Feeling a bit wound-up…feeling a bit frazzled by Friday?
Why not relax and unwind with some medical trivia…answering questions on tomomania, phossy jaw, trichotillomania, Bozzolo sign and what causes hatters shakes
For those who would like to have a go, the MCQexams demonstration site will be hosted for another week and you will be able to watch the live streaming results following the reset after the conference…no cheating!
Question 1
- What was phossy jaw?
- Phosphorous induce necrosis of the jaw
- Chronic exposure to white phosphorus vapor, the active ingredient of most matches from the 1840s to the 1910s, caused a deposition of phosphorus in the jaw bones
- Workers afflicted would begin suffering painful toothaches and swelling of the gums. Over time, the jaw bone would begin to abscess, a process which was both extremely painful and disfiguring to the patient, and repellent to others, since drainage from the dying bone tissue was exceedingly foul-smelling
Question 2
- Who might suffer with tomomania?.
- A surgeon!
- Tomomania is an irrational desire to use operative procedures…by a doctor or a patient
- A madness for going under the knife, or wielding the knife
Question 3
- What is the cause of hatter’s shakes?
- Mercury
- Historically, hatter’s shakes were suffered by hat makers, whose shakes and nerve damage were caused by the mercury used in the making of hats.
- The ailment is thought to have been the inspiration for the phrase ‘mad as a hatter’.
Question 4
- What is Bozzolo’s sign?
- Pulsating vessels in the nasal mucous membrane
- Bozzolo’s sign is associated with thoracic aorta aneurysm
- Named after the Italian physician Camillo Bozzolo (1845 – 1920)
Question 5
- What does a Trichotillomaniac need on his/her head?
- A wig
- Trichotillomania (TTM) is defined as “hair loss from a patient’s repetitive self-pulling of hair”
…and remember…there is always somebody worse off than you
About Tharsa Thillainadesan
