Thursday, 30 November 2017

Singable Limerick-Medley: MEDICAL IMAGING

POST #157: Singable Limericks           

ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung to  "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here.
LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio, and compiled in November
 2017. Many of the poems have been published at the OEDILF website (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form) by Giorgio Coniglio, 2016-2017. The OEDILF identifying number (#) and the Author's Note accompanying each poem, where relevant, are shown following the first verse. 
RELATED POST: Be sure to review the collection on an earlier post related to Nuclear Cardiology.

CONTENTS:
1. Parathyroid Scintigraphy
2. Osteopenia (Plain Films)
3. DEXA (BMD)
4. Fluorine - 18 PET
5. Attenuation Correction
6. Gadolinium Contrast Agents
7. Ionizing Radiation
8. Fiberoptic Laryngoscopy
9. DOGgraphy
10. Ode to Gamma Rays


MEDICAL IMAGING

A LIMERICK MEDLEY

(to the tune of "the Limerick Song". Display of the lyrics has been condensed to 4 lines for each verse, with internal rhyming in line 3, rather than the more customary 5-line limerick format.)


1. Renal colic — recurrent attack.
Serum calcium's now out of whack.
Here's what Doc should get planned: parathyroid glands scanned;
That gets neck surg’ry on the right track.

2. "My plain films show osteopen-
ia. "Enid asked, "What could that mean?"
"A bone density scan, then a good treatment plan
Will reduce fracture risk. Aren't you keen?"

3. To the DEXA test we should now turn
(Your Bone Mineral mass our concern) —
Yields a Density stand-in, dual rays have a hand in.
Hip and spine fracture risk we discern.

4. Near retirement I didn't feel keen
To divert my staid workday routine;
Yet great prospects for PET greet today's younger set - 
Bet their future's with fluorine-18. 

5. AC (it deserves due reflection)
Is important in photon detection. 
Should some wise men inspect how much tissues deflect, 
They'd endorse this exciting direction. 

6. Gadolinium chelates, not salt,
Have tight binding that no one could fault;
But there's practice and theory, and reports make us leery.
Renal patients? — Its use we should halt.
    Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis:
Gd stimulates fibrocytosis.
When you fear that effect, screen; if need be select
An alternative-mode diagnosis.

7. Through our cosmos there spreads radiation —
Ancient cells made a great adaptation.
There's support for the thesis — low-exposure hormesis.
It demands further investigation.
    Let's go back to the concept of 'background' —
Low exposure on coasts where you track round.
Up on heights folks get zapped though their health is more apt.
Cancer rates provide answers? That's slack ground.
    Yet reports from the experts, like BEIR,
Found their mandate for safety was clear;
"Linear no-threshold model — Other schema we'll throttle!"
Now, with X-rays there’s additive fear:  
Risk accumulates each coming year! 

8. Fiberoptic Laryngoscopy: To view this intriguing poetic tale, see Singable Limerick medley #18, "Acid Reflux".

9. We've invented a type of holography
To help view patients' body geography.
Neither CAT-scan nor PET, Dual Orbits we Get,
Have your vet set you up for your DOGgraphy. 

10. Here’s my gamma-ray ode: Derivation -
Born in nuclear shift/transformation.
At high fluxes, they suck. Use lead shielding, or duck.
Warning symbols? Not just decoration.



HOTLINKS TO OTHER MEDICAL-THEMED SONG-POSTINGS
...AND A FEW LIMERICK-BASED SONGS
Singable Limerick-Medley #17: Nuclear Cardiology
Singable Limerick-Medley #20: Medical Imaging (see below)


UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT

(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)

































































Saturday, 25 November 2017

Singable Limerick-Medley: EATING ITALIAN

POST #156: 
This blogpost is dedicated to J.H., with best holiday wishes, December 2017.

Singable Limericks 

LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio, and compiled in November
 2017. Many of the contributing poems have been published at the OEDILF website (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form) by Giorgio Coniglio, 2016-2017. The OEDILF identifying number (#) and the Author's Note accompanying each poem, where relevant, are shown accompanying each verse. 
ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung to  "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here
SONGLINK (note in followup): As of February 2018, another Italian song with Giorgio's substituted lyrics about Italian food can be found on this blog -- see "Filastrocca: PISA'S LEAN TRATTORIA". 

WORDPLAY LINK: Folks who enjoy this song might also be keenly interested in the posts on our wordplay-and-poetry blog Edifying Nonsense entitled "The Culinary World Explored With Palindromes", and "Limericks about Food Intolerance".


