Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Three more things

This afternoon, after call, I went to a lecture by my department chair on the history of inborn errors of metabolism. He focused on how the discoveries leading up to the modern understanding of inherited genetic diseases revolutionized how humanity thinks of itself. Namely, the idea that inherited characteristics and even more specifically, the mind is governed by biochemical principles. It was a really inspirational, fascinating talk. Anyway, posting post-call, so without further ago: here's what I learned today

1. Neonates generally don't benefit from ventilator rates less than 10 (this only kind of counts -- I totally knew this, but didn't make use of my knowledge at 5:30 AM.)
2. People with PKU who are treated early average a normal IQ but often have subtle cognitive differences, especially decreased executive functioning.
3. Glycogen storage disease type I patients cannot ever mobilize glucose in response to glucagon, but type III patients can if they have been fasting for less than 2 hours.

Bonus: Apparently the phrase "Selling coals to Newcastle" is similar to "Preaching to the choir," because Newcastle exports a lot of coal. However, it's historically inaccurate because lots of people have profited by selling coal to Newcastle. Honestly, to me, it sounds like an Iron Dragon reference. (Selling dragons to Nordkassel?)

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