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Original poster

Medical things you didn’t know?

738 replies

Emptychairdoasolo · 04/07/2023 21:09

Just watching a medical drama and wondered what happens if you die on the operating table? Do they just sew you back up without repairing anything inside?

but also had me thinking what other medical things didn’t you know until you maybe experienced them or learned?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
FourTeaFallOut · 04/07/2023 22:43

That a gastroscopy isn't a delicate thread like thing that gently has a nose around in your stomach, it's like being pummeled with a hosepipe. This is something you should know before you shrug your shoulders and say that you are sure you'll be fine without sedation.

Toddlerteaplease · 04/07/2023 22:46

@DustyLee123 did we have the same tutor? I remember that exact phrase being used. I trained in Leicester!

Keykat · 04/07/2023 22:47

What happens when there is no way to open a window in the room where a death occurs? Open the door I suppose.

Interesting thread.

Heyheyitsanotherday · 04/07/2023 22:48

There are two types of legal death. Non heart beating (as pp described) which is what we all thing of when we say dead. And brain stem death. Brain stem death is a legal death in the uk. Only seen in icu when a patient is on a ventilator. 2 senior doctors do tests to confirm twice. The patient is declared dead after the first set of tests even though they are still on a ventilator with a beating heart.

KnickerlessParsons · 04/07/2023 22:48

When you die most nurses will open a window to allow your soul out
Not many hospital wards have windows that open these days.

Tiredmum100 · 04/07/2023 22:50

Plentiful · 04/07/2023 22:33

Look, I get that some people, including nurses, are superstitious, but you weren’t ‘taught’ that as some kind of clinical necessity — it’s just a superstition.

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Oh yes, I completely agree. It's not a clinical necessity at all.

Nottodaty · 04/07/2023 22:50

I have metal in my body and only by an off topic conversation I realised that some older MRI machines I’m not allowed to use. Never thought about till Doctor mentioned it!

When my Grandad passed last year at home Nan immediately opened all the windows and doors for his soul to leave. Recently Nan passed in hospital but when we all later that day meet at her home even though it wasn’t where she died we opened all the windows.

Mumtothreegirlies · 04/07/2023 22:51

Spidey66 · 04/07/2023 21:30

When you die most nurses will open a window to allow your soul out

I doubt that's the reason. I think it's more likely to prevent any smell.

smell? We had bodies in the chapel of rest for 3+ weeks unrefrigerated and even they didn’t smell. Have some common sense.

LunaTheCat · 04/07/2023 22:52

I have been a doctor for 30 years and am always learning things I didn’t know!
Medicine is so fascinating!
when I started my training they told us “50 percent of what we tell you is wrong …we just don’t know what 50 percent” I think that’s true .. the idea that we would have treated stomach ulcers with medication would have been fantastical.
2 days ago I learned that an anti-inflammatory used on the skin can sometimes treat benign skin lesions.

HeadNorth · 04/07/2023 22:54

Tiredmum100 · 04/07/2023 22:50

Oh yes, I completely agree. It's not a clinical necessity at all.

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Yes and demonstrates that nurses’ care goes beyond the clinical. It is holistic and considers the whole person and their family. Nurses do not get enough credit for this as society venerates the clinical above all else.

SammyScrounge · 04/07/2023 22:55

Free .Florence and the Machine

My son was playing it in his car and I liked it. It s stuck in my head now.

MissSmiley · 04/07/2023 22:57

Iloveanicegarden · 04/07/2023 21:10

That a lung condition can be indicated by eye inflammation

Sarcoidosis?
Eye inflammation (scleritis) can also be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis

AmbleInAnnBoleyn · 04/07/2023 22:58

HollyFern1110 · 04/07/2023 21:34

Recently deceased bodies don't smell any worse than they did just before they died.

I've carried out last offices for many patients over the years. We were definitely opening the window to let the soul out. Superstition I suppose.

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Holly we were called to hospital urgently for my dad, and my mum wailed when we entered his room as the window was open, and she understood immediately what was coming. I understood, but only after.
Thank you for opening the window for your patients. Truly grateful.

