# Medically moronic media moments. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495 "2019-03-03T19:37:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/21 "2019-03-03T23:34:11Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > The relationship between a cast-iron pan and amnesia due to a crack on the noggin (and subsequent memory recovery via a second crack) needs further study, ergo a large grant is required. I’ll send you my address. Ok, I’ve raised the grant money, I paid $8 for the cast-iron pan and I have $3.50 for bus fare. When can I come round to start the testing? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/22 "2019-03-03T23:35:35Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Ok, I’ve raised the grant money, I paid $8 for the cast-iron pan and I have $3.50 for bus fare. When can I come round to start the testing? Bring a date. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/23 "2019-03-03T23:36:45Z")
A long time ago, during a herpes epidemic, I heard a newsperson say the phrase, “inadvertent oral-genital contact”. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/24 "2019-03-03T23:36:52Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Bring a date. The grant doesn’t cover snacks. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/25 "2019-03-03T23:38:32Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > A long time ago, during a herpes epidemic, I heard a newsperson say the phrase, “inadvertent oral-genital contact”. Well, you could just be taking a close look, and slip. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/26 "2019-03-04T00:20:00Z")
> [@](#): > > The grant doesn’t cover snacks. > [@](#): > > Well, you could just be taking a close look, and slip. That seems to take care of the snack problem. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/27 "2019-03-04T00:35:33Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Well, you could just be taking a close look, and slip. Another one of those million-to-one shots! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/28 "2019-03-04T00:41:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Another one of those million-to-one shots! ☹ After the fourth time it happened to me, I learned my lesson, and I now wear goggles and a surgical mask when taking a close look at someone’s genitals. Sure it’s less romantic, but safety first I say. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/29 "2019-03-04T00:53:06Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Watching _Travelers_ 2x06 a copule of days ago, I noticed this howler: > > (There was something else I saw recently were someone was stabbed or shot in the liver via the lower gut, but I can’t recall what.) > > So whatcha got? “Gut” often just means abdomen in general; this isn’t really a howler. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/30 "2019-03-04T02:11:58Z")
Don’t get me started on cancer portrayals. They manage to cover up the head hair but tend to forget the eyebrows and eyelashes. You lose ALL your hair. I had a chronic cough my last two rounds of chemo because I lost my nose hair. And chances are you are not going to have uncontrollable vomiting. They have drugs to counteract that. But, drama. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/31 "2019-03-04T04:49:27Z")
Don’t forget epileptics swallowing their tongues. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/32 "2019-03-04T04:54:41Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Don’t forget epileptics swallowing their tongues. Ignorance fought. Now I shall be super-alert for anyone having a seizure, so that I can (smugly) stop people trying to stuff things in their mouth. Oddly, I did a pretty extensive NOLS first aid course, and I’m pretty sure they never taught us this. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/33 "2019-03-04T06:53:15Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > And chances are you are not going to have uncontrollable vomiting. They have drugs to counteract that. But, drama. This is also how many shows portray pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/34 "2019-03-04T06:58:24Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > This is also how many shows portray pregnancy. On-screen vomiting is often used to show someone who didn’t know that they were pregnant getting the first indication. Is that part realistic? Is it common to get nausea or actual vomiting before you sense anything else, before you realize that your period is very late? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/35 "2019-03-04T08:17:31Z")
The show “Psych” (which I love dearly) had a scenario where they were interviewing firefighters about an arsonist, and were doing this while the firefighters were training. One was getting his CPR recert while the questioning was going on. It was explicitly stated that, in order to get his cert, the firefighter had to be practicing on a living person. (Don’t ever do CPR on a person with a heartbeat…you could do much more harm than good) I don’t see this one as much anymore, but also don’t perform CPR on someone in a bed or on a couch. There needs to be a board under them, or they need to be laying on a hard surface. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/36 "2019-03-04T21:23:12Z")
