Monday, November 8, 2010

Hermes

The gentleman shown above has an intention tremor, gingivitis, excessive salivation, excitability, insomnia, irritation, and shyness. He is likely to die of an interstitial pneumonitis. His exam shows swollen salivary glands.

Small kids with this disease develop a body rash, swelling, and irritation of palms and feet followed by desquamation, irritability, photophobia, fever, and insomnia.

Other syndromes include peri-oral paresthesias, malaise, constriction of the visual fields, deafness, and ataxia as well as nephrotic syndrome.

First image is in the public domain. Second image shown under GNU Free Documentation License.

3 comments:

Daisy said...

he's a mad hatter and he's got mercury poisoning! handling too many beaver pelts.

Alex said...

mercury poisoning?

Craig said...

nicely done, good catch on the mad hatter
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Hermes

Of course, the Roman equivalent to Hermes is Mercury; this is mercury poisoning. The first picture is a picture of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland by John Tenniel. In the 19th century, epidemics of mercury poisoning occurred in the hat and mirror industries. Exposures today include dental amalgam fillings, diet (shark, swordfish, tuna, pike, walleye, bass), and occupational exposure. The clinical syndrome in children is called acrodynia.

Sources: UpToDate; Wikipedia.