allergic reaction

A Sticky Story

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:59:24 +0000

The 1995 season of Seinfeld ended with the death of George’s fiancée. Poor Susan was poisoned. And it was all George’s fault. It seems the prospective groom had purchased the cheapest envelopes for wedding invitations and Susan was done in by licking hundreds of envelopes. The implication was that the glue was toxic and furthermore that the tragedy could have been avoided had George not been so tight. Apparently, more expensive envelopes would have been less toxic. Could this episode have been based on some real life event? Hardly.

Allergic to penicillin? You sure?

Christopher Labos MD, MSc — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

This article was originally posted in the Montreal Gazette.

The Kiss of Death- Almost

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 20:11:04 +0000

An Italian lady showed up at a clinic complaining of generalized itching and swelling of her lips about 30 minutes after making love with her husband. The reaction disappeared after treatment with cetirizine (Reactine). Tests showed that she had no food allergies. Doctors finally traced the symptoms to kissing her husband during lovemaking! Actually, the problem wasn't the kissing, one would assume that this activity occurred on numerous occasions without triggering the symptoms. This time though the husband had taken an antibiotic, bacampicillin, about two hours earlier.