Author | Lightnews

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 2h

Before we even got to the science, we had to pause to talk about the bold lip. Because apparently porphyria and perfect lipstick both deserve attention. Halloween episode or not, beauty and blood disorders go hand in hand here.

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 4h

A single cough can launch 3,000 tiny droplets into the air at 50 mph.
Congrats, your lungs are basically tiny leaf blowers full of spit.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine, 2020

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 23h

Your gut and brain talk constantly via the gut‑brain axis.
Irritation or imbalance in your intestines sends signals to your brain that affect mood, stress, and cognition.
🧪 Source: The Gut‑Brain Connection (Johns Hopkins)

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 1d

Humans can survive with half a brain.
It’s called a hemispherectomy, and patients, especially children, can relearn language and movement.
Your brain is petty but shockingly adaptable.
Source: Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 1d

Nothing bonds two people like mispronouncing medical terms and laughing until it hurts.
Porphyria might be the “vampire disease,” but the real cure is a solid laugh.
Funny Medicine delivers both—facts and full-body giggles.

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 1d

Gut bacteria help produce serotonin by signaling to cells in your intestines.
Certain microbes act almost like serotonin “boosters” in your digestive system.
🧪 Source: Microbes Help Produce Serotonin in Gut (Caltech)

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 2d

Porphyria. The disease that made people think vampires were real.
Sunlight hurts. Garlic triggers pain. Urine turns dark.
Science calls it a heme enzyme disorder. We call it perfect Halloween content.
New episode out now. Funny Medicine Podcast.

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 2d

Your gut makes 95 % of your body’s serotonin.
That “happy chemical” isn’t mostly from the brain; it’s born in your intestines, where it helps regulate motility, inflammation, and mood.
Source: Serotonergic Mechanisms Regulating the GI Tract (PMC)

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 3d

Your brain has a backup system for pain.
Even if your spinal cord is damaged, pain signals can reroute through alternate neural pathways.
Pain doesn’t quit. It just finds new ways to haunt you.
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2022

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 3d

Your muscles react before your brain registers danger.
It’s called a stretch reflex, and it activates faster than conscious thought.
You’re pulling your hand back before you even know you’re burned.
Source: Journal of Neurophysiology – Stretch Reflex Pathways

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 4d

Good morning. Your brain is still pruning itself.
Overnight, it dumps weak or unnecessary neural connections.
You woke up dumber on purpose.
Source: Science, 2013 (Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis)

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 4d

Your gut makes over 90% of your body’s serotonin.
That “gut feeling” isn’t just a vibe... it’s neurochemistry.
🧪 Source: Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology – Gut serotonin

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 5d

Good morning. You might weigh less now than you did last night.
Your body burns calories and water during sleep, even without moving.
You lost weight just by dreaming.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 5d

In 1901, a batch of diphtheria antitoxin killed 13 kids.
It was contaminated with tetanus. The disaster led to the first biologics regulation act in the U.S.
Medicine learned the hard way.
🧪 Source: FDA History Vault – 1901 Biologics Incident

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 6d

Next week’s Halloween episode is coming. We’re dressing up. The case is secret. All we can say is it’s perfectly creepy and medically real. Funny Medicine Podcast. Stay tuned.

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 6d

Good morning. Your voice is deeper when you first wake up because your vocal cords are swollen.
Morning voice is real, it’s basically vocal cord inflammation with a side of mucus.
You’re raspy because you’re hydrated like a cactus.
Source: Journal of Voice, 2005

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 6d

Pertussis is called “the 100-day cough.”
Cute name for something that can stop infants from breathing.
EP 116: “The Tdap One.”
Funny Medicine Podcast breaks down why this infection still exists—and why a “lingering cough” isn’t the same thing.

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 6d

Prefrontal lobotomies were once called “miracle cures.”
Tens of thousands were performed before people realized they caused cognitive damage, personality loss, and death.
Yes, they gave out Nobel Prizes for this.
🧪 Source: BMJ – Lobotomy history

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 7d

Good morning. Humans release more flatulence in the morning.
It’s called the morning thunder; caused by swallowed air and digestion restarting when you wake.
That first fart? Science says it’s valid.
Source: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 7d

Heroin was once sold as a cough suppressant for kids.
Bayer marketed it as a non-addictive alternative to morphine.
Spoiler: it was extremely addictive.
🧪 Source: American Chemical Society – History of Heroin

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 8d

When the brain says “you’re dead,” it stops caring for the body. In Cotard syndrome, people may stop eating or drinking because they believe they no longer exist. We explain how that leads to serotonin loss and why treatment can reverse it. Funny Medicine Podcast. Watch or listen now.

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 8d

Good morning. Your face is puffier right now because fluid pools overnight when you lie flat.
It drains as the day goes on, gravity gives you contour.
Your cheekbones are on a delay.
🧪 Source: Dermatologic Clinics, 2008

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 8d

Your brain saves emotionally intense memories better than factual ones.
It prioritizes emotional relevance over accuracy.
That’s why you remember your breakup playlist but not your tax ID.
Source: Nature Neuroscience – Emotion enhances memory

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 9d

Cotard’s Syndrome: the rare condition where people believe they’re dead.
This week we unpack the neurology, psychiatry, and Halloween-level weirdness behind the “Walking Corpse Delusion.”
New Funny Medicine episode out now. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

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Funny Medicine Podcast @funnymedicinepod.bsky.social · 9d

Most psychology research is based on WEIRD people.
Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic populations make up the bulk of studies.
So “human behavior” often just means “American college students.”
Source: Behavioral and Brain Sciences – The WEIRD problem

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