Medicine: Capsules, Feb. 8, 1960

¶ After 14 years of negative results, despite the willingness of 6,000 human volunteers to catch cold for science, workers at Britain’s famed Common Cold Research Unit (TIME, Sept. 21, 1953) reported that they have isolated what appears to be three strains of common cold virus. They will not grow under the conditions favored by most viruses, but need a cooler and more acid medium (like the lining of human nasal passages). The strains are so choosy that some nourish only in cells from embryonic human kidneys—in which others will not grow at all. Upshot: there are probably so many different strains of cold viruses that a single vaccine is as far away as ever.

¶ The orthopedist (bone and joint specialist) may be the first physician to detect some cases of lung cancer, Dr. Paul E. Dee of Rockford, Ill. told the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Explanation: cancer in the apex of the lung is often first signaled by pain in the shoulder, arm or neck.

¶ Surgeons and nurses must be careful of what they say even when a patient is anesthetized, said San Francisco’s Dr. David B. Cheek. Even when the patient seems completely “out,” he can still hear, and may remember disturbing or embarrassing indiscretions.

¶ Why do blood clots in the legs so often endanger life by breaking off and traveling to the heart or lungs? Stanford University researchers suggested it may be because the temperature of deep leg muscles (which supply heat to deep veins) drops to 92° in bedridden patients, against a normal 96°. Cooling increases clot dangers.