August, 2021 - Hektoen International

Pieter Bruegel and The Parable of the Blind

August 30, 2021

Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden The Blind Leading the Blind, 1568, Pieter Bruegel, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. Wellcome Collection “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch.” —Matthew 15:14, King James Version 21st Century The Netherlandish painter Pieter Bruegel […]

Love and death; Painting the farewell

August 30, 2021

Giovanni Ceccarelli Rome, Italy Image from Ein Maler vor Liebe und Tod. Katalog und Ausstellung von Jura Bruschweiler. Page 123. Collection of Josef Muller, Solothurn. Exhibited in Kunsthaus, Zurich, from April 9 to May 23, 1976. When Ferdinand Hodler met Valentine Godé-Darel, a thirty-five-year-old woman divorced from a Sorbonne professor ruined by gambling, at […]

“John Barleycorn Must Die”: Addiction attributions in Jack London’s Alcoholic Memoirs

August 27, 2021

Ad A. Kaptein Barend W. Florijn Pim B. van der Meer Leiden, the Netherlands L’Arlésienne (portret van Madame Ginoux). Vincent Van Gogh. 1890. Kröller-Müller Museum. A thousand words every morning—with iron discipline, Jack London adhered to his writing routine. Later in the day, he would turn to John Barleycorn: beer, wine, whisky, and brandy. […]

History of medicine in ancient India

August 27, 2021

Keerthana Kalla Seattle, Washington, United States Shushrut Statue In Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar. Photo by Alokprasad. 2009. Via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. The chronicle of medicine is the story of man’s struggle against illness. As early as 5000 BC, India developed a comprehensive form of healing called Ayurveda. Such traditional healing was first recorded between […]

In sickness and in health: misogyny in medicine

August 27, 2021

Shreya Sharma Ontario, Canada Image by Rene Asmussen from Pixabay “You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?”1 These words, spoken by the unnamed narrator of Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s 1892 short story The Yellow Wallpaper, could have been articulated by many women about their medical experiences. Women have […]

Strabismo di Venere—Michelangelo’s David

August 27, 2021

Kevin R. Loughlin Boston, Massachusetts, United States Figure 1: Eyes of David. Photo by George M. Groutas. 2019. Via Wikimedia. CC BY 2.0. It is one of the most recognizable sculptures in Western art, the work of an acclaimed Renaissance artist. For over 600 years, it has been viewed by millions of tourists and […]

The history of polio and cigarettes, and the need for a COVID-19 vaccine mandate

August 27, 2021

Daniel Gelfman Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Polio Vaccine and Fundraising Matchbook. Photograph at the Science History Institute, Philadelphia. Photo Credit: Daniel Gelfman, July 3, 2021. Depicted in this display (Picture 1) at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia are technologic marvels. The first is a box that contained early vials of Dr. Salk’s formalin […]

A confession from a patient of atopic dermatitis

August 24, 2021

Yen-Hsiang Wang Taipei, Taiwan Photo by the author I am one of the ten to twenty percent of people in the world with atopic dermatitis. Allergies to environmental factors such as dust mites and certain foods contribute to this condition. Immune function is also an important factor, as evidenced by immunoglobulin E (IgE) and […]

Book review: “All manner of ingenuity and industry”: a bio-bibliography of Dr. Thomas Willis 1621–1675

August 24, 2021

Arpan K. Banerjee Solihull, United Kingdom Cover of “All manner of ingenuity and industry” by Alastair Compston. Thomas Willis, born four hundred years ago, is still known by students of neuroanatomy today for the eponymous Circle of Willis. Yet most doctors do not know the story of Willis, the seventeenth-century British physician and his […]

Medical school final exams: playing the odds

August 24, 2021

Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden Five men toast around a table. Unknown photographer. between circa 1890 and circa 1910. Nordic Museum NMA.0057916. Via Wikimedia I had finished eighteen months of clinical rotations at an American hospital and was back at my medical school in Belgium to take final exams. I checked in to a small […]