Month: August 2018
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Anasplasmosis: what we can learn from Lam’s surrealistic animalarium
José de la FuenteCiudad Real, Spain Epidemiology and art have met several times, but what can we learn from the surrealistic animalarium? Several of the surrealist artists used animals as symbols. However, in some cases they also provided compositions that are relevant for the study of infectious diseases. Anaplasmosis is one of the major tick-borne…
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The founding of Rush Medical College
Joseph deBettencourtChicago, Illinois, United States Act I: Dr. Daniel Brainard Beneath the impressive shadow of Notre Dame, a young American cut a path through the winding cobblestone maze of the Île de la Cité to the doors of the Hôtel Dieu, Paris’ oldest hospital. The young man carried with him a diploma from a small…
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Clean eating and orthorexia as technologies of the self
Cristina Hanganu-BreschPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, USA As numerous social and traditional media outlets and ads constantly remind us, our diets must be “clean”—a vague descriptor whose fuzzy boundaries can fit a plethora of surrogate terms: organic, natural, whole, non-GMO, unprocessed, gluten free, vegan, sugar-free, fat-free, low-carb, raw, unrefined, and so on. The evidence for “clean eating” is…
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The art of playing with food
Sue ReevesLondon, United Kingdom Arcimboldo (1527-1593) was an Italian painter most celebrated for his curious portraits of human heads composed of objects such as plants, fruit, and vegetables. The paintings have been described as “whimsical puzzle like portraits” and have retained their enchanting appeal over the years.1 Perhaps in the past children trying to replicate…
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Partners in healing: An early renaissance painting depicting the partnership of the divine with the physicians Cosmas and Damian
Susan Brunn PuettJ. David PuettChapel Hill, North Carolina, United States In many cultures the practice of healing was perceived as a combined effort by physicians and the divine. Florentine Renaissance hospitals had churches and cloisters in their complexes where displayed works of art reminded patients and their families of God’s curing powers. Meant to invoke…
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The madness of hunger
Sylvia KarasuNew York City, New York, USA Erysichthon was arrogant and contemptuous of the gods, so Ovid tells us in Book VIII of his Metamorphoses.1 Despite clear warnings, and acting with “pure malice,”2 he chopped down Ceres’ beloved oak. The enormous tree, closely identified with Ceres herself, groaned aloud as blood gushed from its “wounded…
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Fire eaters
F. Gonzalez-CrussiChicago, Illinois, USA I have often wondered what obscure forces impel Mexicans to relish the unbearably acrid hot peppers used as condiment in their food. A dual psychological inheritance comes to mind. First, the dark impetus of sacrifices to the bloody Aztec monolith; second, the no less ominous attitude of Spanish mystics, who saw…
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Loyal Davis, legendary neurosurgeon (1896–1982)
For more than thirty years, in an era less politically correct than ours, Dr. Loyal Davis reigned supreme as chief of surgery at the Northwestern University medical school in Chicago. He retired in 1963, but stories about him persisted as lively subjects of conversation and amusement, to be told with relish at meetings and dinner…
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The tuber that changed the world: a brief history of the potato
Jennifer MusgraveBloomington, Indiana, United States When Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492, he did not know that potatoes even existed. But the Columbian voyages to the Americas would initiate a domino effect allowing this unassuming but life-sustaining tuber to spread from its South American origins to the Old World and by its introduction change the…
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The impact of technology on healthcare
Singh YadavTamil Nadu, India Double doors swing open as paramedics rush a burn victim into the hospital’s Emergency Department. A nurse checks the patient’s pulse and vitals, while another takes a blood sample and deposits it to a nearby machine. A scanning device determines the wound size and depth and guides an attached 3D printer…