Medical uses of Carthamus tinctorius L. (Safflower): a comprehensive review from Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine.

PubMed

Delshad, Elahe; Yousefi, Mahdi; Sasannezhad, Payam; Rakhshandeh, Hasan; Ayati, Zahra

2018-04-01

Carthamus tinctorius L. , known as Kafesheh (Persian) and safflower (English) is vastly utilized in Traditional Medicine for various medical conditions, namely dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain and mass, trauma and pain of joints. It is largely used for flavoring and coloring purposes among the local population. Recent reviews have addressed the uses of the plant in various ethnomedical systems. This review was an update to provide a summary on the botanical features, uses in Iranian folklore and modern medical applications of safflower. A main database containing important early published texts written in Persian, together with electronic papers was established on ethnopharmacology and modern pharmacology of C. tinctorius. Literature review was performed on the years from 1937 to 2016 in Web of Science, PubMed, Scientific Information Database, Google Scholar, and Scopus for the terms "Kafesheh", "safflower", "Carthamus tinctorius", and so forth. Safflower is an indispensable element of Iranian folklore medicine, with a variety of applications due to laxative effects. Also, it was recommended as treatment for rheumatism and paralysis, vitiligo and black spots, psoriasis, mouth ulcers, phlegm humor, poisoning, numb limbs, melancholy humor, and the like. According to the modern pharmacological and clinical examinations, safflower provides promising opportunities for the amelioration of myocardial ischemia, coagulation, thrombosis, inflammation, toxicity, cancer, and so forth. However, there have been some reports on its undesirable effects on male and female fertility. Most of these beneficial therapeutic effects were correlated to hydroxysafflor yellow A. More attention should be drawn to the lack of a thorough phytochemical investigation. The potential implications of safflower based on Persian traditional medicine, such as the treatment of rheumatism and paralysis, vitiligo and black spots, psoriasis, mouth ulcers, phlegm humor, poisoning, numb

Medical uses of Carthamus tinctorius L. (Safflower): a comprehensive review from Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine

PubMed Central

Delshad, Elahe; Yousefi, Mahdi; Sasannezhad, Payam; Rakhshandeh, Hasan

2018-01-01

Background Carthamus tinctorius L., known as Kafesheh (Persian) and safflower (English) is vastly utilized in Traditional Medicine for various medical conditions, namely dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain and mass, trauma and pain of joints. It is largely used for flavoring and coloring purposes among the local population. Recent reviews have addressed the uses of the plant in various ethnomedical systems. Objective This review was an update to provide a summary on the botanical features, uses in Iranian folklore and modern medical applications of safflower. Methods A main database containing important early published texts written in Persian, together with electronic papers was established on ethnopharmacology and modern pharmacology of C. tinctorius. Literature review was performed on the years from 1937 to 2016 in Web of Science, PubMed, Scientific Information Database, Google Scholar, and Scopus for the terms “Kafesheh”, “safflower”, “Carthamus tinctorius”, and so forth. Results Safflower is an indispensable element of Iranian folklore medicine, with a variety of applications due to laxative effects. Also, it was recommended as treatment for rheumatism and paralysis, vitiligo and black spots, psoriasis, mouth ulcers, phlegm humor, poisoning, numb limbs, melancholy humor, and the like. According to the modern pharmacological and clinical examinations, safflower provides promising opportunities for the amelioration of myocardial ischemia, coagulation, thrombosis, inflammation, toxicity, cancer, and so forth. However, there have been some reports on its undesirable effects on male and female fertility. Most of these beneficial therapeutic effects were correlated to hydroxysafflor yellow A. Conclusion More attention should be drawn to the lack of a thorough phytochemical investigation. The potential implications of safflower based on Persian traditional medicine, such as the treatment of rheumatism and paralysis, vitiligo and black

Fundamentals--Rudolf Virchow and modern medicine.

PubMed Central

Reese, D M

1998-01-01

The 19th century pathologist Rudolf Virchow was a physician, scientist, and revolutionary. The preeminent medical investigator of his day, Virchow remains best-known for his theory of cellular pathology, which laid the conceptual foundation for modern scientific medicine. Less appreciated are Virchow's numerous accomplishments in public health, anthropology, and European politics, including his quest for social justice and democracy in Imperial Germany. The study of Virchow's life and writings may provide contemporary physicians with a powerful role model as we grapple with the complexities of the modern medical enterprise. PMID:9735691

Approaches to the History of Patients: From the Ancient World to Early Modern Europe.

PubMed

Stolberg, Michael

2016-01-01

This chapter looks from an early modernist's perspective at some of the major questions and methodological issues that writing the history of patients in the ancient world shares with similar work on Patientengeschichte in medieval and early modern Europe. It addresses, in particular, the problem of finding adequate sources that give access to the patients' experience of illness and medicine and highlights the potential as well as the limitations of using physicians' case histories for that purpose. It discusses the doctor-patient relationship as it emerges from these sources, and the impact of the patient's point of view on learned medical theory and practice. In conclusion, it pleads for a cautious and nuanced approach to the controversial issue of retrospective diagnosis, recommending that historians consistently ask in which contexts and in what way the application of modern diagnostic labels to pre-modern accounts of illness can truly contribute to a better historical understanding rather than distort it.

[Adjuvants in modern medicine and veterinary].

PubMed

Kozlov, V G; Ozherelkov, S V; Sanin, A V; Kozhevnikova, T N

2014-01-01

The review is dedicated to immunologic adjuvants--various natural and synthetics substances that are added to vaccines for stimulation of specific immune response, but they do not induce specific response themselves. Critically important is the selection of the correct adjuvants, for which mechanisms of effect on immune system are studied the most. The majority of these mechanisms as well as physical-chemical and biological features of modern adjuvants are analyzed in the review. The problem of safety of adjuvants, types of immune response induced by adjuvants of various nature, excipients that are being verified or already in use in modern medicine and veterinary are also examined.

Narrative medicine: the modern communication between patient and doctor.

PubMed

Coaccioli, S

2011-01-01

In Modern Medicine the ability to communicate represents a true and unique operative methodology which is the basis of Narrative Medicine. This type of approach does not represent an alternative to the traditional model, but rather expands its boundaries while preserving its scientific base; where the feelings, expectations, and desires of the Patient and his interpretation of the disease, more or less obvious, are read in the broad context in which the Patient himself exhibits. Two principle themes in medical training have by now been clearly identified and can be summarized as follows: the ability to understand and to explain (what to say to the patient) and the ability to listen and to comprehend (how to speak to the patient). In this regard the modern Narrative Medicine is a holistic approach to the complexity of the method known as the most effective and most efficient - not only in patient-centered medicine, but also in the improvement of services rendered to both the individual and society at large.

Salt and its Role in Health and Disease Prevention from the Perspectives of Iranian Medicine and Modern Medicine.

PubMed

Mokhtari, Masoud; Vahid, Hamide

2016-05-01

Salt in Iranian medical sources is mentioned as Malh and has a special place in people's nutrition. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of correct use of salt on health and disease prevention in the context of Iranian medicine and its comparison with modern medicine. This article reviews Iranian medicine references on the usage of salt and its benefits. Additionally, modern medicine references were searched to identify the dos and don'ts of salt consumption. Then the results from both approaches were compared and analyzed. The main application salt in Iranian medical resources includes usage in latif supplier, solvent, dryer, laxative of phlegm and melancholy, slimy moisture body repellent, opening obstruction of liver and spleen, aid in digestion, beneficial for seeds and corruption of foods, appetizing, cold foods reformer and improving the flavor of foods. On the other hand, the major benefits of salt according to modern medicine resources are; aiding the balance of electrolytes and fluids, carry nutrients into cells, regulation of acid-base balance, support transfer of nerve impulses, regulate blood pressure, and secretion of gastric acid. According to the Iranian medicine, the amount and type of salt to maintain health and prevent diseases is determined based on factors such as temperament, age, health and disease, season, and location. While a unique approach is not prescribed for every individual, in modern medicine resources, a fixed set of guidelines is recommended for all healthy individuals. Consequently, the modern medicine pays less attention to physiological, structural, and genetic issues. Considering the importance of salt and its undeniable impact on human health, it is apparent that additional research is required to determine factors affecting the actual amount of salt per person.

Filling the gap between traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine, are we heading to the right direction?

PubMed

Chen, Xiuping; Pei, Lixia; Lu, Jinjian

2013-06-01

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the ancient medicine popular in China and surrounding areas, has been recognized as a typical representative of complementary and alternative medicine. Over long period in clinical practice, especially the progress in basic research, data on the effectiveness and beneficial contribution of TCM herbs to public health and disease control have been accumulated while the quality of the evidence is generally poor. The most common clinical practice of TCM herbs is herb combination called formula which consists of several types of medicinal herbs or minerals, which is quite different from modern medicine. Definitely, tens of hundreds of compounds could be identified in even a small formula. With the regained enthusiasm on natural products based new drug R&D, the proposed multi-target drug discovery strategy, the booming of -omics technologies, and the implementation of ambitious plan of TCM modernization in China, attempts have been made to fill the gap between TCM herbs and modern drugs. However, are we heading to the right direction? Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Medicinal plants used with Thai Traditional Medicine in modern healthcare services: a case study in Kabchoeng Hospital, Surin Province, Thailand.

PubMed

Chotchoungchatchai, Somtanuek; Saralamp, Promchit; Jenjittikul, Thaya; Pornsiripongse, Saowapa; Prathanturarug, Sompop

2012-05-07

Thai Traditional Medicine (TTM) is available in many modern hospitals in Thailand. However, there have been difficulties in integrating TTM, particularly the practices of the use of herbal medicines, into modern healthcare services. Kabchoeng Hospital is one hospital that has been able to overcome these difficulties. Thus, this study aimed to document the successful utilization of herbal medicine at Kabchoeng Hospital. The documentation focused on both the knowledge of medicinal plants and the success factors that facilitated the utilization of herbal medicine in the context of a modern hospital in Thailand. Kabchoeng Hospital was intentionally selected for this case study. Participatory observation was used for the data collection. There were six groups of key informants: three applied Thai Traditional Medicine practitioners (ATTMPs), a pharmacist, two physicians, two folk healers, the head of an herbal cultivation and collection group, and 190 patients. The plant specimens were collected and identified based on the botanical literature and a comparison with authentic specimens; these identifications were assisted by microscopic and thin layer chromatography (TLC) techniques. Eighty-nine medicinal plants were used for the herbal preparations. The ATTMPs used these plants to prepare 29 standard herbal preparations and occasional extemporaneous preparations. Moreover, in this hospital, seven herbal preparations were purchased from herbal medicine manufacturers. In total, 36 preparations were used for 10 groups of symptoms, such as the treatment of respiratory system disorders, musculo-skeletal system disorders, and digestive system disorders. Four success factors that facilitated the utilization of herbal medicine at Kabchoeng Hospital were determined. These factors included a proper understanding of the uses of herbal medicines, the successful integration of the modern and TTM healthcare teams, the support of an herbal cultivation and collection group, and the

Modernization and medicinal plant knowledge in a Caribbean horticultural village.

PubMed

Quinlan, Marsha B; Quinlan, Robert J

2007-06-01

Herbal medicine is the first response to illness in rural Dominica. Every adult knows several "bush" medicines, and knowledge varies from person to person. Anthropological convention suggests that modernization generally weakens traditional knowledge. We examine the effects of commercial occupation, consumerism, education, parenthood, age, and gender on the number of medicinal plants freelisted by individuals. All six predictors are associated with bush medical knowledge in bivariate analyses. Contrary to predictions, commercial occupation and consumerism are positively associated with herbal knowledge. Gender, age, occupation, and education are significant predictors in multivariate analysis. Women tend to recall more plants than do men. Education is negatively associated with plants listed; age positively associates with number of species listed. There are significant interactions among commercial occupation, education, age, and parenthood, suggesting that modernization has complex effects on knowledge of traditional medicine in Dominica.

POTENTIAL OF HERBAL MEDICINES IN MODERN MEDICAL THERAPY

PubMed Central

Said, Hakim Mohammed

1984-01-01

The author discusses in this paper the potentialities of Herbal medicine in modern therapy. Also he throws some light on the importance of natural drugs which bring about cure without generation side-effects. PMID:22557447

Casebooks in early modern England: medicine, astrology, and written records.

PubMed

Kassell, Lauren

2014-01-01

Casebooks are the richest sources that we have for encounters between early modern medical practitioners and their patients. This article compares astrological and medical records across two centuries, focused on England, and charts developments in the ways in which practitioners kept records and reflected on their practices. Astrologers had a long history of working from particular moments, stellar configurations, and events to general rules. These practices required systematic notation. Physicians increasingly modeled themselves on Hippocrates, recording details of cases as the basis for reasoned expositions of the histories of disease. Medical records, as other scholars have demonstrated, shaped the production of medical knowledge. Instead, this article focuses on the nature of casebooks as artifacts of the medical encounter. It establishes that casebooks were serial records of practice, akin to diaries, testimonials, and registers; identifies extant English casebooks and the practices that led to their production and preservation; and concludes that the processes of writing, ordering, and preserving medical records are as important for understanding the medical encounter as the records themselves.

[JUBILEE OF "MEDYCYNA NOWOŻYTNA" ["MODERN MEDICINE MAGAZINE"].

PubMed

Gryglewski, Ryszard W

2015-01-01

In 1922 appeared the first, proof copy of a magazine which two years later was titled "Modern Medicine. Studies on the history of medicine". The idea to create a new periodical was born among the historians of science, who focused their scientific interest on the topics of medicine's past. The major purpose was to make a thorough revision of methodological views that usually did not go beyond the positivist or Marxist model. They aspired to some kind of "opening up" to the content present in philosophy and the history of science, including in particular epistemological theories of Ludwik Fleck, Thomas Kuhn or Michael Foucault. Consistent references were made to the experiences and findings of cultural anthropology, psychology, sociology and history of arts, highlighting the problems which in national medical historiography had been previously rarely, if ever, present. "Classical" form and content of works published in the magazine was not excluded, though, since the purpose of the editorial staff was not so much to fight against the traditional model of the history of medicine as its enrichment and gradual transformation in the spirit of contemporary needs. The aim of this article is to present as completely as possible--both the content of "Modern Medicine" and the achievements of people contributing to the magazine for the past twenty years of its existence. It is also an attempt to evaluate to what extent the guidelines set two decades ago have been realized in practice.

Incurable suffering from the "hiatus theoreticus"? Some epistemological problems in modern medicine and the clinical relevance of philosophy of medicine.

PubMed

Paul, N

1998-06-01

Up to now neither the question, whether all theoretical medical knowledge can at least be described as scientific, nor the one how exactly access to the existing scientific and theoretical medical knowledge during clinical problem-solving is made, has been sufficiently answered. Scientific theories play an important role in controlling clinical practice and improving the quality of clinical care in modern medicine on the one hand, and making it vindicable on the other. Therefore, the vagueness of unexplicit interrelations between medicine's stock of knowledge and medical practice appears as a gap in the theoretical concept of modern medicine which can be described as "Hiatus theoreticus" in the anatomy of medicine. A central intention of the paper is to analyze the role of philosophy of medicine for the clarification of the theoretical basis of medical practice. Clinical relevance and normativity in the sense of modern theory of science are suggested as criteria to establish a differentiation between philosophy of medicine as a primary medical discipline and the application of general philosophy in medicine.

Recent Advances in Developing Insect Natural Products as Potential Modern Day Medicines

PubMed Central

Ratcliffe, Norman; Azambuja, Patricia; Mello, Cicero Brasileiro

2014-01-01

Except for honey as food, and silk for clothing and pollination of plants, people give little thought to the benefits of insects in their lives. This overview briefly describes significant recent advances in developing insect natural products as potential new medicinal drugs. This is an exciting and rapidly expanding new field since insects are hugely variable and have utilised an enormous range of natural products to survive environmental perturbations for 100s of millions of years. There is thus a treasure chest of untapped resources waiting to be discovered. Insects products, such as silk and honey, have already been utilised for thousands of years, and extracts of insects have been produced for use in Folk Medicine around the world, but only with the development of modern molecular and biochemical techniques has it become feasible to manipulate and bioengineer insect natural products into modern medicines. Utilising knowledge gleaned from Insect Folk Medicines, this review describes modern research into bioengineering honey and venom from bees, silk, cantharidin, antimicrobial peptides, and maggot secretions and anticoagulants from blood-sucking insects into medicines. Problems and solutions encountered in these endeavours are described and indicate that the future is bright for new insect derived pharmaceuticals treatments and medicines. PMID:24883072

["Lingue di seripi", "serpents' tongues" and "glossopetrae". Highlights from the history of popular "cult" medicine in early modern times].

