Woman treated by doctors after her blood turned blue(theguardian.com)
theguardian.com
Woman treated by doctors after her blood turned blue
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/19/woman-navy-blue-blood-rhode-island-hospital
34 comments
I wonder what goes through the minds of the guardian's editors when they write titles like this. "Woman treated by doctors" isn't a story. One hopes that _everyone_ whose blood turns blue would be treated by doctors.
I think you're misinterpreting the very classic style in which headlines are written.
Subject, Action, important qualifiers.
Subject, Action, important qualifiers.
"Woman's blood turns blue after benzocaine ingestion" is the story. Being treated by doctors is not.
But then I wouldn't need to read the article to answer the question that pops up into my head.
Thanks for summarising, what a poor headline. It's like saying "Man Retrieved From Sea After Dying" [article: man was attacked by a shark].
It's not about who gets to be treated, it's a reporting of an actual event, so it spells out who was treated ("a woman").
And if she was famous and her name to have any relevance to the readers, then instead of "a woman" it would be her name in the title ("X treated for ...", and ditto for a man).
And if she was famous and her name to have any relevance to the readers, then instead of "a woman" it would be her name in the title ("X treated for ...", and ditto for a man).
The story is that her blood turned blue, not that she was treated by a doctor. _Of_course_ she was treated by a doctor! Her blood turned blue!
That's not how the world or journalism works. All of what the title says is the story, and there's no "of course" there.
She could have died before see could be seen by a doctor, for example ("Accident victim bleeds blue blood").
She could found out on her own and started a cult ("Woman starts a cult after her blood turned blue")
She could have hidden it, fearing some superstition ("Woman lived with blue-blood disease for decades")
And any other combination of events...
She could have died before see could be seen by a doctor, for example ("Accident victim bleeds blue blood").
She could found out on her own and started a cult ("Woman starts a cult after her blood turned blue")
She could have hidden it, fearing some superstition ("Woman lived with blue-blood disease for decades")
And any other combination of events...
To me this was a story! It was an unusual reaction, caused by a drug that is available over the counter and we may have used, and can be treated with a simple antidote.
It had a beginning, a middle, and a happy ending. And it contained useful information about not using too much of this stuff, or use it for too long.
It had a beginning, a middle, and a happy ending. And it contained useful information about not using too much of this stuff, or use it for too long.
I'm getting tired of coming up with original responses, so I'm just going to link to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21049392 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21049422 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21049406
Alternatively...alien anthropologist/spy/fugitive/tourist/etc's disguise technology partly fails, revealing non-human blood. MiB neuralyzes witnesses and plants the methemoglobinemia story.
I'm a medical toxicologist, I'm surprised this tiny case report got picked up by The Guardian, and that it got on the hacker news front page, it's bread and butter stuff. Sulfhemoglobin is actually even less dangerous than methemoglobin, since it shifts the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve right. We all have low levels of methemoglobin produced in our own bodies, but it can increase from certain exposures. Symptoms are usually very mild, but rarely it can become severe. It's typically treated with methylene blue, if treated at all. If anyone has questions for me, I'll check back later in the day.
I was surprised to hear that not only is there a known treatment ("methylene blue"[0]) for the condition , but that a smallish hospital like Miriam actually had some on hand.
The wiki page explains that "methylene blue" actually treats a variety of problems.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylene_blue
The wiki page explains that "methylene blue" actually treats a variety of problems.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylene_blue
I'm assuming this is methemoglobinemia or something analogous to that. It's usually a congenital disease or one that develops because of medications. The two meds I can think of that would cause this are dapsone and benzocaine. It's an easily treatable disease where we have the patient take methylene blue, cool but not worrying with proper treatment.
> I'm assuming this is methemoglobinemia or something analogous to that
You don't have to assume. "Woman, 25, diagnosed with methemoglobinemia" is the first sentence after the title.
> The two meds I can think of that would cause this are dapsone and benzocaine.
"Doctors say numbing agent for toothache to blame" is the next sentence after that. "Warren said the condition had been triggered by a numbing agent containing benzocaine" is further down.
> It's an easily treatable disease where we have the patient take methylene blue
"The woman was treated with an antidote, methylene blue" is in there too.
You don't have to assume. "Woman, 25, diagnosed with methemoglobinemia" is the first sentence after the title.
> The two meds I can think of that would cause this are dapsone and benzocaine.
"Doctors say numbing agent for toothache to blame" is the next sentence after that. "Warren said the condition had been triggered by a numbing agent containing benzocaine" is further down.
> It's an easily treatable disease where we have the patient take methylene blue
"The woman was treated with an antidote, methylene blue" is in there too.
The differential diagnoses for methemoglobinemia are more varied than your comment suggests. Here is a reasonable list: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/204178-differential
Either you know what you are talking about or read the article, as that is spot on
It's probably the only thing that causes your blood to turn blue, usually from numbing medication haha. Skin looks blue too, but patients are generally totally fine.
Your tissues can turn blue from excess silver:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria
But that probably doesn't affect the blood.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria
But that probably doesn't affect the blood.
Is it bad to have blue blood ? I think it could be kind of novel if it didn't have any nasty side effects.
The substance benzocaine is in certain soar throat pills.
when a case is surprising enough to make it to the main news, isn't it by definition so rare and unlikely it's not really worth thinking about?
More importantly, is HN the right venue to share this?
I find it interesting, in fact blood can turn green as well, without being an alien:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfhemoglobinemia
> Sulfhemoglobinemia is a rare condition in which there is excess sulfhemoglobin (SulfHb) in the blood. The pigment is a greenish derivative of hemoglobin which cannot be converted back to normal, functional hemoglobin. It causes cyanosis even at low blood levels.
>It is a rare blood condition that occurs when a sulfur atom is incorporated into the hemoglobin molecule. When hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (or sulfide ions) and ferric ions combine in the blood, the blood is incapable of carrying oxygen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfhemoglobinemia
> Sulfhemoglobinemia is a rare condition in which there is excess sulfhemoglobin (SulfHb) in the blood. The pigment is a greenish derivative of hemoglobin which cannot be converted back to normal, functional hemoglobin. It causes cyanosis even at low blood levels.
>It is a rare blood condition that occurs when a sulfur atom is incorporated into the hemoglobin molecule. When hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (or sulfide ions) and ferric ions combine in the blood, the blood is incapable of carrying oxygen.
Indeed, this is why hydrogen sulfide is toxic in smallish doses
Blood hacking