Meet Gomerfrog, our new Gomerblog frog! Gomerdog was getting lonely and asked that we even up the ratio of animals to humans. The rest as they say is history. Gomerfrog is incredibly gifted when it comes to the practice of medicine, so we thought he’d be a natural fit to answer our neverending mailbag.
Dear Gomerfrog,
I’m behind on the latest medical news. When I’m on service I’m usually too busy to read journal articles. But when I’m off service, I find myself catching up on sleep and life (in that order, haha!) that I, again, don’t bother reading. Can you tell us what you think is the biggest development in the past 6 months?
– Cathy the Cardiologist
Dear Cathy,
I would have to say that the biggest news is when the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), and several other medical organizations redefined hypertension as 130/80. Previous guidelines stated that hypertension should be treated when blood pressure reached 140/90. The lower threshold should lead to increase in the number of hypertension diagnoses. Big news indeed!
Dear Gomerfrog,
Believe it or not, there is a saying us humans say when we lose our voice: “I’ve got a frog in my throat.” I’ve never had the opportunity to ask a frog this question, so I hope you’ll address it for me: When frogs lose their voice, what gets caught in their throat? Thanks for enlightening us, Gomerfrog!
– Ernie the ENT
Dear Ernie,
I initially wanted to respond that we get a human stuck in our throat, haha! You know, sorta like how elephants describe chest pain as a human sitting on its chest. But seriously, the same thing happens to us: we also get frogs in our throats! Just smaller frogs.
Dear Gomerfrog,
Jazz great Dizzy Gillespie had incredible lung capacity and could balloon his cheeks out like a frog, which begs the question: Do frogs know how to play jazz trumpet?
– Patty the Pulmonologist
Dear Patty,
Ribbit.
Thanks for your questions, Gomerfrog had an absolute blast! He’s going to jump into a human’s throat and see if his or her voice changes. After that, he’s gonna hit the clubs with Kermit.
Need some more advice?
– Ask a 4th-Year Med Student (Who’s Checked Out for the Year)
– Ask a Hospitalist
– Ask a Surgical Intern, Part 1
– Ask a Surgical Intern, Part 2
