Tag: Winter 2026
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A Polish tragedy and a case without a diagnosis
On the morning of September 1, 1939, German troops attacked Poland without a declaration of war. Two weeks later, on September 17, while Poland was defending itself in the west, the Soviet Union attacked from the east. This two-pronged attack was too much for Poland to handle. On October 6, 1939, its last troops surrendered.…
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Nicolaas Fontanus, eminent Dutch physician
Annabelle SlingerlandLeiden, Netherlands In the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic, freedom of thought and inquiry thrived in the seventeenth century. The University of Leyden, founded in 1575, embraced medicine and botany, and nurtured literature, poetry, and theatre. It was against this cultural backdrop that Nicolaas Fontanus (Fonteyn) worked as a physician, playwright, and poet.…
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Chlorosis, the green anemia of young women
Chlorosis was one of the most common diseases affecting adolescent girls and young women in Europe and North America during the 17th to 19th centuries. Its main features were a pale or greenish appearance, fatigue and weakness, shortness of breath, palpitations, loss of appetite, and amenorrhea or irregular menstruation. Fanny Price in Mansfield Park, Madame…
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Martinus van Marum, physician, scientist, and inventor
Annabelle SlingerlandLeiden, Netherlands Martinus van Marum, who was born in 1750 during the era of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, went on to enjoy a remarkable career in science. His father, Petrus van Marum, was a graduate engineer from Groningen who had started a pottery-factory in Delft, married Cornelia van Oudheusden, and had…
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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…
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Princes of Physicians: Avicenna and Maimonides
James MarcumWaco, Texas, United States Islamic and Jewish scholars, such as Al-Kindi (801–873 CE), Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari (c. 838 – c. 870 CE), Al-Razi (865–925 CE), Al-Ghazali (1058–1111 CE), and Ibn-Rushd or Averroes (1126–1198 CE), among others, had a major impact on western Medieval medicine.1 Two of the most prominent scholars, however, are…
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“Medical Mannerism” (1520–1580)
Mannerism in art is characterized by the work of innovators who tried new approaches to their discipline—such as Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino, Parmigianino, El Greco, Spranger and Goltzius. Physicians, by contrast, remained rooted in the ancient humoral theory of Hippocrates and Galen, continuing to understand health as a balance between the four bodily humors, making diagnoses…
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Tibet: History and medicine
Situated 14,000 feet above sea level, the vast Tibetan plateau has been inhabited by humans for at least 21,000 years. Adapted to extreme altitude and cold, early nomadic pastoralists hunted, herded, traded, and developed routes linking Tibet with other parts of the world. Their early religion was animistic. Mountains, rivers, and sky phenomena were regarded…
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I, Baldwin: Leper king of Jerusalem
Óscar Lamas FilgueiraValencia, Spain Baldwin IV (1161–1185), known as “the Leper King”, was king of Jerusalem during the late twelfth century. Despite developing leprosy in childhood, he ruled during a period of intense military and political instability and personally led his forces to a decisive victory against Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177.…
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Robin Williams: Death from Lewy body dementia
Mary Ellen KellyDublin, Ireland When the death of Robin Williams was announced on August 12, 2014, the world shed a tear. The passing of the acclaimed and adored actor came as a shock to many, the announcement by the Marin County sheriff’s office having specified that the cause of death was suicide and that Mr.…