At this link you'll find a long essay ranting about the evils of microwave ovens. It claims that food cooked in a microwave, no matter what kind of food it is: "increases cholesterol, increases white blood cell numbers, decreases red blood cell numbers, and causes production of radiolytic compounds (compounds unknown in nature)". All sounds a bit dubious, but I'm actually more interested in one specific story told at the beginning of the article:
There was a lawsuit in 1991 in Oklahoma. A woman named Norma Levitt had hip surgery, but was killed by a simple blood transfusion when a nurse "warmed the blood for the transfusion in a microwave oven!"
This seemed a bit unlikely to me, but a quick google search revealed that this same story, with almost the exact same wording, appears on many sites. So obviously this is a tale that the anti-microwave people have been spreading around. However, a little more searching reveals
that the story isn't true. The incident did happen, but a jury found that Norma Levitt was killed by a blood clot, not by blood heated in a microwave.
Comments
I've burnt myself pretty badly on stuff, but I wouldn't say it was killing me.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050506.html
Net: microwave ovens are probably safe, but there are a few anomalies that aren't yet understood. As near as I can tell, though, the oddities which science has turned up aren't the same ones that most panic-stricken websites are concerned about.
Before the internet these people were just nice, harmless kooks who lived in the little white house down the block.
http://www.relfe.com/health_benefits_of_garlic.html
The whole site seems to be full of "product X is harmful and will KILL YOU; for just $14.95 you can buy ethical product Y from us, which will (possibly) NOT KILL YOU - can you afford to take that chance? What of your children?" kind of thing.
Horrible, dirty people.
Somehow that makes me kind of queasy.
Can you not see the sentence, printed in blue because it's a link, that says... the story's NOT TRUE???
While I'm sure you're quoting "proper" procedure... apparently it was done in this case. Unless the transcript is a hoax!
:ohh:
The point is, just because microwaving would render a blood product useless/dangerous, doesn't mean it's dangerous to cook your food in it. Blood warmed in a regular oven might not be good to use either.
But there seems to be an error in the original message that speaks about the court case. 1: the jury didn't find that the woman died of a blood clot. From what I read that is simply what the defendants claimed. 2: one of the footnotes stated that microwaving blood causes the destruction of red blood cells releasing large amounts of potassium. Potassium is known for two major purposes - as a necessary dietary requirement in small amounts, and, in large amounts, as the substanced used to stop the heart in executions by lethal injection.
Apparently the woman's family still won the suit.
check it out
WARNER v. HILLCREST MEDICAL CENTER
No. 83555.
914 P.2d 1060
1995 OK CIV APP 123
Decided: September 26, 1995.
Rehearings Denied November 20, 1995.
Certiorari Denied April 1, 1996.
Court of Appeals of Oklahoma, Division 4.
Presuming the legal link IS true, 1)I did not see any claim to the jury stating it was a blood clot simply the ruling of or against 2)the findings of fact state that microwaving BLOOD does alter the blood making it potentially fatal 3)there was nothing specific to state why IV solution should not be warmed other than manufacturing companies suggest against it
Folks, there's controversy all around us! We are a race of peope able to think for ourselves...try some research and experimentation, and do it three times over before you finalize your conclusion.
LIFE IS GOOD SO LIVE IT 😊
Microwaving damages blood, see:
http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/reprint/49/5/792.pdf
Microwaving should NEVER be used to heat blood, see:
http://www.rch.org.au/rchcpg/index.cfm?doc_id=9905
These guidelines are unclear as to whether they are referring to only pediatric patients, but the word "Never" is indisputable.
The issue might be of warming versus cooking. Though there is plenty of evidence that the way microwave warms things causes unusual effects which are often deleterious to health. I'll let you guys do that research though. It's there...just look for it.
Have fun...
using lab. mice or similar, say 6 of each 2 batch: split the blood volume in half, warm the blood in the microwave and infuse it into the experimental animals.
Warm the other half the way the protocol dictate and also infuse it into the control animals.
The difference will be INTERESTING. One thing I can guarantee now: this issue will not remain academic!
uj.
The blood was hemolysed and the potassium the red cells contained leaked out and the ammount was not only toxic but lethal.
I agree this case does not prove microwave ovens make killer food but your post does not prove a hoax.