#gross – @biomedicalephemera on Tumblr

Ways to Die: Gangrene of the Foot

On Jan 8, 1687, Jean-Baptiste Lully was conducting a Te Deum, in honor of Louis XIV’s recovery from illness, and became so impassioned with the music that he struck his staff (a precursor to the baton used today) against the front of his foot.

An abscess developed that night, and despite treatment, Lully developed gangrene in his foot. Several court physicians strongly recommended amputation at the initial stage of gangrene, and again when it spread to his leg, but Lully would have none of it; he was much too interested in being able to conduct his own compositions, and having only one foot would not allow that.

Jean-Baptiste Lully died on March 22, 1687, due to gangrene of the foot, caused by enthusiastic conducting of his orchestra.

[image: army medical center, gangrene from war abscess, 1865.]

#reblog #gangrene #gross #halloween

biomedicalephemera

Favus of the Scalp and Body

Favus (or favid), from the Latin favus, means “honeycomb”, and is a dermatological infection by the fungus Trichophyton schoenleinii.

This was the first disease that had a fungus recognized as its cause. In 1839, J. L. Schonlein described the spore and mycelia of the causative organism. This predates the earliest isolation of infectious bacteria by several decades, but its early discovery did not do much to prevent or treat infections. In fact, despite the knowledge of the condition and its cause, it was frequently mistaken for Hansen’s disease (leprosy) until the early 1900s, and many Europeans who were given incorrect diagnoses were committed to leper colonies or leprosaria (the leprosy equivalent of a sanitarium).

In the modern world, griseofulvin, an anti-fungal discovered in 1939, kills the favus fungus so easily that the condition is almost unheard of, outside of inaccessible and extremely impoverished communities.

Diseases of the Skin, Their Pathology and Treatment. Dr. Milton B. Hartzell, 1919.

#medical #favus #favid #skin #dermatology #fungus #fungi #fungal infection #1910s #1919 #hartzell #gross #infection #hansen's disease #leprosy #lichen

biomedicalephemera

liferstate asked:

What is the cheesy substance that builds up in the holes of pierced ears or ears with gauges? Is it analogous to earwax? My earlobes have been pierced for nearly 20 years and I'm still dealing with this weird crud, so I'm guessing it's some kind of natural by-product.

Haha, I know what you’re talking about - it’s not earwax (the glands that secrete cerumen are modified sweat glands present only in the inner ear canal), but a buildup of sweat and shed skin around the hole. You’ll probably see it much more often when you have earrings in, because the earring wires or posts make it much easier for that dead skin to build up. It’s kind of like when you have ick build up in your bellybutton when you don’t clean it out regularly - it’s just sweat and dead skin and dead bacteria.

An infected ear will actively ooze, probably hurt, and definitely be abnormal. But just having icky buildup crud is not weird - just make sure to take studs out often enough to clean the hole and posts, and make sure that cartilage piercings are thoroughly cleaned, even when they cant be taken out.

Also, don’t get a sword piercing. Those things get hella infected.

#cerumen #piercings #ears #earwax #gross #medical #anatomy #natalie dee #sweat glands #dead skin #katherinemarty

biomedicalephemera

LET'S GUT IT!

I know she has a new video for this year, but I feel obliged to bring this back around. Always my favorite valentine's day video.

#the brain scoop #emily graslie #valentines day #emily gets a valentine #let's gut it #gross #teddy bear #heart #silly #dissection

biomedicalephemera

the-fandom-random-deactivated20 asked:

My biology teachers have heard of cases o Taenia that got so serious that the body of a kid was so filled with them that the parasites were not only comming out, as normal, from the nose and mouth, but were making holes on the skin itself.

Hm hm hm. Let me say, first off, that I doubt that kid had the Taenia solaris I was talking about, but! - Fun facts!: If that was really the pork tapeworm, that was probably due to multiple infections of Taenia. Once inside the (human) body, the Taenia larva has a very difficult time moving between the digestive tract to the respiratory system. Muscular cysts are common in those infected with Taenia, for the same reason that brain lesions are not unheard of - they're direct stops along the circulatory path, and don't immediately branch into tiny capillaries that transfer gasses to the alveoli.

