Hektoen - Hektoen International

Is Mary Seacole the new mother of nursing?

February 13, 2020

Mariella Scerri Mellieha, Malta Sketch of Mary Seacole by Crimean war artist William Simpson (1823–1899), c. 1855. Source. The promotion of Jamaican businesswoman and “doctress” Mary Seacole as the pioneer nurse in place of Florence Nightingale was given considerable credence early in 2013, when Seacole was named a “pioneer of health care” by the UK Department […]

Political obfuscation and medical speculation

February 13, 2020

Charles G. Kels San Antonio, Texas, United States Grover Cleveland, 22nd (1885–1889) and 24th President (1893–1897) of the United States, with trademark mustache intact. He is the only US president to serve non-consecutive terms. National Archives, Washington, D.C., USA. Public domain. Politicians have long endeavored to keep their health concerns secret. In US presidential […]

America’s Arab refugees: vulnerability and health on the margins

February 11, 2020

Richard Zhang New Haven, Connecticut, United States Image used with permission of Marcia C. Inhorn. Arab refugees, like others throughout history, have grappled with issues of somatic and mental health, cultural belonging, and fertility. Timely and eye-opening, Marcia Inhorn’s America’s Arab Refugees is the first anthropological book to focus on the aforementioned refugees and […]

Karl Landsteiner and the discovery of blood groups

February 11, 2020

Safia Benaissa Mostganem, Algeria Karl Landsteiner (1868–1943), Austrian pathologist, hematologist and serologist; discoverer of the blood groups. Albert Hilscher. circa 1910. Accessed via Wikimedia Commons Karl Landsteiner was the Austrian scientist who recognized that humans had different blood groups and made it possible for physicians to transfuse blood safely. He entered medical school at […]

The gift of life—From whom?

February 10, 2020

George M. Pantalos Louisville, Kentucky, United States Students at the “Banned Blood” display outside the University of Louisville Red Barn, where a Red Cross blood drive was being held on campus in 2011. The students’ goal was to raise awareness about the FDA lifetime deferral from blood donation of all men who have sex […]

Bleeding science dry: The history of scientific racism and blood

February 10, 2020

Matthew Casas Kansas City, United States Help the Red Cross. U.S. Food Administration. Educational Division. Advertising Section. 1917 – 1919. National Archives Catalog, identifier 512661. One might be familiar with the expression “We All Bleed Red.” But what exactly does blood have to say about our “humanity”? Ripe with good intention, the aforementioned mantra […]

The history of the Red Cross / Red Crescent in blood

February 10, 2020

GAP Secretariat Perth, WA, Australia It has been almost one hundred years since the first Red Cross / Red Crescent (RC/RC) blood transfusion service was established by the British Red Cross in 1921. Today, more than 80% of all Red Cross / Crescent National Societies are operating a blood program as a core health […]

Blood type and personality

February 10, 2020

Nonoko Kamai Nagoya, Japan ICS code block for blood bag identification (sample). Photo by ICS International GmbH. 2013. Via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. Why do Japanese people believe in a relationship between blood type and personality? Beginning in the 1970s, the blood type personality hypothesis became fashionable in Japan and it is still popular […]

The paradox of blood donation

February 10, 2020

Beukou Steve Limbe, South-West Cameroon Team HERO Cameroon organizing 2nd annual blood drive 2019 (Source: NGO HERO CAMEROON) Team HERO Cameroon and voluntary blood donors during blood drive 2019 (Source: NGO HERO CAMEROON) Exchange visit at the National Blood Transfusion Service in Mauritius 2019 (Source: Association of Commonwealth University Summerschool 2019) “Please I urgently […]

Bloody segregation: The story of how Charles Richard Drew found life abundantly

February 10, 2020

Amy DeMatt Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States Charles R. Drew, “Father of the Blood Bank,” as depicted by Betsy Graves Reyneau. The portrait hangs at the National Portrait Gallery, and, as described by the Gallery, serves as a “visual rebuttal to racism.” Portrait of Charles R. Drew, painted by Betsy Graves Reyneau, 1950, National Portrait […]