An Ill Wind Blowing

Those gusty hand dryers installed in public bathrooms are supposed to reduce exposure to microbial menaces, such as disease-causing bacteria that may be lurking on, well, just about everything else.

But maybe not. In a report published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology a few years ago, researchers collected samples of bacterial colonies on plates. A typical bathroom air sample averaged less than one colony, while those positioned under a hand dryer for 30 seconds averaged 18 to 60 colonies per plate.

The researchers couldn't determine whether the dryers were actually harboring bacteria or simply sucking it up and then blowing a concentrated amount back out. The dryer nozzles harbored only minimal bacteria levels.

They deduced that bacteria in public bathrooms was likely originating from nearby lidless toilets, which can release fecal particles when flushed. So even if you thoroughly wash your hands, you may end up just blowing new microbes on them.

Grab a paper towel next time.

Body of Knowledge

Cognitive neuroscientists estimate humans are conscious of only about 5% of their cognitive activity, leaving most decisions, actions, emotions and behaviors to brain activity operating beyond our awareness.

Get Me That, Stat!

In American adults 18 and older, the prevalence of diagnosed arthritis is 21.5% in women and 16.1% in men, according to the 2022 National Health Interview Survey.

Doc Talk

Polydipsia -- excessive thirst

Mania of the Week

Lypemania -- an uncontrollable sense of mournfulness or melancholy

Food for Thought

Ammonium sulfate is an inorganic salt most commonly used as a lawn and soil fertilizer, but it's also sometimes added to wine, sausage casings and baked products because it regulates acidity. The FDA generally recognizes it as safe.

Best Medicine

Did you hear about the veterinarian who is also a taxidermist?

The sign outside his office reads: "Either way, you get your dog back."

Hypochondriac's Guide

Rapunzel syndrome involves the behaviors of pulling out one's hair (trichotillomania) and eating it (trichophagia). It is generally seen in children and adolescents. If untreated, it can cause serious complications because the hair collects in the stomach and intestine.

In one documented case, a woman complained of sudden vomiting and constipation. She also described a recent history of appetite and weight loss. Clinical investigations could not provide an immediate explanation, but her deteriorating condition eventually prompted exploratory surgery. Doctors found a 5-inch hairball in her stomach and a slightly smaller "trichobezoar" in her small intestine. Following the surgical removal of the hair, the patient was discharged and referred for psychotherapeutic treatment.

Observation

"If you ever see me on my death bed, please take me off my death bed and move me to my alive bed." -- Grant Tanaka

Medical History

This week in 1880, the first U.S. patent for an electric hearing aid was issued to Francis D. Clarke and M.G. Foster, who called it a "Device for Aiding the Deaf to Hear (No. 226,902). The device employed bone conduction by which sound is passed through vibration of the skull bone. It was not until 1901 that the first commercially available hearing aid was produced: the Acousticon, invented by Miller Reese Hutchinson.

Sum Body

Ten anti-aging cures from the last century.

1. Home-brewed beer infused with dandelion and rhubarb.

2. Swoboda System, a mail-order scam consisting of six pages depicting arm exercises.

3. Snow Cure involved routinely rolling around naked in snow.

4. Goat Glands Cure involved transplanting goat testicles into men and goat ovaries into women.

5. Monkey Glands Cure. See goat glands cure, only with monkeys and primates.

6. Radiendocrinator was a card deck-sized device that emitted radioactivity from a tiny bit of encased radium. Men were supposed to stick it in their underwear to restore virility.

7. Radioactive water used the same premise: Radiation was good for you. It was distilled water with the essence of radium and mesothorium.

8. All-coconut diet required eating only coconuts, moving around on all fours, sleeping face down and practicing total nudity.

9. Zerret Applicator contained a mysterious liquid that purportedly emanated positive life energy. You held the applicator and basked in its glow. Tests later showed the liquid was tap water.

10. Integraton is a domed building in the California desert. You step inside and harness the electromagnetic forces of the Earth.

Epitaphs

"3.14159265358979323846264338327950288" -- German-Dutch mathematician Ludolph van Ceulan (1540-1610) was the first to calculate the value of pi to 35 decimal places.

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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.