A mother from North Carolina delivered two girls around ten months ago. The babies are healthy and happy, and their only difficulty was being conjoined at the level of their heads. This is an extremely rare situation, yet a certain team of surgeons wanted to offer the twins a simpler life. Therefore, they underwent months of preparations until they were ready for a rare surgery. The operation lasted 11 hours, but the result was a success.

An Embryo That Doesn’t Split Entirely Results in Conjoined Identical Twins

Last week, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia hosted a one of a kind operation. Surgeons of different specialties decided to collaborate on a rare joint surgery to separate two conjoined babies. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, this situation can appear only under extraordinary conditions.

Mothers can have identical twins when an embryo divides into two halves. However, the embryo might not split entirely. In these cases, the identical twins remain connected. Statistics show that this condition is extremely rare with only one case in 200,000 births. On top of that, craniopagus twins, those conjoined at the head, represent only 2% of such cases.

The Rare Surgery Case Needed 30 Specialists

As the connection is located in a vital part of the body, the surgery represented a high-risk operation. The procedure needs the help of plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons, critical-care physicians, and anesthesiologists to carry on its numerous tasks. The most sensitive challenge is to separate the veins vital for the brain. On top of that, twins don’t get the same quality of veins.

After the successful rare surgery that needed the help from 30 specialists, the twins are now in medical care. However, they are not safe yet. The recovery period might require further surgeries. On the other hand, their case has few complications which means that the two sisters will get to return home by the end of this year.

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Health specialists always warn people that excesses and sudden disruptive demeanors are yielding great impact on our internal systems. A fresh study confirms these claims further through a new health condition, called social jet lag. Many people are causing these negative effects by themselves without their knowledge. It all comes down to the sweet days of weekends when many decide to sleep in longer than they usually do.

Social Jet Lag Induces Chronic Fatigue but also Long-Term Effects

A new study discovered a hidden source of chronic fatigue that is activated with every hour that people sleep longer during weekdays. Lead author, Sierra B. Forbush, stated that the findings of this health research indicate that sleep regularity is more important than we think. Besides mild mood changes, disrupting sleeping patterns can lead to long-term effects as well. These can materialize in increased chances of heart disease.

The results of the research suggest that with each prolonged hour of sleep, people add up 11% increase in heart disease risk. This health effect was linked to jet lag as both share multiple similarities. Participants in the study looked like they took the plane on Friday to travel on different time zones only to come back home on Monday. However, none of them walked outside during weekend, yet they slept in extra hours.

The Only Solution Is Acknowledgement at a Global Level

Unfortunately, around 85% of the population is suffering from this condition. The solution to this health issue would simply be a regular sleep schedule. However, it is more complex than it sounds. Scientists encourage people to listen to their biological clock. Most of the population showed signs that they would prefer to go to bed at 1 a.m. and sleep for eight hours straight.

On the other hand, work schedules coupled with extensive commuting endeavors makes it almost impossible to respect internal systems. Therefore, scientist Till Roenneberg who coined the term of social jet lag proposed one possible yet complex solution. The entire modern society has to acknowledge the importance of biological clock. This is the only way employers would design schedules to the benefit of their workers.

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A South Carolina high school student died after drinking three different caffeinated drinks in about two hours, therefore proving that there is such a thing as too much caffeine. The boy’s coroner is now trying to raise awareness on the risk teenagers face when ingesting large amounts of coffee or caffeinated drinks.

Adolescents Shouldn’t Drink More than a Cup of Coffee

According to his friends, on the morning of April 26, 2017, David Cripe drank a McDonald’s latte, a large Diet Mountain Dew, and a bottle of energy drink in just over two hours. His heart was unable to cope with the amount of caffeine he ingested, giving out during class.

Although the teenager had no preexisting heart conditions, the coroner believes he suffered a “caffeine-induced cardiac event causing a probable arrhythmia.” Cripe was dead in about 15 minutes after ingesting the energy drink.

Some Are Viewing the Death as Suspicious

During the autopsy, the coroner found high levels of caffeine in the boy’s bloodstream, 1.1 micrograms per millimeter. By comparison, in 2014, an Ohio adolescent consumed concentrated caffeine powder, her blood measuring 70 micrograms of caffeine per millimeter.

Some experts, who were not involved in the case, believe Cripe died due to an underlying condition, not because he drank too much caffeine. However, during a press conference on Monday, Gary Watts, the Richard County Coroner, assured people that he and his team have exhausted all other possibilities, the boy’s official cause of death being a caffeine-induced arrhythmia.

“Could he have had issues in the past? Yes. Maybe not noticed it? Yes. And could this have exacerbated that? Sure.”

During the press conference, Watts also focused on the importance of educating adolescents about the dangers of caffeine. Although Cripe’s case can be categorized as an anomaly, each body metabolizes caffeine differently, in some rare instance, the substance proving toxic even in small amounts.

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Avocados are the perfect source of monosaturated fatty acids. Their versatility makes them the perfect ingredient, no matter if the chef is tossing up a salad or whipping up a quick guacamole. One can even dare to say that the fruit is a magical ingredient that keeps people healthy and fit. However, magic usually comes with a price, in this case, it’s called the avocado hand.

Cut Your Avocado With Care

While most avocado hand injuries are minor, some of them even caused nerve damage. Doctors think that a warning label should be put on the fruit just to avoid other incidents. In the UK, doctors mentioned that they treat at least four avocado hand injuries every week. Specialists believe that most individuals don’t actually know how to cut the fruit.

As more and more people are ending up in the ER with severe cuts, doctors are striving to find a solution for the problem. The British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons is warning people about avocado hand. The association is trying to find a warning label for the fruit so that the number of injuries is reduced.

Although it might seem like a minor problem, most patients that come to the hospital with avocado hand somehow manage to damage their tendons or nerves. What happens is most people don’t anticipate that the avocados are ripe; they try to cut them and end up lacerating their hand instead.

Despite the fact that there is no record of how many people have suffered an avocado hand injury, researchers estimate over a thousand avocado victims. In New Zealand, for instance, every year around 100 people injure themselves while trying to cut an avocado. Most of the times, the injury happened when the seed inside the fruit is too soft. People end up cutting through it and into their hand.

To cut the avocado safely, people should place it on a flat surface. After that, just make incisions around the stone inside the avocado. This is the easiest and safest way to cut this fruit. People should learn how to cut these fruits and avoid avocado hand injuries.

What is your opinion about this new “trend”? Have you heard about the avocado hand?

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