Why Do Men Have Nipples? (13 page)

Leyner:
I hate going into a bathroom in a fancy restaurant where they have an attendant in there.

Leyner:
A men’s room seems to be the one place on earth where Emersonian self-reliance should be the rule.

Gberg:
I know, I don’t really need assistance getting the paper towel out of the dispenser.

Leyner:
There’s really nothing that goes on in a men’s room that I can’t handle myself.

Gberg:
You end up feeling so guilty that you have to give the poor bastard a tip.

12:25
P.M.

Leyner:
You know that expression for waiters and cooks—when they spend their day off at the place they work?

Leyner:
Bellman’s holiday or something?

Gberg:
??

Leyner:
Wonder if there’s an equivalent for men’s room attendants?

Leyner:
Look that expression up online, will you . . . bellman’s holiday.

Gberg:
They probably can’t urinate or defecate at home because it reminds them of work.

Leyner:
What about the people who check stool samples all day, like at that place Jetti Katz, you know that lab?

Gberg:
What the hell are you talking about?

Leyner:
There’s a lab I went to once when my cousin, my gastroenterologist, thought I might have picked up some exotic parasite in Tierra del Fuego.

Gberg:
Jetti Katz sounds like a performer in the Catskills.

12:30
P.M.

Leyner:
So he sent me to this lab that specializes in analyzing stool for parasite eggs . . . Jetti Katz or Jeddi Cats or something like that . . . some place in upper Manhattan.

Gberg:
The Jeddi Cats sound like a band.

Gberg:
I love their music.

Leyner:
Anyway . . . they have these women who work there, and what they do all day is handle hot, steaming fresh stool samples. The whole experience is indelible in my brain.

Gberg:
Indelible or inedible?

Leyner:
First you down some . . . What’s that laxative they give you? . . . It has a catchy name.

Gberg:
Go-lytely!

Leyner:
Works mighty fast.

Leyner:
Know what I’m talking about?

Gberg:
Nothing light about it.

Leyner:
What’s it called? Help me out here.

Gberg:
Not Go-lytely?

Leyner:
NO.

Gberg:
Lactulose, sorbitol, milk of magnesia, cascara, Dulcolax . . .

Leyner:
Dulcolax . . . I think.

Gberg:
Magnesium citrate.

Gberg:
Dulcolax, “the Duke.”

Leyner:
DULCOLAX, yes!!!!!! Anyway, they make you drink that . . . then, a dozen or so people vie for three bathrooms. It’s like some debased Japanese game show.

Gberg:
We could be huge in Japan.

Leyner:
We already are.

Gberg:
Did your books sell internationally?

Leyner:
That’s the strange thing about Japan. You can be famous there, have malls named after you, etc., etc., and NEVER know it.

Gberg:
I am pretty sure there is no Billy Goldberg mall in Kyoto.

Leyner:
One of my books has been published in Japan, and all of them in Great Britain, Italy, and France . . . and Chechnya, I think. I’m like the Dr. Seuss of Chechnya.

WILL YOU GET HEMORRHOIDS FROM
SITTING ON THE TOILET TOO LONG?

We have no pretensions about this book, and we expect it to be found in that precious spot right next to the toilet. For that reason, we fear we need to warn you that sitting too long on the throne may cause hemorrhoids. Unfortunately, this one’s not an old wives’ tale.

Hemorrhoids, or piles, are abnormally swollen veins in the rectum and anus. They are similar to the varicose veins you might see on a person’s legs at the beach. It’s estimated that about one hundred million Americans are currently suffering from hemorrhoids. More than half of the U.S. population develops hemorrhoids by age fifty. The most frequent causes of hemorrhoids are constant sitting, straining with bowel movements (from constipation or hard stools), prolonged sitting on the toilet, severe coughing, giving birth, and heavy lifting. It has also been suggested that the Western diet, which is rich in processed food and lacking in fiber, contributes to hemorrhoids.

Sitting on the toilet too long is problematic because this is the only time that the anus truly relaxes, allowing the veins down there to fill completely with blood. To prevent this problem, you should move your bowels as soon as possible after the urge occurs. If you cannot go right away, pick up our book (we expect it to be toilet reading) but read as you walk. You can always return to finish the job.

WHY DOES POO STINK IF THE FOOD
DOESN’T?

We don’t want to create any cultural stereotypes here, but most of the bathroom questions came from folks from Down Under. Yes, two Aussie friends seem to ask many questions about their bowels.

Everything that happens in the intestine seems to have something to do with the production of gases and sulfur compounds. The bacteria inside feces is what makes it smell so bad. Specifically, the bacteria produce various compounds and gases that lead to the wonderful smell of a bus station bathroom. The smell of your stool can be affected by medical conditions or your diet. Fatty stools and bloody stools are known to be particularly malodorous. In the hospital, a large, ripe poo is known as a code brown. How’s that for real insider knowledge?

WHY DOES POO FLOAT?

Some people seem to be obsessed with the creation of the perfect poo. My brother even called me in to examine his works of art, a true bonding moment for young boys. Another friend described his perfect moment for us when he produced the cobra—one that coiled around and poked its head out of the bowl. There is something about “dropping the kids off at the pool” that makes us all smile. So, laugh if you must, but we’re sure you’ve wondered why some poos are floaters.

It is gas that makes poo float. Increased levels of air and gas make it less dense and therefore cause it to float.

WHY IS POO BROWN?

It is very common to have people ask about the color of their stool to figure out how it relates to disease. There are definitely some color changes that can be cause for concern, but in general assessing stool color is no exact science.

