Tag: 20th century
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Recognition at last
Jayant RadhakrishnanDarien, Illinois, United States “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” — William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream The adage “out of sight, out of mind” appears to have been coined for microbes. We only think about them when they cause havoc, as in the current pandemic. Lately the situation seems to be…
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Guaiac and “the old Guaiacum test”
James L. FranklinChicago, Illinois, United States “The old Guaiacum test was very clumsy and uncertain.”— A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887 So declares Mr. Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel A Study in Scarlet, first published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual 1887, and then as a book in July 1888 published by Ward,…
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When the FBI investigated William Carlos Williams
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “And my ‘medicine’ was the thing that gained me entrance to…[the] secret garden of the self…I was permitted by my medical badge to follow the poor, defeated body onto those gulfs and grottos[sic].”1— William Carlos Williams, M.D. William Carlos Williams (1883 – 1963), poet and physician, was born in Rutherford, New Jersey,…
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The illness of King George III
JMS PearceHull, England, United Kingdom The Hanoverian King George III (1738–1820) was a diligent man of wit and intelligence, a man who enhanced the reputation of the British monarchy until he was finally stricken by illness. When this drove him from regal duties, politicians realized they missed his calming effect on their squabbles.1 In many…
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The Warsaw ghetto hunger study
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “The organism which is destroyed by prolonged hunger is like a candle which burns out: life disappears gradually without a shock to the naked eye.”– Emil Apfelbaum, M.D., prisoner in the Warsaw Ghetto Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. One year later, the 450,000 Jews of Warsaw were confined to a…
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August Von Platen, inspiration for Death in Venice
Nicolas Roberto RoblesBandajoz, Spain Weil da, wo Schönheit waltet, Liebe waltet Because where beauty reigns, love reigns – Sonette aus Venedig. August von Platen was a German poet whose death inspired Thomas Mann to write Death in Venice. Descended from an impoverished noble family, he attended the Cadet School at Munich from ages ten to…
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Article 99: Saving money versus saving lives
Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter transporting wounded during “Operation Urgent Fury”, the U.S. invasion of Grenada in October 1983. photographer: TSgt. M. J. Creen, USMC. Via Wikimedia. Public domain. “There are some patients we cannot help; there are none who we cannot harm.” —Arthur Bloomfield, M.D. Article 99 is…
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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…