Broken Heart Syndrome

I was watching TV at the gym (can't remember exactly which tabloid show it was-- you know, I've got the earphones in blaring music and I'm trying to read subtitles while running!) when a story comes on about a woman who can't remember her wedding day.

Ok-- well that's a teeny bit unusual. I'm surmising she must have been in a horrible car accident later that day or something.

No, nothing like that.

They go on to explain that this woman suffered from Broken Heart Syndrome for which my eyes roll several times around my skull as I'm sure this can't be a real medical thing. I mean, tabloid TV, she can't remember her wedding day, Broken Heart Syndrome-- they have totally made this up.

Evidently, they did not.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Broken Heart Syndrome is a "temporary heart condition brought on by stressful situations." Anyone who has been through planning and actually wedding someone knows how stressful that can be. Because of the release of all these stress (adrenaline) hormones, "the heart temporarily enlarges and doesn't pump well." What differentiates this from a normal heart attack is that the coronary arteries aren't blocked though the symptoms might be similar-- sudden onset of chest pain, difficulty breathing and weakness.

Other names it goes by:

• Takotsubo Cardiomyopahy
• Stress Cardiomyopathy
• Stress-induced Cardiomyopathy
• Apical Ballooning Syndrome 

It is treatable and symptoms reverse in a couple of weeks. In this woman's case, however, she suffered cardiac arrest. Her husband was able to revive her but she was comatose for approximately four days-- hence losing all her wedding memories.

Be careful next time you throw someone a surprise birthday party. Make sure their heart can take it.

The Noah Movie and Up and Coming

Hello Redwood's Fans!

How's your week been? Me? Saw Noah. I actually didn't have quite the negative reaction that many other religious people had. Some of the consistent complaints about the rock people, the fact that the wives weren't present on the ark, and the sleeping smoke didn't bother me so I thought I'd offer a contrary review of the movie.

1. The Rock People.

Supposedly, these creatures were angels who chose to leave Heaven to help Adam and Eve once they were dispelled from the Garden. Because they disobeyed God, he made them into these beings. Sure, these "rock people" aren't in Genesis but we know that consistently in the Old Testament that God handed out punishment for disobedience. I thought that principle was consistent with a lot of Old Testament teaching. I think creative license could have been taken on this and how Noah did built such a big vessel.

2. Noah's sons didn't have wives.

Technically, the girls they adopted into their family had conceived her twin girls prior to boarding the ark so technically-- they were present. I'll give leeway here.

3. The Sleeping Smoke.

In the movie, a smoke is used to put the animals to sleep but does not affect humans. People cry that this could not plausible. So, we're okay that God can summon all the animals to come to the ark but He can't create a smoke that only affects animals. And-- speaking medically-- medications do affect people and animals differently. For instance, some over-the-counter pain relievers we take are quite harmful to animals.

4. Noah as a crazy religious man.

While being confined to the ark, Noah develops the belief that perhaps ALL humanity is supposed to perish and so when he finds out of the pregnancy of the adopted daughter-- he threatens to kill the child if it's female. I get the plot hole-- why not kill the adopted daughter, too, since she's not barren? What I actually found interesting about this is that the Bible doesn't spell out Noah's exact actions on the ark. Little is said. I know people who develop certain beliefs, even very religious people, that aren't necessarily biblical and then eventually come to a new understanding. I think this was depicted in the film-- where he chose not to kill the twin girls in the end. We don't really know what Noah was like and, personally, I'd get a little crazy too being locked up with animals and a few humans for that long of a time period.

This is the one issue, from a religious standpoint, that I did have issue with:

The symbolism of the snake skin being a blessing/birthright to subsequent generations.

In Noah's visions, the snake (being the devil) sheds his skin. In the first scene of the movie, Noah's father wraps this snake skin around his forearm to give Noah a blessing. Before doing so, Noah's father is murdered and the snake skin gets into the hands of the villain. At the end of the movie-- Noah has it back and uses it to "bless" his two granddaughters.

Hmm-- why would you use the skin of the serpent as a blessing? The one thing that tempted you to do evil.

That's what I'd like to discuss.

Did you see Noah-- what were your thoughts?

Now-- back to the medical mayhem.

For you this week:

Tuesday: Broken Heart Syndrome. Is it a real thing?

Thursday: Fascinating author question about what a monitor can and can't tell a nurse.

Hope you all have a great week.

Jordyn

New Medical Device: X-STAT

As a medical nerd, I'm always a little fascinated by new medical devices and what they can do. I was alerted to this device by Mike H. via Facebook (Thanks, Mike!) and found it worthy to post upon to keep all your medical treatment scenes in those novels up to date.

The Blaze

It is true that not all bleeding can be controlled by direct pressure. It is also true that bleeding is the leading cause of death when it comes to bullet wounds (unless you have suffered a direct hit to either your heart, brain, and/or spinal cord which is likely the end of your life here on earth.) Uncontrolled bleeding from limbs is one thing that harkened back the use of the tourniquet. First by the military and now by civilian EMS agencies. They found the concern over tissue damage didn't pan out in the research.

For those other folks who get shot in the chest and/or abdomen, it's always a race to the hospital where definitive control of bleeding can happen-- which usually necessitates a trip to the OR-- which takes time. You may have heard the term "Golden Hour" which is generally the preferred window to get the patient to definitive treatment before they die.

Rapid control of bleeding could actually extend this hour in my opinion.

Enter the X-STAT.  For lack of a better term, the X-STAT is a tampon shaped (sorry, guys) device that is filled with dime-sized medical grade sponges that are coated with a hemostatic (stops bleeding) agent. It is inserted into the wound and the plunger places these sponges deep into the wound where they expand (like the firework snakes) and stem bleeding without direct pressure. The expansion of the sponges prevents them from being forced out of the wound.

Genius.

Thus far it seems to be listed as an investigational device and its use is limited but if it does what it says it does I think this could mean a big difference for trauma patients.

You can read more about the X-STAT here. 

What do you think of the X-STAT? Would you use it in a novel? You can bet I'll find a way to.

New Medical Device: Skin Cell Gun

It's not often that I'm impressed by new medical devices. Many times, they're just refined from old devices with a few new bells and whistles.

This might be different.

It is difficult to treat significant burns-- particularly when grafting the skin is required. There are few options available other than taking sheets of skin from the patient's own body or growing new skin cells on sheets which takes weeks. The problem with the wait time is that your skin is not only your largest organ but also your primary defense against infectious agents entering your body. This is often what burn patients die from-- infections while their wounds heal.

That might all change and change dramatically with The Skin Gun. They take the patient's own skin cells and grow them in a water solution and in a matter of hours grow enough to then spray the skin cells onto the injured area.

The video is impressive as the new skin doesn't even appear to scar down which is another nemesis of burn treatment, but I would like to see some before and after photos of the same patient for me to truly buy into the claimed results. However, if this process can do what they profess-- it will revolutionize care for burn patients.

Check out the video. What do you think?