Unusual Medical Cases and Stories

Strange, Weird & Bizarre Medical Cases & Facts



Cancer Drug Steals Identity 0

Posted on July 05, 2012 by bigoak

talktothehandIf you’ve turned on the television in the past decade, you’ve likely seen a drug commercial with a federally mandated list of rather bizarre side effects such as the restless leg syndrome drugs that increase the urge to gamble. However, one commonly used cancer treatment drug, capecitabine, has a side effect which can get you into trouble at customs check points – capecitabine can erase finger prints.

The drug, which is prescribed fairly regularly to prevent cancer from returning, is known to cause inflammation and blistering of the palms and soles of the feet. After prolonged use, the repeated swelling and blistering can leave patients without finger prints. Where things get complicated is that sometimes the swelling isn’t pronounced enough to affect patients and cause doctors to remove capecitabine from their drug regimens.

This is exactly what happened to one patient chronicled by the BBC. This patient was travelling to the United States where he was held by immigration officials for four hours. Their reasoning? The man’s finger prints had vanished.

Strong Men and Crazy Lung Power 0

Posted on March 10, 2012 by bigoak

Manoj Chopra is called by some “The Strongest Man in Asia” and has competed in Strongman Cups and Strongest Man Competitions.  Not only can he rip apart a phone book and crack an iceberg, he can also blow up a hot water bottle until it bursts.  The pressure it should take to accomplish that is said to be about 500 pounds of pressure.  And dude can do it with his lungs.  Crazy!  It’s one thing for someone’s arms or legs to be strong, but their crazy strong lungs?  Nuts.

Manoj was the first Indian to become a WWF fighter, and he’s been willing to pursue the World’s Strongest Man title despite the fact that his country would not support him financially, nor appreciate that kind of effort.  He’s determined to be the best and strongest Manoj he can be.

Unfortunately, the image of ol’ Manoj is pretty small:

Manoj

Manoj

But I also found some other images of other people doing this mind-boggling trick so I thought I’d share those with you as well.

christen georges

Meet Georges Christen.  Not only is he from Luxemborg, which I happen to think is awesome, he also has the Guinness World Record for using his amazing lung power to inflate a hot water bottle.  Pretty awesome, huh?

If you want to increase your lung capacity so you can perform amazing hot water bottle feat like these guys, there are techniques you can try.  One is “Pushing Out,” where you bend over and push all the air out of your lungs, and inhale as you stand back up.  Try holding your breath for 20 seconds when you’re standing straight up, and then push all the air out as you bend over from the waist – keep your arms over your head.

You can find more techniques on LiveStrong.com in an article by Harold Sconiers.



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