« January 16, 2025 | Main | January 18, 2025 »

January 17, 2025

BehindTheMedspeak: Broken Heart Syndrome

"Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, which is transient and typically precipitated by acute emotional stress, is also known as 'stress cardiomyopathy' or 'broken-heart syndrome,' stated the authors of a 2007 paper in the Texas Heart Institute Journal which described four patients who exhibited the condition.

Takotsubo is not the name of the Japanese physician who first described the syndrome; in Japanese, "tako" [蛸] means "octopus" and "tsubo" [壷] means "fishing pot," so "tako-tsubo" means "fishing pot for trapping octopus."

The left ventricle of a patient diagnosed with this condition resembles that particular shape (top), hence the name.The syndrome's etiology is still not well understood, but several mechanisms including transient vasospasm, microvascular dysfunction or wraparound left anterior descending artery (LAD) have been proposed.

While the original case reports emanated from Japan in the early 1990s, more recently an increase in cases in the U.S. and Europe has been noted, perhaps because the syndrome previously went unrecognized before being described in detail in the Japanese literature.

The syndrome has been diagnosed primarily in post-menopausal women, but the reason for this gender predominance is not yet known.

According to Wikipedia, "On English death certificates, doctors would write 'broken heart' as the cause of death if they died inexplicably following the death of a spouse."

January 17, 2025 at 04:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mmmm, Cuitlacoche

1qwsdcfv

From websites:

Cuitlacoche [above] is a black fungus that infects corn fields, making the kernels bulbous and swollen as they fill with spores [below, an infected kernel next to an unaffected one].

6a00d8341c5dea53ef0120a76b73bb970b

It also goes by the name Huitlacoche.

If you're having trouble with the pronunciation, it's kweet-lah-KOH-chay.

Open_can300

U.S. farmers consider it a disease and destroy it.

Farmers in Mexico put it in cans [above and below] and sell it as a delicacy.

It's frequently called Maize Mushroom, Corn Smut, or Mexican Truffle.

Goya300

Having not yet had the pleasure of tasting it, I'm hoping some of you who have will report in on your experience(s).

Others new to this Mexican specialty can go where few boj readers have gone before and try it for yourself for the low, low price of $10.10.

January 17, 2025 at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Casio Retro Pac-Man Calculator Watch

978

So kewl.

Wrote Andrew Liszewski in The Verge:

After being announced in Japan in December, Casio's new Pac-Man themed retro digital watch collection is now available in the U.S.

The lineup includes a $59.95 timekeeper with basic functionality, a $79.95 calculator watch (above and below), and a $130 option with Bluetooth connectivity that can be used to easily set the watch's time and track your steps.

3

Don't dally: these will set out in a Podunkville minute.

January 17, 2025 at 08:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

« January 16, 2025 | Main | January 18, 2025 »