Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Author: Hektoen International

  • Frank Parsons—A hemodialysis pioneer

    Eric WillUnited Kingdom “Disillusion can become itself an illusion if we rest in it.”— TS Eliot Frank Maudsley Parsons (1915–1989) was an English pioneer of hemodialysis in the mid-1950s. His contribution is well known to nephrologists, but came at a personal cost in recognition that he expressed in his published journal affiliations. Context Leeds General…

  • Ethical considerations in treating minors against the wishes of their parents

    Vidushi SharmaDelhi, India When parents and medical professionals disagree on the treatment of minors (especially on vaccination), moral dilemmas arise. Such complex issues require careful ethical consideration in order to achieve a delicate balance between respect for parental autonomy and the wellbeing of the minor. This scenario raises fundamental questions about beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and…

  • University of Padua School of Medicine

    JMS PearceHull, England The four great early schools of medicine were in Alexandria, Bologna, Pavia, and Padua. Herophilus and Erasistratus initiated rational anatomy and physiology at the Alexandrian school of medicine founded c. 300 BC. In the second century AD, they were succeeded by Rufus of Ephesus—the medical link between Hippocrates of Cos, Galen of…

  • William Dawes: Deep flaws and sparks of brilliance

    Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia Most Sydneysiders will have heard of William Dawes (1762–1836), although they may not know exactly who he was. Dawes Point, the promontory supporting the southern pillars of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, is named after him, as are Dawes Creek and Dawes Ridge in the nearby Blue Mountains National Park. William Dawes…

  • Peruvian chukchu masks portraying malaria

    Peter de SmetNijmegen, Netherlands Although malaria remains a major health risk in many parts of the world, indigenous forms of art portraying signs of this disease are rarely encountered. An exception is the Peruvian mask on the left, which, in its yellow color, represents jaundice resulting from malaria. In endemic areas, jaundice may occur in…

  • Epidemics: The deadly foes of humanity

    There was a time when humans may have solely attributed their illnesses to powers that could turn rivers into blood, kill firstborns, unleash swarms of frogs, lice, flies, and locusts (Exodus 7-10), cause contagious skin diseases (Leviticus 13:2-33), or send hideous, dangerous serpents to kill evildoers (Numbers 21:5-9).1 But in the relatively brief time of…

  • George Orwell: An attempt at a diagnosis

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “It’s better to die violently and not too old…‘natural’ death, almost by definition, means something slow, smelly and painful.”– George Orwell, “How the poor die,” 1946 Many readers of the English author George Orwell (1903–1950) know that he died of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). He wrote Animal Farm, 1984, four other novels, three…

  • Unequal encounter: An initiation

    Hugh Tunstall-PedoeDundee, Scotland In October 1961, I started at Guy’s Hospital Medical School in London for three years of clinical training. I was at the very bottom of the clinical hierarchy and put straight onto a surgical ward as a first-year ward clerk responsible for clerking admissions, junior to the third-year senior dressers on the…

  • Encephalitis lethargica: The sweating sickness of the 1920s?

    Philip LiebsonChicago, Illinois, United States Epidemics may come and go, magically disappear, and sometimes recur. An example of this was the “sweating sickness” of sixteenth century Europe. Another example closer to our time was encephalitis lethargica, occurring as an epidemic in the late 1910s and early 1920s followed by only sporadic cases. Sporadic cases of…

  • Musings from my first, on doctor-patient relationships

    Hugh Tunstall-PedoeDundee, Scotland It was my very first patient. I had started my clinical training at Guy’s Hospital medical school in 1961 in London by being put straight onto a surgical ward. The patient was a Bermondsey Cockney dock worker who had a benign tumour to be removed—a neurofibroma. I examined him and read it…