Category Archives: Uncategorized

Why don’t we administer insulin orally? In inpatient medicine, a phrase one often hears is “transition to PO.” Medications that start out as injections or infusions – antibiotics, steroids, anticoagulants – are switched to an oral equivalent as soon as possible. There’s one drug, though, which we never talk about taking in pill form. InsulinContinue reading “Episode 103 – Oral Argument”

Why do lobsters age more slowly than we do? We want to tell you a story about George … the lobster. George was caught off the coast of Newfoundland in 2009, weighing a whopping 20lbs (for comparison, most of the lobsters you’d eat in a restaurant weight between 1-5lbs). He ended up in the tankContinue reading “Episode 102 – Long Lives the Lobster”

Why do we make antibodies to ABO blood groups even without exposure? There’s a reason many patients admitted to the hospital get a Type and Screen (T&S) to determine their ABO blood group. If that patient needed a transfusion and got an incompatible blood type, they could become severely ill or even die from anContinue reading “Episode 101 – Automatic ABO”

What have we learned after 100 episodes? How time flies! On June 3rd, 2020, when the world was still in lockdown, we released our very first episode on the pathophysiology of fingernail clubbing. More than four years and dozens of shows later, we thought we’d celebrate the podcast with a special 100th episode. Here areContinue reading “Episode 100!”

How could you live with only one lung? The math seems simple. If you only have one lung, you only have 50% of your normal lung function, you can only get 50% of the normal amount of oxygen into your blood, and you’ll be dead in a few minutes. However, there are many patients whoContinue reading “Episode 99 – Living on a Lung”