Funny.

kingryan
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kingryan
4,196 posts
Farmer

Just funny? Have you seen it yet Strop?

KingRyan

octobokid95
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octobokid95
554 posts
Peasant

bout 1 month i woke up about 5 am 2 use the toilet, both my legs hurted n pained very badley..... n jus 2 weeks ago the same pain occured.... when i tried 2 bend my legs it pained much worse... is this becauz i stretched my hamstrings? n if i did, how can u avoid stretchin ur hamstrings?

Strop
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Strop
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Bard

LOL, kingryan, you a**!

@ Octobokid95:

Sometimes muscles can cramp for whatever reason- being cold, held in a position for too long, muscles suddenly want to progressively contract and they won't stop until the nerves that supply them get tired of being saturated with the go command. It's quite likely that you're waking up right when the cramp is starting- this happens to a lot of people every now and then.

To manage it, I'd recommend:

1) Not trapping your limbs in any awkward positions, like with very heavy or tightly tucked in bedclothes.

2) Not getting too cold.

3) If you feel a twinge, immediately stretch your limbs out straight and hold it. It will still hurt but not as much, then pound the offending muscle with your fist until it loosens.

It also helps if you exercise only when your muscles are warmed up! Warming down is also a must, although stretching isn't necessarily all that good an idea- that's actually a separate consideration.

kingryan
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kingryan
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Farmer

Well Strop,

Do Yourself a Favour,

And Come to South Australia!

What Footy Team do You go for Strop?

and

I have this little whitish lump just above the corner of my eye. It doesn't hurt but it is a little annoying. What is it?

KingRyan

Nurvana
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Nurvana
2,520 posts
Farmer

How do you catch the flu?

Strop
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Strop
10,816 posts
Bard

What Footy Team do You go for Strop?


Um, no comment :P

KingRyan asked:

I have this little whitish lump just above the corner of my eye. It doesn't hurt but it is a little annoying...


To be honest that could be any number of things, but from that description it's most likely to be harmless.

fst6 asked:

Ok so i have bumps on my heel. One on each. they are about 1 to 1 and a half inches. The docter said they may be calcium buildups what do you think?


Well, let's see, exactly where are these bumps? Would they happen to be where you put pressure when you walk? Are they an unusual color, has the skin changed texture, does it itch or hurt?
Strop
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Strop
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Bard

Nurvana asked:

How do you catch the flu?


First, I'll say that the flu, or influenza is a different virus (and more severe) than the virus that causes the common cold, which is commonly also called 'the flu', because they might share common symptoms and modes of transmission.

Which is to say that you can catch the flu by breathing in the virus particles released by somebody infected with the flue, usually when they cough or sneeze. It should be noted that actually getting sneezed on etc. isn't enough in itself to get ill- but if you hang around an infected person long enough and breathe the same air that they do, you're more likely to get infected that way.
yaleslot
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yaleslot
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Nomad

Hello,

I have question , maybe you don't know cause it's a little detail of the human body ,

Well if you go in a bath with very warm water , you stay in it for 15 minutes or sumthing, and when you get out you feel sleepy, eneryless ?

Greetings, Yaleslot

Strop
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Strop
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Bard

Yaleslot asked:

Well if you go in a bath with very warm water , you stay in it for 15 minutes or sumthing, and when you get out you feel sleepy, eneryless ?


Well, I have two general contributing reasons I can think of here:

The first is that sitting in a bath filled with warm water can be rather relaxing! Your brain can also relax and the parts of it that govern your basic wakefulness can become depressed in tone (i.e. lowered level of function), leaving you feeling rather drowsy!

The second is that the one of the body's responses to being in an environment where the temperature is outside its comfort zone is to reduce metabolic activity, because the conditions aren't optimal for the body's operation. So if you're lying in a bathtub with very warm water, your body isn't going to want to generate too much heat by being active.
yaleslot
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yaleslot
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Nomad

Hey ,

I fully agree with you strop but it thaught something else

If there is a warm temperature around you , I think your blood is going closer to the temperature ..?

Yaleslot

yaleslot
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yaleslot
158 posts
Nomad

And if I go in a steaming bath for 15 Minutes , I have energy enough...

Or does the WATER make sense ?

Yaleslot

kingryan
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kingryan
4,196 posts
Farmer

No Comment? What's that meant to mean?

You obviously go for whichever team is doing terribly at the moment...um...Melbourne probably...but it could be Essendon...

Go CROWS!

Thanks
KingRyan

Strop
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Strop
10,816 posts
Bard

You obviously go for whichever team is doing terribly at the moment...um...Melbourne probably...but it could be Essendon...


Worse. I don't barrack for a team, bwahahaha.

Don't say a word or I'll be lynched by a bunch of angry Melbournites, to be sure!

Anyway!

Yaleslot asked:

If there is a warm temperature around you , I think your blood is going closer to the temperature ..?


Well, in a way yes. When it comes to body temperature we divide it into two- the core and the peripheral temperature. The core temperature is basically the conditions at the center of your body, where all your internal organs are. It's important (as is the case for all mammals) to be able to keep this temperature relatively constant as the life-critical processes actually depend on the temperature remaining constant to actually work. Your core body temperature is therefore controlled by your hypothalamus- which is also responsible for triggering the fever you get when you fall ill.

The peripheral body temperature is somewhat different- if you have very cold hands, there's no way that feels like 37C now, does it! Peripheral body temperature is largely affected by environment and also a system of peripheral blood vessels. In that way, if you're in a warm environment, chances are your peripheral blood vessels are wide open, so yes, the entire volume of your blood is more likely to be a similar temperature. But this is strictly secondary to your core body temperature.

(In fact, one practice when giving blood samples is to immerse your arm in really hot water, right on the limit of actually burning- ~51-52C.)
octobokid95
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octobokid95
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Peasant

i heard that one ear hears music better than the other one... is this true?

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