[TheForge] Auto darkening helmet (OT)

[williamsiron at comcast.net]

Mike, 



I was on Coumadin for a time. I'm now on the generic drug, warfarin (yes, it's rat poison!) The techs at the Coumadin clinic who check my blood clotting rate are used to talking with folk who are in the 75 to 85 year range. The tech's know that you would not understand the nuances of blood thinner vs clotting rate factor. So they don't bother. Although, it comes as a shock when I ask questions about clotting rate. 



Mark Williams 

Snow Hill, Maryland 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Spencer" <mspencer at tallships.ca> 
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Friday, June 3, 2011 2:11:32 AM 
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Auto darkening helmet 


> While I do not argue with what you say, I have never used the term 
> "blood thinners" and hope I never have to. 

Yeah, well, people who know better -- doctors and dentists, f'rgzample 
-- may recommend that you not use aspirin for pain control after an 
invasive procedure such as a tooth extraction because aspirin is a 
"blood thinner".  Bogus, as Terry say.  Patients-are-all-ignorant 
usage.  Aspirin interferes with platelets and platelets are a critical 
component of the complex clotting mechanism.  But most clinician have 
neither time nor patience to explain blood clotting to the ignorant. 
And "ignorant" includes a lot of university grads -- even PhDs -- who 
never read an real science after the mandatory minimum -- botany 101, 
say -- required for their undergrad degrees.  So aspirin is said to be 
a "blood thinner".  Feh. 

I have a whole raft of anecdotes about bogomed terminology.  Some of 
them are even funny, albeit vexatious. 

I'm much more ready to make excuses for people who work in the trades 
and (non-medical) crafts.  It usually doesn't matter if you call mild 
steel "iron" and opining that a crankshaft broke because it 
"crystalized" doesn't do any practical harm. 

Helmet, schmelmet.  I try to save my righteous wrath for cases where 
it matters. 


- Mike 

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