PubMed

Freller, T

1997-01-01

In the 16th, 17th and 18th century "Glossopetrae", popularly known as "Lingue di Serpi", found on the Mediterranean island of Malta, were extensively used for medical purposes as antidotes. These fossil teeth, including specimens of the "Carcharodon Megalodon" (an extinct variant of the great white shark), were ground to powder or used as amulet pendants and "credence" and exported to pharmacies and shops in various cities of Europe. In antiquity, authors like Plinius or Solinus, excluding any religious connotations, had regarded "Glossopetrae" as objects "fallen from heaven on dark moonless nights". However, from the beginning of the 16th century the miraculous antidotic power of the specimens found at Malta was very strongly connected with the Pauline cult there. This cult owed ist origin to the excerpt of the shipwreck of the Apostle of the Gentiles on this island, as recorded in the New Testament. As in so many cases found in medieval and early modern medicine and pharmacy, the renown, collection, distribution and use of the antidote "Glossopetrae" or "Lingue di Serpi" was never limited to its real chemical and pharmaceutical properties. In the period of enlightenment and secular thinking mythic medicine as "Glossopetrae" had lost ist "magical" power. Consequently, with beginning of the late 18th century also the Maltese "Glossopetrae" featured in literature merely as exotic objects of curiosity or symbols of an age bound to medical superstition.

[Comparative analysis between origin of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder and modern formula granules].

PubMed

Li, Rui; Zhai, Hua-Qiang; Tian, Wei-Lan; Hou, Ji-Ru; Jin, Shi-Yuan; Wang, Yong-Yan

2016-03-01

In this study, the origin and causes of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder were reviewed, and a comprehensive analysis was made for the time background of modern traditional Chinese medicine formula granules and the future development trend, in order to provide reference for application and promotion of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules. By reference to ancient medical books of previous dynasties, a system review was conducted for infancy, formation, maturity and transition of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder, and a comprehensive analysis was made for the six factors of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder's maturity in the Song Dynasty. Efforts were made to collect domestic and foreign research literatures of modern formula granules, understand the detailed development, and conduct an objective analysis of the current clinical application of modern formula granules. According to the comparative analysis for the application characteristics of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder and modern formula granules, ①the popularity of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder in the Song Dynasty has six factors: soaring numbers of medical students and medical practitioners, high medical expenses due to huge army, rapid population growth, frequent epidemics and increasing diseases, and insufficient finances of central and local governments. ②On the basis of clinical application characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules, traditional Chinese medicine formula granules contain extracted and concentrated effective components, which guarantee the curative effect, meet modern people's demands for "quick, simple and convenience" traditional Chinese medicine decoctions, show a relatively high cost performance; however, formula granules are restricted by their varieties and lack unified quality control standards, and single-extract formula granules have not synergy and attenuation effects of combined traditional

[Perspective and application of metabonomics in modern study of traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Qin, Kun-Ming; Wang, Bin; Chen, Lin-Wei; Zhang, Mao-Sen; Yang, Guang-Ming; Shu, Ya-Chun; Cai, Bao-Chang

2014-08-01

Metabonomics is a new method to study on the metabolic network and the relationship between body and environment, which conforms to the way of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. In the study process of modernization of traditional Chinese medicine, effectively conjunction with metabonomics method will facilitate the integration of TCM with modern biological science and technology, and promote the modernization of TCM. This paper introduce the application of metabonomics in the research of toxicity mechanism of TCM, compatibility mechanism of TCM formula, pharmacology effect of TCM and processing mechanism of TCM. This paper summarize the problems in the TCM metabonomics research and prospect its bright future.

Hippocratic messages for modern medicine (the vindication of Hippocrates).

PubMed

Katsambas, A; Marketos, S G

2007-07-01

Medicine feels the need to combine more than ever the traditional concepts of Hippocrates in perfect balance with the enormous power of modern biotechnology. In our times, the old message 'go back to Hippocrates' sounds like a utopian vision. On the other hand, technological progress tends to remove modern medicine from its anthropocentric mission. The realistic message for tomorrow's physicians must be 'to go forward' together with his perennial humanistic values and clinical messages, combining the recent advances of biotechnology with the Hippocratic rationalism, which is based on logical reasoning, on careful clinical examination, and on a whole humane approach to the patient and his environment. Today's physician can still learn from the Hippocratic heritage and will need to be an expert Hippocratic physician, ever more humane and competent to use all new methods and facilities of basic dermatological research.

The discovery of circulation and the origin of modern medicine during the italian renaissance.

PubMed

Thiene, G

1997-03-01

This historical article discusses the dawn of anatomy during the Italian Renaissance, the role of the University of Padua in the origin of modern medicine, milestones in the development of modern medicine, the discovery of circulation, Padua leadership and Galileo's persecution for his scientific theories. Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Black Contributions to the Early History of Western Medicine: Lack of Recognition as a Cause of Black Under-Representation in US Medical Schools

PubMed Central

Newsome, Frederick

1979-01-01

During several millenia, blacks in ancient Egypt made numerous contributions to medicine and were acknowledged as the inventors of the art of medicine. They produced the earliest physicians, medical knowledge, and medical literature. They contributed to the development of medicine in ancient Greece. Ancient writers, including Herodotus, Isocrates, and Diodorus, affirm this. Modern presentations of ancient medicine, however, deprive blacks of the knowledge of their early contributions to medicine by ignoring or subtly misrepresenting the black identity of the ancient Egyptians. Blacks are currently under-represented in US medical schools. It is proposed that the recognition of the contributions of blacks to the early history of Western medicine would inspire black students to study medicine. PMID:423296

How four different political systems have shaped the modernization of traditional Korean medicine between 1900 and 1960.

PubMed

Dongwon, Shin

2008-03-01

In this paper, I examine the modern formation of traditional Korean medicine and discuss the characteristics of the modernization, or modernity, of the medicine. I probe for answers to three questions: first, prior to the twentieth century, what were the main factors that traditional Korean medicine needed to be transformed into a new one? Second, how did four states, the Taehan Empire, colonial Korea, North Korea, and South Korea, treat traditional medicine differently, and why? Third, what are the main characteristics of the modernization of traditional Korean medicine? In examining these questions, I found the following four factors to be important in shaping the modern formation of traditional Korean medicine during the twentieth century: first, the influences of Western science and institutions; second, the rise of nationalism; third, the economics of the state; and fourth, the effectiveness of traditional medicine. Among them, the introduction of Western science and institutions was the most important factor. All the different states in modern Korea realized that Western science and institutions were indispensable for the country to be a powerful nation and to enhance people's welfare. The degree of confidentiality in scientific Western medicine determined the number of traditional medical practitioners and their professional status. The modernization also was greatly affected by modern nationalism, which clashed with Westernization. Many Koreans and the Korean governments regarded the traditional medicine as something culturally valuable to protect from Western culture. Especially, the majority of Koreans who had experienced the cruelty of the Japanese rule under colonization tended to believe that Japan, a foreign ruler, had suppressed traditional Korean medicine as a liquidation policy of Korean culture during the colonial period. This belief contributed greatly to the recovery of the traditional doctors' prestige in South Korea and North Korea after

Medicinal Properties of Adiantum capillus-veneris Linn. in Traditional Medicine and Modern Phytotherapy: A Review Article.

PubMed

Dehdari, Sahar; Hajimehdipoor, Homa

2018-02-01

Adiantum capillus-veneris Linn (Maidenhair fern) is an herb belonging to the family Pteridaceae. It is named as " Pare-siavashan " in medical and pharmaceutical textbooks of Iranian Traditional Medicine. The fronds of Maidenhair fern were mainly administrated by ancient physicians as single medicine or in combination with other plants in multi-herbal formulations for curing different diseases. Because of different chemical compositions, the herb fronds were also assessed for its numerous pharmacological effects. Therefore, the current study was done to review the traditional usage and modern pharmacological and toxicological effects of Maidenhair fern. Scientific databases and publications including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science direct, Cochrane Library, SID (for Persian papers) and medical and pharmaceutical textbooks of traditional medicine as well were searched for " Adiantum capillus-veneris ", " Maidenhair fern " and " Pare-siavashan " without limitation up to 2016. Maidenhair fern exhibited to possess anti-diabetic, anticonvulsant, analgesic, hypocholesterolemic, goitrogenic, anti-thyroidal, antibacterial, antifungal, wound healing, antiobesity, anti hair loss, anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal and antispasmodic, antioxidant as well as diuretic, anti-urolithiatic and detoxifying effects in modern medicine. Ancient physicians declared some of the confirmed pharmacological effects. Maidenhair fern frond can be a good candidate for clinical purpose. Therefore, future researches on the other mentioned effects in traditional medicine are recommended.

Archives and the Boundaries of Early Modern Science.

PubMed

Popper, Nicholas

2016-03-01

This contribution argues that the study of early modern archives suggests a new agenda for historians of early modern science. While in recent years historians of science have begun to direct increased attention toward the collections amassed by figures and institutions traditionally portrayed as proto-scientific, archives proliferated across early modern Europe, emerging as powerful tools for creating knowledge in politics, history, and law as well as natural philosophy, botany, and more. The essay investigates the methods of production, collection, organization, and manipulation used by English statesmen and Crown officers such as Keeper of the State Papers Thomas Wilson and Secretary of State Joseph Williamson to govern their disorderly collections. Their methods, it is shown, were shared with contemporaries seeking to generate and manage other troves of evidence and in fact reflect a complex ecosystem of imitation and exchange across fields of inquiry. These commonalities suggest that historians of science should look beyond the ancestors of modern scientific disciplines to examine how practices of producing knowledge emerged and migrated throughout cultures of learning in Europe and beyond. Creating such a map of knowledge production and exchange, the essay concludes, would provide a renewed and expansive ambition for the field.

[From influence to confluence : positioning the history of pre-modern Korean medicine in East Asia].

PubMed

Suh, Soyoung

2010-12-31

This article surveys studies focusing on pre-modern Korean medicine, which are both written in English and analyzed primary sources up to 1876. Overall, the history of pre-modern Korean medicine is an unknown filed in Anglophone academia. Yung Sik Kim's, James Palais's, and Carter Ecart's problematization of the nationalist framework of Korean scholarship partially explains the marginality of the field. Addressing these criticisms, this review argues that pre-modern Korean medicine's uneasy task lies in both elaborating Korea's own experience of medicine, while simultaneously avoiding making the "Korean" category itself essential. Korean narratives of premodern medicine need to go beyond the mere territorilalization of Korean medicine against its Chinese, Japanese, or Western counterparts, thereby to tackle the field's own boundary of research objects. The existing scholarship in English responds to this challenge by primarily examining the way in which Korea has shared textual tradition with China. Sirhak scholars' innovation in medicine, visual representation of Tongŭi bogam, Korean management of epidemics in the eleventh century, and Korean indexing of local botanicals, engages not only native achievements, but also the process of modifying medicine across geographical and political boundaries. More to the point, the emerging native narratives, although written in Korean, are implicitly resonant with those currently present in Anglophone academia. Taking "tension," "intertextuality," and "local traits" as a lens, this article assesses a series of current research in Korea. Aiming to go beyond appeals for a "distinctively" Korean experience of medicine, the future study of Korean pre-modern medicine will further elucidate confluences of different flows, such as "Chinese and Korean," "universal and local," "center and periphery," and "native and foreign," which will eventually articulate a range of Korean techniques of creating a bricolage in medicine.

Medicinal Properties of Adiantum capillus-veneris Linn. in Traditional Medicine and Modern Phytotherapy: A Review Article

PubMed Central

DEHDARI, Sahar; HAJIMEHDIPOOR, Homa

2018-01-01

Background: Adiantum capillus-veneris Linn (Maidenhair fern) is an herb belonging to the family Pteridaceae. It is named as “Pare-siavashan” in medical and pharmaceutical textbooks of Iranian Traditional Medicine. The fronds of Maidenhair fern were mainly administrated by ancient physicians as single medicine or in combination with other plants in multi-herbal formulations for curing different diseases. Because of different chemical compositions, the herb fronds were also assessed for its numerous pharmacological effects. Therefore, the current study was done to review the traditional usage and modern pharmacological and toxicological effects of Maidenhair fern. Methods: Scientific databases and publications including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science direct, Cochrane Library, SID (for Persian papers) and medical and pharmaceutical textbooks of traditional medicine as well were searched for “Adiantum capillus-veneris”, “Maidenhair fern” and “Pare-siavashan” without limitation up to 2016. Results: Maidenhair fern exhibited to possess anti-diabetic, anticonvulsant, analgesic, hypocholesterolemic, goitrogenic, anti-thyroidal, antibacterial, antifungal, wound healing, antiobesity, anti hair loss, anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal and antispasmodic, antioxidant as well as diuretic, anti-urolithiatic and detoxifying effects in modern medicine. Ancient physicians declared some of the confirmed pharmacological effects. Conclusion: Maidenhair fern frond can be a good candidate for clinical purpose. Therefore, future researches on the other mentioned effects in traditional medicine are recommended. PMID:29445628

The language of modern medicine: it's all Greek to me.

PubMed

Lewis, Kristopher N

2004-01-01

The Greek language has shaped and formed the lexicon of modern medicine. Although medical terminology may seem complex and difficult to master, the clarity and functionality of this language owe a great debt to the tongue of the classical Greeks.

The Problem of Dualism in Modern Western Medicine

PubMed Central

Gendle, Mathew H.

2016-01-01

Dualism is historically important in that it allowed the medical practice to be divorced from church oversight. The reductionist approaches of modern Western medicine facilitate a dispassionate and mechanistic approach to patient care, and dualist views promoted by complementary and alternative medicine are also problematic. Behavioural disorders are multifactorally realizable and emerge apparently chaotically from interactions between internal physiological systems and the patient's environment and experiential history. Conceptualizations of behavioural disorders that are based on dualism deny the primacy of individual physiology in the generation of pathology and distract from therapies that are most likely to produce positive outcomes. Behavioural health professionals should adopt holistic models of patient care, but these models must be based on methodologies that emphasize radical emergence over the artificial separation of the “physical” and “mental.” This will allow for the humanistic practice of medicine while simultaneously maximizing the likelihood of treatment success. PMID:28031628

[Development of modern medical doctors in Japan from late Edo to early Meiji].

PubMed

Kim, OckJoo; Takuya, Miyagawa

2011-12-31

Western medicine began to be introduced to Japan since late 16th century. Japanese encounter with Western medicine centered on Dejima in Nagasaki in the seventeenth and eighteenth century and the initial process of introduction was gradual and slow. In the mid-nineteenth century, facing threats from Western countries, Tokugawa bakufu asked Dutch naval surgeon, J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort to teach western medicine at the Kaigun Denshujo naval academy in Nagasaki. The government also supported the western medical school in Edo. This paper deals with how modern western medical doctors were developed in Japan from late Edo to early Meiji. The publication of the New Text on Anatomy in 1774 translated by Sugita Genpaku and his colleagues stimulated Japanese doctors and scholars to study western medicine, called Rangaku. During the Edo period, western medicine spread into major cities and countryside in Japan through Rangaku doctors. In 1838, for example, Dr. Ogata Koan established the Rangaku school named Tekijuku and educated many people with western medicine. When smallpox vaccination was introduced in Japan in 1849, Rangaku doctors played an important role in practiving the vaccination in cities and in countryside. After the Edo bakufu and the feudal lords of han(han) actively pursued to introduce western medicine to their hans by sending their Samurai to Edo or Nagasaki or abroad and by establishing medical schools and hospitals until their abolition in 1871. In late Edo and early Meiii military doctors were the main focus of training to meet the urgent need of military doctors in the battle fields of civil wars. The new Meiji government initiated a series of top-down reformations concerning army recruitment, national school system, public health and medical system. In 1874, the government introduced a law on medicine to adopt western medicine only and to launch a national licence system for medical doctors. Issuing supplementary regulations in the following

Traditional and modern medicine working in tandem.

PubMed

Pretorius, E

1991-12-01

Because of the many problems relating to health care delivery in Africa, it is becoming apparent that neither the exclusive/monopolistic nor the tolerant legislative systems should be tolerated any longer. Especially since the Alma Ata Conference held by the WHO/UNICEF there has been growing impetus towards either inclusive/parallel (the beneficial co-existence of traditional and modern medical systems), or integrated systems. Although the idea of making traditional and modern medicine work in tandem in a united treatment context has its merits, it is also plagued by issues such as the nature of the products of an integrated training, resistance by stubborn protagonists of either of the two systems, or that only lip-service is paid to the idea of co-operation. Nevertheless, it is believed that all interest groups--the authorities responsible for health care delivery, the Western-trained health care workers, the traditional healers and the users of these services--stand to gain from such liaison.

