Heart disease is an equal opportunity killer. It's the No. 1 cause of death for both men and women. But a new study of more than half a million cases of heart attack victims rushed to Florida emergency rooms between 1991 and 2010 suggests a person's sex plays a surprising role in whether they are likely to survive a heart attack.
Researchers divided the cases into four categories: male doctors treating men; male doctors treating women; female doctors treating men and female doctors treating women. Only one category was statistically distinguishable: men treating women, where the risk of the female patient dying rises roughly 12 percent.
The why remains unknown, but the study poses troubling questions about the treatment and health outcomes of women in emergency rooms.
But don't count on finding a female emergency room doctor: Women make up just 25 percent of emergency doctors in the U.S.
Body of Knowledge
The body's bone marrow produces 3 million blood cells every second — and destroys the same number.
Get Me That, Stat!
More than half of all doctors in Finland are female, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Counts
335,000: Average annual salary, in dollars, for male primary care doctors, specialists and surgeons in the U.S.
243,000: For female primary care doctors, specialists and surgeons in the U.S.
Source: Maryland State Medical Society
Doc Talk
Diaphoresis: sweating
Mania of the Week
Pharmacomania: abnormal obsession with trying drugs
Number Cruncher
A serving of Alice Springs chicken from Outback Steakhouse contains 759 calories, 423 from fat. It has 47 grams of total fat, or 72 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet, according to the CalorieCount database.
It also contains 205 milligrams of cholesterol (68 percent); 1,626 milligrams of sodium (68 percent); 13 grams of total carbohydrates (4 percent); 1 gram of dietary fiber; 10 grams of sugar and 74 grams of protein.
Never Say Diet
The Major League Eating record (short form) for hard-boiled eggs is 20 in 84 seconds, held by Adrian Morgan. No yolk.
Best Medicine
Years of smoking finally caught up with Fred, who keeled over at work one morning, clutching his chest. As he was rushed to a hospital, paramedics peppered him with questions.
"Do you smoke?" asked a paramedic.
"No," Fred whispered. "I quit."
"That's good. When did you quit?"
"Around 9:30 this morning."
Observation
"A doctor's reputation is made by the number of eminent men who die under his care." — Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Medical History
In 1968, Dr. Michael E. DeBakey of Houston led the first simultaneous multi-organ transplant from one donor to four recipients. Two kidneys, one lobe of a lung and the heart were removed from a 20-year-old woman who died from a gunshot wound. The organs were transplanted into four male recipients, involving five surgical teams and more than 60 physicians, nurses and support persons.
Self-Exam
Q: What is the smallest organ in the human body?
A: The pineal gland, snugged near the center of the brain. It's just one-third of an inch long. Its main role is to produce melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles.
Med School
Q: What's the best time of day to have surgery?
A: A number of studies over the years have suggested early in the morning when, presumably, the surgeon is freshest. But a study published in 2017 looked at it from the patient's perspective. Researchers found that patients who underwent open-heart surgery in the afternoon experienced better health outcomes than those who had morning surgeries. The findings, they concluded, were linked to patients' circadian rhythms, which among other things appear to influence cellular processes, making healing faster in the afternoon than in the morning.
Last Words
"At 50, everyone has the face he deserves." These were writer George Orwell's last written words. Orwell died in 1950 at the age of 46, with a face he didn't quite yet deserve.
To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
View Comments