Author Archives: Tony Breu

Why do we use urinary antigen tests for respiratory pathogens? For many pulmonary infections, we look at the urine to make a diagnosis. This is true for bacterial causes like strep pneumonia and legionella, and also for some fungal infections like Histoplasma. To some extent, this may make sense. Many of us learn early inContinue reading “Episode 48 – Urine the Lung”

Why does cutting onions make you cry? If you’ve spent any time in a kitchen, preparing a meal, you’ve likely had to cut an onion. And, if you’ve cut an onion, you’ve almost surely experienced the curious ability of this food to induce tears. Your experience is neither unique nor new. Onions are one ofContinue reading “Episode 47 – Something to Cry About”

In this episode, we tell the incredible tale of Dr. Scott Smith, an anesthesiologist who in 1946 purposefully paralyzed himself in a controlled setting. This experiment endeavored to answer a scientific question about which there was some equipoise at the time: do neuromuscular paralytics sedate and paralyze patients, or do they simply paralyze? Of course,Continue reading “Episode 46 – The Man Who Purposefully Paralyzed Himself”

Why does cirrhosis predispose to “bacterial translocation”? Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is an infection of ascitic fluid without an intra-abdominal surgically-treatable source (e.g., perforated bowel). Although the spontaneous in SBP might suggest this infection of ascitic fluid pops up out of nowhere it is a multifactorial process. And despite the key role of “bacterial translocation”,Continue reading “Episode 45 – (Trans)locating the bacteria”

Why can propofol cause Propofol-Related Infusion Syndrome? On this episode of the podcast, we discussed the Propofol-Related Infusion Syndrome (PRIS). Propofol is a very common medication in the intensive care unit (ICU). It is a sedative-hypnotic medication with many advantages compared with other continuous sedative infusions. In particular, it has both quick a onset andContinue reading “Episode 44 – Propofol, White Lightning”