Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Scientific Research Gone Wild!

Well.... or not. Actually, one of the following stories is really true. And one ... erm ... not so much. Before you click on the links to each, see if you can guess which is humor and which is real medical research.

Story #1:
Dr. V.S. Ramachandran is a researcher who deals with phantom limbs. (You know... that sensation amputees have when they experience pain/feeling in their missing limb.) He had a patient that felt significant recurrent pain in his amputated arm. How did he resolve this pain? He amputated the phantom limb with a cardboard box and a mirror.

Story #2:
(You have to click on the link to researcher's interview, which is an audio file. He talks about this particular study at about the 3:25 minute-mark. There's also a link to the journal citation here.)
RAAP Syndrome (Recurrent Acquired Arthrosis of the Pelvis) is being researched by Dr. D. B. Stewart. It is a joint disorder caused by repetitive strain to the hips. It is typically found in men who spent much of their youth walking with a exaggerated gait, causing a repetitive injury to their hip joints.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'll guess #1 until I have a chance to read...

Zana said...

Here's a hint. Story #2 comes from The Journal of Irreproducable Results Heh.