Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: forgetfulness

  • Sahara, the desert that once was green 

    The Sahara is the largest desert in the world, stretching across North Africa and covering nine million square kilometers from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.  It has a population of some 2.5 million people, many of whom are nomadic. Although the term “Sahara” conveys… Read more

  • Damascus, the oldest capital city in the world

    Damascus, capital of Syria, was settled as early as 9000 BCE. It stands on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, nourished by the Barada River. The city was never abandoned or swallowed by desert sands; it always served as a center for trade, culture,… Read more

  • Did Queen Anne have systemic lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome?

    Óscar Lamas FilgueiraValencia, Spain Queen Anne is remembered as the last Stuart sovereign and the queen under whom the kingdoms of England and Scotland were formally united in 1707. Her personal life was marked by profound physical suffering. Contemporary accounts described her as chronically ill,… Read more

  • Medical themes in the writing of Richard Graves

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Richard Graves (1715–1804) was an English cleric, poet, and novelist. He published a novel in 1773 titled The Spiritual Quixote; or, The Summer’s Ramble of Mr. Geoffry Wildgoose. In 1732, Graves finished his studies in Oxford and became a fellow at… Read more

  • Tobacco and hunger

    Nicolas RoblesArturo Benegasi Jose MarínBadajoz, Spain Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is a plant whose leaves contain high levels of nicotine, a highly addictive stimulant. Spaniards brought tobacco to Europe in the fifteenth century from the Antilles in the Caribbean, where it was smoked in traditional ceremonies… Read more

  • The toxin in the garden: The Wilms tumor miracle

    Prasad IyerSingapore The history of modern oncology almost always begins with a single name and clinical obsession: Sidney Farber and his war against “the white blood.” The 1947 aminopterin breakthrough at Boston Children’s Hospital is recounted with the reverence of a foundational story, the moment… Read more

  • Peter the Great and his reforms

    Peter the Great ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725 and is remembered for his reforms that modernized the Russian state. Born in 1672, he became tsar at a young age, though he initially ruled jointly with his half-brother Ivan V under the regency of his… Read more

  • Paul Janssen: Fentanyl innovator

    Alan Jay SchwartzPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Fentanyl is a remarkably potent opioid analgesic, but unfortunately is easily abused. It was invented by Paul Janssen (1926–2003) a Belgian entrepreneurial physician and founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica.1,2 Paul was the son of Constant Janssen (1895–1970), whose entrepreneurial mission… Read more

  • How reliving adolescence made me a better psychiatrist

    Marta AbrantesLisbon, Portugal My own adolescence still dwells within me, a submerged tide that mostly ripples calmly, but at other times unleashes heavy storms. I remember what I lived through, or swear “never again” with a lingering shame, yet I cannot deny the marks that… Read more

  • The Count of Monte Cristo: Medical

    Alexandre Dumas père was inspired to write The Count of Monte Cristo by the experiences of his father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, son of a minor French nobleman and an enslaved Caribbean woman. Thomas-Alexandre was the first black general in the French army and accompanied Napoleon on… Read more

  • The walking stick as a social marker in society

    Mitchell BataviaNew York, New York, United States The walking stick, also referred to as a staff, crosier, shepherd’s crook, gadget cane, and cane, has fulfilled many roles over the centuries as a symbol for power,1-3 authority,2 weaponry,1,4 social status,1,4 faith,1,5 magic,1 smuggling,1 fashion,5 and physical support.6 Regardless of… Read more

  • Colonial psychiatry and the pathologizing of the African mind in Kenya

    Wanjiku DyerLos Angeles, California, United States In 1910, on the outskirts of Nairobi, the British colonial government converted a smallpox isolation center into what it called the Nairobi Lunatic Asylum.¹ By 1924, the facility had been renamed Mathari Mental Hospital. For the next four decades,… Read more