Santa Claus, A Sick Patient Needing Medical Care

ENT Journal published in December 2003, a humorous paper on Santa Claus as a patient with numerous medical problems. Given it is Christmas Eve, it is probably worth revisiting the article which lists among his many medical problems:

• Allergies to woodwork (sawdust and varnish) and materials used in preparing teddy bears, dolls, and other gilts.
• Asthma exacerbated by reindeer exposure as well as the hay and straw in the stable which makes his nose run
• His symptoms get worse when he leaves the North Pole where there is no pollen to regions of the Earth where vegetation and pollen are plentiful, especially in the Southern Hemisphere where it is summer.
• Going down chimney's irritates the eyes and his nose resulting in sneezing fits. Probably carcinogenic as well.
• Santa is considerably overweight, and his cheeks appear quite ruddy suggesting high blood pressure.
• Probably has type 2 diabetes exacerbated by milk and cookies left for him in millions of homes.
• He smokes a pipe putting him at increased risk of oral, throat, and lung cancer

Merry Christmas!

Suggest you leave for Santa a glass of water and a low-calorie, low-salt granola bar instead of milk and cookies tonight!

Read the full article here.