Category: Asia
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The history of Indian medicine and its impact on modern practice
Kahan MehtaGotri, Vadodara, India India has a rich tradition of medicine that has evolved over the centuries. One such medical practice is Ayurveda, a system that has been used in India for over 3,000 years.1 Ayurveda has its roots in mythology, and the story of the Ashwini Kumars is a testament to the role of…
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Menstrual health in early Indian medical tradition
Benjamin DarkwaEdmonton, Canada Introduction As one of the oldest medical traditions, Ayurveda has existed for about two thousand years.1 Caraka and Susruta are the most famous medical compendiums of Ayurveda. These classical texts associate diseases with the imbalance of three dosas (humors): vata (wind), kapha (phlegm), and pitta (bile). The three dosa theory, illustrated in…
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The Great War and the other war
Maryline AlhajjBeirut, Lebanon The reverberations of October 29, 1914 would carry throughout the lands of the Ottoman Empire and serve as an ominous premonition of disastrous years to come. On that day, following a surprise attack on Russia’s Black Sea coast,1 the Empire entered World War I. It was the beginning of the end, as…
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Hope
Rima NasserBeirut, Lebanon “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. This is not an incendiary rant about the politicians and people whose greed and inhumaneness pushed Lebanon into an abyss of ignorance and dereliction. This also is not a tale averring the grandeur of this magical country…
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Disaster code
Nohad MasriBeirut, Lebanon It was six in the evening and we were finishing our hematology board virtual meeting. Because COVID-19 cases were again on the rise, the hospital staff was working at half capacity, with the other half at home. The chemotherapy unit patients had finished their treatments and the nurses were writing up their…
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Lebanon during the catastrophe
Najat FadlallahBeirut, LebanonJulian MaamariRochester, Minnesota, United StatesAbeer HaniBeirut, Lebanon After several chaotic cycles of resuscitation attempts, the twenty-something-year-old woman was pronounced dead. This was less than half an hour after a massive blast shook the heart of Beirut, Lebanon on the eve of August 4, 2020. “I immediately looked around, devastated that I was about…
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Lebanon: A thumbprint in medicine
Jonathan MinaBeirut, Lebanon Lebanon is a country that has long developed and exported physicians and other leaders in healthcare for the world. The contribution of Lebanese physicians to medicine include the discovery of diseases and treatments, the advancement of medical practice, and the invention of new techniques. Crigler-Najjar syndrome was discovered by a Lebanese pediatrician…
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Return to Lebanon
Elie NajjarNottingham, United Kingdom “Dear passengers, we will be arriving soon at Beirut International Airport.” We had indeed arrived in Lebanon, the land also called Leb-Uh-Nunh and other names before that. Mesopotamians called it Chaddum Elum or “the fields of God.”1 The Greeks called it Phoenicia, attributed to the Tyrian purple dye. Phoeiké also means…
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Abhay Sadhak (fearless seeker): Baba Amte
Utkarsh G. HingmireNagpur, India Murlidhar Devidas Amte, affectionately known as Baba Amte, was a lawyer who left his lucrative legal career to devote his life to the treatment of patients suffering from leprosy.1 If one was to describe his life in a few sentences it would be “I sought my soul, my soul I could…
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History of medicine in ancient India
Keerthana KallaSeattle, Washington, United States 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 4500 and 1600 BC. It is believed that sages were the early practitioners of Ayurveda around 2500…