Social media has been blowing up of late with a startling picture of Hillary Rodham Clinton appearing to shriek in laughter while standing next to Obama.
I believe it may have been Glenn Reynolds who first examined the picture closely and wondered “What the heck is that dark thing on Hillary’s tongue?”
Suffice it to say that it doesn’t look like a throat lozenge that might have been employed to stay her persistent, sickly cough.
iOTWreport discovered a likely cause of said cavity:
It appears to be the result of a tongue biopsy.
Such a biopsy would have have taken place when doctors feared oral cancer (interestingly,oral cancer has been linked to HPV, a sexually-transmitted disease). Here’s what the CDC has to say about the matter:
What is genital HPV?
Genital human papillomavirus (also called HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the U.S. Most types of HPV are not harmful to people. There are more than 40 types of HPV that can infect the genital areas as well as the mouth and throat. Most people who become infected with HPV do not know that they are infected.What is oral HPV?
The same types of HPV that infect the genital areas can infect the mouth and throat. HPV found in the mouth and throat is called “oral HPV.” Some types of oral HPV (known as “high risk types”) can cause cancers of the head and neck area. Other types of oral HPV (known as “low risk types”) can cause warts in the mouth or throat. In most cases, HPV infections of all types go away before they cause any health problems.What head and neck cancers can be caused by HPV?
HPV can cause cancers in the back of the throat, most commonly in the base of the tongue and tonsils, in an area known as the “oropharynx.” These cancers are called “oropharyngeal cancers.”