|
|
As many as 28% of hospitalized patients requiring mechanical ventilators to help them breathe (for more than 48 hours) will develop ventilator-associated pneumonia. Current therapy involves intravenous antibiotics, but new antibiotics that can be inhaled (and more directly treat the infection) are being developed.
Your skin wrinkles if you stay in the bathtub a long time because the outermost layer of skin (which consists of dead keratin) swells when it absorbs water. It is tightly attached to the skin below it, so it compensates for the increased area by wrinkling. This happens to the hands and feet because they have the thickest layer of dead keratin cells.
In ancient Rome, many of the richer people in the population had lead-induced gout. The reason for this is unclear. Lead poisoning has also been linked to madness.
Pubic lice (crabs) are usually spread through sexual contact. You cannot catch them by using a public toilet.
Eat fiber! A diet high in fiber can help lower cholesterol levels by as much as 10%.
![According to this Democratic cartoon, the only qualification of General Zachary Taylor, the Whig can](https://biology-forums.com/gallery/47/medium_375552_19_08_15_9_09_51_22319856.jpeg)
![Edward Bellamy, author of the utopian novel Looking Backward (1888) Bellamy’s socialism worried many](https://biology-forums.com/gallery/47/medium_27_24_08_15_1_27_04_223942387.jpeg)
![President-elect Barack Obama, his daughters, and wife, Michelle, celebrate his victory in November 2](https://biology-forums.com/gallery/47/medium_27_24_08_15_1_42_55_224082191.jpeg)