The turning point from an archaic Arab medical system to an early modern European system in Jerusalem according to the Swiss physician Titus Tobler (1806-77).

PubMed

Lev, Efraim; Amar, Zohar

2004-01-01

Until the end of the Ottoman period the Hippocratic-Galenic doctrine, which had been improved by medieval Muslim medicine, was the pre-dominant medicine in the Holy Land. The penetration of modern medicine into the region was a slow process, advancing step by step over the years until it was established around the end of the 19th century.Dr. Titus Tobler, a Swiss physician of many talents, first visited Jerusalem in 1835, then again in 1845, 1857, and 1865. He reported his experiences and impressions in several books and articles. His publications portray the condition of medicine in the city before the advent of European physicians, their arrival, and the establishment of the first hospitals in the city. Thanks to his endeavours, a professional description of the medical conditions prevailing in Jerusalem in the mid-19th century is available to the public. Tobler's writings include descriptions of the healers, blood-letters, quacks, medicinal substances and their market, and the diseases and illnesses from which the inhabitants suffered. In addition, Tobler produced a detailed report of the different hospitals, pharmacies, European physicians, and their experiences. A digest of Tobler's information, its fresh systematic arrangement, and its comparison with other historical sources, early as well as recent, produces a better picture than ever previously available of the medical conditions of the city in the final years of the ascendancy of Arab medical systems and in the early stages of early modern European medicine in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

Preterit Loss in Early Modern Nuremberg

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bagwell, Angela Catania

2013-01-01

This study investigates "Prateritumschwund," one of the most salient developments in the Upper German dialect area during the Early Modern period. Drawing on a wide range of text types originating in Nuremberg and its surrounding areas from the 13th to the 17th centuries, this study tests various hypotheses put forward as alleged causes…

[The Paduan School of Medicine: medicine and philosophy in the modern era].

PubMed

Rebollo, Regina Andrés

2010-06-01

This is a partial contribution to an understanding of the history of the reception and transmission of classical Hippocratic and Galenic texts in Italy's modern period. By examining rotuli and puncti of the School of Medicine of Padua University, which record the subjects and content taught in the period between 1500 and 1600, one can study the official curriculum of this famous school. Perusal of these documents shows the commitment of official medical training to tradition, especially with respect to Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna and Aristotle.

A History of Medicine and the Establishment of Medical Institutions in Middlesex County, New Jersey that Transformed Doctor and Patient Relationships during the Early Twentieth Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitfield-Spinner, Linda

2011-01-01

The early twentieth century was a period of tremendous advancements in medicine and technology and as a result experienced a revolutionary change in the delivery of healthcare in America. Modern medicine which encompassed specialized knowledge, technical procedures, and rules of behavior, changed the way medical care was provided in the United…

Early modern mathematical instruments.

PubMed

Bennett, Jim

2011-12-01

In considering the appropriate use of the terms "science" and "scientific instrument," tracing the history of "mathematical instruments" in the early modern period is offered as an illuminating alternative to the historian's natural instinct to follow the guiding lights of originality and innovation, even if the trail transgresses contemporary boundaries. The mathematical instrument was a well-defined category, shared across the academic, artisanal, and commercial aspects of instrumentation, and its narrative from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century was largely independent from other classes of device, in a period when a "scientific" instrument was unheard of.

The modern hippocratic tradition. Some messages for contemporary medicine.

PubMed

Marketos, S G; Skiadas, P K

1999-06-01

Hippocrates (5th century B.C.), the most prominent physician of antiquity, was born in the small Greek island of Kos, which is near the coast of Asia Minor. Before his era, medicine was practiced as an empirical art and had a religious nature. Hippocratic medicine represents the landmark for the evolution of Western medicine. This "father" of rational medicine assimilated the accumulated knowledge of the past and formed a diagnostic system based on clinical observation and logical reasoning. The great physician attributed diseases to natural causes, believed in the healing power of nature, and gave special emphasis to the prevention and prognosis of illnesses. He treated patients as psychosomatic entities (a holistic medical approach) in relation to their natural environment. In his treatises, Hippocrates defined the ethical principles guiding medical practice. His entire work was inspired by humanistic ideals and an undeviating dedication to the patient. Modern medicine can derive valuable lessons from the Hippocratic tradition. For the coming 21st century, medicine more than ever senses the need to combine the concepts of humanistic values and the Hippocratic messages with the technologic "imperative" (power). This bond is necessary to the improvement of medicine in the future because, currently, the enormous biomedical technology so far has contributed little to the traditionally human fields of psychosomatic and functional disturbances, posing new dilemmas and threatening scientific problems.

The Development of Sports Medicine.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waddington, Ivan

1996-01-01

The development of sports medicine was influenced by medicalization and increasing competitiveness in modern sport, with sports physicians helping to develop performance enhancing drugs and techniques. This paper discusses sports medicine and drug use in Eastern European countries, early development of anabolic steroids in the United States, and…

Early Period of Modern Architecture in Turkey - A Case Study of Eskisehir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karasozen, Rana

2017-10-01

Modern architecture in the Western World bore fruit at the beginning of the 20th Century in consequence of the process of modernity and seeking of the proper architecture for it. It was formed firstly towards the end of the 1920s. The main reason of this nonsynchronous development was the inadequacy of enlightenment and industrial revolution during the Ottoman Empire and the lack of formation of an intellectual infrastructure which provides the basis of modernity. However, the Ottoman Westernization occurring in the 19th century constituted the foundations of the Republic modernity founded in 1923. The earliest modern architectural designs in Turkey were first practised by European architects after the foundation of the Republic and internalised and practised extensively by the native architects afterwards. The early modern architecture of Turkey, named as “1930s Modernism”, continued until the beginning of the World War II. This period was formed in between the periods of first and second nationalist architecture movements. The early modern architecture period of Turkey was a period which high-quality designs were made. It was practised and internalised not only in big cities such as Ankara and in Istanbul, but also in the medium and small cities of the country. This situation was not just about a formal exception but about the internalisation of modernity by the society. Eskisehir is one of the most important pioneering cities of the Republic period in terms of industrial and educational developments. The earliest modern buildings were built as the public buildings by the state and non-citizen architects in the inadequate conditions of the country in terms of economy and professional people. The earliest modern houses of the city designed by these architects were the prototypes for the later practices which offered the citizens a new lifestyle. The modern houses were the symbols of prestige and status for the owners and the dwellers. The features of early

Robotics in medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, D. N.; Syryamkin, V. I.

2015-11-01

Modern technologies play a very important role in our lives. It is hard to imagine how people can get along without personal computers, and companies - without powerful computer centers. Nowadays, many devices make modern medicine more effective. Medicine is developing constantly, so introduction of robots in this sector is a very promising activity. Advances in technology have influenced medicine greatly. Robotic surgery is now actively developing worldwide. Scientists have been carrying out research and practical attempts to create robotic surgeons for more than 20 years, since the mid-80s of the last century. Robotic assistants play an important role in modern medicine. This industry is new enough and is at the early stage of development; despite this, some developments already have worldwide application; they function successfully and bring invaluable help to employees of medical institutions. Today, doctors can perform operations that seemed impossible a few years ago. Such progress in medicine is due to many factors. First, modern operating rooms are equipped with up-to-date equipment, allowing doctors to make operations more accurately and with less risk to the patient. Second, technology has enabled to improve the quality of doctors' training. Various types of robots exist now: assistants, military robots, space, household and medical, of course. Further, we should make a detailed analysis of existing types of robots and their application. The purpose of the article is to illustrate the most popular types of robots used in medicine.

Ancient gene flow from early modern humans into Eastern Neanderthals.

PubMed

Kuhlwilm, Martin; Gronau, Ilan; Hubisz, Melissa J; de Filippo, Cesare; Prado-Martinez, Javier; Kircher, Martin; Fu, Qiaomei; Burbano, Hernán A; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; de la Rasilla, Marco; Rosas, Antonio; Rudan, Pavao; Brajkovic, Dejana; Kucan, Željko; Gušic, Ivan; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Andrés, Aida M; Viola, Bence; Pääbo, Svante; Meyer, Matthias; Siepel, Adam; Castellano, Sergi

2016-02-25

It has been shown that Neanderthals contributed genetically to modern humans outside Africa 47,000-65,000 years ago. Here we analyse the genomes of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan from the Altai Mountains in Siberia together with the sequences of chromosome 21 of two Neanderthals from Spain and Croatia. We find that a population that diverged early from other modern humans in Africa contributed genetically to the ancestors of Neanderthals from the Altai Mountains roughly 100,000 years ago. By contrast, we do not detect such a genetic contribution in the Denisovan or the two European Neanderthals. We conclude that in addition to later interbreeding events, the ancestors of Neanderthals from the Altai Mountains and early modern humans met and interbred, possibly in the Near East, many thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

Medical implication in the Bible and its relevance to modern medicine.

PubMed

Sun, Jun-Fang

2013-11-01

The Holy Bible, as the root of Western civilization, has imposed great influence in the fields far beyond religion. In this thesis, the author intended to reveal the medical implication in the Holy Bible and its relevance to the modern medical science by exploring the biblical medical information and comparing it with the current medical theory and practice. The conclusion of the exploration is surprising yet inspiring: the Holy Bible, as an ancient religious book, contains rich medical information around themes such as sexual relations, dietary guidelines, hygiene, etc., which is not at odds, but in harmony with the modern medicine.

The excitations and suppressions of the times: locating the emotions in the liver in modern Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Karchmer, Eric I

2013-03-01

This paper explores how doctors of Chinese medicine have borrowed from a long history of scholarship on the problem of "constraint" to develop treatments for modern emotion-related disorders, such as depression. I argue that this combining of medical practices was made possible by a complex sequence of events. First, doctors in the 1920 and 1930s were engaged in a critical reexamination of the entire corpus of Chinese medical knowledge. Spurred by the encounter with European imperialism, the sudden rise of Japan as a new power in East Asia, and the political struggles to establish a Chinese nation state, these scholars were among the first to speculate on the possible relationship between Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Second, in the 1950 and 1960s, doctors like other intellectuals were focused on national reunification and institution building. They rejected some of the experimental claims of their predecessors to focus on identifying the key characteristics of Chinese medicine, such as the methodology of "pattern recognition and treatment determination bianzheng lunzhi." The flexibility of the new bianzheng lunzhi paradigm allowed doctors to quietly adopt innovations from their early twentieth century counterparts that they ostensibly rejected, ultimately paving the way for contemporary treatments of depression.

Sparking Thinking: Studying Modern Precision Medicine Will Accelerate the Progression of Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns.

PubMed

Liu, Bao-Cheng; Ji, Guang

2017-07-01

Incorporating "-omics" studies with environmental interactions could help elucidate the biological mechanisms responsible for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) patterns. Based on the authors' own experiences, this review outlines a model of an ideal combination of "-omics" biomarkers, environmental factors, and TCM pattern classifications; provides a narrative review of the relevant genetic and TCM studies; and lists several successful integrative examples. Two integration tools are briefly introduced. The first is the integration of modern devices into objective diagnostic methods of TCM patterning, which would improve current clinical decision-making and practice. The second is the use of biobanks and data platforms, which could broadly support biological and medical research. Such efforts will transform current medical management and accelerate the progression of precision medicine.

Erotic Love and the Development of Proto-Capitalist Ideology in Early Modern Comedy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Damsen, Silver

2009-01-01

My dissertation, "Erotic Love and the Development of Proto-Capitalist Ideology in Early Modern Comedy" demonstrates how increased crown authority, and an expanded market combine with the mixed agency of the romantic comedy daughter to further encourage early modern economic growth. The triumph of rebelling daughter over blocking father has…

Impact of natural products in modern drug development.

PubMed

Dev, Sukh

2010-03-01

Usage of natural substances as therapeutic agents in modern medicine has sharply declined from the predominant position held in the early decades of last century, but search for bioactive molecules from nature (plants, animals, microflora) continues to play an important role in fashioning new medicinal agents. With the advent of modern techniques, instrumentation and automation in isolation and structural characterisation, we have on hand an enormous repository of natural compounds. In parallel to this, biology has also made tremendous progress in expanding its frontiers of knowledge. An interplay of these two disciplines constitutes the modern thrust in research in the realm of compounds elaborated by nature. The purpose of this article is to underline how natural products research continues to make significant contributions in the domain of discovery and development of new medicinal products. It is proposed to present the material under several heads, each of which has made natural products research relevant in the search for new and better medication.

[Hybris and crisis. The 19th century and transition to modern medicine].

PubMed

Vatle, A

1993-10-20

Medicine declared itself to be a scientific discipline in the 19th century, and radically cut off its former links with the Hippocratic-Galenic tradition after the French Revolution in 1789. Owing to the great progress made in physics and chemistry, these disciplines came to be regarded as the only ones capable of solving medical problems. This is a reductionist view, in contrast to the vitalist view, which still believed in the existence of the Hippocratic physis or life force. Reductionist medicine led to great advances, though in the 19th century much of the wisdom of earlier times tended to be forgotten, to the detriment of medicine as a whole. It was believed that medicine and science could solve all the world's problems, a belief that, in modern times, has been abandoned as invalid. We now need a new medical anthropology, or rather medicine that is anthropological in its thinking.

Are modern health worries, personality and attitudes to science associated with the use of complementary and alternative medicine?

PubMed

Furnham, Adrian

2007-05-01

To investigate whether personality traits, modern health worries (MHWs) and attitudes to science predict attitudes to, and beliefs about, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This study set out to test whether belief in, and use of CAM was significantly associated with high levels of MHWs, a high level of neuroticism and sceptical attitudes towards science. Two hundred and forty-three British adults completed a four part questionnaire that measured MHWs, the Big Five personality traits and beliefs about science and medicine and attitudes to CAM. There were many gender differences in MHWs (females expressed more), though results were similar to previous studies. Contrary to prediction, personality traits were not related to MHWs, CAM usage or beliefs about CAM. Regular and occasional users of CAM did have higher MHWs than those non or infrequent users. Those with high totalled MHWs also tended to believe in the importance of psychological factors in health and illness, as well as the potential harmful effects of modern medicine. Young males who had positive attitudes to science were least likely to be CAM users. Further, positive attitudes to science were associated with increased scepticism about CAM. Concern about health, belief about modern medicine and CAM are logically inter-related. Those who have high MHWs tend to be more sceptical about modern medicine and more convinced of the possible role of psychological factors in personal health and illness.

Trading secrets: Jews and the early modern quest for clandestine knowledge.

PubMed

Jütte, Daniel

2012-12-01

This essay explores the significance and function of secrecy and secret sciences in Jewish-Christian relations and in Jewish culture in the early modern period. It shows how the trade in clandestine knowledge and the practice of secret sciences became a complex, sometimes hazardous space for contact between Jews and Christians. By examining this trade, the essay clarifies the role of secrecy in the early modern marketplace of knowledge. The attribution of secretiveness to Jews was a widespread topos in early modern European thought. However, relatively little is known about the implications of such beliefs in science or in daily life. The essay pays special attention to the fact that trade in secret knowledge frequently offered Jews a path to the center of power, especially at court. Furthermore, it becomes clear that the practice of secret sciences, the trade in clandestine knowledge, and a mercantile agenda were often inextricably interwoven. Special attention is paid to the Italian-Jewish alchemist, engineer, and entrepreneur Abramo Colorni (ca. 1544-1599), whose career illustrates the opportunities provided by the marketplace of secrets at that time. Much scholarly (and less scholarly) attention has been devoted to whether and what Jews "contributed" to what is commonly called the "Scientific Revolution." This essay argues that the question is misdirected and that, instead, we should pay more attention to the distinctive opportunities offered by the early modern economy of secrecy.

Early modern human diversity suggests subdivided population structure and a complex out-of-Africa scenario

PubMed Central

Gunz, Philipp; Bookstein, Fred L.; Mitteroecker, Philipp; Stadlmayr, Andrea; Seidler, Horst; Weber, Gerhard W.

