Unvested Interest

Since the 1920s, a visit to the dentist involving X-rays has meant both patients and staff being draped with a lead vest or apron to shield against the harmful effects of radiation.

New safety guidelines from the American Dental Association say the practice can stop because X-ray technologies has evolved significantly and there are better ways to reduce patients' exposure to radiation, such as using digital rather than conventional X-ray film.

Lead aprons and other lead shields provide "no additional benefit to the patient except for some psychological comfort," said the ADA scientists, though they acknowledged many patients will still seek their comforting weight.

Body of Knowledge

When forensic investigators are trying to determine the age of a discovered skeleton, they often examine the clavicle. It is the last bone in the human body to fuse, beginning around age 18 through 21. Sometimes this helps them collar criminals.

Counts

77 -- Percentage cancer cases around the world are expected to go up by 2050

Source: WHO

Doc Talk

Milwaukee goiter -- protruding abdominal fat. It's an unkind term, especially since Minnesota isn't even the fattest state in the U.S. That distinction goes to West Virginia, with an obesity rate of 40.6%. Minnesota comes in 30th at 32.4%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Phobia of the Week

Vehophobia -- fear of roller coasters

Best Medicine

If God wanted me to touch my toes, He would've put them on my knees.

Observation

"God heals, and the doctor takes a fee." -- American statesman and polymath Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Franklin had a deep interest in medicine, with writings covering the treatment of the common cold to promoting exercise and a moderate diet. He was also a medical activist and inventor, championing smallpox inoculation, taking a leading role in founding Pennsylvania Hospital (the first such institution in the British North American colonies) and inventing devices such as bifocal glasses.

Medical History

This week in 1885, the first cremation in England took place at Woking, where a crematorium was built. The deceased was Jeannette C. Pickersgill, a well-known figure in literary and scientific circles. By year's end, only three cremations had occurred out of 597,357 deaths in the UK, but those numbers soon began multiplying.

The practice of cremation goes back much further, with evidence dating back to the late Stone Age in Europe and the Middle East. Cremation was also part of the lives of Indigenous people in some parts of the Americas, though the first commercial crematorium in the U.S. did not exist until 1876 -- still nine years before the British.

Sum Body

Your skin is your largest organ, covering approximately 22 square feet laid out -- comparable to a twin-sized bed. It weighs about 9 pounds and varies in thickness, from 0.5 millimeters on the eyelids to 4 millimeters on the heels of your feet.

Thick or thin, skin is a marvel of construction, with three primary layers, top to bottom: epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. These three layers are comprised of even more sublayers, such as stratum corneum, the outermost layer of the epidermis composed of dead tissue, and the reticular region that is part of the middle dermis. It's in the reticular region where tattoo ink settles, along with stretch marks from pregnancy and obesity.

Med School

Q: Why do veins look blue?

A: If you said it's because the blood within them is unoxygenated, take a breath. You're incorrect. The blue hue is a result of how skin scatters and absorbs light. Skin, especially in lighter-toned individuals, can absorb red and reflect blue and green wavelengths, giving veins the appearance of being blue.

Curtain Calls

In 2014, a 75-year-old woman in England ate a piece of toast and soon felt a sharp pain in her throat. She saw a doctor who could not determine the cause and simply sent her home. Several days later, with the pain persisting, the woman returned to the hospital but did not tell physicians that the pain was weeks old. They diagnosed an infection and prescribed antibiotics.

The next day, the woman began coughing blood and was transported to the hospital by ambulance. A scan revealed that a sharp corner of toast had torn her esophagus, causing internal bleeding.

The woman had severe heart disease and doctors could not operate; she died a few days later.

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To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.