Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: hypothyroidism

  • The secrecy behind JFK’s autoimmune disease

    Jude Tunyi Columbus, Ohio, United States   John F. Kennedy leaving on gurney from hospital following spinal surgery, as his wife Jacqueline stands over him. Dick DeMarsico, 1954. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Most Americans are familiar with the life and death of John F. Kennedy (JFK), but they may not know about…

  • The three knights of thyrotoxicosis

    Of the three physicians who described thyrotoxicosis, Karl Adolph von Basedow is the least known, especially in the English-speaking world. Born at Dessau in 1799, Basedow studied medicine at Halle University, worked as a physician in various cities of Germany, and in 1835 was appointed Director of the Clinic for Internal Medicine at the University…

  • Diagnosing Mona Lisa

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Mona Lisa looks as if she has just been sick, or is about to be.”– Noel Coward Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was a many-talented genius of the Italian Renaissance. He was a painter, anatomist, engineer, and inventor. One of his best known paintings, a portrait of a noblewoman, is called the Mona…

  • Mary Tudor (“Bloody Mary”) 1516–1558

    During her relatively short life, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon had a rough time. After her mother’s marriage was annulled, she was not allowed to see her and was declared illegitimate. Her father would have nothing to do with her and once even threatened to execute her if she did not…