Critical Care: BNP and Heart Failure- A Brief Overview

BNP. What is it? Why is it important? BNP is a substance secreted by the heart in response to heart damage and worsening heart failure. BNP stands for B-type Natriuretic Peptide. It's sometimes called brain natriuretic peptide, and I have no idea why. Among other tests, it can show us (the healthcare team) whether or not there is heart failure. Testing for BNP is a blood draw laboratory test. Normal BNP level is 100 or below. A level above 100 indicates heart failure.

Heart failure is the number 1 cause of hospitalization in the United States. Signs and symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath, high heart rate, frothy blood-tinged sputum, edema (fluid collecting in the body) which can show up as puffy legs or abdomen or weight gain. (see picture above)  There is no cure for heart failure and the best way to prevent it is to reduce your risk factors. These include diet, exercise, not smoking, and reducing stress.

Heart failure is most often cause by cardiac arrest (stopped heart), Myocardial infarction (heart attack), and cardiomyopathy (problems withing the heart muscle including stiffening or overgrowth of heart muscle, or enlarged heart.)

Beverages on a Molecular Level

Bevshots is a company that sells art prints of our favorite beverages on a molecular level. Research scientist Michael Davis of Florida State University crystalizes different cocktials on a lab slide and then photographs them at a microscopic level using a camera attached to a light microscope. The photos are stunning and surprisingly inexpensive. They range from $24-55. You can also buys ties with your favorite adult beverage print on it.

For more molecular fun, take the Bevshots quiz and identify the beverage based on the picture of it at the molecular level.

A Note on a New Post Series

Problem:  I want to blog on a more regular basis, but my ability is imited because of my school work. I want to be able to blog more, but I know I should be spending my time focusing on my studies instead of blogging.

Idea: I could blog about the things I am studying. This could actually be a good thing. It provides me an opportunity to focus on an important study point or points and increase my comprehension of them by writing about them.

Solution: I will now start a series of posts on what I am studying. I will take some important points from whatever I am currently studying and write an informative blog post on those points in layman's terms. Never fear, I will still write the occasional post about floppy disk opera or zombies riding unicorns, or what-have-you, but I will begin to include this series as well.

I think this is a great idea. It helps me study, and provides information/an update of what's occupying my mind for my readers. Enjoy!

Phantom of the Floppera

FunToTheHead created this super cool video of his floppy disk drives singing Phantom of the Opera. It's pretty creative. Impressive to say the least.  I missed (for the most part) programming on floppy disks, but I vaguely remember having a few programs on solid disk. This was when I was, like, 2 or 4 years old. Maybe. By all means I should have missed out on that era in computers, but that's what I get for being the daughter of a computer programmer. I was using computers since before I could read.  Should I be bragging about that?

Cases of Ridiculously False Advertising

Advertising for products has always made outrageous claims. Some are wackier than others. We have all heard these claims on television, "Loose 60 lbs in 4 weeks!" " Work out 5 minutes a day for 6-pack abs!" and most of these claims are so clearly false we can't help but to laugh. Some ads are so ridiculous, they almost make fun of themselves. (See the Snuggie)  I happen to be a fan of such advertising. I get a sick thrill out of "As Seen on TV" infomercials and ads, which are by far the worst offenders of false advertising.

You're doing it Wrong. a video tribute to infomercial actors inability to complete simple everyday tasks. (I have posted this before, but I'm reposting here to make it easier to find and view)

Historically, this is nothing new. Ads have always made outrageous claims. Here are some examples of ridiculously false advertising from yesteryear.


1. Listerine as a Cure-All

This one is pretty well known, but I want to include it anyway. Listerine was the first over-the-counter mouthwash sold in the United States in 1914. By 1921 it was  being advertised a cure-all for everything from the  common cold, to an anti-shave tonic, and a safe way to protect yourself from cuts, bruises, wounds, and stings, Listerine was slapped with numerous false advertisement lawsuits. In 1975, the Federal Trade Commission ordered the company to spend $10 million in corrective advertising, seeing as their product was no more effective in treating colds than gargling warm water. Even then, the mouthwash giant didn’t really learn their lesson. In 2005, the company was slapped with another lawsuit. This time because Listerine claimed it was as “effective as floss” after rigging clinical trials.


