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After the colonists arrived in America in the early 1600s, they kept bumping into poison ivy. Herbalists started formulating potions to sooth itchy skin, clinicians tried to figure out how the rash happened when some people never even touched the plants and physicians played around with the leaves to see what in the heck it cured. “Poison ivy cures paralysis,” according to Frenchman Dr. DuFresnoy in 1788, and in 1793, Englishman Dr. Alderson agreed. Apparently, feeling commences with a sensation of pricking, burning and twitching of the affected parts. This startling news was amended by the late 1800s to mean only the paralysis that follows attacks of rheumatism. But still-is this dramatic or what?

In… Continue reading →

Usually, I will probably make a joke about such a topic to write on so let’s try the reverse method, I shall be really serious about it and won’t be anal about it. You shall see. Rectal temperature is considered the most accurate temperature of the body and is the most effective way of measuring temperature in a patient. In contrast, taking rectal temperature, if done on a person older than a child, can be unpleasant, let alone embarrassing for people of conservative customs.

As for infants, rectal temperature-taking is the most favored method by pediatricians. Because taking rectal temperature can also be painful, even if done by trained practitioners, rectal digital thermometers are preferable.… Continue reading →