Mysteries of the Appalachian Trail

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys start the show off talking about how a woman named Katie Holley, a Florida resident, woke up in the middle of the night to a weird sensation in her ear, "like someone had placed a chip of ice in my left earhole," she wrote in an essay published in Self magazine. At first, her husband tried to remove the invader with tweezers. But that strategy wasn't successful, so they went to the emergency room. There, the doctor confirmed her suspicion: A cockroach was in her ear canal. To get the insect out, he first killed it with lidocaine (a numbing agent) and then removed it using tweezers. But in the days that followed, Holley had soreness in her ear and trouble hearing. When she returned to the doctor nine days later, she learned that she still had pieces — including the entire head — of the roach lodged in her ear.

Then, if a modern heart doctor could give medical advice to the iceman Ötzi — the man who was preserved as a mummy after his murder about 5,300 years ago in the snowy Alps — it would be this: Stop eating so much fatty meat and consider taking medications that lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. This advice is based on a new comprehensive look at the iceman mummy's cardiovascular health. A full-body computed tomography (CT) scan showed that Ötzi had three calcifications (hardened plaques) in his heart region, putting him at increased risk for a heart attack.

After the break Cam brings up some strange mysteries surrounding the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail is one of America's most famous hiking paths. The massive journey spans close to 2,200 miles and runs from Maine to Georgia and is the longest hiking-only trail in the world. With that big of an impact on our culture and history, it's no wonder so many urban legends and scary stories are based around the trail. Much of the Appalachian Trail is desolate and remote, cutting through mountains and thick forests. And when you've been hiking for a few days, haven't seen civilization in a while, your mind can start to play tricks on you. Or maybe not. Maybe there really are unexplained incidents and creatures lurking in the woods.

All of this and more on this installment of Expanded Perspectives!

Show Notes:

• A Cockroach Crawled Inside a Woman's Ear, and It Can Happen to You
• Ötzi the Iceman Was a Heart Attack Waiting to Happen
• The Appalachian Trail

Sponsors:

• Hims
• Dollar Shave Club

Music:

All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

Songs Used:

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• The Time Has Come
• Use My Mouth For The War (Bill McClintock)