2. Cigarettes are Good for You

Dr. Batty's Asthma Cigarettes

Cigarettes with unknown contents claimed to provide temporary relief of everything from asthma to colds, canker sores and bad breath. "Not recommended for children under 6." Uh, yeah. Something tells me that, if someone has asthma, smoking is not going to help that.

3. Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound

Touted as one of the world’s first successful businesswomen, Lydia Pinkham exploited her reputation as a local medicine woman to propel her herbal remedy into a commercial success, eventually grossing almost $400,000 yearly. The remedy claimed to cure all womanly ailments and weaknesses and sold for $1 a bottle. What was in the herbal remedy? Turns out, it contained less than 1% solid substance from vegetable extracts and almost 20% alcohol. If a woman took the suggested 1 tablespoon every 2-4 hours, she will have consumed 5 ounces of 13.5% or higher alcohol by the end of the day – more than enough for a healthy buzz that made life seem a bit more cheery to boozy housewives. When the Federal Trade Commission tightened its laws on claims made by medicines, Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound had to swallow the restrictions with a spoonful of sugar.

4. Soda is Good for Kids

I found more than one of these ads. The other one was for  7 Up soda. They basically said the same thing which was that babies should be given soda as part of a health routine. This soda ad above states "Laboratory tests conducted over the past 5 years have proven that babies given cola intheir formative years had a much higher chance of gaining acceptance during their pre-teen years".

5. Medications

You knew I had to include something medical, right? WEll, I found some old ads for medications that are hilarious by today's medical standards.

Thorazine: a potent anti-psychotic. Not often used today.

Cocaine as toothache drops.

10 Weird things removed from a human body

As i've mentioned, and most of you know, I am a nursing student.This is what occupies most of my brain space. The rest is taken up by video games, kittens, sparkly unicorns, and a few other various things.So, in light of a new semester and thus my renewed inability to think about anything non-medical, here's a list of 10 weird, amazing things eaten by someone.



1.False Teeth-A woman swallowed her lover’s false teeth while kissing. The woman says that they were experimenting with a “special type of passionate kiss.” She made it to the hospital and fortunately did not require surgery. The woman eventually passed the teeth after two days in the hospital.

2. About $650-A man in France swallowed about 350 coins, along with other assorted metal objects, including needles. When he arrived at the hospital, doctors discovered that the mass in his stomach weighed 12 pounds, enough to force his stomach down between his hips. Doctors performed emergency surgery, but the man died from complications 12 days later. This was not the first time the man had been in the hospital for removal of coins from his stomach. Apparently, he liked to steal coins and eat them.

3. Cockroach and Fork- This one really begs a few questions. A woman in Israel had a cockroach jump into her mouth as she was cleaning her home. In an effort to remove the pest, she used a fork, which she accidentally swallowed along with the cockroach. The fork became lodged sideways in her stomach, and had to be removed with laproscopic surgery. The surgery was successful, but we can probably assume that she digested the cockroach.



4. A Bullet-A woman in California swears that she quite literally “bit the bullet” while eating a hot dog. She claims that she swallowed one, and then bit a second one. An X-ray revealed that she had a bullet in her stomach, although she was optimistic, noting that eating is “the most secure way for a bullet to enter your body.”


5. 20 Cobblestones-In a fight with her boyfriend, a woman from China swallowed more than 20 cobblestones. She assumed that the stones would come out after a few days, but she discovered they would not budge, and worse, they were knocking around in her stomach. She was advised to seek surgery.

6.An Antenna- A 28 year old man with a personality disorder swallowed an aerial antenna and pens which had to be removed with a laparotomy after endoscopy was unsuccessful. All told, the surgery resulted in the retrieval of two pens, six sections of a radio antenna, a pen refill, and a pencil. Just three weeks earlier, the man had swallowed other objects including stationery. Doctors believe that the man intended to cause himself harm.


7. A Toothbrush-A 20 year old woman was using her toothbrush to clean the back area of her tongue when she triggered her gag reflex. This gagging caused her to swallow the toothbrush. Doctors removed the toothbrush through her esophagus using alligator forceps. Interesting tidbit, at the time of her ingestion, she was one of only 40 people known to have ingested a toothbrush, most of whom were diagnosed with bulimia or anorexia nervosa.

8. A Smoky Quartz-A young girl swallowed a smokey quartz, which came with a "Treasure of the Earth" magazine. Her mother told her to put it somewhere safe, and apparently, she did. Everything came out just fine.


