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COLLEAGUES
Unsupportive colleagues at work can give you forearm pain. The studies didn't show whether this comes from punching them. |
COLUMBUS, OHIO
Columbus is the fifth fattest city in America. We have no idea how they figured this out. |
COMPUTER GAMES
Children who play computer games can end up with bad posture and repetitive strain injury, especially a form known as "Nintendo thumb," which sounds like a wrestling move but is actually even more painful. |
COMPUTERS
Maybe you really are allergic to work. The plastic in computer casings can give off fumes that make you itch, block up your nose, and give you headaches. The repetitive hand movements involved in using a computer can leave you with carpal tunnel syndrome, whose symptoms include burning, tingling, or numbness of the fingers, as well as difficulty gripping tools and making a fist. |
CONDOMS
Next time you use a condom, spare a thought for those who suffered so you could have safe sex: some workers in condom factories suffer from rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma caused by the powder in which condoms are packed. Condom users themselves may suffer rashes or more serious allergic or irritant reactions to the latex from which condoms are made. (That would be a pretty effective contraceptive, actually.) |
CONSERVATIVE, BEING
People with right-wing political views are more likely to have nightmares or dreams that feature aggression and violence. This is even more disturbing when you consider that these are probably the same people who own large numbers of guns. |
CONSTRUCTION WORKER, BEING A
Do something nice for construction workers today: live in a tent. Construction workers have an unusually high risk of dying from pneumoconiosis, silicosis, and respiratory conditions due to chemical fumes and vapors. On the other hand, given the things they shout when you walk past construction sites, maybe you'd rather have them build you a five-story mansion. |
CONTRACEPTIVES
There's no such thing as safe sex. |
CORRECTION FLUID
After four or five years in accounts receivable, sniffing correction fluid might sound like a good idea. Wrong. Ninety-one officeworkers in the U.K. were injured by correction fluid during the year 2000. |
COTTON CLOTHES, HOSPITAL VISITS IN
Here's one the Spanish Inquisition never thought of: death by T-shirt. Wearing cotton clothing in hospitals can transmit the Aspergillus fungus, which can cause fatal infections in patients with impaired immune systems. |
