Author: Hektoen International
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Stem cells and their promise in treating disease
Ashok SinghChicago, Illinois, United States Stem cells represent a fascinating and promising frontier in modern medicine. As they multiply, stem cells are unique in their ability to differentiate themselves into cells with different properties. This ability is observable in the development of a complete body from a single, unique fertilized cell. After fertilization and multiplication…
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Book review: Roman Emperors and Their Illnesses
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, UK Books about illness in political figures are not a new phenomenon. Lord Moran, Winston Churchill’s personal physician, wrote an important work based on his experience. David Owen, a physician and distinguished Foreign Secretary in the British Labour Government under Prime Minister James Callaghan, in 2008 wrote In Sickness and Power, an…
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Snake bite in Panama
Enrique Chaves-CarballoKansas City, Kansas, United States Rikki-tikki had a right to be proud of himself. But he did not grow too proud, and he kept that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls.—Rudyard Kipling, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” The…
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The seed and the stone: Loss in a Harare GYN clinic
Rachel ChitofuHarare, Zimbabwe In the Harare gynecology clinic, the air is thick with antiseptic and held breath. For four women today, the womb is less a sanctuary and more a ledger of what has been lost or never allowed to begin. For the first woman with late-stage HPV, a cervix surrendered to malignancy. She did…
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Side-by-side
Nicholas ChongBoston, Massachusetts, United States “I will hurt you if you touch my legs.” My hand stopped midair, hovering inches from his shin. The patient lay rigid in bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling, his voice edged with pain and warning. For a moment, I was unsure whether he was speaking out of anger or…
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The kingdom of Bhutan: Culture and health
Situated high up in the Himalayas between India and China, the Kingdom of Bhutan has a population of some 780,000 people. It is notable for its traditional, rich culture and a constitution that mandates that at least 60% of its land must always remain forested. The Bhutanese people are predominantly of Tibetan and Nepali descent.…
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The troubled mind of Emperor Rudolf II (1552–1612)
When Rudolf II became Holy Roman Emperor in 1576, he gradually shifted the imperial court from Vienna to Prague, transforming the latter into a center of Renaissance culture. He attracted to his court some of the greatest intellects of his time, supporting literature, painting, alchemy, astrology, natural philosophy, and medicine. He collected scientific instruments, exotic…
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Etruscan medicine
The Etruscans were ancient people whose origins are still uncertain. Herodotus believed they had emigrated to Italy from Lydia in Asia Minor, but Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writing in the Augustan era, argued that they were indigenous to Italy, a view supported by modern genetic and archaeological research. This is not to deny the importance of…
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The Welsh fasting girl
In 1869, a twelve-year-old Welsh girl named Sarah Jacob became famous for claiming she had eaten nothing for two years. Crowds came to visit her at her family farm, and many made donations. She lay in a decorated bed wearing a crown of flowers, serene and apparently healthy—the “Welsh Fasting Girl.” There had been several…
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Couvade syndrome: Expectant fathers and pregnancy symptoms
When prospective fathers develop the same symptoms as their pregnant wives, they are said to suffer from couvade syndrome, or sympathetic pregnancy. Named after the French word couver, meaning to brood or hatch, it was described in 1865 by the British anthropologist Edward Tylor and consists of the prospective father developing physical and psychological symptoms—nausea,…