ChrisCThe Flesh Eaters and Blood Suckers II
September 5th 2006 20:57
Now, blood suckers I'm talking about are not vampires..or even mosquitoes..hehe..
But, leeches!
Gross maybe, but useful they are in the medical world..
As demonstrated in Grey's Anatomy 2.11: Owner of A Lonely Heart, leeches were (and are still) used to "break up the pooling of blood" and basically to get the blood moving normally again..
The euphemism "bio-therapeutic agent" was used to introduce this miracle worker to the patient in this episode..
Anyway, thankfully Mr Murphy (the pt with the pooled blood in his nose, ears, etc post-reconstructive surgery due to multiple skin melanomas) consented to have those squiggly, slimy leeches to be put on the appropriate areas..
And leeches being leeches, they get their "y-shaped jaws and hundreds of teeth" out and start sucking the blood quite happily..
And they simply drop off once they're filled
It is some kind of miracle remedy-especially being painless and all..
Only the gross factor, and maybe fear of cross-contamination prevent medical personnel to use this as commonly as blood thinner drugs like heparin..
Back to the episode, the leeches did their job..and the guy's almost black nose and ears returned to normal shades again..Yeay!
He even kept and named those leeches afterwards..Aww!
NB: It was claimed that the use of leeches to draw blood had begun 3000 years ago in Egypt..talk about being ancient!
Sources: Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels by Root-Bernsteins
But, leeches!
Gross maybe, but useful they are in the medical world..
As demonstrated in Grey's Anatomy 2.11: Owner of A Lonely Heart, leeches were (and are still) used to "break up the pooling of blood" and basically to get the blood moving normally again..
The euphemism "bio-therapeutic agent" was used to introduce this miracle worker to the patient in this episode..
Anyway, thankfully Mr Murphy (the pt with the pooled blood in his nose, ears, etc post-reconstructive surgery due to multiple skin melanomas) consented to have those squiggly, slimy leeches to be put on the appropriate areas..
And they simply drop off once they're filled
It is some kind of miracle remedy-especially being painless and all..
Only the gross factor, and maybe fear of cross-contamination prevent medical personnel to use this as commonly as blood thinner drugs like heparin..
Back to the episode, the leeches did their job..and the guy's almost black nose and ears returned to normal shades again..Yeay!
He even kept and named those leeches afterwards..Aww!
NB: It was claimed that the use of leeches to draw blood had begun 3000 years ago in Egypt..talk about being ancient!
Sources: Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels by Root-Bernsteins
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