2009-01-01

The interpretation of genetic evidence regarding modern human origins depends, among other things, on assessments of the structure and the variation of ancient populations. Because we lack genetic data from the time when the first anatomically modern humans appeared, between 200,000 and 60,000 years ago, instead we exploit the phenotype of neurocranial geometry to compare the variation in early modern human fossils with that in other groups of fossil Homo and recent modern humans. Variation is assessed as the mean-squared Procrustes distance from the group average shape in a representation based on several hundred neurocranial landmarks and semilandmarks. We find that the early modern group has more shape variation than any other group in our sample, which covers 1.8 million years, and that they are morphologically similar to recent modern humans of diverse geographically dispersed populations but not to archaic groups. Of the currently competing models of modern human origins, some are inconsistent with these findings. Rather than a single out-of-Africa dispersal scenario, we suggest that early modern humans were already divided into different populations in Pleistocene Africa, after which there followed a complex migration pattern. Our conclusions bear implications for the inference of ancient human demography from genetic models and emphasize the importance of focusing research on those early modern humans, in particular, in Africa. PMID:19307568

Two Cultures in Modern Science and Technology: For Safety and Validity Does Medicine Have to Update?

PubMed

Becker, Robert E

2016-01-11

Two different scientific cultures go unreconciled in modern medicine. Each culture accepts that scientific knowledge and technologies are vulnerable to and easily invalidated by methods and conditions of acquisition, interpretation, and application. How these vulnerabilities are addressed separates the 2 cultures and potentially explains medicine's difficulties eradicating errors. A traditional culture, dominant in medicine, leaves error control in the hands of individual and group investigators and practitioners. A competing modern scientific culture accepts errors as inevitable, pernicious, and pervasive sources of adverse events throughout medical research and patient care too malignant for individuals or groups to control. Error risks to the validity of scientific knowledge and safety in patient care require systemwide programming able to support a culture in medicine grounded in tested, continually updated, widely promulgated, and uniformly implemented standards of practice for research and patient care. Experiences from successes in other sciences and industries strongly support the need for leadership from the Institute of Medicine's recommended Center for Patient Safely within the Federal Executive branch of government.

‘Nature Concocts & Expels’: The Agents and Processes of Recovery from Disease in Early Modern England

PubMed Central

Newton, Hannah

2015-01-01

The ‘golden saying’ in early modern medicine was ‘Nature is the healer of disease’. This article uncovers the meaning and significance of this forgotten axiom by investigating perceptions of the agents and physiological processes of recovery from illness in England, c.1580–1720. Drawing on sources such as medical texts and diaries, it shows that doctors and laypeople attributed recovery to three agents—God, Nature and the practitioner. While scholars are familiar with the roles of providence and medicine, the vital agency of Nature has been overlooked. In theory, the agents operated in a hierarchy: Nature was ‘God's instrument’, and the physician, ‘Nature's servant’; but in practice the power balance was more ambivalent. Nature was depicted both as a housewife who cooked and cleaned the humours, and as a warrior who defeated the disease. Through exploring these complex dynamics, the article sheds fresh light on concepts of gender, disease and bodies. PMID:26217069

Science, humanism, judgement, ethics: person-centered medicine as an emergent model of modern clinical practice.

PubMed

Miles, Andrew

2013-01-01

The Medical University of Plovdiv (MUP) has as its motto 'Committed to humanity". But what does humanity in modern medicine mean? Is it possible to practise a form of medicine that is without humanity? In the current article, it is argued that modern medicine is increasingly being practised in a de-personalised fashion, where the patient is understood not as a unique human individual, a person, but rather as a subject or an object and more in the manner of a complex biological machine. Medicine has, it is contended, become distracted from its duty to care, comfort and console as well as to ameliorate, attenuate and cure and that the rapid development of medicine's scientific knowledge is, paradoxically, principally causative. Signal occurrences in the 'patient as a person' movement are reviewed, together with the emergence of the evidence-based medicine (EBM) and patient-centered care (PCC) movements. The characteristics of a model of medicine evolving in response to medicine's current deficiencies--person-centered healthcare (PCH)--are noted and described. In seeking to apply science with humanism, via clinical judgement, within an ethical framework, it is contended that PCH will prove to be far more responsive to the needs of the individual patient and his/her personal circumstances than current models of practice, so that neither a reductive anatomico-pathological, disease-centric model of illness (EBM), nor an aggressive patient-directed, consumerist form of care (PCC) is allowed continued dominance within modern healthcare systems. In conclusion, it is argued that PCH will enable affordable advances in biomedicine and technology to be delivered to patients within a humanistic framework of clinical practice that recognises the patient as a person and which takes full account of his/her stories, values, preferences, goals, aspirations, fears, worries, hopes, cultural context and which responds to his/her psychological, emotional, spiritual and social necessities

Integrating Traditional Medicine into Modern Inflammatory Diseases Care: Multitargeting by Rhus verniciflua Stokes

PubMed Central

Kim, Ji Hye; Shin, Yong Cheol; Ko, Seong-Gyu

2014-01-01

Despite the fact that numerous researches were performed on prevention and treatment of inflammation related diseases, the overall incidence has not changed remarkably. This requires new approaches to overcome inflammation mediated diseases, and thus traditional medicine could be an efficacious source for prevention and treatment of these diseases. In this review, we discuss the contribution of traditional medicine, especially Rhus verniciflua Stokes, to modern medicine against diverse inflammation mediated diseases. Traditionally, this remedy has been used in Eastern Asia for the treatment of gastric problems, hepatic disorders, infectious diseases, and blood disorders. Modern science has provided the scientific basis for the use of Rhus verniciflua Stokes against such disorders and diseases. Various chemical constituents have been identified from this plant, including phenolic acid, and flavonoids. Cell-based studies have exhibited the potential of this as antibacterial, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, growth inhibitory, and anticancer activities. Enormous animal studies have shown the potential of this against proinflammatory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, liver diseases, and chemical insults. At the molecular level, this medicinal plant has been shown to modulate diverse cell-signaling pathways. In clinical studies, Rhus verniciflua Stokes has shown efficacy against various cancer patients such as colorectal, gastric, hepatic, renal, pancreatic, and pulmonary cancers. Thus, this remedy is now exhibiting activities in the clinic. PMID:25024508

Systematic Review of Chinese Medicine for Miscarriage during Early Pregnancy

PubMed Central

Leung, Ping Chung; Chung, Tony Kwok Hung; Wang, Chi Chiu

2014-01-01

Background. Miscarriage is a very common complication during early pregnancy. So far, clinical therapies have limitation in preventing the early pregnancy loss. Chinese Medicine, regarded as gentle, effective, and safe, has become popular and common as a complementary and alternative treatment for miscarriages. However, the evidence to support its therapeutic efficacy and safety is still very limited. Objectives and Methods. To summarize the clinical application of Chinese Medicine for pregnancy and provide scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of Chinese medicines for miscarriage, we located all the relevant pieces of literature on the clinical applications of Chinese Medicine for miscarriage and worked out this systematic review. Results. 339,792 pieces of literature were identified, but no placebo was included and only few studies were selected for systematic review and conducted for meta-analysis. A combination of Chinese medicines and Western medicines was more effective than Chinese medicines alone. No specific safety problem was reported, but potential adverse events by certain medicines were identified. Conclusions. Studies vary considerably in design, interventions, and outcome measures; therefore conclusive results remain elusive. Large scales of randomized controlled trials and more scientific evidences are still necessary to confirm the efficacy and safety of Chinese medicines during early pregnancy. PMID:24648851

The woman physician as antidote to the ills of modern medicine.

PubMed

Gardner, Sr Elinor

2017-11-01

This article, drawing on the work of Edith Stein, reflects on the feminine aspects of the medical profession, specifically attention to the whole person and personal accompaniment. It presents these feminine aspects, in light of the mechanistic, highly specialized, and often impersonal ethos of modern medicine, as a needed corrective to such an ethos. Finally, this thesis is illustrated with an example from physician Victoria Sweet.

[Some engineering problems on developing production industry of modern traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Qu, Hai-bin; Cheng, Yi-yu; Wang, Yue-sheng

2003-10-01

Based on the review of some engineering problems on developing modern production industry of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the differences of TCM production industry between China and abroad were pointed out. Accelerating the application and extension of high-tech and computer integrated manufacturing system (CIMS) were suggested to promote the technology advancement of TCM industry.

Empower: access to medicine - working towards early access.

PubMed

Pearson, Jennifer Bryant; Turgoose, James; Hargrave, James

2015-01-01

Empower: Access to Medicine's contribution will document the founding of Empower: Access to Medicine and tactics used to create a lobbying campaign designed to facilitate the debate around barriers to medical innovation and patient access to medicines. The article will detail the evolution of the campaign's goals and the potential solutions to an expensive and slow system. Specifically the submission will look at the influence that Empower: Access to Medicine had on the Government's thinking and development of an early access scheme.

[Preliminary analysis on relationship between traditional efficacy of Chinese medicine and modern pharmacological action].

PubMed

Ren, Jun-Guo; Wang, Dong-Zhi; Lei, Lei; Kang, Li; Liu, Jian-Xun

2017-05-01

To find the relationship between traditional efficacy of Chinese medicine and modern pharmacological action by using data mining, and provide information and reference for further research and development for the pharmacology research of traditional Chinese medicine.The information of 547 kinds of traditional Chinese medicines, 335 kinds of Chinese medicine effects and 86 kinds of pharmacological actions were collected and processed in Clinical Guide to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia published in 2010; Access and Excel software were used to analyze the frequence and frequency of single effect, pharmacological action, and both. In addition, the relationship between efficacy and pharmacology was analyzed with the clearing heat and antibacterial effects as the example. The analysis results showed that 547 kinds of Chinese medicines involved 335 kinds of Chinese medicine effects and 86 kinds of pharmacological actions. Among them, the most frequent Chinese medicine effect was"clearing heat", whose frequence was 130 and the frequency was 0.24; the most frequent pharmacological action was "anti-inflammatory action" whose frequence was 191 and the frequency was 0.35. The most common efficacy-pharmacological action group was "clearing heat" and "anti-bacterial action", whose frequence was 75 and the frequency was 0.26. The couple of "purgation" and "cathartic effect" had the largest frequency of 0.30, but they just appeared together for 3 times. There were 52 kinds of pharmacological actions that occurred together with clearing heat, of which, the top 10 were anti-bacterial action, anti-inflammatory action, antineoplastic action, anti-hepatic injury action, immunoregulation action, antipyretic action, antiviralaction, hypoglycemic action, antioxidant action and analgesic action. There were 161 kinds of Chinese medicine effects that occurred together with anti-bacterial action, of which, the top 10 were clearing heat, detoxification, detumescence, analgesia, resolving dampness

Origin and concept of medicine food homology and its application in modern functional foods.

PubMed

Hou, Yan; Jiang, Jian-Guo

2013-12-01

The viewpoints of "medicine food homology" (MFH) conform to today's food requirements of returning to a natural and green healthy life. This paper aims to introduce the concept of MFH and its origin and evolution, and analyze the relationship between food and Chinese medicine. In this review, more than 80 MFH materials approved by China's Ministry of Health are listed and their effective ingredients are summarized in detail. Their treatment mechanism in TCM and western medicine are summarized too. Moreover, some new MFH resources that have been gradually developed are also introduced. MFH materials are a treasure house of functional factors for current functional foods. Innovative ideas for the development of MFH resources in current functional foods are prospected and discussed, such as taking advantage of Chinese diet theory, building a database for MFH varieties and developing new methods and technologies. At present, modern research for the development of MFH functional foods is still in its primary stage, there is still much work required in the popularization of the MFH concept and the development of new products. Knowledge and technological innovations in this area should be accelerated in the future to promote the modernization of MFH.

Therapeutic effects of Aloe spp. in traditional and modern medicine: A review.

PubMed

Akaberi, Maryam; Sobhani, Zahra; Javadi, Behjat; Sahebkar, Amirhossein; Emami, Seyed Ahmad

2016-12-01

Traditional medicine is a useful guide in medical sciences. In the Islamic Iranian traditional medicine, the medicinal properties of many plants have been mentioned that could be exploited in drug discovery. We aimed to explore the nature and properties of Aloe spp. As described in some major Islamic traditional texts including Ferdows al-Hekmah fi'l-Tibbe (The Paradise of Wisdom in Medicine), Al-Hawi fi'l-Tibb (Comprehensive Book of Medicine), Kamel al-Sanaat al-Tibbyyah (Complete Book of the Medical Art), Al-Qanun fi'l-Tibb (Canon of Medicine), Zakhireh Kharazmshahi (Treasure of Kharazmshah), and Makhzan al-Adwiah (Drug Treasure), and assess the conformity of traditional medicine instructions with the findings of modern pharmacological studies. Gastrointestinal activities, hepato-protective properties, beneficial effects against skin problems such as wounds, injuries, and infective diseases are among the most frequently mentioned properties of Aloe spp. Several activities of Aloe spp. described in traditional medicine have been the subject of recent in vitro and in vivo studies as well as clinical trials. Owing to the positive findings, different preparations of Aloe spp. are now present in pharmaceutical markets such as Aloe cosmetic products. On the other hand, there are many traditional therapeutic effects of Aloe spp. which have not been studied and require confirmatory experimental or clinical investigations. It is hoped that the present study could stimulate further research on the unexplored aspects of the medicinal properties of Aloe spp. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Sebastian Kneipp and the Natural Cure Movement of Germany: Between Naturalism and Modern Medicine.

PubMed

Ko, Youkyung

2016-12-01

This study discusses the historical significance of the Natural Cure Movement of Germany, centering on the Kneipp Cure, a form of hydrotherapy practiced by Father Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897). The Kneipp Cure rested on five main tenets: hydrotherapy, exercise, nutrition, herbalism, and the balance of mind and body. This study illuminates the reception of the Kneipp Cure in the context of the trilateral relationship among the Kneipp Cure, the Natural Cure Movement in general, and modern medicine. The Natural Cure Movement was ideologically based on naturalism, criticizing industrialization and urbanization. There existed various theories and methods in it, yet they shared holism and vitalism as common factors. The Natural Cure Movement of Germany began in the early 19th century. During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, it became merged in the Lebensreformbewegung (life reform movement) which campaigned for temperance, anti-tobacco, and anti-vaccination. The core of the Natural Cure Movement was to advocate the world view that nature should be respected and to recognize the natural healing powers of sunlight, air, water, etc. Among varied natural therapies, hydrotherapy spread out through the activities of some medical doctors and amateur healers such as Johann Siegmund Hahn and Vincenz Prie βnitz. Later, the supporters of hydrotherapy gathered together under the German Society of Naturopathy. Sebastian Kneipp, one of the forefathers of hydrotherapy, is distinguished from other proponents of natural therapies in two aspects. First, he did not refuse to employ vaccination and medication. Second, he sought to be recognized by the medical world through cooperating with medical doctors who supported his treatment. As a result, the Kneipp cure was able to be gradually accepted into the medical world despite the "quackery" controversy between modern medicine and the Natural Cure Movement. Nowadays, the name of Sebastian Kneipp remains deeply engraved on

Earliest evidence of modern human life history in North African early Homo sapiens.

PubMed

Smith, Tanya M; Tafforeau, Paul; Reid, Donald J; Grün, Rainer; Eggins, Stephen; Boutakiout, Mohamed; Hublin, Jean-Jacques

2007-04-10

Recent developmental studies demonstrate that early fossil hominins possessed shorter growth periods than living humans, implying disparate life histories. Analyses of incremental features in teeth provide an accurate means of assessing the age at death of developing dentitions, facilitating direct comparisons with fossil and modern humans. It is currently unknown when and where the prolonged modern human developmental condition originated. Here, an application of x-ray synchrotron microtomography reveals that an early Homo sapiens juvenile from Morocco dated at 160,000 years before present displays an equivalent degree of tooth development to modern European children at the same age. Crown formation times in the juvenile's macrodont dentition are higher than modern human mean values, whereas root development is accelerated relative to modern humans but is less than living apes and some fossil hominins. The juvenile from Jebel Irhoud is currently the oldest-known member of Homo with a developmental pattern (degree of eruption, developmental stage, and crown formation time) that is more similar to modern H. sapiens than to earlier members of Homo. This study also underscores the continuing importance of North Africa for understanding the origins of human anatomical and behavioral modernity. Corresponding biological and cultural changes may have appeared relatively late in the course of human evolution.