Not exactly ‘Medical’, but moronic media: As reported by CNN Newsource about the Oregon man who was snowbound in his truck with his dog for five days. Quote: “It is not clear how he, or the dog, got water. A person can live five days without water and six weeks without food, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.” Unquote. Who knew that snow is not really frozen water? I’ve been misinformed all these years. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/37 "2019-03-04T21:52:19Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > Not exactly ‘Medical’, but moronic media: > > As reported by CNN Newsource about the Oregon man who was snowbound in his truck with his dog for five days. Quote: “It is not clear how he, or the dog, got water. A person can live five days without water and six weeks without food, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.” Unquote. > > Who knew that snow is not really frozen water? I’ve been misinformed all these years. :smack: Hmm, you just jumped to calling them morons without a few seconds googling? If you have no way to melt snow, eating it (or melting it with your body heat) is not advisable. It’s mostly air, so you need to eat a lot of it to get a significant amount of water. And for your body to generate the heat required to melt it, metabolism uses up water, so the net effect can actually be to _de_hydrate you. > **[Survival Skills: 5 Myths of Dehydration](https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-5-myths-dehydration/)** > > If you’ve ever watched survival shows, you’ve probably seen a few of the “stars” perform some silly stunts in the name of hydration. While a few things depicted on television are occasionally worthy of emulation, other techniques are a recipe for... > [@](#): > > If it is cold enough for snow to be present, then it is cold enough for hypothermia. Since any volume of snow is mostly air, this means you’d need to eat about ten quarts of snow to yield one quart of water in your belly. Forget about brain freeze—this is core freeze! If you’re dehydrated in cold conditions with snow, find a way to liquefy the snow outside your body. Melt it with fire. Place it in a black container in the sun to absorb solar heat. Do anything other than eating it to melt it. [https://www.sunnysports.com/blog/outdoor-myths-eating-snow-dehydration/](https://www.sunnysports.com/blog/outdoor-myths-eating-snow-dehydration/) > [@](#): > > **Why snow does not rehydrate, contrary to popular belief** > Eating snow is not the same as consuming water because snow is a solid that must melt before it becomes a fluid. Cells and organs in the body need water to be in a liquid state, so the body must work to heat and melt the snow once it is eaten. Because the organs must work harder to heat the ice and melt it, you will become further dehydrated rather than hydrated. You will continue to lose more water than you are taking in, even though you are hydrating the body by eating snow. Sorry for the magazine-style references, it’s all I could find on a brief search, but this is in accord with the science. I think they are slightly exaggerating - eating a small amount of snow over a short period if it’s not too cold is probably fine. But this guy sounds like he was trapped in extremely cold temperatures, and for 5 days. Hypothermia would be a serious concern if the only water source was unmelted snow. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/38 "2019-03-04T22:06:15Z")
ETA: on looking for some better sources and doing some back-of-the envelope calculations myself, I think that the idea that eating snow could lead to net dehdyration is pretty dubious. The main reason that it’s inadvisable as a survival strategy is the chilling effect, increased risk of hypothermia. So eating a bit of (clean) snow if you’re skiing and plenty warm is fine; having it as your only water source if you can’t melt it in an extended survival situation in low temperatures is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/39 "2019-03-04T22:33:11Z")
Jack Benny once had an episode set in a hospital and a doctor needed to view an X-ray. The doc had it upside down and nobody noticed. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/40 "2019-03-04T22:42:44Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > ETA: on looking for some better sources and doing some back-of-the envelope calculations myself, I think that the idea that eating snow could lead to net dehdyration is pretty dubious. The main reason that it’s inadvisable as a survival strategy is the chilling effect, increased risk of hypothermia. So eating a bit of (clean) snow if you’re skiing and plenty warm is fine; having it as your only water source if you can’t melt it in an extended survival situation in low temperatures is a problem. The article indicated he ran the motor from time to time to get heat. That could melt to the snow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495.md?page=3)