A recent study showed a protein (called PZP) increases in the blood as an early sign of Alzheimer's disease. I'm not bashing this research at all, because most neurologists would love a simple, reliable, blood test to offer patients.
However, the same protein also increases in one other human condition.
Pregnancy.
And I just can't wait to tell someone "The labs show you're pregnant. Or have Alzheimer's disease. Or both."
Oh really. Ya, not so much, right?
ReplyDeletewv: colastab I'll cut a witch if I have no Coke Zero?
I'm thinking that after nine months, drop them off two blocks from the hospital. If they find their way to the emergency department, you can pretty well rule out Alzheimers.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...perhaps they forgot to take their birth control pills...or forgot they were a women...or both.
ReplyDeleteSo we FINALLY have scientific proof that there really is 'pregnancy brain'!!!
ReplyDeleteMy 85 yr old mother has Alzheimer's --- or maybe she's pregnant. EEEK! What are those old folks doing at night in the nursing home???
ReplyDeleteThe bad part being that you can't remember how you got pregnant.
ReplyDeletedanielle that is -exactly- what I thought 'Oh god..scientific proof of placenta brain!'
ReplyDeleteFinally--an explanation for why my husband treated me like an incompetent moron throughout my first pregnancy. No, wait...
ReplyDeleteEither way, you're about to lose your mind.
ReplyDeleteSomeone beat me to it. I now understand pregnancy brain.
ReplyDeletewouldn't it be rather unlikely to be pregnant and have alzheimers?
ReplyDelete"The labs show you're pregnant. Or have Alzheimer's disease. Or both. Do you remember having sex recently?"
ReplyDeletethere fixed it
Yes! I knew that "baby brain" would eventually be proven as fact!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the first Anonymous - funny in theory, not funny when you actually do have to tell someone s/he has Alzheimer's. We know you really do care about your patients!
ReplyDeleteIn the unlikely situation that the patient in question is a fertile woman, would you just add a genuine pregnancy test to the lab test order?
"The labs show you're pregnant. Or have Alzheimer's disease. Or both." Haha this made me laugh :)
ReplyDeleteWe know how hot tubs can contribute to pregnancy...but do they have a similar role in Alzheimers ?
ReplyDeleteWell that's not bad really, since you can rule out pregnancy for all your male patients and also for those female patients who are either postmenopausal or have been surgically sterilized. Just sayin'.
ReplyDelete