CONTENTS:
1. Biscotto, Panino, and Cannolo
2. Caponata
3. Gnudi (and gnocchi)


EATING ITALIAN
A LIMERICK MEDLEY

(To the tune of "The Limerick Song". Display of the lyrics has been condensed to 4 lines for each verse, with internal rhyming in line 3, rather than the more customary 5-line limerick format.) 

1. In Italian, there's 'biscuit': biscotto.
Check that out with Giovanni, not Otto.
Some insist, "one biscotti" — That's a concept that's potty;
We should bury it deep in a grotto.
    Same applies to 'a roll': that's panino.
Please confirm that with Paolo or Dino.
For your lunch: two panini, or a bowl of rotini
(It's not easy to eat one rotino).
    For dessert, let's explore the cannolo.
Featured choice you'll adore. 'Marco Polo‘
Makes celestial cannoli —creamy filling that's holy.
Two's a lot, so start out with a solo.

2. Caponata, Sicilian dish
Sweet-and-sour eggplant salad — delish.
Vegans; don't be alarmed, as no capons get harmed.
Though the locals may serve it with fish, 
You can relish it just as you wish.

3. "Good as gnocchi, so try them — you oughtta,
Awesome dish that brings priests to the slaughter",
Said intrusive friend Rudy, "Tuscan name's pronounced NYOO-dee:
Naked balls of spinaci / ricotta."



UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT
(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)























Wednesday, 22 November 2017

Singable Limerick-Medley: ACID REFLUX and Other G.I. Symptoms

POST #155: Singable Limericks 
LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio, and compiled in November 2017. Many of the poems have been published at the OEDILF website (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form) by Giorgio Coniglio, 2016-2017. The OEDILF identifying number (#) and the Author's Note accompanying each poem, where relevant, are shown following the first verse.
ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung to  "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here.
SONGLINK: Much earlier, lyrics were published by Giorgio on this site for another song about GI reflux entitled "Reflux Romp". 

CONTENTS:
1. Gastrointestinal Pact
2. Borborygmi
3. (Failure of the) Gastroesophageal Junction
4. Laryngeal Inflammation
5. Galactosidase (Beano)
6. GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease) 



ACID RELUX and other G.I. SYMPTOMS

A LIMERICK MEDLEY

(To the tune of "The Limerick Song". Display of the lyrics has been condensed to 4 lines for each verse, with internal rhyming in line 3, rather than the more customary 5-line limerick format.) 

1. I have just signed a well-crafted pact
With my gastrointestinal tract.
Peaceful truce will constrain us, from my throat to my anus.
All disruptions will cease, that’s a fact.
No more outbursts, like hiccups, just tact!

2. Borborygmus, herewith we apprize:
A gas bubble sound breeding denies.
You can’t manage to squelch when it’s fated to belch
Or worse yet, to escape twixt your thighs.

3. "To regurgitate, you may have heard
Of a problem we doctors call GERD:
Symptom-complex that’s drastic; due to reflux that’s gastric
Your esophagus’ role is deterred.
   So at first you can try careful diet,
Avoid alcohol, keep things more quiet.
Spicy foods you must spurn -- Gullet lining will burn!
As for caffeine, please don’t even try it.
    The real problem? Defunct G.E. junction,
It’s the part that’s copped out, doesn’t  function.
Drugs for acid suppression can prevent some progression --
You won’t likely require extreme unction. 
    After years where your food causes dread --
Spouse got lost, she slid down tilted bed --
We’ll do laparascopic (please read up on this topic),
And we’ll tighten that junction instead.”

4. Cough and hoarseness? No need for despair!
You just sit in Doc’s ENT chair.
Tiny tube up your nose, fiberoptics disclose;
Hi there, Larynx. What’s happening there?”
    After months of my voice getting ‘tired’--
Hard to work, in anxiety mired.
Viewed with scope, takes a minute.  “Throat: no cancer. What’s in it? 
Its inflamed, acid-refluxly fired.”

5. Our intestines have low days and high days —
At their worst eating chili on Fridays.
Choose a Nobel Prize winner with leguminous dinner:
Diet supplement — galactosidase.
   Though Cruciferae bloat, not just fill us,
Meals delight when we use Aspergillus
(Alpha-GAL source for Beano). We could dine with the Queen — oh,
Beats out times when the gas could just kill us.

6. Gastro: sack where tract’s acid gets made
Esophageal: mucosa gets flayed:
Reflux: acid up-spurts;  Disease: whole thorax hurts
You gasp, “Heartburn!” when this drama’s played.



UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT
(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)



SONGLINK:

"Reflux Romp": substituted lyrics, parody of the Ink Spots' "Java Jive".