Tag: Age
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Old and alone
Riddhi NaikBambolim, India It was an ordinary day on the medicine ward. As a second-year medical student, my responsibility was to take patient histories, so I approached the bed assigned to me. There I interviewed a 75-year-old man with ischemic heart disease, and he was… Read more
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The sleep room at Chelmsford
Xavier NesbitTasmania, Australia In 1963 in Sydney, Australia, psychiatrist Harry Bailey admitted his first patient for deep sleep therapy at Chelmsford Private Hospital, a small establishment in the northern suburb of Pennant Hills.1 Over the next sixteen years, roughly 1,100 people passed through its sleep… Read more
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When medicine meets verb
Loshini RajentharanLiverpool, United Kingdom “Loshi suka melatah.” A friend said this to me when I was thirteen, pointing out my exaggerated response to being startled. This was not a formal consultation or diagnosis: we were schoolgirls in Malaysia, and melatah belonged to the ordinary vocabulary… Read more
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Hand hygiene, leadership, and knowing versus acting accordingly
Jamar ShawAtlanta, Georgia, United States “Do you really think we’re killing our patients because we’re not washing our hands?” A clinical leader responsible for preventing healthcare-associated infections asked this question during rounds. I remember the disbelief in her question because surely modern medicine had moved… Read more
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Cat zoonoses that infect humans
Domestic cats are usually harmless animals that can occasionally cause serious infections by bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses through bites, scratches, contact with their feces, or flies. Their narrow, sharp teeth can deposit pathogens deep into the tissues of those whom they have bitten, allowing… Read more
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Philippe Ricord: A pioneer in venereal disease treatment
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Philippe Ricord was born on December 10, 1800 in Baltimore, Maryland. His father had escaped from Marseille during the French Revolution in 1790, but returned to France in 1820. Ricord studied under Guillaume Dupuytren at Hôtel Dieu but fell out with him… Read more
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Dr. Placido Procesi, Giulio Evola, and paraplegia
Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Dr. Placido Procesi (1928–2005) was an Italian physician interested in oriental studies and esoteric philosophy.1 Born in Zagarolo, near Rome, he developed interests in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and homeopathy. He also became deeply involved in traditional Japanese archery, seeing it not… Read more
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Diagnosing sculptures: Two Greco-Roman case histories
Nicholas SummertonNadey HakimUnited Kingdom Retrospective diagnosis—the practice of identifying an illness after the death of an individual using modern medical knowledge, disease classifications, and methods—is extremely difficult. Although methodological guidance has been developed in relation to retrospective diagnosis1 and iconodiagnosis2 (the medical diagnosis of human… Read more
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Arabia Felix, Yemen in distress
Yemen borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, the Red Sea to the west, and the Gulf of Aden to the south. The Greek geographer Ptolemy called it “Happy Arabia,” and so did the Romans. In ancient times, it comprised several kingdoms:… Read more
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Eritrea: History, demographics, and healthcare
Eritrea is a small country in the Horn of Africa that stretches for more than 1,000 kilometers along the Red Sea, bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, and facing Yemen across the sea. It has a temperate mountain zone with an average temperature of 63°F… Read more
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Between science and spectacle: Dr. Luys, hypnotism, and the art of Georges Moreau de Tours
Vincent RodillaAlfara del Patriarca, Spain During the second half of the nineteenth century, hysteria became a major focus of neurological and psychiatric investigation. Physicians increasingly attempted to understand its sensory, motor, and emotional manifestations as disorders rooted in the nervous system rather than solely as… Read more
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From Epidaurus to the hospital ward
Elizabeth PrempehGermany Patients often arrive in our emergency room with vague somatic complaints—general weakness, body pain, even psychogenic non-epileptic seizures—yet every single lab and study comes back normal. I have come to understand how large a role stress plays, and how essential it is to… Read more