Feces are mostly shades of brown or yellow because of the presence of an orange-yellow substance called bilirubin. Bilirubin combines with iron in the intestine to give the combo a beautiful brown color.

Poo does, however, have a rainbow of possibilities:

•
Black:
A black stool (melena) can mean that blood is coming from the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract, the esophagus, stomach, or first part of the small intestine. Other things that can cause black stool are black licorice, lead, iron pills, Pepto-Bismol, or blueberries.

•
Green:
Green, leafy vegetables contain chlorophyll, which can color the stool green. Green feces can also occur with diarrhea if bile passes through the intestine unchanged. In breast-fed babies, green stool is a normal occurrence, especially right after delivery.

•
Red:
Maroon stool or bright red blood in poo usually suggests that the blood is coming from the lower part of the GI tract. Hemorrhoids and diverticulitis are the most common causes of red blood in the stool. Beets and tomatoes can also make stools appear reddish.

•
Gray:
Diseases of the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder can cause pale or gray stool.

•
Yellow:
One condition that can cause yellow stool is a parasitic infection known as giardia. Giardia also causes significant diarrhea. Another cause of yellow poo is a condition known as Gilbert’s syndrome. This is a fairly common genetic disorder that causes an increase in your level of bilirubin. Gilbert’s syndrome is rarely dangerous.

WHERE DOES GAS GO WHEN YOU CAN’T
FART?

Some people like to think of their lower gastrointestinal tract as a one-way street. One time during a rectal examination during a trauma, a frightened young man screamed out as the doctor was placing his finger in the man’s rectum, “Whoa, that’s an exit!”

Flatulence follows that same rule. Gas goes out or it simply goes away.

IF YOU ARE STRANDED ON A DESERT
ISLAND, SHOULD YOU DRINK SEAWATER
OR YOUR OWN URINE?

Seawater is more than three times as concentrated as blood. Humans shouldn’t drink salt water because it forces your body to deal with a solution that is more concentrated than its own fluids. In order to get rid of the excess salt, your body must excrete it through the kidneys as urine. The kidneys can only make urine that is less salty than salt water, so if you drink seawater, you’ll be peeing a lot and losing an excess of water. This would cause your body to become dehydrated, leaving an excess of sodium in your bloodstream. Water would then leave all your other cells to enter the bloodstream. This would cause the cells to shrink and malfunction. As a result, muscles would become weak and ache, the heart would beat irregularly, you would become confused, and ultimately you would die.

Drinking urine is probably safer than seawater, but the catch-22 is that if you don’t have any water to drink, you will become dehydrated and not produce any urine. The best bet is to not get shipwrecked and if you do, hope for rain.

CAN YOU CATCH DISEASES FROM A
TOILET SEAT?

By doing research we found reports of gonorrhea, toilet-seat dermatitis (infragluteal eczema), ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), and enterobius vermicularis (pinworm). We know what you are thinking. After carefully washing our hands, we went back to our computers and came across more information.

Yes, occasionally you can catch something from a public toilet seat but this isn’t all that common. Work, on the other hand, may be worse for your health than toilet seats. A microbiologist at the University of Arizona, Charles Gerba, found that the typical office desk harbors around four hundred times more disease-causing bacteria than the average toilet seat. Here is the bacteria count:

telephone: 3,894 germs per square centimeter

keyboard: 511 germs per square centimeter

computer mouse: 260 germs per square centimeter

toilet seat: priceless

WHY DO I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM
IMMEDIATELY AFTER A CUP OF COFFEE?

In our house, we call it the coffee alarm. Nothing is more reliable.

Coffee is definitely known to have a laxative effect. The caffeine in coffee speeds up every system in the body including the bowels. But when used excessively, caffeine can interfere with the bowels’ normal contractions and lead to constipation. Decaffeinated coffee does away with the caffeine but it still acts as a bowel irritant.

WHY DO CIGARETTES HAVE A LAXATIVE
EFFECT?

There is nothing better, for some, than the morning cup of joe and a cigarette, followed by the “morning constitutional.” Caffeinated drinks and nicotine have a laxative effect probably because they stimulate nerves that increase intestinal contraction, so if you had a block of cheese for dinner, this is a wonderful remedy.

If you want to have a cigarette and coffee for breakfast, make sure that you have a clean toilet nearby.

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO PEE WHEN YOU HEAR
WATER DRIPPING?

Sorry, pal, sometimes there just aren’t medical explanations for things. Nobody in medical school explained why you get the urge to urinate when you pour gas into the generator.

IF YOU STICK A SLEEPING PERSON’S HAND
IN WARM WATER, WILL HE OR SHE WET
THE BED?

Going to bed at camp always felt like a risky time. The fear of having someone dip your hand in warm water and waking in a puddle was terrifying. There is no clear medical proof to this camp myth but there may be some science behind it. It is known that when someone has trouble urinating, a warm bath can sometimes make it easier to go, perhaps because of a reduction of pressure in the urethra with the increased body temperature during a bath. A study from Egypt called “Role of Warm Water Bath in Inducing Micturition in Postoperative Urinary Retention After Anorectal Operations” described this so-called thermo-sphincter reflex in 1993. We still don’t know if the hand dip works the same way, but it sure would be funny to picture an Egypitian in the laboratory sneaking up on sleeping volunteers to try to get them to wet their beds.

IS IT DANGEROUS TO HOLD IT WHEN YOU
HAVE TO PEE?

My junior high school biology teacher instilled fear in our young hearts when he told us that if we got into a car accident with a full bladder, the bladder could rupture. He was right. In general, a full bladder ruptures more easily than an empty bladder.