Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: nerves

  • François Magendie

    JMS PearceHull, England François Magendie (1783–1855) (Fig 1) was a pioneering French physiologist, pharmacologist, and clinician who carried out a surprisingly wide variety of investigations. His best-remembered works are on the fourth ventricular foramen and the function of spinal nerves. He was born in Bordeaux, son of a surgeon, Antoine Magendie, and his wife, Marie…

  • The Neuron Doctrine: Santiago Ramón y Cajal and Camillo Golgi

    JMS PearceHull, England There can be few medical works of such importance as the study of the fine structure of the nerve cell that began in the last three decades of the nineteenth century. The two principal adventurers (Fig 1) in this field were the Italian Camillo Golgi (1843–1926) and the Spaniard Santiago Ramón y…

  • Comments on Dr. James Franklin’s article on George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War

    Stuart PotichaChicago, Illinois, United States In 1966 as a young surgeon who had just completed his residency, I was drafted into the United States Army. Following basic training at Fort Sam Houston, I was sent to Vietnam, where I became the Chief of Surgery of the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi. The 12th Evac…

  • Clausewitz’s death: Cholera and melancholy

    Nicolas Roberto RoblesBadajoz, Spain “Sollte mich ein früher Tod in dieser Arbeit unterbrechen”(“If an early death should terminate my work”)— Carl von Clausewitz, Vom Kriege Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz (1780–1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the psychological and political aspects of waging war. He is remembered chiefly for his work…

  • Pain management

    Andrew YimHamden, Connecticut Once a month, Ada tells me about her pain and then I write a script for oxycodone. When Ada tires of my Spanish or I of her English, we use a phone interpreter until the delays and pauses wear us down and we switch back to our pidgin Spanglish. Some days she…

  • Luigi Galvani: beginnings of electrophysiology

    JMS PearceEast Yorks, England Physicist or physician? Scientist or healer? Artificially, these are divisions that have classified doctors through the ages. Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) (Fig 1.) showed that it was possible to be an amalgam of both. The word “galvanize” derives not from physics but from Galvani, a medical doctor who studied electricity in animal…

  • The pains and pleasures of spicy food

    Danielle DalechekNorfolk, Virginia Do you enjoy the painful yet delightful sensation of spicy chili peppers making your mouth feel as if it were on fire? Are you a fan of eating dishes that make your eyes tear and your nose run? If so, it is probably because red pepper contains capsaicin, the substance that gives…