Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: thyroid

  • The silence of Dona Zefa

    Guilherme CoelhoSão Paulo, Brazil Josefa Maria do Carmo—Dona Zefa to everyone—was the kind of woman you knew before you met her. The whole favela spoke of her like a patron saint: with respect, affection, and a reasonable fear of not wanting to disappoint her. Seventy-two years old, the widow of Seu Agenor, she was mother…

  • 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…

  • Denis Parsons Burkitt

    JMS PearceHull, England Aphorisms from wise medical men and women have fallen out of fashion. Because each line is to a degree debatable, one of my favorites is: Attitudes are more important than abilities.Motives are more important than methods.Character is more important than cleverness.Perseverance is more important than power.And the heart takes precedence over the…