Edward Leicester Atkinson (1881-1929): Antarctic explorer, scientist and naval surgeon
Edward Leicester Atkinson qualified at St Thomas's Hospital in 1906 and joined the Navy in 1908. He was a doctor and parasitologist on Captain Scott's Terra Nova expedition to the Antarctic and had to take charge of the expedition when Scott died on his return from the South Pole. After the expedition he went to China and discovered the cause of schistosomiasis, returning at the start of the First World War in which he served with distinction, winning a DSO and Albert Medal but also being severely injured. After the war he served in various naval posts and became the youngest Surgeon Captain in the Navy before being retire...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Guly, H. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Edward Flatau (1868-1932), Samual Goldflam (1852-1932) and Jozef Babinski (1857-1932): Polish pioneers in neurology
Flatau, Goldflam and Babinski originated from the Russian area of partitioned Poland in the 19th century and knew each other. Each contributed significantly to neurology at a time of adversity in Polish academic life because of the political situation. This paper in the main is centred on Flatau and Goldflam; Babinski, the most recognised of the three, is included for comparison. They all died in 1932, when Poland had been an independent sovereignty since the end of the First World War in 1918. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Gutowski, J. M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Virchows triad: Kussmaul, Quincke and von Recklinghausen
For most of the 19th century, Germany was the centre of the medical world. From there the most innovating research came and many of the physicians of that era are known to nearly every medical student and physician of today. Virchow, Kussmaul, Quincke, von Recklinghausen, Müller and Schönlein are familiar names in today’s medicine but insofar as they are merely eponyms associated with signs, symptoms, disease and anatomy. The story of their lives, their research and their influence on each other has been little examined. This is an essay about Virchow’s relationship with his mentors Müll...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Stanifer, J. W. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Vallejo-Nagera (1926-1990) and the concept of 'soteric neurosis: a forgotten sketch of hoarding disorder in the obsessive-compulsive spectrum literature
Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nágera, psychiatrist, painter and writer, wrote a widely adopted textbook of psychiatry in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries, particularly during the 1970s, the famous Introducción a la psiquiatría. There, he advanced the concept of soteric neurosis, a condition regarded as a ‘mirror image’ of phobias and similar to the diagnostic entity described in DSM-5 under the heading of hoarding disorder. Indeed, much earlier than the recent nosological discussions on hoarding, Vallejo-Nágera already reported soteric neurosis to be distinct from obsessive-compulsi...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Fontenelle, L. F. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
The letters of Alix Joffroy (1844-1908), a medical intern at Lariboisieres Hospital at the time of the Commune of Paris
Since opening in 1848, Lariboisière’s Hospital was strongly associated with the history of Paris and especially with the terrible days of the siege of Paris and the fights of the Commune. On the day after the surrender, Alix Joffroy wrote his first letter to his mother. He described the events as he experienced them, expressing his feelings about the causes of this political and military disaster and his experience there as an intern. Some weeks after the defeat of France by the Prussians, humbled Parisians attacked governmental troops. From March to May 1871 an improvised insurrectionary movement, The Commune...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Tiberghien, D. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Karl Friedrich Meyer (1884-1974): His ambitions, approach and achievements
Karl Meyer was one of the outstanding scientists in the areas of medical and veterinary microbiology, infectious diseases, pathology, epidemiology, ecology, academic education and public health during the first half of the 20th century. He was an exceptional scientist with an enormous drive to deepen knowledge and understanding, in the interest of the people, to improve diagnosis and treatment of many zoonoses including prevention and improvement in health laws. This paper presents a survey of the extraordinarily wide-ranging achievements of Meyer and his systems approach. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Gessner, U. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Mansur ibn Ilyas (1380-1422 AD): A Persian anatomist and his book of anatomy, Tashrih-i Mansuri
A Persian scholar, Mansur ibn Elyas, a late 14th century anatomist and physician from Shiraz, published his illustrated book on anatomy. Mansur’s anatomy (Tashrih-i Badan-i Insan) was written following the Mansur’s medical synopsis, Kefaye Mojahedieh. The book of Mansur is believed to be the first anatomical illustrated manuscript containing two-dimensional pictures of the human body. This 14th-century treatise is composed in Persian and is organized into five articles on the skeleton, nerves, muscles, veins and arteries, each illustrated with a full page diagram and with a final chapter including an image of a...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Zarshenas, M. M., Zargaran, A., Mehdizadeh, A., Mohagheghzadeh, A. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
The fate of Rose Anna Shedlock (c1850-1878) and the early career of Emile Roux (1853-1933)
