Tobacco is not puff of pupils

“We were primitive people when I was a kid. There were only a few known diseases: gunshot wounds, broken legs, toothache, fits. Anything that hurt you from the lower end of your neck down was known as a bellyache.”

— Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Here are some snippets of interest to people interested in health and wellness:

ASHES TO ELECTRONICS

The use of tobacco products among middle and high school students is declining. Food and Drug Administration researchers report that 3.6 million young people used tobacco products in 2017, down from 4.5 million in 2011.

E-cigarettes are becoming the preferred tobacco option, with nearly 12 percent of high school and 3 percent of middle school students saying they had used an e-cig in the past month during 2017.

KEEPING ABREAST

In the largest study ever done of breast cancer treatments, researchers have found that most women with the most common form of earlystage breast cancer, where the disease has not spread to the lymph nodes, can safely skip chemotherapy without hurting their chances of beating the disease.

The results are expected to spare up to 70,000 patients a year in the U.S. from the rigors and expense of chemotherapy, which can produce adverse side effects. The study used genetic testing to gauge patients’ cancer risk and found that other, often emerging, treatments were more effective, such as immunotherapy, at treating cancer early.

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

An adult human spine compresses roughly half an inch from morning to night.

COUNTS

Doctors consult a calculator, which uses data compiled in 2013, to determine whether a patient might benefit from the use of a statin — among the world’s most prescribed drugs — to prevent heart attack or stroke compared to taking aspirin or blood pressure drugs.

New data, however, suggest existing guidelines overestimate risk in some people and underestimate it in others — and more than 11 million people might need to reconsider the use of statins as a coronary disease preventative.

DOCTOR TALK

SOB: shortness of breath (The term also may be used by patients after they get their medical bill.)

Acute gravity attack: the patient fell over

Capillary refill: When a fingernail is pressed, the nail bed turns white. Capillary refill refers to the return of blood to the nail bed, giving it a pinkish color. A good “cap refill time” is 2 seconds or less.

NAME THAT PHOBIA

Philemaphobia: fear of kissing. The term derives from the Greek word philema, to kiss.

Kopophobia: fear of fatigue (which can be exhausting).

NEVER SAY DIET

Joey Chestnut just retained his title as champion wiener eater at Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog-eating contest at New York’s Coney Island. Chestnut also holds the Major League Eating record for deepfried asparagus. His record is 12 pounds, 8.75 ounces in 10 minutes.

That odor afterward was the sweet smell of excess (at least for the 40 percent to 50 percent of human noses able to detect it).

The Major League Eating record for watermelon is 13.22 pounds in 15 minutes, held by Jim Reeves. Usually these events are six to 10 minutes long; the extra time was no doubt due to those dang seeds.

BEST MEDICINE

One evening, a man visits his doctor.

The doctor asks what’s wrong and the man replies, “I think I’m a moth.”

“You think you’re a moth?” the doctor exclaims. “You don’t need a doctor. You need a therapist.”

“I know,” replies the man. “I was on my way to see a therapist, but then I saw your light was on.”

MORE MEDICINE

During a physical exam, a doctor remarked on a new patient’s extraordinarily ruddy complexion. The patient replied, “High blood pressure, Doc. It comes from my family.”

“Your mother’s side or your father’s?” asked the doctor.

“Neither,” replied the patient. “My wife.”