Scientists Discover a New Organ In the Throat (sciencealert.com) 52
New submitter Orolo shares a report from ScienceAlert: Medical researchers have made a surprise anatomical discovery, finding what looks to be a mysterious set of salivary glands hidden inside the human head -- which somehow have been missed by scientists for centuries up until now. This "unknown entity" was identified by accident by doctors in the Netherlands, who were examining prostate cancer patients with an advanced type of scan called PSMA PET/CT. When paired with injections of radioactive glucose, this diagnostic tool highlights tumors in the body. In this case, however, it showed up something else entirely, nestled in the rear of the nasopharynx, and quite the long-time lurker.
As for how the glands haven't previously been identified, the researchers suggest the structures are found at a poorly accessible anatomical location under the skull base, making them hard to make out endoscopically. It's possible duct openings could have been noticed, they say, but might not have been noticed for what they are, being part of a larger gland system. While the team concedes that additional research on a larger, more diverse cohort will be needed to validate their findings, they say the discovery gives us another target to avoid during radiation treatments for patients with cancer, as salivary glands are highly susceptible to damage from the therapy. The findings are reported in Radiotherapy and Oncology.
As for how the glands haven't previously been identified, the researchers suggest the structures are found at a poorly accessible anatomical location under the skull base, making them hard to make out endoscopically. It's possible duct openings could have been noticed, they say, but might not have been noticed for what they are, being part of a larger gland system. While the team concedes that additional research on a larger, more diverse cohort will be needed to validate their findings, they say the discovery gives us another target to avoid during radiation treatments for patients with cancer, as salivary glands are highly susceptible to damage from the therapy. The findings are reported in Radiotherapy and Oncology.
New organ in the throat? (Score:5, Funny)
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Damn you for beating me to the punch line.
Well played, sir!
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and Jeffrey Epstein totally had nothing to do with Killary's nickname.
Yeah, it was Hillary's fault Epstein killed himself while the con artist is taking down the country [tumblr.com].
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yeah sure, all the guards chose to not be on duty and the cameras had malfunction.
The Clintons are very dirty, criminals.
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Barry Seale's recording of Shrub and Jeb picking up cocaine for a party while Poppy was president has never seen the light of day either, but his family has been left alone so it probably never will. The 'Mayflower Madam's' client list has never shown up either, but as long as she's still on the street it will probably stay hidden.
Re: New organ in the throat? (Score:2)
I guess that is why I can find videos of Trump partying with him on YouTube?
Re: New organ in the throat? (Score:2)
And those videos don't exist?
And decades before Monica (Score:5, Funny)
There was Linda Lovelace.
Now if they could just do something about.. (Score:2, Funny)
Now if they could just do something about this banjo on my knee [spencercreekmarkets.org].
The next Nobel price goes to (Score:2)
Just shows we still have more to learn... (Score:4, Interesting)
... about the human body and not just at the biochemical level. Kudos to them for discovering them, I suspect some prize will be heading their way at some point.
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No it isn't. Knowing 99% of something doesn't mean you "don't know shit" just because you don't know the other 1%. If you think doctors are retards then next time you're ill stay in bed and don't call anyone.
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However, if by some miraculous upset, it turns out doctors also didn't know about a whole bunch of other shit, well then won't your face be red.
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"well then won't your face be red."
No and you're a fucking idiot. Doctors have saved millions of lives around the world due to the medical knowledge we have so far. Why don't you stick to your riki and healing crystals or whatever brainless woo-woo crap you prefer instead.
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Of course that's a recent development, since the scientific method only began to be applied to medicine in a coherent way towards the end of the 19th century. Prior to that having a physician present for many major illnesses generally led to *worse* outcomes (for example, George Washington was probably bled to death by his physicians.)
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I doubt prayer faired much better.
Re: Just shows we still have more to learn... (Score:5, Interesting)
I think the fitting analogy would be if astronomers discovered a small moon orbiting Mars that had previously been difficult to detect due to its size and albedo. It's not like they discovered a second heart in the chest cavity.
Why surprises me is that I would have thought this has been seen in physical dissections of the skull many times over. My naive view was that the skull had been chopped and sliced every which way over the centuries that this would have been seen at some point.
