Real-Life Math
Transplant surgery is life-and-death stuff. There are the potential pitfalls of going under the knife -- slip of the scalpel, time limits. There is also the patient's bodily reaction to the surgery to worry about.
Don Bibbles, a 54-year-old lawyer, had a kidney transplant today. You and those working around you were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the operation went.
By nightfall, Don was resting peacefully in his bed. According to the machines that were monitoring him, everything was going wonderfully.
Unfortunately, during the night, your patient was terribly sick. The attending nurses say he was up for most of the night throwing up. It seems his BUN (blood urea nitrogen) level was 121. The normal level for a man in his condition is between 40 and 75.
Fortunately, there's no need to worry. Don will be all right. At the rate he's going, his BUN level will be back to normal soon. It goes down an average of 1.5 units per hour.
If he's now at 121, how long will it take for his BUN to come down to 75?
"Math is very important in that many different sciences interact with medicine," says transplant surgeon Dr. Todd Demmy. "The more intense the medical profession, the more likely that math is needed every day. Without a doubt, there is a relationship here."