The 1878 marriage of Rose Anna Shedlock and Émile Roux was a closely guarded secret. Shedlock studied medicine at Edinburgh with Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912) and her fellow students but is not mentioned by name in the usual accounts of their battle for recognition by the University. Subsequently Shedlock attended the Paris medical school where she probably met Emile Roux who was attached to the military medical school of the Val-de-Grâce before his dismissal in 1876. Documentation of this episode and of Roux’s life over the next two years is fragmentary and inaccurate. Sadly, Shedlock died, probabl...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: McIntyre, N. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
President Franklin D Roosevelt (1882-1945) and Doctor Frank Howard Laheys (1880-1953) dilemma: The complexities of medical confidentiality with World Leaders
In the months before the Presidential Election of November 1944, there were serious concerns about the health of President Franklin D Roosevelt. He had lost considerable weight and his once robust appearance had given way to a tired and haggard look. Despite these worrisome observations, Vice-Admiral Ross T McIntire, who served as Franklin Roosevelt’s personal physician from 1933 until Roosevelt’s death, lied when he proclaimed Roosevelt to be in ‘excellent condition for a man of his age’. The truth about Roosevelt’s health was further obscured when Roosevelt’s medical records disappeare...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Steinberg, D. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
The physician, the Emperor and the fibromyalgia: Charles-Edouard Brown-Sequard (1817-1894) and Dom Pedro II (1825-1891) of Brazil
The physician Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard was a neurologist of considerable importance. In 1846 his thesis ‘Researches and Experiments on the Physiology of the Spinal Cord’ brought out knowledge about the sensory pathways which remains until today. The Emperor, Dom Pedro II was the second and last Emperor of Brazil, reigning for 49 years and remembered for defending the nation’s integrity, the end of slavery, support for education and culture, diplomacy and relations with international personalities. He married Dona Teresa Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1822–1889) by proxy in 1843...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Kurizky, P. S., Oliveira, A. C. V., da Mota, L. M. H., Diniz, L. R., Neto, L. L. d. S. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
John Hunters (1728-1793) account of venereal diseases
John Hunter's work included description of the nature of digestion, child development, role of the lymphatic system and proof that the maternal and foetal blood supplies are separate. His contribution to the understanding of venereal diseases is reviewed. Hunter’s argument of the unitary nature of venereal diseases is examined and the progress he made in diagnosis and management is discussed. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Abdulrahman, G. O. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Jane Cooke Wright (1919-2013): Pioneering oncologist, woman and humanitarian
Jane Wright was a fundamental researcher in cancer chemotherapy in the 1950s–1980s and was one of the first scientists to test anti-cancer drugs on humans rather than solely on mice, discovering the use of the popular antimetabolite drug methotrexate on solid tumours. From her research she was able to conclude which specific anti-cancer agents would have the greatest lethal effect on a patient’s certain cancer type and she invented a method of delivering chemotherapy agents directly to an internal cancer site. During a time when the Civil Rights in the United States of America were undergoing a transformation t...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Crosby, H. L. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Ibn al-Quff (1233-1286 AD), a medieval Arab surgeon and physician
Abū'l-Faraj ibn Ya’qūb ibn Ishāq Ibn al-Quff al-Karakī (1233–1286 AD), best known as Ibn al-Quff in the West, was a 13th century Arab physician-surgeon. During his lifetime, Ibn al-Quff made some important contributions to the art of healing. He authored several books and commentaries in the field of medicine, in particular surgery. This paper aims to review Ibn al-Quff’s life, career, and contributions to medical science. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Dalfardi, B., Yarmohammadi, H. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Nathaniel Hodges (1629-1688): Plague doctor
Nathaniel Hodges was the son of Thomas Hodges (1605–1672), an influential Anglican preacher and reformer with strong connections in the political life of Carolingian London. Educated at Westminster School, Trinity College Cambridge and Christ Church College, Oxford, Nathaniel established himself as a physician in Walbrook Ward in the City of London. Prominent as one of a handful of medical men who remained in London during the time of the Great Plague of 1665, he wrote the definitive work on the outbreak. His daily precautions against contracting the disease included fortifying himself with Théodore de Mayerne...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Duffin, C. J. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Moises Broggi i Valles (1908-2012): Military surgeon and Catalan humanitarian
Catalan surgeon Moisès Broggi entered medical practice in 1931 as Spain was modernizing rapidly. Five years later, however, an attempted military coup sparked a nationwide civil war. Broggi offered his services to the embattled Republic and joined the Medical Service of the International Brigades. He served alongside colleagues from many countries, helping to develop advances in military medicine and especially trauma surgery. Broggi chose to remain working in Barcelona as Franco’s Nationalist forces entered the city, in spite of the risk of reprisal he faced as a former officer of the International Brigades. ...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Derby, M., Jorge, D. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