Re: Just shows we still have more to learn... (Score:5, Informative)
Several factors can explain why these glands have not been noticed previously as macroscopic gland locations. The occurrence of acinar cell groups in the nasopharynx has been reported, but in a spread out pattern in a large region instead of localized tissue in an organized clustered glandular structure [3]. The newly detected tubarial glands involve flat submucosal glandular structures at a poorly accessible anatomical location under the skull base, an area that can only be visualized using nasal endoscopy. The macroscopically visible excretory duct openings may have been noticed, but have not been interpreted as part of a larger gland. Conventional imaging modalities (ultrasound, CT, MRI) have never allowed visualization of this submucosal structure and interpretation as a salivary gland, although an indication of its presence may have been visible in various prior functional imaging modalities upon retrospective evaluation [16]. Modern multiparametric MRI imaging could only be used to identify the tissue compartment containing the gland, after analyzing the information provided by PSMA-PET/CT and histology. As a result of these coinciding factors, the discovery depended on the introduction of molecular imaging with radiolabeled PSMA-ligands. This provided the required high sensitivity and specificity for detection of salivary gland cells, with a very high contrast-ratio relative to the surrounding PSMA-negative tissues. In combination with 3D anatomical reconstruction of histological information, this allowed us to realize that these cells in fact form distinctive macroscopic gland locations.
Re: Just shows we still have more to learn... (Score:2)
Precisely.
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Sure but that's really just a nice way of saying that doctors don't know shit. Imagine if astronomers found a new planet orbiting closer than mars. we'd call them a bunch of retards.
They haven't discovered a new leg, just something very small and well hidden.
And at least they're still looking and accepting new data (as are astronomers).
And researchers... (Score:4, Funny)
Are salivating at the prospect...
What? Oh, that thing? (Score:3)
Don't worry about that.
Those are just my gills.
(Your turn, alien conspiracy theorists...)
Dr Zoidberg discovers new organ (Score:3)
- Now open your mouth and show me that prostate of yours! No, no, not that mouth!
- Can I have a human doctor????
- I'm an expert on humans!
Most uncomfortable prostate exam ever (Score:5, Funny)
> who were examining prostate cancer patients
> surprise anatomical discovery, finding what looks to be a mysterious set of salivary glands hidden inside the human head
Jesus, just how deep were they going for those prostate exams?!
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Gives new meaning to the phrase "Turn your head and cough."
Re: Most uncomfortable prostate exam ever (Score:1)
It was during Trumps prostate exam.
Check your assumptions (Score:2)
Ya'll keep assuming, the prostate and the head were of the same person...
good gawd (Score:3, Funny)
they were examining prostate cancer patients and found organs in the throat, that's a little excessive on the camera work
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Did a new particle collider fire up recently? (Score:1)
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So you only recently saw a photo of a viscacha? They're really cool animals, there are some who live at Machu Picchu that appear to deliberately pose for people taking pictures. The tail give them incredible maneuverability when they're running in the rocks.
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Pikachu is apparently just a couple of Japanese words run together (at least according to Wikipedia). The viscacha actually looks like Pikachu (except for the color, of course.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Can't be a very important organ, then. (Score:2)
Does anybody know what this new organ does, that is required for good health? I suspect it is some kind of evolutionary left-over, that no longer has a function.
It seems odd that CAT scans of the head and neck region have not shown this up before. As a recipient of throat cancer treatment, I have had many such scans, including scans employing injected contrast agents.
I am guessing that a patient being treated for prostate cancer might receive a full body scan, in an excess of caution. Severe cancers can spr
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"Does anybody know what this new organ does, that is required for good health? I suspect it is some kind of evolutionary left-over, that no longer has a function.
"
Like...the appendix. Oh wait.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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I had appendicitis as a kid, and the inflamed organ was surgically removed. I am not sure this made any difference at all to my health, once I recovered from the operation. I am pretty sure I could have died from septic shock or whatever if I had not had the operation. So I think the accepted medical wisdom that the appendix has no important function is right.
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> I suspect it is some kind of evolutionary left-over, that no longer has a function.
I have a strong suspicion it is for lubricating the back of the throat and the oesophagus.
I had quite bad childhood asthma, and had massive pain in the region where these glands allegedly are, which was diagnosed as sinus pain, but I think those two things were caused by these glands being inflamed or restricted. Not being able to put out enough mucus would leave my throat irritated and so caused my asthma.
I also sometim
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I have a strong suspicion it is for lubricating the back of the throat and the oesophagus.
That is very interesting. I have had radiotherapy to treat throat cancer, and one of the effects is a dry throat and difficulty swallowing, so I could only eat "easy" foods. I am just speculating, but a lubricating organ might have been important to make certain foods edible, prior to the invention of cooking.
Otolaryngologists, anything to say? (Score:1)
I bet dental hygienists have known about these for years, but no one listened to them.