Malocclusion in Early Anatomically Modern Human: A Reflection on the Etiology of Modern Dental Misalignment

PubMed Central

Sarig, Rachel; Slon, Viviane; Abbas, Janan; May, Hila; Shpack, Nir; Vardimon, Alexander Dan; Hershkovitz, Israel

2013-01-01

Malocclusions are common in modern populations. Yet, as the study of occlusion requires an almost intact dentition in both the maxilla and mandible, searching for the ultimate cause of malocclusion is a challenge: relatively little ancient material is available for research on occlusal states. The Qafzeh 9 skull is unique, as its preserved dentition allowed us to investigate the presence and manifestations of malocclusion. The aim of this study was thus to examine the occlusal condition in the Qafzeh 9 specimen in light of modern knowledge regarding the etiology of malocclusion. We revealed a pathologic occlusion in the Qafzeh 9 skull that probably originated in the early developmental stage of the dentition, and was aggravated by forces applied by mastication. When arch continuity is interrupted due to misalignment of teeth as in this case, force transmission is not equal on both sides, causing intra-arch outcomes such as mesialization of the teeth, midline deviation, rotations and the aggravation of crowding. All are evident in the Qafzeh 9 skull: the midline deviates to the left; the incisors rotate mesio-buccally; the left segment is constricted; the left first molar is buccally positioned and the left premolars palatally tilted. The inter-arch evaluation revealed anterior cross bite with functional shift that might affect force transmission and bite force. In conclusion, the findings of the current study suggest that malocclusion of developmental origin was already present in early anatomically modern humans (AMH) (the present case being the oldest known case, dated to ca. 100,000 years); that there is no basis to the notion that early AMH had a better adjustment between teeth and jaw size; and that jaw-teeth size discrepancy could be found in prehistoric populations and is not a recent phenomenon. PMID:24278319

Zilsel's Thesis, Maritime Culture, and Iberian Science in Early Modern Europe.

PubMed

Leitão, Henrique; Sánchez, Antonio

2017-01-01

Zilsel's thesis on the artisanal origins of modern science remains one of the most original proposals about the emergence of scientific modernity. We propose to inspect the scientific developments in Iberia in the early modern period using Zilsel's ideas as a guideline. Our purpose is to show that his ideas illuminate the situation in Iberia but also that the Iberian case is a remarkable illustration of Zilsel's thesis. Furthermore, we argue that Zilsel's thesis is essentially a sociological explanation that cannot be applied to isolated cases; its use implies global events that involve extended societies over large periods of time.

Ancient genomes link early farmers from Atapuerca in Spain to modern-day Basques.

PubMed

Günther, Torsten; Valdiosera, Cristina; Malmström, Helena; Ureña, Irene; Rodriguez-Varela, Ricardo; Sverrisdóttir, Óddny Osk; Daskalaki, Evangelia A; Skoglund, Pontus; Naidoo, Thijessen; Svensson, Emma M; Bermúdez de Castro, José María; Carbonell, Eudald; Dunn, Michael; Storå, Jan; Iriarte, Eneko; Arsuaga, Juan Luis; Carretero, José-Miguel; Götherström, Anders; Jakobsson, Mattias

2015-09-22

The consequences of the Neolithic transition in Europe--one of the most important cultural changes in human prehistory--is a subject of great interest. However, its effect on prehistoric and modern-day people in Iberia, the westernmost frontier of the European continent, remains unresolved. We present, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide sequence data from eight human remains, dated to between 5,500 and 3,500 years before present, excavated in the El Portalón cave at Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. We show that these individuals emerged from the same ancestral gene pool as early farmers in other parts of Europe, suggesting that migration was the dominant mode of transferring farming practices throughout western Eurasia. In contrast to central and northern early European farmers, the Chalcolithic El Portalón individuals additionally mixed with local southwestern hunter-gatherers. The proportion of hunter-gatherer-related admixture into early farmers also increased over the course of two millennia. The Chalcolithic El Portalón individuals showed greatest genetic affinity to modern-day Basques, who have long been considered linguistic and genetic isolates linked to the Mesolithic whereas all other European early farmers show greater genetic similarity to modern-day Sardinians. These genetic links suggest that Basques and their language may be linked with the spread of agriculture during the Neolithic. Furthermore, all modern-day Iberian groups except the Basques display distinct admixture with Caucasus/Central Asian and North African groups, possibly related to historical migration events. The El Portalón genomes uncover important pieces of the demographic history of Iberia and Europe and reveal how prehistoric groups relate to modern-day people.

European early modern humans and the fate of the Neandertals

PubMed Central

Trinkaus, Erik

2007-01-01

A consideration of the morphological aspects of the earliest modern humans in Europe (more than ≈33,000 B.P.) and the subsequent Gravettian human remains indicates that they possess an anatomical pattern congruent with the autapomorphic (derived) morphology of the earliest (Middle Paleolithic) African modern humans. However, they exhibit a variable suite of features that are either distinctive Neandertal traits and/or plesiomorphic (ancestral) aspects that had been lost among the African Middle Paleolithic modern humans. These features include aspects of neurocranial shape, basicranial external morphology, mandibular ramal and symphyseal form, dental morphology and size, and anteroposterior dental proportions, as well as aspects of the clavicles, scapulae, metacarpals, and appendicular proportions. The ubiquitous and variable presence of these morphological features in the European earlier modern human samples can only be parsimoniously explained as a product of modest levels of assimilation of Neandertals into early modern human populations as the latter dispersed across Europe. This interpretation is in agreement with current analyses of recent and past human molecular data. PMID:17452632

Early Modern Humans and Morphological Variation in Southeast Asia: Fossil Evidence from Tam Pa Ling, Laos

PubMed Central

Demeter, Fabrice; Shackelford, Laura; Westaway, Kira; Duringer, Philippe; Bacon, Anne-Marie; Ponche, Jean-Luc; Wu, Xiujie; Sayavongkhamdy, Thongsa; Zhao, Jian-Xin; Barnes, Lani; Boyon, Marc; Sichanthongtip, Phonephanh; Sénégas, Frank; Karpoff, Anne-Marie; Patole-Edoumba, Elise; Coppens, Yves; Braga, José

2015-01-01

Little is known about the timing of modern human emergence and occupation in Eastern Eurasia. However a rapid migration out of Africa into Southeast Asia by at least 60 ka is supported by archaeological, paleogenetic and paleoanthropological data. Recent discoveries in Laos, a modern human cranium (TPL1) from Tam Pa Ling‘s cave, provided the first evidence for the presence of early modern humans in mainland Southeast Asia by 63-46 ka. In the current study, a complete human mandible representing a second individual, TPL 2, is described using discrete traits and geometric morphometrics with an emphasis on determining its population affinity. The TPL2 mandible has a chin and other discrete traits consistent with early modern humans, but it retains a robust lateral corpus and internal corporal morphology typical of archaic humans across the Old World. The mosaic morphology of TPL2 and the fully modern human morphology of TPL1 suggest that a large range of morphological variation was present in early modern human populations residing in the eastern Eurasia by MIS 3. PMID:25849125

Emergency medicine educational resource use in Cape Town: modern or traditional?

PubMed

Kleynhans, A C; Oosthuizen, A H; van Hoving, D J

2017-05-01

The integration of online resources and social media into higher education and continued professional development is an increasingly common phenomenon. To describe the usage of various traditional and modern educational resources by members of the divisions of emergency medicine at Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town. Members affiliated with the divisions during 2014 were invited to participate in an online survey. Participants were given 8 weeks to complete the questionnaire; with weekly reminders until they responded or the deadline expired. Summary statistics were used to describe the variables. Eighty-seven divisional members completed the survey (69.6% response rate). The resources most preferred were textbooks (n=78, 89.7%), open access educational resources (n=77, 88.5%) and journals (n=76, 87.4%). Emergency medicine trainees (n=31, 92.1%) and respondents ≤30 years (n=17, 94.4%) were more inclined to use social media. International Emergency Medicine and Critical Care blogs are frequently being used by 71% of respondents. YouTube (35%) and podcasts (21%) were the most commonly used multimedia resources. Computers (desktop and laptop) were most frequently used to access educational resources except for social media where smart phones were preferred. The use of modern and electronic resources is relatively common, but traditional educational resources are still preferred. This study illustrates an opportunity for greater integration of online resources and social media in educational activities to enhance multimodal and self-directed learning. Specific training in the use of these resources and how to appraise them may further improve their utility. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

‘They are called Imperfect men’: Male Infertility and Sexual Health in Early Modern England

PubMed Central

Evans, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Abstract Scholars of early modern gender and medicine have tended to focus on female infertility. Discussions that have included male reproductive failure have considered sexual ability and impotence, rather than infertility. Nonetheless, fathering children was important to male social standing and the fulfilment of their patriarchal roles. This article will demonstrate that male infertility was not absent from medical literature, but appeared in a variety of settings including tests for infertility, seventeenth-century handbills for treatments, and surgical treatises. It will show that medical and surgical writers accepted that men could be rendered infertile, but still sexually capable, in a variety of ways. Moreover, the article will show that seventeenth-century surgeons expected male readers to be concerned about their reproductive potential and constructed a framework of efficacy based upon their ability to secure on-going fertility. PMID:29731544

Child Rights and Clinical Bioethics: Historical Reflections on Modern Medicine and Ethics.

PubMed

Brosco, Jeffrey P

2016-01-01

Why might pediatric bioethicists in the United States reject the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a framework for resolving ethical issues? The essays in this issue present arguments and counterarguments regarding the usefulness of the CRC in various clinical and research cases. But underlying this debate are two historical factors that help explain the seeming paradox of pediatric bioethicists' arguing against child's rights. First, the profession of clinical bioethics emerged in the 1970s as one component of modern medicine's focus on improving health through the application of technologically sophisticated treatments. The everyday work of U.S. bioethicists thus usually involves emerging technologies or practices in clinical or laboratory settings; the articles of the CRC, in contrast, seem better suited to addressing broad policy issues that affect the social determinants of health. Second, U.S. child health policy veered away from a more communitarian approach in the early 20th century for reasons of demography that were reinforced by ideology and concerns about immigration. The divide between clinical medicine and public health in the United States, as well as the relatively meager social safety net, are not based on a failure to recognize the rights of children. Indeed, there is some historical evidence to suggest that "rights language" has hindered progress on child health and well-being in the United States. In today's political climate, efforts to ensure that governments pledge to treat children in accordance with their status as human beings (a child right's perspective) are less likely to improve child health than robust advocacy on behalf of children's unique needs, especially as novel models of health-care financing emerge.

Assembling the dodo in early modern natural history.

PubMed

Lawrence, Natalie

2015-09-01

This paper explores the assimilation of the flightless dodo into early modern natural history. The dodo was first described by Dutch sailors landing on Mauritius in 1598, and became extinct in the 1680s or 1690s. Despite this brief period of encounter, the bird was a popular subject in natural-history works and a range of other genres. The dodo will be used here as a counterexample to the historical narratives of taxonomic crisis and abrupt shifts in natural history caused by exotic creatures coming to Europe. Though this bird had a bizarre form, early modern naturalists integrated the dodo and other flightless birds through several levels of conceptual categorization, including the geographical, morphological and symbolic. Naturalists such as Charles L'Ecluse produced a set of typical descriptive tropes that helped make up the European dodo. These long-lived images were used for a variety of symbolic purposes, demonstrated by the depiction of the Dutch East India enterprise in Willem Piso's 1658 publication. The case of the dodo shows that, far from there being a dramatic shift away from emblematics in the seventeenth century, the implicit symbolic roles attributed to exotic beasts by naturalists constructing them from scant information and specimens remained integral to natural history.

Sex differences of dental pathology in early modern samurai and commoners at Kokura in Japan.

PubMed

Oyamada, Joichi; Kitagawa, Yoshikazu; Hara, Masahito; Sakamoto, Junya; Matsushita, Takayuki; Tsurumoto, Toshiyuki; Manabe, Yoshitaka

2017-07-01

So-called "Ohaguro", teeth blackening, in the married females was a general custom regardless of class in the early modern period. As a result, Ohaguro was thought to have enhanced the acid resistance of tooth substance and tightened gingiva and prevented tooth morbidity due to periodontal disease. For investigation into the influence of Ohaguro, the skeletal remains of early modern samurai and commoners at Kokura were examined for differences in the dental pathology based on sex. Though females from archeological sites have significantly more carious teeth and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) than males in the previous studies, the prevalence of caries and AMTL in males was higher than in females among the early modern samurai and commoners in Kokura. The efficacies of Ohaguro may influence the good dental health of females. On the other hand, as females were considered inferior to males under the feudal system in Japan, males, including children, might tend to consume more nutritious foods compared to females. However, those foods are certainly not better with regard to dental health, since those foods are more highly cariogenic. These factors may have caused higher caries and AMTL prevalence among males compared to females in early modern Kokura.

The early Upper Paleolithic human skeleton from the Abrigo do Lagar Velho (Portugal) and modern human emergence in Iberia

PubMed Central

Duarte, Cidália; Maurício, João; Pettitt, Paul B.; Souto, Pedro; Trinkaus, Erik; van der Plicht, Hans; Zilhão, João

1999-01-01

The discovery of an early Upper Paleolithic human burial at the Abrigo do Lagar Velho, Portugal, has provided evidence of early modern humans from southern Iberia. The remains, the largely complete skeleton of a ≈4-year-old child buried with pierced shell and red ochre, is dated to ca. 24,500 years B.P. The cranium, mandible, dentition, and postcrania present a mosaic of European early modern human and Neandertal features. The temporal bone has an intermediate-sized juxtamastoid eminence. The mandibular mentum osseum and the dental size and proportions, supported by mandibular ramal features, radial tuberosity orientation, and diaphyseal curvature, as well as the pubic proportions align the skeleton with early modern humans. Body proportions, reflected in femorotibial lengths and diaphyseal robusticity plus tibial condylar displacement, as well as mandibular symphyseal retreat and thoracohumeral muscle insertions, align the skeleton with the Neandertals. This morphological mosaic indicates admixture between regional Neandertals and early modern humans dispersing into southern Iberia. It establishes the complexities of the Late Pleistocene emergence of modern humans and refutes strict replacement models of modern human origins. PMID:10377462

What is “colonial” about medieval colonial medicine? Iberian health in global context

PubMed Central

McCleery, Iona

2015-01-01

Colonial medicine is a thriving field of study in the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century medicine. Medicine can be used as a lens to view colonialism in action and as a way to critique colonialism. This article argues that key debates and ideas from that modern field can fruitfully be applied to the Middle Ages, especially for the early empires of Spain and Portugal (mid-fourteenth to mid-sixteenth centuries). The article identifies key modern debates, explores approaches to colonization and colonialism in the Middle Ages and discusses how medieval and modern medicine and healthcare could be compared using colonial and postcolonial discourses. The article ends with three case studies of healthcare encounters in Madeira, Granada and Hispaniola at the end of the fifteenth century. PMID:26550030

Ancient gene flow from early modern humans into Eastern Neanderthals

PubMed Central

Kuhlwilm, Martin; Gronau, Ilan; Hubisz, Melissa J.; de Filippo, Cesare; Prado-Martinez, Javier; Kircher, Martin; Fu, Qiaomei; Burbano, Hernán A.; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; de la Rasilla, Marco; Rosas, Antonio; Rudan, Pavao; Brajkovic, Dejana; Kucan, Željko; Gušic, Ivan; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Andrés, Aida M.; Viola, Bence; Pääbo, Svante; Meyer, Matthias; Siepel, Adam; Castellano, Sergi

2016-01-01

It has been shown that Neanderthals contributed genetically to modern humans outside Africa 47,000–65,000 years ago. Here, we analyze the genomes of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan from the Altai Mountains in Siberia together with the sequences of chromosome 21 of two Neanderthals from Spain and Croatia. We find that a population that diverged early from other modern humans in Africa contributed genetically to the ancestors of Neanderthals from the Altai Mountains roughly 100,000 years ago. By contrast, we do not detect such a genetic contribution in the Denisovan or the two European Neanderthals. We conclude that in addition to later interbreeding events, the ancestors of Neanderthals from the Altai Mountains and of modern humans met and interbred, possibly in the Near East, many thousands of years earlier than previously reported. PMID:26886800

Laws, leaders, and legends of the modern National Library of Medicine

PubMed Central

Smith, Kent A.

2008-01-01

Purpose: The paper is an expanded version of the 2007 Joseph Leiter National Library of Medicine (NLM)/Medical Library Association Lecture presented at MLA ‘07, the Medical Library Association annual meeting in Philadelphia in May 2007. It presents an historical accounting of four major pieces of legislation, beginning with the NLM Act of 1956 up through the creation of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Brief Description: The transition from the United States Armed Forces Medical Library to the United States National Library of Medicine in 1956 was a major turning point in NLM's history, scope, and direction. The succeeding landmark legislative achievements—namely, the 1965 Medical Library Assistance Act, the 1968 Joint Resolution forming the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, and the 1988 authorization for the National Center for Biotechnology Information— transformed the library into a major biomedical communications institution and a leader and supporter of an effective national network of libraries of medicine. The leaders of the library and its major advocates—including Dr. Michael DeBakey, Senator Lister Hill, and Senator Claude Pepper—together contributed to the creation of the modern NLM. PMID:18379667

Early modern human lithic technology from Jerimalai, East Timor.

