Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: flimflammers

  • The antimonial cup

    Christopher DuffinLondon, England Antimony (Sb) occurs most commonly in the form of the antimony trisulfide mineral stibnite and has enjoyed a long history of medical use.1 In the fourth century BCE, Hippocrates used it as a sudorific (sweat inducer) and cordial (strengthener) in cases of… Read more

  • Distant echoes of Neanderthal health

    George ChristopherMichigan, United States Genetic sequencing, analysis of skeletal remains, and archeological studies of habitats may elucidate health challenges faced by the Neanderthals, their biological and cultural adaptations, and how their health impacts us today. Origin, anatomy, and culture The ancestral lineages of Neanderthals (Homo… Read more

  • A painted pharmacy preserved in time: Saint John’s Hospital through van Bree’s eyes

    Vicent Rodilla Joanne CahillSpain During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, European pharmacy stood at a crossroads between traditional apothecary practice and the emerging scientific foundations of modern pharmaceutical science. Medicines were still prepared largely by hand from plants, minerals, and animal-derived substances, even… Read more

  • Fossilized fish teeth as historical medicines

    Christopher DuffinLondon, United Kingdom Herbal and zoological materials have a rich and intensely studied history as medicinal simples dating from classical times. However geological materials, especially fossils, have received little attention in the literature. Although relatively minor components of the apothecary’s arsenal against disease, they… Read more

  • The internalized verdict: Kafka, singlism, and the social architecture of shame

    Scarlett SaittaJonesboro, Arkansas, United States Franz Kafka firmly believed that much of his writing was unworthy, and asked that it be burned after his death. He did not describe this conviction as spontaneous or mysterious. In writing about his father, Kafka traced it to growing… Read more

  • The manifestations of psychological trauma in Virgil’s Aeneid

    Adnan YaqubChelmsford, United Kingdom In the epic poem the Aeneid, Virgil details the journey of the Trojan hero Aeneas to Italy. Beyond descriptions of battlefield violence, the poem explores the emotional suffering of the warriors and of their families, friends, allies, and enemies. Modern psychology… Read more

  • The choreography of madness

    D.P. CurtinNewark, Delaware, United States In the summer of 1518, an otherwise unremarkable peasant woman stepped into the muddy streets of the Imperial city Strasbourg and began to dance. There was no music, no celebration taking place. At first, she danced alone, going on for… Read more

  • The rise and fall of the peptic ulcer

    Physicians have described and treated patients suffering from epigastric pain and gastrointestinal bleeding since time immemorial. In 1793, Matthew Baillie published one of the earliest illustrations of stomach ulcers in The Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body. In… Read more

  • Jam and marmalade

    The practice of preserving fruit with sugar dates to ancient civilizations. What began with honey later evolved into cane sugar, which became a common way to extend the shelf life of harvested fruit. Marmalade is made mainly from oranges, especially bitter Seville oranges, though lemons,… Read more

  • Visceroptosis and other quaint medical theories

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Frantz Glénard (1848–1920) was a French physician whose work on visceroptosis (a prolapse or sinking of the abdominal viscera below their natural position) in 1885 was once considered of fundamental importance to our knowledge of abnormal anatomical states of the abdominal… Read more

  • Tech neck and the loss of community

    Elizabeth PrempehGermany As a clinician, I see the physical toll of our digital age long before patients realize why they are suffering. More and more cases of “tech neck syndrome” surface in daily practice—patients presenting with chronic neck, shoulder, or hand pain. Often, they report… Read more

  • Bulimia nervosa: The invisible eating disorder

    Although people with bulimia often appear healthy and of normal weight, many endure a relentless cycle of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting, fasting, excessive exercise, or misuse of laxatives and diuretics. These behaviors are accompanied by emotional distress, distorted body image, and an intense… Read more