Randomramblings

Well, let's start with the fact, that this woman would have great problems giving birth. I don't think she could ever deliver a baby via the usual route.

Her vagina is just too curved. I believe the path should be almost straight.

m - exactly! http://www.bartleby.com/107/illus1166.html - here's a much better illustration. And no baby could ever go round those bends. I can't believe tampon manufacturers can't/don't get this piece of anatomy right.

Aren't her ovaries also curved somewhat strangely?

Well, we had human anatomy in our first year... but I have to say I don't remember much of it (*hangs head in shame*). I only remember the basic bones, but everything else was a nuissance, really, what with every single small hole/incisure/etc. on the bone having it's own name... the muscles also gave me great trouble. I only managed to scrape a 6/6 (*ashamed even more*)

Darn, and I thought this was going to be one of those "I show you mine, you show me yours" affairs. ;)

Owca - ahh, but you could hardly think me so perverse...

Lilit - yes, that (ovaries) could be argued as well. It might be just a strange projection that's supposed to enhance that there are the ovaries.

I think anatomy is quite logical, but when you're fresh at it, a lot depends on a good teacher, whether the teacher can show you the logic behind the dull facts. Abdomen is very logical, but the musculature is a bit more difficult, I admit! (You need the incisures and such to know where the insertio and such is...)

But what would you answer if a candy-maker, brick-layer or mailman asked you what good will it do him to know all the facts that you define as basic anatomy in your post? Maybe there are some benefits of this kind of knowledge, but they aren't obvious to me --- if people were mare aware of them, they might become more willing to acquire this knowledge.

Sorry, ill-advised! I noticed you posted a comment a week ago, but I then completely forgot to reply to it! My deepest apologies.

Well, to be honest only basic anatomy's not enough. Health is very important to people and I see many products out there which have absolutely no effect on a healthy body whatsoever (although, they don't do any harm, either!), but they cost a small fortune and people continue to buy them, even though the effect is more placebo-like than not.

People have (or are supposed to) a whole year of human biology in high-school, but I fear that those lessons come too early. For when they start taking these placebo-like OTC drugs, they're usually at least a decade older and have effectively forgotten many of the facts they learned. So I see some people still believe that you can "burn" cholesterol by exercising, that you need to eat coenzyme Q10 and such.

These are just marketing tricks to make you buy stuff and you wouldn't fall for it, if you knew that id won't really benefit you. It's easier to say: I've already got 5 pairs of trousers, I don't need another one than to say, I really don't need this green magma thing, because I get all the vitamins/minerals etc by eating healthy food.

Unfortunately, people are somewhat sceptic and rather treat themselves than see or consult a doctor at such times... Don't you think so?

I agree that it would be good to somehow help people avoid wasting lots of money on placebo-like drugs.

But I'm not sure if requiring each person to obtain a lot of medical knowledge is the right way. I personally would prefer to address this problem by stricter regulation that would prevent this sort of drugs from being sold in the first place (or at least from being marketed in a way that implies they have better effects than a placebo). In general, I'm not very fond of solutions that require people to be thoroughly informed about something. If you asked people of various occupations (doctors, lawyers, candy-makers, brick-layers, etc.), probably most of them would say that everyone would benefit from being familiar with some of the basics of their field; but then if we actually tried to learn all of that, our heads would explode.

As for why people don't consult a doctor at such times, I agree that this is probably sometimes a problem, but there are many reasons for this and it probably cannot be easily changed. The doctor's office hours may be inconvenient, you'd have to sit and wait in some bleak hospital waiting room, and many people probably have a relatively low opinion of our medical system's ability to deal with minor ailments. They probably feel that in the end the doctor would prescribe something for which they'd have to pay anyway, and then it doesn't matter if they just go straight to the pharmacy and rely on the pharmacist's advice instead.

But anyway, I haven't got much experience with doctors and drugs, so I'm not really the right person to comment on this. A few years ago, I had a slightly worse bout of cold than usual, with the fever being a bit higher and lasting a bit longer than usual, so I went to a doctor and basically got the advice to buy lots of aspirins and stay in bed for a few more days. Frankly, this was somewhat of a disappointment. I knew damn well that I would get well again if I stayed in bed for a few more days (and this indeed is what eventually happened). But I was kind of hoping that modern medicine would be able to offer some speedier solution, and it evidently wasn't able to. Now if I was the sort of person who enjoys taking drugs (and who isn't as stingy as I am), I might have rushed to the pharmacy at that point and bought some placebo OTC thing that supposedly helps against a severe cold.

I imagine that many instances where people actually do buy placebo-like OTC drugs could be explained by something like this; they consider the problem small enough that they (based on their previous experience) don't expect the medical establishment to be of much use in such a case, but they want to do something about it anyway, so they head straight for the pharmacy and buy something that's available without a prescription.

P.S. Never mind the late reply, there's no hurry :)

"but then if we actually tried to learn all of that, our heads would explode" I'm quite sure you're wrong here. :) It's only the fact that one rarely has the time to learn all of potentially useful information.

You probably had a viral infection. If it was severe and you had a high fever you could ask the doctor for some anti-piretics (lowers your temperature) and something to help with other syptoms. But the doctor was right in telling you that (s)he can't prescribe anything to help you get rid of the cold faster. Next time, maybe you should ask about those things.

Also, I heard that doctors can prescribe eye drops (artificial tears). For someone whose eyes get red, itchy and dry because of prolonged reading, this is a (financial) relief.