However, if a kid (or, less often, an adult) ingests the eggs of the parasite incompletely (leaving some in the back of the throat), or while coughing, the worms have been shown to be able to set up shop better in the lung than in the brain. They're able to reproduce there, which is what leads to them being coughed/sneezed out. In the brain and muscles, they're only able to form cysts and wait...and hope that the human dies and a pig eats their flesh. :(

#gross #parasite #reply #medical #tw: parasites #taenia #tapeworm #the-fandom-random

biomedicalephemera reblogged

biomedicalephemera

Tubercules d’Elephantiasis et Framboesia [framboesia = yaws]

1. Elephantiasis - Cutaneous and sub-cutaneous tubercules and a small number of ulcerations.

2. Elephantiasis - Less common manifestation of elephantiasis - larger tubercules due to branching vascularization near surface of dermis

3. Hypertrophic ear with something that translates to “glaze of tuberculous nipples”. Make of it what you will.

4. Ulceration of epiglottis, person afflicted with elephantiasis.

5. Band of ulceration on upper palate.

6. Framboesia [Yaws] - Red pimples and fungoid ulcers [characteristic of primary stage of yaws]

7. Framboesia [Yaws] - White fungoid ulceration [characteristic of sores appearing during tertiary stage of yaws, when the spirochete invades the bones and nodules around joints]

Traité des maladies de la peau. Pierre François Rayer, 1835.

#skin #disease #reblog #deformity #gross

biomedicalephemera

octoberwaffle asked:

What is the nastiest disease/condition you have ever seen in a book or otherwise, and can we get some info on it--preferably more than anyone ever wanted to know?

I'll get some real entries done tomorrow...It's hard to gross me out, but there's still some stuff out there that just makes me cringe.

Dry gangrene
Cutaneous anthrax affecting the eye
Diphtheria (because of the adherent pseudomembrane and its expulsion after the illness...blehcchhhch)
any type of parasitic infestation
Actinomycosis
Some manifestations of syphilis/other STDs
Genital condylomata and bilharzial papillomata - I've waffled on posting these in the past...they're pretty interesting in terms of what the bilharzia parasite and gonorrhea bacteria do, but really, it's gross as shit. It's gross genitals. Gross deformed genitals. Female genitals. I don't want to scare EVERYONE off. :\

#octaffle #reply #disease #gross

biomedicalephemera

Tubercules d'Elephantiasis et Framboesia [framboesia = yaws]

1. Elephantiasis - Cutaneous and sub-cutaneous tubercules and a small number of ulcerations.

2. Elephantiasis - Less common manifestation of elephantiasis - larger tubercules due to branching vascularization near surface of dermis

3. Hypertrophic ear with something that translates to "glaze of tuberculous nipples". Make of it what you will.

4. Ulceration of epiglottis, person afflicted with elephantiasis.

5. Band of ulceration on upper palate.

6. Framboesia [Yaws] - Red pimples and fungoid ulcers [characteristic of primary stage of yaws]

7. Framboesia [Yaws] - White fungoid ulceration [characteristic of sores appearing during tertiary stage of yaws, when the spirochete invades the bones and nodules around joints]

Traité des maladies de la peau. Pierre François Rayer, 1835.

#Rayer #1800s #19th Century #1835 #skin #french #tubercules #tuberculosis #ulcer #maladies #diagnosis #lesions #gross #pustule #yaws #elephantiasis

biomedicalephemera

Bilharziosis Roundworm -Schistosomum haematobium

For all the awful things bilharziosis (or schistosomiasis, depending on your region of the world) does, their reproduction is almost endearing. The female is a "normal", worm-like shape, but the male is shaped almost like a boat or trough. Once the nematodes reach adulthood, they seek out another of their kind (as they can only reproduce sexually), and pair up. Once paired up, the female nestles into the trough of the male, and the male takes over feeding for both of them. Though they never fully merge (like the anglerfish male does with the female), they can remain together for years, with the female producing their eggs, and the male feeding them both. It's almost cute.

Bilharziosis. Frank Cole Madden, 1907.

#bilharziosis #schistosomiasis #parasite #nematode #gross #horrible diseases #africa #Frank Cole Madden #1900s #1907 #platyhelminth #chronic diseases #roundworm #monogamy #cute #reproduction

biomedicalephemera

Quite frankly, I find the concept of "infectious dandruff" terrifying.

#listerine #1900s #advertising #advert #dandruff #gross #questionable #infectious diseases #infectious #antiseptic