It is no laughing matter
Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. You know, those face-painted fellows whose primary job is to spread happiness and joy. Outside of a Stephen King novel, why should clowns inspire fear?
A new study in Frontiers in Psychology suggests an answer. University of South Wales researchers surveyed 528 people who expressed a fear of clowns or the act of clowning. A key commonality was a perceived inability of the clown to clearly communicate their intentions.
Apparently, all of that grease paint can mask their mirth, leaving some people apprehensive.
“There’s something about not being able to read facial expressions,” lead author and psychology professor Philip John Tyson told The Washington Post. “And the fact that there might be something hidden and dangerous, there might be harmful intent behind the makeup.”
Moreover, the white paint and garish red mouth may suggest contagious disease, and the clowns’ unpredictability can be discombobulating. Only in a few cases did study respondents cite a first-hand negative experience with an actual clown.
Of course, no one said they ventured into sewers either, which would be Pennywise and found-foolish.
Body of knowledge
Though it is 95 percent water (and sterile when fresh), human urine is rich in of its ingredients, with the remaining 5 percent consisting of urea, creatinine, uric acid, chloride, sodium, potassium, sulphate, ammonium, phosphate and other ions and metabolic molecules.
Typically, urine has little to no odor. Dehydration can concentrate chemicals in urine, causing it to smell, as can certain foods and medications. Some medical conditions, such as diabetes, kidney stones or infections, can also create a distinctive aroma.
Get me that. Stat!
There is an ongoing national blood shortage, with O-negative in highest demand. (Due to the its versatility for transfusions, O-negative is the blood product of choice in emergencies.) According to the National Institutes of Health, first-time donors tend to be younger, with more than half in the 18-24 age group. Repeat donors tend to belong in the age groups 35-44 and 45-54.
People can give blood between the ages of 17 and 75. After 75, you can still give blood, but you need permission from your doctor.
Stories for the waiting room
In the late 1800s, many cities and towns in the United States lacked public green spaces to gather, so it became popular to picnic in cemeteries.
Mark your calendar
December is a relatively quiet month in of health awareness, with the biggest emphasis on safe toys and gifts. In 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued 100 recalls for children’s products deemed unsafe, with 33 involving toys. It was the highest number of recalls since 2013.
Doc talk
Mania of the week
Food for thought
Lots of people for a long time have insisted drinking diet soda is unhealthy, even though diet sodas are 99 percent water and myriad studies have struggled to find empirical proof that the beverages are harmful.
Tamar Haspel, a food and science columnist with The Washington Post and oyster farmer, would like you to drink without shame, at least in moderation. She points to a study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health earlier this year that found sucralose (Splenda, an artificial sweetener used in sodas and elsewhere) was genotoxic.
Genotoxic means a substance can damage genetic information within a cell, causing mutations that might lead to cancer.
But here’s the thing: The sucralose dosage required to be genotoxic was the equivalent of 50,000 cans of diet soda, which works out to a can a day for 136 years. Or 68 years if you’re really thirsty and drink two cans a day.
Best medicine
Running feels great unless you compare it to not running.
Observation
“I have just learned about his illness; let us hope it is nothing trivial.”
Medical history
This week in 1952, a dense smog descended on London, England. It would last four days, causing at least 4,000 deaths and transportation chaos when visibility was reduced to a few hundred yards.
Although the London Underground maintained service, roads became impossibly congested. Most flights into London were diverted to nearby Hurn. The deaths mostly involved the elderly, the very young and those with medical problems.
The source was blamed on uncontrolled coal-burning and exacerbating weather conditions.
Self-exam
Q: If you blink while on an airplane traveling at 500 mph, what distance will you travel while your eyes are closed?
A: Approximately 250 feet
Bonus knowledge: The average person blinks approximately 6 million times in a year. If they spent that entire year airborne, their blinks alone would take them around the world 11.4 times.
Curtain calls
Apropos of the first item, a 13-year-old boy named William Snyder died in 1854 after being swung around by his heels by a clown.
LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.
