|
|
Once thought to have neurofibromatosis, Joseph Merrick (also known as "the elephant man") is now, in retrospect, thought by clinical experts to have had Proteus syndrome. This endocrine disease causes continued and abnormal growth of the bones, muscles, skin, and so on and can become completely debilitating with severe deformities occurring anywhere on the body.
Eating food that has been cooked with poppy seeds may cause you to fail a drug screening test, because the seeds contain enough opiate alkaloids to register as a positive.
Vaccines prevent between 2.5 and 4 million deaths every year.
In the United States, an estimated 50 million unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for viral respiratory infections.
Asthma cases in Americans are about 75% higher today than they were in 1980.