Isomissmyoldlife · 04/07/2023 23:00

MissSmiley · 04/07/2023 22:57

Sarcoidosis?
Eye inflammation (scleritis) can also be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis

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And hyperthyroidism can also present with eyes bulging out of your head. And the solution is to remove bits of eye socket down your nose so they go back in.

Kelpi · 04/07/2023 23:01

Destiny123 · 04/07/2023 22:29

Legally someone who is brain stem dead is...dead so by definition we are bringing a dead body to theatre and the organs taken. The heart is rarely ever taken as its normally in too poor a condition due to age/events leading to brain death. Icu certifies them dead and we bring them to theatre for retrieval. Most of us run a little bit of anaesthetic as it makes us feel psychologically better but they are dead so no need.

If you didn't have them on a ventilator breathing for them then their heart and lungs would stop naturally shortly afterwards, which is what occurs in those not suitable or family don't wish for organ donation once we remove the breathing tube

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This has really blown my mind. It makes sense that they are legally dead if the ventilator is all that's keeping them going, but at the same time it's so weird to imagine organs being cut out of someone whilst their heart is beating. At what point in the process is the ventilator turned off?

Polik · 04/07/2023 23:01

I lost touch feeling from the waist down (nerve damage). But I didn't realise I'd lost touch feeling. It took me watching the doctor pressing pins into my skin to realise that I couldn't feel it.

I look back now and find it incredulous I didn't realise that I couldn't feel anything

Mindovermatter247 · 04/07/2023 23:01

Penny5534 · 04/07/2023 21:15

That when you get a cannula put in they don't leave the needle in. Even though I knew this the last time though I was still too much of a scaredy cat to actually bend my arm much.

Cannulas are a bitch, I think they are worse than needles… that was the one thing I was dreading in childbirth the 2nd time than I was the birth…. Thankfully I didn’t need one..

Losingmyusername · 04/07/2023 23:01

My dad died on the table. Well he was already dead anyway as far as I was concerned but no I think they said they couldn't close the wound. I regret not going to see his body as we arrived right after he died, it just seemed terrifying.

Happinessischeeseontoast · 04/07/2023 23:02

If being brain stem dead means you are medically dead then why has there been legal cases between parents and doctors in the last few years? I'm thinking Archie battersby most recently.

ApiratesaysYarrr · 04/07/2023 23:03

titchy · 04/07/2023 21:39

You can't get heart cancer.

Atrial myxoma and sarcoma are 2 types of cancer that I can think of immediately that arise from the heart. Rare but not unknown.

continentallentil · 04/07/2023 23:03

TomAllenWife · 04/07/2023 21:22

Oh lots

At post-mortem they put all the organs in a clinic bag in your abdomen and sew you back up

Donor transplant is brutal but amazing

Children don't have knee caps

When you die most nurses will open a window to allow your soul out

Are you in Ireland by any chance? That’s the only place I’ve encountered the window opening.

Snowpaw · 04/07/2023 23:04

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that small parts of your eyes can be used to donate to others. When my Dad died many of his organs were not viable for donation but we got a nice letter a few weeks later telling us that someone had benefitted from some part of his eyes.

JanetandJohn500 · 04/07/2023 23:05

I'm just sitting with my dad as he's in palliative care with hours/days left and I'm so comforted to know that the nurses on here take such care and pride on performing these small rituals upon death. His treatment and care these last few days had been wonderful with every singles member of staff we've come across being so kind and compassionate.
I'll be watching to see if they let his soul out as he's in a windowless room ❤️

LadyWiddiothethird · 04/07/2023 23:08

@TomAllenWife No idea where you got that from! I was a nurse for 40years and have never heard of that and I worked for a long time in palliative care.

23careerhelp · 04/07/2023 23:08

The Serotonin Theory, where people believe depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain i.e low serotonin levels, has been scientifically disproved. It is not fully understood how antidepressants work but studies prove that they do. It’s such a complex subject but very fascinating to learn about!
Some mental health issues, such as psychosis are treated with epilepsy medication as they believe the signals in the brain that are causing the psychosis can be intercepted the same was a signal that would case a fit is therefore reducing psychosis - this is a really common treatment in psychiatry.