PubMed

Marwick, Ben; Clarkson, Chris; O'Connor, Sue; Collins, Sophie

2016-12-01

Jerimalai is a rock shelter in East Timor with cultural remains dated to 42,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest known sites of modern human activity in island Southeast Asia. It has special global significance for its record of early pelagic fishing and ancient shell fish hooks. It is also of regional significance for its early occupation and comparatively large assemblage of Pleistocene stone artefacts. Three major findings arise from our study of the stone artefacts. First, there is little change in lithic technology over the 42,000 year sequence, with the most noticeable change being the addition of new artefact types and raw materials in the mid-Holocene. Second, the assemblage is dominated by small chert cores and implements rather than pebble tools and choppers, a pattern we argue pattern, we argue, that is common in island SE Asian sites as opposed to mainland SE Asian sites. Third, the Jerimalai assemblage bears a striking resemblance to the assemblage from Liang Bua, argued by the Liang Bua excavation team to be associated with Homo floresiensis. We argue that the near proximity of these two islands along the Indonesian island chain (c.100 km apart), the long antiquity of modern human occupation in the region (as documented at Jerimalai), and the strong resemblance of distinctive flake stone technologies seen at both sites, raises the intriguing possibility that both the Liang Bua and Jerimalai assemblages were created by modern humans. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"Old Poems Have Heart": Teenage Students Reading Early Modern Poetry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naylor, Amanda

2013-01-01

The proposals for the revised National Curriculum in English suggest limiting the pre-twentieth century poetry that GCSE pupils read to "representative Romantic poetry" (Department for Education [DFE], 2013, p. 4). This paper argues that poetry of the early modern period is challenging and enriching study for adolescent pupils and that…

Acupuncture and Its Role in Modern Medicine

PubMed Central

Lewin, Andrew J.

1974-01-01

Although both the philosophic and physiologic basis of acupuncture seems fanciful to Western medical thinking, the results obtained in the treatment of certain disease states cannot be lightly dismissed. Its use in the induction of surgical analgesia may have immediate application for Western Medicine. Its mechanism of action is a complete enigma, but information accumulated from research in hypnosis, visceral learning and, most important, the physiology of pain perception may contain clues to the pathophysiologic principles involved. The fact that many disorders for which acupuncture therapy is useful are thought to have a large psychosomatic component only serves to reinforce the Eastern concept of inseparability of mind and body. A great deal of attention is being given to this concept in the current medical literature. In order to define the role of acupuncture in modern medical practice, a more scientific approach in both clinical and basic research is necessary. If acupuncture can be proved safe and efficacious in the treatment of certain diseases, lack of knowledge regarding its mechanism of action should not delay its incorporation into our medical armamentarium. PMID:4590887

The Corporeality of Learning: Confucian Education in Early Modern Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsujimoto, Masashi

2016-01-01

The intellectual foundation of early modern Japan was provided by Confucianism--a system of knowledge set forth in Chinese classical writings. In order to gain access to this knowledge, the Japanese applied reading markers to modify the original Chinese to fit the peculiarities of Japanese grammar and pronunciation. Confucian education started by…

All that glitters: fool's gold in the early-modern era.

PubMed

Roos, Anna Marie

2008-12-01

Natural philosophers of the early-modern period perceived fool's gold or iron pyrites as a substance required for the formation of metals, and chemists such as Johann Glauber speculated the vitriol produced from pyrites was the source of the legendary philosopher's stone. The sulphurous exhalations of fool's gold were also thought by members of the early Royal Society to be the basis of a variety of meteorological, geological and medical effects, including the production of thunder, lightning, earthquakes and volcanoes, fossilisation and petrifaction, as well as the principal cause of bladder and gallstones.

[Ttextual research of Cannabis sativa varieties and medicinal part].

PubMed

Wei, Yingfang; Wang, Huadong; Guo, Shanshan; Yan, Jie; Long, Fei

2010-07-01

To determine the medicinal part and varieties of Cannabis Sativa through herbal textual research to Provide bibliographic reference for clinical application. Herbal textual research of C. Sativa from ancient herbal works and modern data analysis. Through the herbal textual research, the plant of the C. sativa, for Fructus Cannabis used now is identical with that described in ancient herbal literatures. People did not make a sharp distinction on medicinal part of C. sativa in the early stage literatures, female inflorescence and unripe fruit, fruit and kernel of seed were all used. Since Taohongjing realized the toxicity ofpericarp, all the herbal and prescription works indicate that the pericarp shall be removed before usage and only the kernel can be used. However, in modem literatures, both fruit and kernel can be used as medicinal part. The plants for Fructus Cannabis described in modern and ancient literatures are identical. The base of the original plant is the same either in ancient or modern. And the toxicity of the fruit is more than that of the kernel. The kernel is the exact medicinal part of C. Sativa.

The women of the family? Speculations around early modern British physicians.

PubMed

Pelling, M

1995-12-01

In the extensively explored areas of professionalization, domestic ideology, and the relationships between women and medicine, the debate on the British case has given little consideration to issues of identity arising for the male medical practitioner as a result of family life. For the early modern period, these issues can be seen as among a broad-ranging set of problems posed by the female gender connotations of the medical role. Such problems were most pronounced for the élite physicians who sought membership of the London College of Physicians. Their attitudes and dilemmas are important because of their influence, over the long term, on the criteria for professionalization. Using biographical data, a contrast can be shown between the dynastic ideals of physicians, which stressed the male line, and the high incidence among such physicians of celibacy, childlessness, and small families. Families of origin of physicians, on the other hand, tended to be large. Assumptions about the role of women in medical care, especially in clerical and gentry families, entail a recognition of the possible influence of female relatives on the vocations of male physicians. Given the low status of women's work, physicians developed ambivalences which affected the construction of their identities, their families, and the passing on of their skills.

Prediction: The Modern-Day Sport-Science and Sports-Medicine "Quest for the Holy Grail".

PubMed

McCall, Alan; Fanchini, Maurizio; Coutts, Aaron J

2017-05-01

In high-performance sport, science and medicine practitioners employ a variety of physical and psychological tests, training and match monitoring, and injury-screening tools for a variety of reasons, mainly to predict performance, identify talented individuals, and flag when an injury will occur. The ability to "predict" outcomes such as performance, talent, or injury is arguably sport science and medicine's modern-day equivalent of the "Quest for the Holy Grail." The purpose of this invited commentary is to highlight the common misinterpretation of studies investigating association to those actually analyzing prediction and to provide practitioners with simple recommendations to quickly distinguish between methods pertaining to association and those of prediction.

Generalism in modern subspecializing medicine.

PubMed

Levi, Marcel

2017-04-01

Medicine is currently developing at a breath holding pace. Diseases and medical conditions for which no remedy was available only a few years ago, can now be treated or even completely cured. However, this advancement of medicine comes with increasing complexity in many situations. This article discusses how we have to adapt our health care organization and our work as physicians to better cope with the new challenges of the enormous advancement of medicine, with a specific focus on internal medicine. If we want our patients to obtain maximal benefit of the progress in biomedical knowledge and the ensuing improved clinical outcomes in many areas we need to further focus and concentrate complex medical care in a team-based approach. In addition, we need to match increasing subspecialization with an attitude of generalism, both in our clinical work and in our teaching and training programs. Copyright © 2017 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of diet-derived taste active components for clinical nutrition: perspectives from ancient Ayurvedic medical science, space medicine, and modern clinical nutrition.

PubMed

Kulkarni, Anil D; Sundaresan, Alamelu; Rashid, Muhammad J; Yamamoto, Shigeru; Karkow, Francisco

2014-01-01

The principal objective of this paper is to demonstrate the role of taste and flavor in health from the ancient science of Ayurveda to modern medicine; specifically their mechanisms and roles in space medicine and their clinical relevance in modern heath care. It also describes the brief history of the use of the monosodium glutamate or flavor enhancers ("Umami substance") that improve the quality of food intake by stimulating chemosensory perception. In addition, the dietary nucleotides are known to be the components of "Umami substance" and the benefit of their use has been proposed in various types of patients with cancer, radiation therapy, organ transplantation, and for application in space medicine.

Herbal Medicines: challenges in the modern world. Part 5. status and current directions of complementary and alternative herbal medicine worldwide.

PubMed

Enioutina, Elena Yu; Salis, Emma R; Job, Kathleen M; Gubarev, Michael I; Krepkova, Lubov V; Sherwin, Catherine M T

2017-03-01

Herbal medicine (HM) use is growing worldwide. Single herb preparations, ethnic and modern HM formulations are widely used as adjunct therapies or to improve consumer wellbeing. Areas covered: This final part in the publication series summarizes common tendencies in HM use as adjunct or alternative medicine, education of healthcare professionals and consumers, current and proposed guidelines regulating of production. We discuss potential HM-HM and HM-drug interactions that could lead to severe adverse events in situations where HMs are taken without proper medical professional oversight. Expert commentary: A number of serious problems have arisen with the steady global increase in HM use. HM interaction with conventional drugs (CD) may result in inadequate dosing of CD or adverse reactions; HM-HM interaction within herbal supplements could lead to toxicity of formulations. Inadequate education of clinicians and patients regarding medicinal properties of HMs must be addressed regionally and globally to ensure consumer safety.

Emergency medicine in modern Europe.

PubMed

Fleischmann, Thomas; Fulde, Gordian

2007-08-01

Emergency medicine in the highly advanced world is traditionally performed in two different ways. The first is the well-known Anglo-American system with skilled EDs, and a pre-hospital emergency medical service utilizing paramedics. The second is the so-called Franco-German system, with a highly developed pre-hospital emergency physician service, but only a basic organization of hospital-based emergency medicine. This gap is now closing fast because of the rapid advancement of hospital-based emergency medicine in Europe. Four criteria might be used to measure this: the recognition as a specialty, the specialist training programme, the professional organization of emergency physicians and the presence of academic centres in Europe. Eleven of the 27 European countries recognize hospital-based emergency medicine as a specialty already. These include Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Other nations are striving to do so, for example Sweden, France, Germany and Greece. There is no doubt that emergency medicine is gaining momentum and other countries will follow. Training for the specialty of emergency medicine is advanced already. Several curricula presently exist in the respective European countries. A task force, governed by the European Society for Emergency Medicine has been working hard to create a model curriculum for all of Europe, which is expected to be published in 2007. This comprises a 5-year specialty training, with three of them spent in an ED. The curriculum follows a symptom-oriented approach to emergency medicine, and includes a skilled description of the key competencies of the future trained emergency physicians. Given the century-long history of the pre-hospital emergency physician service in some European countries, a number of professional bodies exist representing pre-hospital emergency doctors. Within the last few years, ED physicians followed suit forming

[Relationships between psychosomatics and somatopsychiatry in modern medicine].

PubMed

Paleev, N R; Krasnov, V N

2009-01-01

Progress in many clinical disciplines and neurobiology for the last decades give reason to reconsider some fundamental provisions of psychosomatic medicine and its relationships with somatopsychiatry. The universally accepted biopsychosocial model of the disease as proposed by V.N.Bekhterev implies involvement of psychological and psychosocial factors at early stages of many forms of somatic pathology. Intricate interplay between somatic and psychic components is exemplified by correlation of cardiovascular disorders and depression. Depression is diagnosed in 17-27% of the patients with coronary heart disease undergoing coronary angiography and in 16-45% of the post-infarction cases. Frequency of depression/hypertensive disease comorbidity is estimated at 30%. Similarity of pathogenetic mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases and depressive states is due to stress as their common provoking factor. Another important aspect of the relationship between medicine and psychiatry (disregarded until recently) is high frequency of somatic disorders in psychiatric patients. Cooperation of psychiatrists and representatives of different medical disciplines in such areas as research and practical health care is needed to address this problem.

[Medicine 4.0, the importance of electronics, information technology and microsystems in modern medicine - the case of customized chemotherapy].

PubMed

Wolf, Bernhard; Scholze, Christian

2018-05-01

A paradigm shift seems to emerge, not only in industrial engineering ("Industry 4.0") but also in medicine: we are on the threshold to "Medicine 4.0". For many years, molecular biology had a leading position in life sciences, but today scientists start realizing that microelectronic systems, due to an increasing miniaturization, are reaching the scale of human cells and consequently can be used for therapeutic approaches. This article shows how microelectronics can play a major role in modern medicine, through the example of customized chemotherapy. This consists in determining, before the beginning of the treatment, what kind of chemotherapy or drug combination will be most effective for a given patient, and at which dose. This of course allows the lessening of a patient burden during treatment, but also to be more efficient and, in the long run, to save money. In order to do this, we have developed the Intelligent Microplate Reader (IMR), which allows us to accurately test different drugs on living cells by mimicking part of their usual environment. © 2018 médecine/sciences – Inserm.

The Commerce of Utility: Teaching Mathematical Geography in Early Modern England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cormack, Lesley B.

2006-01-01

The teaching and learning of geographical and mathematical knowledge in early modern England was a complex interaction among scholars, practitioners, merchants, and gentry. Each group had different values and goals associated with geographical knowledge and therefore different educational venues and different topics to be investigated. This paper…

A Fruitful Exchange/Conflict: Engineers and Mathematicians in Early Modern Italy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maffioli, Cesare S.

2013-01-01

Exchanges of learning and controversies between engineers and mathematicians were important factors in the development of early modern science. This theme is discussed by focusing, first, on architectural and mathematical dynamism in mid 16th-century Milan. While some engineers-architects referred to Euclid and Vitruvius for improving their…

Has evidence-based medicine ever been modern? A Latour-inspired understanding of a changing EBM.

PubMed

Wieringa, Sietse; Engebretsen, Eivind; Heggen, Kristin; Greenhalgh, Trish

2017-10-01

Evidence-based health care (EBHC), previously evidence-based medicine (EBM), is considered by many to have modernized health care and brought it from an authority-based past to a more rationalist, scientific grounding. But recent concerns and criticisms pose serious challenges and urge us to look at the fundamentals of a changing EBHC. In this paper, we present French philosopher Bruno Latour's vision on modernity as a framework to discuss current changes in the discourse on EBHC/EBM. Drawing on Latour's work, we argue that the early EBM movement had a strong modernist agenda with an aim to "purify" clinical reality into a dichotomy of objective "evidence" from nature and subjective "preferences" from human society and culture. However, we argue that this shift has proved impossible to achieve in reality. Several recent developments appear to point to a demise of purified evidence in the EBHC discourse and a growing recognition-albeit implicit and undertheorized-that evidence in clinical decision making is relentlessly situated and contextual. The unique, individual patient, not abstracted truths from distant research studies, must be the starting point for clinical practice. It follows that the EBHC community needs to reconsider the assumption that science should be abstracted from culture and acknowledge that knowledge from human culture and nature both need translation and interpretation. The implications for clinical reasoning are far reaching. We offer some preliminary principles for conceptualizing EBHC as a "situated practice" rather than as a sequence of research-driven abstract decisions. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Has evidence‐based medicine ever been modern? A Latour‐inspired understanding of a changing EBM

PubMed Central

Engebretsen, Eivind; Heggen, Kristin; Greenhalgh, Trish

2017-01-01

Abstract Evidence‐based health care (EBHC), previously evidence‐based medicine (EBM), is considered by many to have modernized health care and brought it from an authority‐based past to a more rationalist, scientific grounding. But recent concerns and criticisms pose serious challenges and urge us to look at the fundamentals of a changing EBHC. In this paper, we present French philosopher Bruno Latour's vision on modernity as a framework to discuss current changes in the discourse on EBHC/EBM. Drawing on Latour's work, we argue that the early EBM movement had a strong modernist agenda with an aim to “purify” clinical reality into a dichotomy of objective “evidence” from nature and subjective “preferences” from human society and culture. However, we argue that this shift has proved impossible to achieve in reality. Several recent developments appear to point to a demise of purified evidence in the EBHC discourse and a growing recognition—albeit implicit and undertheorized—that evidence in clinical decision making is relentlessly situated and contextual. The unique, individual patient, not abstracted truths from distant research studies, must be the starting point for clinical practice. It follows that the EBHC community needs to reconsider the assumption that science should be abstracted from culture and acknowledge that knowledge from human culture and nature both need translation and interpretation. The implications for clinical reasoning are far reaching. We offer some preliminary principles for conceptualizing EBHC as a “situated practice” rather than as a sequence of research‐driven abstract decisions. PMID:28508440

Trading Zones in Early Modern Europe.

