Two television-related disorders reported in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Television Angina: Observed at a clinic for coronary diseases... This affected 20% of those patients with angina pectoris who watched television programs and was provoked by seeing violent incidents on the screen... commercials were innocuous, but Westerns and plays or films depicting violence or excitement often provoked anginal attacks. (JAMA, Apr 25, 1959)
Television Legs: Canada has discovered the syndrome of "TV legs," thereby demonstrating what should have been obvious, namely, that if a youngster habitually slumps in front of a TV screen for hours at a time, he will not end up as physically fit as his forefathers did. A physical fitness director in a thriving Toronto suburb surveyed 300 children in a day-long series of tests, and showed that 55% could not pass the minimum tests and 85% failed the maximum tests. The most common fault was a lack of flexibility in the legs and lower back, traceable to spending long hours sitting in front of TV sets... It is going to be difficult to find a set of controls who do not view TV and thus to assess the exact part played by this pastime in promoting ill-health. (JAMA, Apr 19, 1958)
A Belgian company has
filed a patent for an invention designed to detect sick travelers in airports. They call it a device for the "RECOGNITION AND LOCALISATION OF PATHOLOGIC ANIMAL AND HUMAN SOUNDS."
The idea is to place microphones around airports that will zero in on the sound of people coughing. The people hacking their lungs out can then be prevented from boarding a plane. A less controversial use of the technology is to detect sick pigs in pig pens.
Can people be stopped from traveling because they have a cold? I've never seen that done, but I'd like it (despite the inconvenience to the sick people) 'cause otherwise they infect everyone else on the plane. Though of course, if I were the one kicked off a plane I'd be seeing red. (via
New Scientist)
Maria Callas is probably the most famous person ever to have had a tapeworm. Find out
what your chances are of getting a tapeworm. I have an 18% chance. (via
The Presurfer)
[From
Life magazine for September 30 1940.]
You know what your problem is? Not enough yeast. I suggest increasing your beer intake.
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.