Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Human Immunodeficiency Virus

  • Tattoos in the twentieth century

    Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden   “It was in 1972 and you didn’t really go around showing tattoos or talking about them… And now all of a sudden it has become the thing to do.”1 – Cher, American singer, actor   Sailor being tattooed by a fellow sailor aboard USS New Jersey in 1944. Photo by…

  • The wonderful world of vaccines

    Jayant Radhakrishnan Chicago, Illinois, United States   A patient with his whole body covered with smallpox lesions. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, photo by Barbara Rice. Epidemics and pandemics became an issue about 10,000 years ago when hunters and gatherers became farmers and began to live in communities. Smallpox was one of the first…

  • Alternatives to blood transfusion

    Geraldine Miller Liverpool, England   Wiliam Harvey demonstrating the circulation of the blood. iStock. In 1616 William Harvey first discovered how blood circulates around the body. This discovery stimulated research into transfusing blood from one person to another. Early attempts to replace blood began with liquids such as milk, both animal and human, urine, and…