PubMed

Long, Pamela O

2015-12-01

This essay adopts the concept of trading zones first developed for the history of science by Peter Galison and redefines it for the early modern period. The term "trading zones" is used to mean arenas in which substantive and reciprocal communication occurred between individuals who were artisanally trained and learned (university-trained) individuals. Such trading zones proliferated in the sixteenth century. They tended to arise in certain kinds of places and not in others, but their existence must be determined empirically. The author's work on trading zones differs from the ideas of Edgar Zilsel, who emphasized the influence of artisans on the scientific revolution. In contrast, in this essay, the mutual influence of artisans and the learned on each other is stressed, and translation is used as a modality that was important to communication within trading zones.

Religion in the National Historical Narrative of the Early Modern Times in Contemporary Ukrainian Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shevchenko, Tetiana

2015-01-01

This article deals with religious discourse in modern history school textbooks in Ukraine that cover early modern times in Ukrainian history. It analyzes the place of religious discourse within national discourse, the correlation between local Ukrainian religious and more general discourse, and the representation of the relationships between…

Modernizing the World Health Organization List of Essential Medicines for Preventing and Controlling Cardiovascular Diseases.

PubMed

Kishore, Sandeep P; Blank, Evan; Heller, David J; Patel, Amisha; Peters, Alexander; Price, Matthew; Vidula, Mahesh; Fuster, Valentin; Onuma, Oyere; Huffman, Mark D; Vedanthan, Rajesh

2018-02-06

The World Health Organization (WHO) Model List of Essential Medicines (EML) is a key tool for improving global access to medicines for all conditions, including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The WHO EML is used by member states to determine their national essential medicine lists and policies and to guide procurement of medicines in the public sector. Here, we describe our efforts to modernize the EML for global CVD prevention and control. We review the recent history of applications to add, delete, and change indications for CVD medicines, with the aim of aligning the list with contemporary clinical practice guidelines. We have identified 4 issues that affect decisions for the EML and may strengthen future applications: 1) cost and cost-effectiveness; 2) presence in clinical practice guidelines; 3) feedback loops; and 4) community engagement. We share our lessons to stimulate others in the global CVD community to embark on similar efforts. Copyright © 2018 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Modernization, medicine, disease, and public health in Caracas (1870-1877)].

PubMed

Colmenares, Germán Yépez

2002-01-01

Between 1870 and 1877, under German Antonio Guzmán Blanco's first period of government, a set of measures was inaugurated with the intent of modernizing Venezuelan society, government, and the State. The city of Caracus was a prime setting in which to undertake a series of reformist works and measures meant to transform the capital into an urban space boasting features similar to Europe's major cities. Standing among the years' main developments are the pactice and teaching of medicine, measures seeking to improve public health conditions, and the express desire to use legal norms and resolutions to attack the principle diseases afflicting Caracas residents. The government and its circle of professional elites sought to set the stage to attract capital and European immigrants.

Casebooks in Early Modern England:

PubMed Central

Kassell, Lauren

2014-01-01

summary Casebooks are the richest sources that we have for encounters between early modern medical practitioners and their patients. This article compares astrological and medical records across two centuries, focused on England, and charts developments in the ways in which practitioners kept records and reflected on their practices. Astrologers had a long history of working from particular moments, stellar configurations, and events to general rules. These practices required systematic notation. Physicians increasingly modeled themselves on Hippocrates, recording details of cases as the basis for reasoned expositions of the histories of disease. Medical records, as other scholars have demonstrated, shaped the production of medical knowledge. Instead, this article focuses on the nature of casebooks as artifacts of the medical encounter. It establishes that casebooks were serial records of practice, akin to diaries, testimonials, and registers; identifies extant English casebooks and the practices that led to their production and preservation; and concludes that the processes of writing, ordering, and preserving medical records are as important for understanding the medical encounter as the records themselves. PMID:25557513

Avicenna's Canon of Medicine and modern urology: part II: bladder calculi.

PubMed

Madineh, Sayed Mohammad Ali

2009-01-01

In the previous issue of the Urology Journal, a comparison of Avicenna's Canon of Medicine with modern urologic findings was done in part I of this article, addressing bladder anatomy and physiology and bladder calculi. In part II of this review, the remaining chapters of the Canon of Medicine on bladder calculi are reviewed. Avicenna points to perineal urethrostomy (perineostomy), which is today performed as the last therapeutic line or as a temporary remedy before surgical treatment. He also describes surgery via transperineal route and warns the surgeon of the proximity of vasa deferentia, prostate gland, and neurovascular bundle and their exposure in this position. Usage of grasping forceps for removal of bladder calculus and emphasis on removing all calculus fragments are the interesting points of this chapter. Avicenna explains a technique similar to the use of a Babcock forceps for prevention of calculus migration. Complications of bladder calculus surgery and cystostomy are also addressed with scientific precision in the Canon. It is noteworthy that 8 centuries before Fournier described necrotizing fasciitis in male genitalia, Avicenna had described Fournier gangrene in his book.

Alchemical poetry in medieval and early modern Europe: a preliminary survey and synthesis. Part II - Synthesis.

PubMed

Kahn, Didier

2011-03-01

This article provides a preliminary description of medieval and early modern alchemical poetry composed in Latin and in the principal vernacular languages of western Europe. It aims to distinguish the various genres in which this poetry flourished, and to identify the most representative aspects of each cultural epoch by considering the medieval and early modern periods in turn. Such a distinction (always somewhat artificial) between two broad historical periods may be justified by the appearance of new cultural phenomena that profoundly modified the character of early modern alchemical poetry: the ever-increasing importance of the prisca theologia, the alchemical interpretation of ancient mythology, and the rise of neo-Latin humanist poetry. Although early modern alchemy was marked by the appearance of new doctrines (notably the alchemical spiritus mundi and Paracelsianism), alchemical poetry was only superficially modified by criteria of a scientific nature, which therefore appear to be of lesser importance. This study falls into two parts. Part I provides a descriptive survey of extant poetry, and in Part II the results of the survey are analysed in order to highlight such distinctive features as the function of alchemical poetry, the influence of the book market on its evolution, its doctrinal content, and the question of whether any theory of alchemical poetry ever emerged. Part II is accompanied by an index of the authors and works cited in both parts.

Herbal medicines: challenges in the modern world. Part 2. European Union and Russia.

PubMed

Sammons, Helen M; Gubarev, Michael I; Krepkova, Lubov V; Bortnikova, Valentina V; Corrick, Fenella; Job, Kathleen M; Sherwin, Catherine Mt; Enioutina, Elena Y

2016-08-01

Herbal medicines (HMs) have been well known to people of the European Union (EU) and Russia for centuries. Currently, Western HMs can be classified into two categories, plant-derived conventional medicines and dietary supplements. Interest to HMs has grown rapidly in all countries during the past two decades. The main goal of this review article is to present the history of HMs in the EU and Russia, forms of modern HMs, including Oriental Medicines that are popular among consumers of both countries. Additional discussion points comprise safety and adulteration issues associated with HMs, including regulatory changes and new legislative measures undertaken by the authorities. Materials available from legislative and governmental websites, PubMed and news media were used. Expert commentary: Due to cultural diversities in the EU and Russia, traditional HMs of other regions, particularly Chinese Traditional and Ayurvedic medicines, are also popular. Recently, dietary supplements containing multiple herbal and other natural products have flooded the EU and Russian markets. Pharmacovigilance in these markets is challenging in terms of establishing quality and safety of ingredients, determining efficacy, and defining risks of herb-herb and herb-drug interactions. Both the EU and Russia have introduced new legislation aimed to overcome these deficiencies.

Medicine and psychiatry in Western culture: Ancient Greek myths and modern prejudices

PubMed Central

Fornaro, Michele; Clementi, Nicoletta; Fornaro, Pantaleo

2009-01-01

The origins of Western culture extensively relate to Ancient Greek culture. While many ancient cultures have contributed to our current knowledge about medicine and the origins of psychiatry, the Ancient Greeks were among the best observers of feelings and moods patients expressed towards medicine and toward what today is referred to as 'psychopathology'. Myths and religious references were used to explain what was otherwise impossible to understand or be easily communicated. Most ancient myths focus on ambiguous feelings patients may have had towards drugs, especially psychotropic ones. Interestingly, such prejudices are common even today. Recalling ancient findings and descriptions made using myths could represent a valuable knowledge base for modern physicians, especially for psychiatrists and their patients, with the aim of better understanding each other and therefore achieving a better clinical outcome. This paper explores many human aspects and feelings towards doctors and their cures, referring to ancient myths and focusing on the perception of mental illness. PMID:19811642

Modern mammal origins: evolutionary grades in the Early Cretaceous of North America.

PubMed

Jacobs, L L; Winkler, D A; Murry, P A

1989-07-01

Major groups of modern mammals have their origins in the Mesozoic Era, yet the mammalian fossil record is generally poor for that time interval. Fundamental morphological changes that led to modern mammals are often represented by small samples of isolated teeth. Fortunately, functional wear facets on teeth allow prediction of the morphology of occluding teeth that may be unrepresented by fossils. A major step in mammalian evolution occurred in the Early Cretaceous with the evolution of tribosphenic molars, which characterize marsupials and placentals, the two most abundant and diverse extant groups of mammals. A tooth from the Early Cretaceous (110 million years before present) of Texas tests previous predictions (based on lower molars) of the morphology of upper molars in early tribosphenic dentitions. The lingual cusp (protocone) is primitively without shear facets, as expected, but the cheek side of the tooth is derived (advanced) in having distinctive cusps along the margin. The tooth, although distressingly inadequate to define many features of the organism, demonstrates unexpected morphological diversity at a strategic stage of mammalian evolution and falsifies previous claims of the earliest occurrence of true marsupials.

Modern mammal origins: evolutionary grades in the Early Cretaceous of North America.

PubMed Central

Jacobs, L L; Winkler, D A; Murry, P A

1989-01-01

Major groups of modern mammals have their origins in the Mesozoic Era, yet the mammalian fossil record is generally poor for that time interval. Fundamental morphological changes that led to modern mammals are often represented by small samples of isolated teeth. Fortunately, functional wear facets on teeth allow prediction of the morphology of occluding teeth that may be unrepresented by fossils. A major step in mammalian evolution occurred in the Early Cretaceous with the evolution of tribosphenic molars, which characterize marsupials and placentals, the two most abundant and diverse extant groups of mammals. A tooth from the Early Cretaceous (110 million years before present) of Texas tests previous predictions (based on lower molars) of the morphology of upper molars in early tribosphenic dentitions. The lingual cusp (protocone) is primitively without shear facets, as expected, but the cheek side of the tooth is derived (advanced) in having distinctive cusps along the margin. The tooth, although distressingly inadequate to define many features of the organism, demonstrates unexpected morphological diversity at a strategic stage of mammalian evolution and falsifies previous claims of the earliest occurrence of true marsupials. Images PMID:2740336

Medicine and psychiatry in Western culture: among Ancient Greek myths and modern prejudices.

PubMed

Fornaro, Michele; Clementi, Nicoletta; Fornaro, Pantaleo

2009-01-01

While many ancient cultures contributed to our current knowledge about medicine and psychiatry origins, Ancient Greeks were among the best observers of feelings and moods patients could express toward medicine and toward what today referred as "psychopathology". Myths and religious references were used to explain what elsewhere impossible to understand or easily communicated. Most of ancient myths focus on ambiguous feelings patients could have towards drugs, especially psychotropic ones. Interestingly, such prejudices are common yet today. Recalling ancient findings and descriptions made using myths, should represent a valuable knowledge for modern physicians, especially for psychiatrists, and their patients, with the aim of better understanding each other and therefore achieving a better clinical outcome. The paper explores many human aspects and feelings toward doctors and their cures, referring to ancient myths, focusing on the perception of mental illness.

Formalization and Interaction: Toward a Comprehensive History of Technology-Related Knowledge in Early Modern Europe.

PubMed

Popplow, Marcus

2015-12-01

Recent critical approaches to what has conventionally been described as "scientific" and "technical" knowledge in early modern Europe have provided a wealth of new insights. So far, the various analytical concepts suggested by these studies have not yet been comprehensively discussed. The present essay argues that such comprehensive approaches might prove of special value for long-term and cross-cultural reflections on technology-related knowledge. As heuristic tools, the notions of "formalization" and "interaction" are proposed as part of alternative narratives to those highlighting the emergence of "science" as the most relevant development for technology-related knowledge in early modern Europe.

Teaching Petrarchan and Anti-Petrarchan Discourses in Early Modern English Lyrics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ribes, Purificación

2012-01-01

The aim of the present article is to help students realize that Petrarchism has been an influential source of inspiration for Early Modern English lyrics. Its topics and conventions have lent themselves to a wide variety of appropriations which the present selection of texts for analysis tries to illustrate. A few telling examples from Spenser,…

Plantago major in Traditional Persian Medicine and modern phytotherapy: a narrative review.

PubMed

Najafian, Younes; Hamedi, Shokouh Sadat; Farshchi, Masoumeh Kaboli; Feyzabadi, Zohre

2018-02-01

Plantago major has been used widely since ancient times, to manage a wide range of diseases including constipation, coughs and wounds. The aim of this study is to review the traditional application, botanical characterization, pharmacological activities, phytochemistry effects and toxicity of Plantago major. In this review study, medicinal properties of Plantago major are collected from credible pharmacopeias, textbooks of traditional Persian medicine (TPM) belonging to the 10-18th century AD, such as "The Canon of Medicine", "Makhzan-Al- Advia" and so on. Moreover, electronic databases including Scopus, Medline and Web of science were explored for this purpose. Plantago major has been prescribed in various forms such as roasted seeds, decoction, syrup, liniment, gargle, rectal enema, vaginal suppository, eye and nasal drop for each illness by TPM scholars. Some of its traditional properties including wound healing, antipyretic, antitussive, anti-infective, anti-hemorrhagic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, laxative, astringent and hemostatic have been confirmed in recent researches. Phytochemical investigations showed that Plantago major contains volatile compounds, triterpenoids, phenolic acids and flavonoids. Modern pharmacological studies have proven some of the traditional applications of Plantago major. Nevertheless, more investigations are required on this plant, because it has the potential to be used to produce various natural medications.

Gnotobiology in modern medicine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Podoprigora, G. I.

1980-01-01

A review is given of currently accepted theories and applications of gnotobiology. A brief history of gnotobiology is supplied. Problems involved in creating germ-free gnotobiota and the use of these animals in experimental biology are cited. Examples of how gnotobiology is used in modern medical practice illustrate the future prospects for this area of science.

[Nature as magician: on the Paracelsus heritage of modern medicine].

PubMed

Heinz, Schott

2010-01-01

The concept of "natural magic" (magia naturalis) was very important for medicine and natural science of the early modem period. It stressed a new scientific world view (Weltanschauung) moving away from "supernatural" (superstitious) perceptions and trying to explain all spectacular marvels as results of natural processes. So, Nature (natura), often personified as a female figure, was considered as a (female) magician. Physicians and naturalists should learn from her art to become able to imitate and accomplish her work. In particular this concept was relevant for the al-chemical and magical medicine as the writings of PARACELSUS show. He perceived like many of his contemporaries Nature as a servant of God producing all things according to his will supplying them with "signatures" indicating the scholar (philosophus) their hidden ("natural") powers. The iconography and emblematics of the early modem period--partly directly influenced by the paracelsian thinking--illustrate in different ways the concept of natural magic. Especially the hierarchy God--Nature--Human and the phenomena of light representing divine wisdom and power were imagined. It is remarkable, that also during the enlightenment in regard to artificial electricity and animal magnetism analogous ideas appeared in connection with the light imagery (ether, fluidum). Finally, the romantic natural philosophy dealt with them intensively, and they stimulated not only natural scientific respectively (neuro) physiological, but also psychological (experimental) research.

Between Charity and Education: Orphans and Orphanages in Early Modern Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobi, Juliane

2009-01-01

In early modern times orphans have been children who could not expect sufficient support from their family because of lack of at least one parent, in most cases the father. This article will clarify of whom we are talking if we talk about orphans and what have been the conditions of living in a society which was organised by a high variety of…

[The development of molecular human genetics and its significance for perspectives of modern medicine].

PubMed

Coutelle, C; Speer, A; Grade, K; Rosenthal, A; Hunger, H D

1989-01-01

The introduction of molecular human genetics has become a paradigma for the application of genetic engineering in medicine. The main principles of this technology are the isolation of molecular probes, their application in hybridization reactions, specific gene-amplification by the polymerase chain reaction, and DNA sequencing reactions. These methods are used for the analysis of monogenic diseases by linkage studies and the elucidation of the molecular defect causing these conditions, respectively. They are also the basis for genomic diagnosis of monogenic diseases, introduced into the health care system of the GDR by a national project on Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis and Phenylketonuria. The rapid development of basic research on the molecular analysis of the human genome and genomic diagnosis indicates, that human molecular genetics is becoming a decisive basic discipline of modern medicine.

