lunes, julio 24, 2023
Woman stuck to her own front door for nearly four hours after pranksters superglue the handle
(An article read on www.telegraph.co.uk on 8th June 2015)
A woman was superglued to her own front door in a prank by bullies - only being saved hours later when she was sawn free.
Fiona Crabb was stuck to the door handle for more than three hours as emergency services thought her call was a joke at first.
The 28-year-old needed the assistance of paramedics, firefighters and A&E staff to set her free.
Emergency services used lubricants, oils and even cola in a bid to un-stick her - but in the end had to take the handle off the door and saw her free in hospital.
Fiona has hit out at the unidentified pranksters - who she believes she saw running from the block of flats as she arrived home on Thursday evening.
Fiona said: "I got home after spending the evening with my friend who lives nearby and was confused when I realised the door handle was sticky. I did manage to get the door open and woke up my partner Tony, but I just couldn't free myself.
"I don't understand why anyone would do something so stupid. I'd rather not know who did it as I'd be too upset."
Fiona, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, returned to her flat on Thursday just after 10pm and saw two teenage boys running from the block of flats.
She thought nothing of it, until attempting to enter her flat and realising she was stuck to the door.
Fiona said: "I was really worried, as it was quite painful. Tony was asleep so I had to wake him up and also called my friend Sercha, who I'd been with earlier.
"She thought I was joking but I persuaded her to come round and help me. She phoned the ambulance who also thought it was all a joke."
While the pair waited on the open landing outside the flat, several neighbours also came to try and help Fiona.
When the ambulance still hadn't appeared, neighbours also called 999, with four calls placed in total before the ambulance appeared at around 11:30.
Fiona was advised not to attempt to pull her hand free, at the risk of causing serious damage to her skin.
She said: "When the paramedics arrived, they tried so many things to get me free. They used Coca Cola, WD-40, Fairy Liquid, hot water and vegetable oil but nothing was working. I started to get really scared, the longer I was glued on."
Paramedics then contacted the fire service, who unscrewed the entire door handle from the door to allow Fiona to be taken to Royal Oldham Hospital.
Before the bulky handle could be removed safely, the majority of it was sawn off by doctors to allow better access to Fiona's palm.
Fiona said: "I was left just holding the main bit of the handle. They used a special solution to dissolve the glue, which thankfully worked, but I've been left with burns across my hand.
"It was really scary as I didn't have any kind of anaesthetic and I didn't get home until 4am. Sercha came with me to hospital - Tony had to stay at home because our door was on its hinges!"
Fiona now has to apply vegetable oil to her hand at night and wear a blue plastic glove to keep the skin moist and allow it to heal.
Besides pain medication, she shouldn't require any further treatment unless the burn begins to itch or becomes more painful.
Fiona's locks have been changed by the council, although she worries about coming home to her flat in future.
Fiona said: "I've been in the flat for just over a year but never had a trouble before. I do feel safe where I live but I'll be checking the handle every time I come home! I think it was just strangers playing a prank, but I would be really angry if I found out it was someone I knew."
Etiquetas: Cosas veredes
lunes, julio 10, 2023
Viagra may lift effects of jet lag and shift work
(An article by Roger Highfield read on www.telegraph.co.uk on 22nd May 2007)
Viagra may help lift the spirits of flagging international travellers and shift workers as well as amorous males, claims a study published today.
The drug, known as sildenafil, has so far been used by more than 27 million men to treat impotence. Now it seems that it can also help to counteract the effects of jet lag by restoring normal function if the body clock is shifted forward by six hours, as occurs when flying from some American destinations to Britain.
Sildenafil, which was originally developed by the company Pfizer for the treatment of high blood pressure and angina, works by interfering with an enzyme that reduces levels of a naturally occurring compound, cyclic guanine monophosphate (cGMP), which plays a role in many processes, such as erections.
In the brain, cGMP also works in a region that regulates the circadian cycle, the body's daily clock that governs the waxing and waning of hormones and the urge to sleep and to wake.
Today, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a paper describes experiments on hamsters to show whether Viagra can affect the body clock.
Patricia Agostino, Santiago Plano and Dr Diego Golombek of the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires, injected hamsters with sildenafil at night before turning on bright lights six hours early, as would occur if flying from America to London.
The team observed how easily the hamsters adjusted by noting how soon the nocturnal animals began running on their exercise wheels when the lights went out.
They found that sildenafil boosted the ability of hamsters to recover 25 to 50 per cent quicker than untreated animals. Sunlight is thought to be a key influence on the body clock by its involvement in a neurochemical pathway in which cGMP is involved, and in this way the drug is thought to make the brain more sensitive to the effects of light, Dr Golombek said.
However, the drug only worked when applied before an advance in the light/dark cycle, equivalent to an eastbound flight.
Encouragingly, Viagra worked at doses low enough not to trigger erections, though Dr Golombek stressed that human tests would be needed to confirm that this was also true for people.
The scientists believe that frequent fliers and shift workers may well benefit from moderate doses of sildenafil, with passengers probably taking it during flights.
"Shift work and chronic jet lag reduce mental acuity and increase the risk of a number of medical problems," Dr Golombek said.
"A potential jet-lag treatment for advancing cycles could also be important for the safety of counter-clockwise rotating shift work and the potential long-term health consequences for airline crews regularly crossing time zones."
Other drugs that raise levels of cGMP may have a similar effect, Dr Golombek said. "The use of sildenafil is particularly appealing because this drug has been thoroughly studied in terms of its pharmacological effectiveness and safety.
"Taking into account that jet lag, as well as other circadian disorders, is increasingly common and has profound effects on quality of life, I believe this research is particularly relevant since it opens a completely original way of dealing with this kind of disarrangement."
A Pfizer spokesman said Viagra was available only by prescription for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and should always be used in accordance with the approved labelling.
Etiquetas: Cosas veredes, Viajes
