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Potato Powder Stops Bleeding, May Help Surgery
Big E writes "'A powder made from the common potato appears to help blood to clot, closing minor cuts and aiding surgical procedures, new research suggests'. Reuters story is here.
According to the company that produces it, Medafor Inc. , it is "Effective even in areas of profuse bleeding". That's a bit more than closing minor cuts and they are seeking approval for use during chest and intestinal surgeries. Maybe this will prove to be the biggest thing since the Band-Aid maybe even revolutionize emergency & combat medicine." Here are some Scanning Electron Micrographs of this sweet potato in action, too.
what's the chance for infection after applying potato to an open cut?
Pretty damn good. That's why nobody's talking about applying potato to an open cut. They're talking about using a powder composed of little particles-- they call 'em beads-- that soak up water. What these particles actually do is reduce the volume of a mass of blood, allowing the platelets to form a clot more quickly than they otherwise could.
This is based, incidentally, on exactly the same mechanism that causes cornstarch to thicken a soup. Cornstarch is a powder made up of what are basically tiny starch particles. These tiny particles absorb water, thickening any liquid to which they're added. This stuff works the same way, only on a much smaller scale.
I write in my journal
Combat medicine? Looks like the stereotype of the bad soldier peeling potatos is about to gain more merit.
This statement is false.
Stopping blood loss can the the most important thing in a lot of trauma situations. Particularly in situations where you can't get to a real medical facility very quickly. Anyone working in the field would want this in their medical kit if it is really effective and save.
Clot capitol of the world...
Somehow that doesn't sound right.
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
The marriage of Mr. Potato Head and "Middle-class-white-houswife-3kids" Nurse Barbie, the new craze for Matel.
I live in a giant bucket.
You know, it occurs to me that this product is going to be used in basically the same situations as QuikClot and other similar clotting agents. (QuikClot is a mineral-based agent that's in use by the military; a Google search will reveal all, if you're so inclined.)
The thing about agents like QuikClot and MPH is that they're not really that useful in catastrophic traumas. Blood loss due to superficial injuries is almost always controllable in the field; in the worse case, in which a patient has suffered lots and lots of minor injuries, the blood loss is sufficiently slow that the risk of hypovolemic shock is almost nil.
The real danger in trauma situations comes when an artery is damaged or severed. Clotting agents like these won't help in those cases. You don't stop an artery from pumping by clotting. You stop it by clamping the shit out of the little fucker until you can get it tied off or anastomosed.
So in those cases where blood loss is really life-threatening, these sorts of substances won't help. I'm sure they've got valid medical uses, but they seem more like band-aids or bactine than a real life-saving medical tool.
Just my two cents. I'm not a doctor, but I play one on tee vee.
I write in my journal
And I thought Pringles ruled just because it works as an antenna.
What's the next cool thing that Pringles can be used ?
So how much better (apart from being sterilized) is this compared to the stuff you can buy in the supermarket (whose particles are spherical to some degree)?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
It would seem to me that the super-absorbent gell that is used in diapers, tampons, and as a soil replacement/enhancer would do the same thing, perhaps better.
;^)
Actually I used to do a lot of hiking and we always kept a sanitary napkin or two in the first aid kit to apply to major wounds. Fortunately never had the opportunity to try them out. The form factor of a sanitary napkin is much easier to apply since unlike diapers and tampons they are flat. Also, since the big toxic shock scare of the 80's you can be pretty sure that they have been sterilized to a limited if not hospital autoclave standard.
As to the potato starch, we usually brought instant mashed potatoes with us for dinner anyway (great for thickening stews or for an instant add-water side dish that's much cheaper than freeze-dried meals from camping stores), now we can just bring that and leave the sanitary pads at home
Work for Change & GET PAID!
I don't know about the clotting effect, but sugar (and even better, honey) can help prevent infection in wounds. It works the same way that concentrated sugar and salt solutions work to preserve fruits and vegetables without boiling/sterilizing in preserves and pickles. The solution MUST be sufficiently concentrated to prevent bacterial growth. Pouring salt on a wound would be just too painful, but sugar and honey both work.
Honey is even better for treating wounds than sugar for (at least) two reasons: It's already a superaturated sugar solution right out of the jar, and it contains, in addition to some interesting sugars (mostly levulose, maltose), some natural antibiotics/bacterial growth inhibitors.
It's not just for toast and tea!