9. Tapeworms-You would think that most people would be smart enough to realize that swallowing a parasitic worm is both dangerous and disgusting, but you’d be wrong. Women and men have knowingly ingested tapeworms and allowed them to live in their bodies. Why? Weight loss, of course. The tapeworm diet requires that you eat infected beef carcass, and then after a specific amount of time, take prescribed medicine to kill the parasite. EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

10. Hair-A 10-pound hairball was found in the belly of an 18 year old woman in New England. She apparently had a habit of eating her own hair. The mass had to be removed by surgery.

image credits: www.dogbreedinfo.com,www.tactical-life.com, keithskids.blogspot.com

Story Time!

photo credit: the daily growl
OK, I know that I am terrible. I have not written a post in forever. But all (3) of my readers know I am exceptionally busy. I am in an accelerated program in nursing school, and that keeps my schedule very full. I do graduate soon, and will then have time to update much more often.

Now, that being said, it is a new semester, my Senior 1 semester, at school. One of my classes this term is Pediatric nursing. (YAY!) We were given an assignment our first week that involved writing a story that covered all of the 2011 national patient safety goals published by the joint commission. They said to get creative with it. Well, that was mistake number one on their part. I'm providing for you the story I submitted. WHy? Because it is just that awesome. You're welcome.

Patient Safety Goals Story
By BFreeman
1/26/11
Nurse Bridget came to work one day with a very funny feeling. It was going to be one of those days. She could tell. When she woke up this morning she went outside to get her newspaper only to find Sasquatch on her yard, tearing things up and generally messing up the place. While he was busy digging through last night's garbage a bear came running out of the woods and started wrestling with Sasquatch! The mighty struggle between the two hairy beasts raged on for many minutes. Chunks of fur were flying everywhere as the two creatures growled. She stood transfixed on the lawn. It was by far the coolest thing Bridget had ever seen. It made her rush the rest of her morning though. She got report from the other nurses and lab results from the lab first thing in the morning. A list of the patient's medication was also given the Nurse Bridget as part of report. It's always important to get information like that in a timely manner. She then went on the check on her patient's medication. Was it safe to give these new meds? Would they be OK with her patien's current medications? Were the dosages right? They were, yet she still could not shake the feeling that something was off.
That's when a unicorn came crashing through the window of the unit.”I am Beatrice the magical unicorn of patient safety!” he said, “I will grant all your patient safety wishes.” The nurses were so happy that they kept him and he became the unit mascot. Nurse Bridget prepared her patient's morning medications and was sure to label all syringes and unlabeled medicine. (taking special care with blood thinning medication) She was sure to wash her hands according to CDC regulations. She wanted to prevent infection in her patients, whatever thei condition. (She took special care with her post-surgical patients and those with central lines.) In her patient's room she asked the patient for his name and birthday. She checked his ID badge while he said “ My name is Hank Coolguy and my birthday is Jan 25th, 1980.” “Looks good, Mr Coolguy.” said Nurse Bridget. To which, he responded “Ninja attack!”, and a bunch of ninjas came crawling out of every corner of the room and nurse Bridget had to fight them. Her friends Nurse Kim and Nurse Tessa joined the epic battle. Hands and feet were flying ans the three nurses karate chopped their way through the stealthy pack of ninjas. “Hiya! Take that!” they said. They defeated the ninjas and their limp bodies lay strewn all over the room. It was truly a majestic sight. They laughed heartily. Nurse Bridget gave Mr Coolguy his medication, checking it twice for safety.
After he took his medication, Nurse Bridget gave Hank Coolguy a list of his current meds with information attached. She then reviewed all of her patient's information to determine if any of them were at safety risks, such as suicide risk or seizure risk. None were suicide risk patients. It turned, however, that out that one of Nurse Bridget's patients was a seizure precaution patient. Nurse Bridget took some blankets into the room to pad the bed's side-rails for safety. That's when zombies attacked the hospital! All of the nurses had to band together to protect their patients from impending zombie doom! All the nurses grabbed any available weapon to fight the oncoming horde. It was zombie madness. The zombies were everywhere. Nurse Bridget was thankful for all of the hours she spent playing Left 4 Dead. The nurses successfully fought off the zombie hordes and all the patients were safe. It was the most awesome day Nurse Bridget had ever had.
The End.