Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Ophthalmology in Regency

  • Bulimia nervosa: The invisible eating disorder

    Although people with bulimia often appear healthy and of normal weight, many endure a relentless cycle of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting, fasting, excessive exercise, or misuse of laxatives and diuretics. These behaviors are accompanied by emotional distress, distorted body image, and an intense… Read more

  • Christ as apothecary: A genre of allegorical German folk art

    Christopher DuffinLondon, England “By [the Lord’s works] the physician heals and takes away pain; the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.” (Sirach 38:7–8, NIV) When Martin Luther (1483–1546) completed his translation of the Bible into vernacular German in 1534, he used the word Arznei or “apothecary”… Read more

  • Anorexia nervosa: The disease of self-starvation

    Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric illness characterized by a persistent restriction of food intake, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of one’s body. Its roots extend far into the past. The disease is most common in adolescent girls and young women,… Read more

  • Eating pigs, cows, and horses

    The history of food is also the history of civilization. At some point, every society had to discover which animals it could tame, breed, and domesticate. Pigs, cows, and horses were the best candidates, not only for the meat they would provide but also for… Read more

  • Canine gerontology

    Simon WeinPetach Tikvah, Israel A lifelong friend is like a mirror. The friend reflects, comforts, takes, gives, and worries. Our dog, Matilda, is a lifelong friend. She is a twelve-year-old vizsla who is teaching her Mistress and Master how to grow old with grace. Vizslas… Read more

  • Paella, the universal rice dish

    Few dishes are as instantly recognizable as paella. With its golden rice, fragrant saffron, colorful vegetables, and a variety of meats or seafood, paella has become an international favorite. Enjoyed in countries around the world, it is served in elegant restaurants and roadside cafés alike,… Read more

  • Dobosh torte, a culinary masterpiece

    Few desserts have achieved the lasting acclaim accorded to the Dobosh torte (also known as Dobos torte). Behind its elegant appearance lies a story of culinary innovation, changing technology, and the flourishing café culture of nineteenth-century Budapest. Among those said to have admired it were… Read more

  • Goulash: A symbol of Hungary

    Known in Hungarian as gulyás, goulash is much more than a paprika-flavored stew. It is the product of over a thousand years of cultural evolution, reflecting the lives of medieval herdsmen, the influence of global exploration, the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, and the rise… Read more

  • The cucumber: A fruit disguised as a vegetable

    Botanically speaking, the cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is not a vegetable but a fruit—a berry-like fruit with a hard outer rind, the same category that includes melons, pumpkins, squash, and zucchini. Originating in South Asia, probably at the foothills of the Himalayas, wild cucumbers have accompanied… Read more

  • Determination of death

    G. Blake PierpointNorfolk, Virginia, United States The first time I watched someone be declared dead, his heart was still beating. Each contraction drew a steep red wave across the monitor. The ventilator delivered sixteen breaths a minute, raising his chest to the same height each… Read more

  • Goosebumps: When the body remembers

    Fadime PalaScottsdale, Arizona The “goosebumps reflex” is a fascinating living evidence of evolution, a mechanism inherited from millions of years when the ancestors  of humans  were far hairier than today’s  humans. Then, as today, they had at the base of every hair a tiny smooth… Read more

  • Psychosis and Western cultural history

    Colleen DonnellyDenver, Colorado, United States In her dictated autobiography, written in the latter part of the fourteenth century, Margery Kempe offers a first-person description of postpartum psychosis, experienced after the birth of one of her fourteen children. She attributed this period to her struggles with… Read more