Posted by in Individuals (Photo Credit: “The Man Who Cut Out His Own Appendix.”) In 1961 a group of 12 Russian men were sent on an expedition to Antarctica. Their mission was to build a new base there (Lentati). One of the men on their team was a 27 year old named Leonid Rogozov. He had begun feeling nauseous…Read more »
Posted by in Individuals According to the science journalist, Robert Alder, blood circulation is a trivial concept in the modern world (Pickover 90). Adults and children alike all understand that blood is pumped throughout the body by the heart in order to supply the tissues with oxygen. Some would be shocked to discover that up until the 17th century,…Read more »
Posted by in Individuals, Quackery (Photo Credit: The Drug Book) Nineteenth century surgeons managed to defeat a major challenger to their practice: pain. The development of anesthesia made it possible for doctors to travel deeper into the human body and take larger risks with invasive surgeries. More complex surgeries meant a higher chance of developing an infection, and unfortunately, that was…Read more »
Posted by in Individuals (Photo Credit: Medicine: The Definitive Illustrative History) Gunshot wounds are destructive menaces that tear through flesh and splinter bone. Bullets can drag clothing fragments, skin, and shrapnel deep into the injury and the victim can die from sever hemorrhaging, shock, and infection. It was 1537 and the twenty seven year old Frenchman, Ambroise Paré, had been…Read more »
Posted by in Individuals (Photo Credit: Medicine: The Definitive Illustrated History) You do not have to be an expert in human anatomy in order to understand why an accurate knowledge of it is extraordinarily beneficial. For instance, I would not let a surgeon perform an operation on me if their only mastery of the human body came from their experiments…Read more »
Posted by in Individuals, Quackery A Grim State of Affairs: The year was 1846 and Vienna General Hospital had a complicated situation on their hands. The obstetrics ward was split in half, with one side being run by midwives, and the other by practicing physicians. A strange pattern began to develop; new mothers were dying left and right. Stranger still…Read more »
Antiquated Antidotes 