Tag: Spring 2023
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A cesarean section in Uganda in 1879
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “A strange story indeed, almost too good to be true.”1 Until the end of the nineteenth century, a cesarean section to deliver an infant was considered to be an operation with much risk and little success. In England, some physicians “doubted if a cesarean section was ever justified.”2 The first successful cesarean…
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Matthew Baillie (1761–1823), anatomist and physician
Born in Scotland in 1761, Matthew Baillie was taught to read and write at the age of five. He studied Greek and Latin at the local school, at Glasgow University (1774), and at Balliol College in Oxford (1778). In 1780, he began to work in London with his famous uncles William and John Hunter, preparing…
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The secrecy behind JFK’s autoimmune disease
Jude TunyiColumbus, Ohio, United States Most Americans are familiar with the life and death of John F. Kennedy (JFK), but they may not know about his celiac disease and autoimmune polyglandular syndrome (APS) type 2. Neither condition has been proven by autoantibody tests, but from examining available medical records, several authorities now believe he dealt with…
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Tales of a sickler
Phebe SalamiGwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria This piece is a work of fiction inspired by real-life stories of sickle cell disease. There are a thousand and one ways to tell a story. I guess this is just another one of those ways, my own way of telling this story… I wished I was like all the other…
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The myth of knowledge
Chloe LeeSingapore Legend has it that aeons ago on the Island of Colchis hung a magical Golden Fleece that could heal any disease. Modern medicine has proposed a new explanation for this incredible tale: Colchicum autumnale, a flowering plant now used to produce colchicine. Since Grecian antiquity, its therapeutic properties have been widely acknowledged, and…
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The birth of Oliver Twist
From the book by Charles Dickens, chapter one: “Although I am not disposed to maintain that being born in a workhouse, is in itself the most fortunate and enviable circumstance that can possibly befall a human being, I do mean to say that in this particular instance, it was the best thing for Oliver Twist…
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Synesthesia, empathy, and the “art” of medicine
Maeve PascoeCleveland, Ohio, United States “Do my name next!” people would exclaim as I tried to explain that I am not “doing” anything, I merely perceive things differently. Not many medical conditions double as parlor tricks, but the benign condition of synesthesia is unique in its ability to astonish. For much of my childhood, I…
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Depression in Little Miss Sunshine
Emily AtashkariDublin, Ireland The 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine1 follows the dysfunctional Hoover family as they journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Redondo Beach, California, in their old Volkswagen van to bring seven-year-old Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. One member of the Hoover family is Frank, who has recently attempted suicide. Frank…
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Thomas Curling (1811–1888)
George DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States The appointment of young Thomas Blizard Curling as assistant surgeon at the London Hospital through the influence and recommendation of his uncle, Sir William Blizard, raised eyebrows and caused at least some resentment, for he was barely twenty-one years old and did not yet even have an MD degree. Yet…
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Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones: Feeding fevers
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States For years, physicians and pundits have deliberated the merits of starving or feeding a fever. Even the novel Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (published in 1749) presents a lengthy discourse on the recommended treatment of fever in regard to nutrition.1 As the heroic foundling Jones languishes in bed from a…