December, 2021 - Hektoen International

R. Austin Freeman and the Victorian forensic thriller

December 9, 2021

Anthony Papagiannis Thessaloniki, Greece Richard Austin Freeman, c. 1935. W.L. Briant. Via Encyclopædia Britannica. Many people today are acquainted with well-known books and television series of forensic crime fiction. The modern detective fiction writer is expected to provide detailed descriptions of autopsies, current technology, pharmacology, and toxicology. Yet, even in this relatively new version […]

The secret medical school in the Warsaw Ghetto

December 9, 2021

Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden Poland, Warsaw Ghetto. Passers-by next to a Jewish child in rags lying on the sidewalk (sleeping, sick or dying?). 1941. German Federal Archives. Via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0 DE. In September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The invaders quickly started to repress the Jews of Poland and confiscate their property […]

Remembrance of things past

December 9, 2021

JMS Pearce Hull, England, United Kingdom Photo by Anita Jankovic on Unsplash In these troubled times imposed by Covid-19, much attention has been paid to depression, stress, and complaints of enforced isolation and of longing for the old days—the “normal times.” In this and in other contexts, nostalgia is regarded as a normal sentiment […]

Hypochondria

December 9, 2021

JMS Pearce Hull, England, United Kingdom Figure 1: Cover of Hypochondriasis. A practical treatise by John Hill. Source. In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold; Alike fantastic, if too new, or old: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside. — […]

William Osler

December 8, 2021

Sir William Osler circa 1912. Unknown photographer. Via Wikimedia. CC BY 4.0. It is good to review periodically the lives of famous men lest they be forgotten by new generations. In medicine few people have been the subject of more books, articles, and reviews then Sir William Osler. He has been called the father of […]

Discrimination: From Blues to Amazing Grace to sleeves

December 2, 2021

Lauren E. Hill Walnut Cove, North Carolina, United States Jack E. Riggs Morgantown, West Virginia, United States Combat support hospital sailors wearing sleeves down (Army way). Three-star admiral (far right) wearing sleeves up (Navy way). Author (far left), hospital commanding officer. In a “sleeves down” world, life may be easier blending in. “Collective fear […]

As my mother lay dying

December 2, 2021

Peter Meyers Washington, D.C., United States Rosalie Smiles in Her Fancy New Hat. Photo by Judy Baxter. 2006. Via Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 My mother was sitting up in bed when I walked into her hospital room. When I asked her how she was doing, she grinned and responded, “Super!” Her doctor, standing nearby, […]

Who is “Dr. Filth”?

December 2, 2021

Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden Child survivors of Auschwitz, wearing adult-size prisoner jackets, stand behind a barbed wire fence. The group includes a few twins. Still from the Soviet Film of the liberation of Auschwitz by the film unit of the First Ukrainian Front-Alexander Voronzow. 1945. Via Wikimedia. Public Domain. Bob Dylan’s song “Desolation Row” […]