[Modern magic and medicine].

PubMed

Prokop, O

1975-01-01

In a paper presented on the occasion of the 5th Congress of gynecology in the GDR the author discusses in details the phenomenon of modern occultism and quackery. Preferably he examines the so called parapsychology and declares that this is a field without any scientific value. Therefore the course of action of parapsychologists is not to be accepted without resolute reply.

Alchemical poetry in medieval and early modern Europe: a preliminary survey and synthesis. Part I--Preliminary survey.

PubMed

Kahn, Didier

2010-11-01

This article provides a preliminary description of medieval and early modern alchemical poetry composed in Latin and in the principal vernacular languages of western Europe. It aims to distinguish the various genres in which this poetry flourished, and to identify the most representative aspects of each cultural epoch by considering the medieval and early modern periods in turn. Such a distinction (always somewhat artificial) between two broad historical periods may be justified by the appearance of new cultural phenomena that profoundly modified the character of early modern alchemical poetry: the ever-increasing importance of the prisca theologia, the alchemical interpretation of ancient mythology, and the rise of neo-Latin humanist poetry. Although early modern alchemy was marked by the appearance of new doctrines (notably the alchemical spiritus mundi and Paracelsianism), alchemical poetry was only superficially modified by criteria of a scientific nature, which therefore appear to be of lesser importance. This study falls into two parts. Part I provides a descriptive survey of extant poetry, and in Part II the results of the survey are analysed in order to highlight such distinctive features as the function of alchemical poetry, the influence of the book market on its evolution, its doctrinal content, and the question of whether any theory of alchemical poetry ever emerged. Part II is accompanied by an index of the authors and works cited in both parts.

A Modern History of 'Imperial Medicine' Surrounding Hansen's Disease: Strategies to Manage Public Opinion in Modern Japanese Media.

PubMed

Seo, Gijae

2017-12-01

The purpose of this study is to understand the reality of imperial medicine by exploring the strategic attitude of the Japanese authority targeting the public who were not patients of Hansen's disease. For this purpose, this study examines the mass media data related to Hansen's disease published in Korea and Japan during the Japanese colonial rule. Research on Hansen's disease can be divided into medical, sociohistorical, social welfare, and human rights approach. There are medical studies and statistics on the dissemination of medical information about Hansen's disease and management measures, the history of the management of the disease, guarantee of the rights of the patients and the welfare environment, and studies on the autobiographical, literary writings and oral statements on the life and psychological conflicts of the patients. Among existing research, the topics of the study on Hansen's disease under the Japanese colonial rule include the history of the Sorokdo Island Sanatorium, investigation on the forced labor of the patients in the island, human rights violations against the patients, oral memoirs of the patients and doctors who practiced at that time. All of these studies are important achievements regarding the research on the patients. An important study of Hansen's disease in modern Japan is the work of Hujino Utaka, which introduces the isolation of and discrimination against the patients of Hansen's disease. Hujino Utaka's study examines the annihilation of people with infectious diseases in Japan and its colonies by the imperial government, which was the consequence of the imperial medical policies, and reports on the isolation of Hansen's disease patients during the war. Although these researches are important achievements in the study of Hansen's disease in modernity, their focus has mainly been on the history of isolation and exploitation in the Sorokdo Island Sanatorium and discrimination against the patients within the sanatorium, which

New Perspectives on How to Discover Drugs from Herbal Medicines: CAM's Outstanding Contribution to Modern Therapeutics.

PubMed

Pan, Si-Yuan; Zhou, Shu-Feng; Gao, Si-Hua; Yu, Zhi-Ling; Zhang, Shuo-Feng; Tang, Min-Ke; Sun, Jian-Ning; Ma, Dik-Lung; Han, Yi-Fan; Fong, Wang-Fun; Ko, Kam-Ming

2013-01-01

With tens of thousands of plant species on earth, we are endowed with an enormous wealth of medicinal remedies from Mother Nature. Natural products and their derivatives represent more than 50% of all the drugs in modern therapeutics. Because of the low success rate and huge capital investment need, the research and development of conventional drugs are very costly and difficult. Over the past few decades, researchers have focused on drug discovery from herbal medicines or botanical sources, an important group of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy. With a long history of herbal usage for the clinical management of a variety of diseases in indigenous cultures, the success rate of developing a new drug from herbal medicinal preparations should, in theory, be higher than that from chemical synthesis. While the endeavor for drug discovery from herbal medicines is "experience driven," the search for a therapeutically useful synthetic drug, like "looking for a needle in a haystack," is a daunting task. In this paper, we first illustrated various approaches of drug discovery from herbal medicines. Typical examples of successful drug discovery from botanical sources were given. In addition, problems in drug discovery from herbal medicines were described and possible solutions were proposed. The prospect of drug discovery from herbal medicines in the postgenomic era was made with the provision of future directions in this area of drug development.

A never-ending succession of epidemics? Mortality in early-modern York.

PubMed

Galley, C

1994-04-01

Early-modern cities are often perceived to be centres of high mortality and under constant siege from a barrage of epidemics. However, few urban mortality rates have been calculated and by employing parish register evidence from the regional capital of York, the thesis that the city was subjected to continual sudden increases in mortality can be firmly rejected. Infant mortality was high but remained virtually constant between 1561 and 1700. About a quarter of all infants did not survive to reach their first birthday and neonatal mortality was especially severe. From the mid-seventeenth century a series of epidemics increased child mortality although overall levels of mortality were not significantly affected. Relatively little can be said about adult mortality and apart from two periods of 'crisis' mortality there is little to suggest that adults were greatly affected by epidemics. Indeed, for many adults the urban environment appears to have posed no great threat to health and most could look forward to a relatively long life in the city. York's mortality regime was very similar to that of the smaller market town of Gainsborough where high levels of mortality remained stable throughout much of the early-modern period.

[Preliminary study of history of senna be used in China--On phenomenon about "reign medicine localized"].

PubMed

Jin, Yu-Zhi; Yu, Yue; Fu, Lu; Ma, Yan-Dong

2016-06-01

Senna is one of the commonly used traditional Chinese medicine at present. After the preliminary research that the drug medication history in China is not long, in our country ancient times, only "Hui prescription" in the records, other all kinds of traditional Chinese medicine literature rarely mentioned. Since modern times, the Chinese medicine in the medicine in the literature of the time and the modern western medicine books in the Chinese version of the time generally close, may be related to the introduction of Western medicine. At the end of Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Chinese literature about the drug property theory of herbal medicine is seldom discussed, and had been seen as "western medicine" (foreign medicine), with the medication experience continue to accumulate, widespread popularity and other factors, the drug gradually Chinese scholars have constructed a relatively complete theory of the resistance, so as to realize the "localization". Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

The medicinal use of chocolate in early North America.

PubMed

Pucciarelli, Deanna L; Grivetti, Louis E

2008-10-01

The medicinal use of chocolate has a long history in North America dating back to the 16th century. From Mesoamerican Codices and European Treatises scholars have determined that for hundreds of years the beverage called chocolate was administered to the sick and prescribed homeopathically to prevent illness. Yet, little scholarship exists that focuses on medicinal chocolate usage in early North America (18th-19th century). This paper examines medical practices during this era and associated medicinal norms with special attention given to chocolate/cocoa usage. Given the current scientific attention on the relationship between dark chocolate consumption and heart disease attenuation it is timely to investigate and chronicle America's medical forebears' understanding of, and practices related to, the medicinal use of chocolate. Indeed, there is a significant amount of literature to suggest that chocolate was used for wellness and to treat illness.

Marginalia, commonplaces, and correspondence: scribal exchange in early modern science.

PubMed

Yale, Elizabeth

2011-06-01

In recent years, historians of science have increasingly turned their attention to the "print culture" of early modern science. These studies have revealed that printing, as both a technology and a social and economic system, structured the forms and meanings of natural knowledge. Yet in early modern Europe, naturalists, including John Aubrey, John Evelyn, and John Ray, whose work is discussed in this paper, often shared and read scientific texts in manuscript either before or in lieu of printing. Scribal exchange, exemplified in the circulation of writings like commonplace books, marginalia, manuscript treatises, and correspondence, was the primary means by which communities of naturalists constructed scientific knowledge. Print and manuscript were necessary partners. Manuscript fostered close collaboration, and could be circulated relatively cheaply; but, unlike print, it could not reliably secure priority or survival for posterity. Naturalists approached scribal and print communication strategically, choosing the medium that best suited their goals at any given moment. As a result, print and scribal modes of disseminating information, constructing natural knowledge, and organizing communities developed in tandem. Practices typically associated with print culture manifested themselves in scribal texts and exchanges, and vice versa. "Print culture" cannot be hived off from "scribal culture." Rather, in their daily jottings and exchanges, naturalists inhabited, and produced, one common culture of communication. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drug Discovery and Development of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Modern-Integrative Medicinal Approach.

PubMed

Ghosh, Debosree; Parida, Pratap

2016-01-01

Type 2 diabetes is a disorder of ages, which has become deadlier because of life style modification and adaptation in the modern world. Extensive sudy of the pathophysiology of diabetes has opened up various mysteries about the disease and has helped us to know and understand diabetes in a better manner. Presently, we know many minute details about the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus and are thus well weaponed to fight against it. Treatment regime has been evolving daily. Besides the conventional anti-diabetic drugs, integrated medicinal approach for treating diabetes type 2 with a compact therapeutic approach consisting of various targeted treatments for individual symptoms associated with the disease are being tried currently. Diabetes associated complications like high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, microalbumuria, dyslipidemia, pro -coagulation, etc. are being targeted and dealt with individually in the integrative medicinal approach. The results are promising and thus ignite hope for a better and more successful handling of diabetes and diabetes related pathophysiological complications in near future.

Kant's disputation of 1770: the dissertation and the communication of knowledge in early modern Europe.

PubMed

Chang, Kevin

2007-06-01

Kant's disputation of 1770 at his inauguration as the metaphysics professor at Königsberg is a good example of the nature of the early modern dissertation and its use as a means of communicating knowledge. The public disputation played an important part in the teaching, examination, publication and ceremonial life of the medieval university. Originally prepared as a text for the public disputation, the dissertation communicated the teachings of individual scholars and institutions and was used by eminent early modern scholars to introduce their ideas and findings. Kant's use of his 1770 disputation also reveals the different channels of communication, both private and public, that paid close attention to knowledge published in dissertations.

The relative duties of a man: domestic medicine in England and France, ca. 1685-1740.

PubMed

Smith, Lisa

2006-07-01

Although much work is currently being done on early modern women and household medicine and on early modern masculinities, historians have generally overlooked men's roles within the home, particularly with respect to domestic medical activities. Using medical consultation letters, this article examines men's roles as domestic caregivers and their medical decision making. During this period, manly self-management and household order were closely linked; an ideal head of household would manage himself retain order within the household, and look after the welfare of his family.

Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans.

PubMed

Henry, Amanda G; Brooks, Alison S; Piperno, Dolores R

2014-04-01

One of the most important challenges in anthropology is understanding the disappearance of Neanderthals. Previous research suggests that Neanderthals had a narrower diet than early modern humans, in part because they lacked various social and technological advances that lead to greater dietary variety, such as a sexual division of labor and the use of complex projectile weapons. The wider diet of early modern humans would have provided more calories and nutrients, increasing fertility, decreasing mortality and supporting large population sizes, allowing them to out-compete Neanderthals. However, this model for Neanderthal dietary behavior is based on analysis of animal remains, stable isotopes, and other methods that provide evidence only of animal food in the diet. This model does not take into account the potential role of plant food. Here we present results from the first broad comparison of plant foods in the diets of Neanderthals and early modern humans from several populations in Europe, the Near East, and Africa. Our data comes from the analysis of plant microremains (starch grains and phytoliths) in dental calculus and on stone tools. Our results suggest that both species consumed a similarly wide array of plant foods, including foods that are often considered low-ranked, like underground storage organs and grass seeds. Plants were consumed across the entire range of individuals and sites we examined, and none of the expected predictors of variation (species, geographic region, or associated stone tool technology) had a strong influence on the number of plant species consumed. Our data suggest that Neanderthal dietary ecology was more complex than previously thought. This implies that the relationship between Neanderthal technology, social behavior, and food acquisition strategies must be better explored. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early evaluation and value-based pricing of regenerative medicine technologies.

PubMed

Koerber, Florian; Rolauffs, Bernd; Rogowski, Wolf

2013-11-01

Since the first pioneering scientists explored the potential of using human cells for therapeutic purposes the branch of regenerative medicine has evolved to become a mature industry. The focus has switched from 'what can be done' to 'what can be commercialized'. Timely health economic evaluation supports successful marketing by establishing the value of a product from a healthcare system perspective. This article reports results from a research project on early health economic evaluation in collaboration with developers, clinicians and manufacturers. We present an approach to determine an early value-based price for a new treatment of cartilage defects of the knee from the area of regenerative medicine. Examples of using evaluation results for the purpose of business planning, market entry, preparing the coverage decision and managed entry are discussed.

"The Root is Hidden and the Material Uncertain": the challenges of prosecuting witchcraft in early modern Venice.

PubMed

Seitz, Jonathan

2009-01-01

The rich archival records of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Venice have yielded much information about early modern society and culture. The transcripts of witchcraft trials held before the Inquisition reveal the complexities of early modern conceptions of natural and supernatural. The tribunal found itself entirely unable to convict individuals charged with performing harmful magic, or maleficio, as different worldviews clashed in the courtroom. Physicians, exorcists, and inquisitors all had different approaches to distinguishing natural phenomena from supernatural, and without a consensus guilty verdicts could not be obtained.

New Perspectives on How to Discover Drugs from Herbal Medicines: CAM's Outstanding Contribution to Modern Therapeutics

PubMed Central

Pan, Si-Yuan; Zhou, Shu-Feng; Gao, Si-Hua; Yu, Zhi-Ling; Zhang, Shuo-Feng; Tang, Min-Ke; Sun, Jian-Ning; Han, Yi-Fan; Fong, Wang-Fun; Ko, Kam-Ming

2013-01-01

With tens of thousands of plant species on earth, we are endowed with an enormous wealth of medicinal remedies from Mother Nature. Natural products and their derivatives represent more than 50% of all the drugs in modern therapeutics. Because of the low success rate and huge capital investment need, the research and development of conventional drugs are very costly and difficult. Over the past few decades, researchers have focused on drug discovery from herbal medicines or botanical sources, an important group of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy. With a long history of herbal usage for the clinical management of a variety of diseases in indigenous cultures, the success rate of developing a new drug from herbal medicinal preparations should, in theory, be higher than that from chemical synthesis. While the endeavor for drug discovery from herbal medicines is “experience driven,” the search for a therapeutically useful synthetic drug, like “looking for a needle in a haystack,” is a daunting task. In this paper, we first illustrated various approaches of drug discovery from herbal medicines. Typical examples of successful drug discovery from botanical sources were given. In addition, problems in drug discovery from herbal medicines were described and possible solutions were proposed. The prospect of drug discovery from herbal medicines in the postgenomic era was made with the provision of future directions in this area of drug development. PMID:23634172

Future perspectives of personalized medicine in traditional Chinese medicine: a systems biology approach.

PubMed

Zhang, Aihua; Sun, Hui; Wang, Ping; Han, Ying; Wang, Xijun

2012-01-01

Deconstruction of molecular pathways and advances in enabling technology platforms have opened new horizons for disease management, exploring therapeutic solutions to each individual patient beyond the one-size fits all practice. Application of personalized medicine paradigms aims to achieve the right diagnosis and right treatment for the right patient at the right time at the right cost. With the potential to transform medical practice across global communities, personalized medicine is emerging as the flagship of modern medicine. In recent years, the health care paradigm has shifted from a focus on diseases to a major hot of personalized traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with holistic approach. TCM focuses on health maintenance, emphasizes on enhancing the body's resistance to diseases and especially showes great advantages in early intervention, personalized and combination therapies, etc. Systems biology, a new science of the 21st century, becomes practically available and resembles TCM in many aspects such as study method and design, and is current key component technologies that serves as the major driving force for translation of the personalized medicine revolution of TCM principles into practice, will advance personalized therapy principles into healthcare management tools for individuals and populations. Such system approach concepts are transforming principles of TCM to modern therapeutic approaches, enable a predictive and preventive medicine and will lead to personalized medicine. To realise the full potential of personalized TCM, we describe the current status of principles and practice of TCM integrated with systems biology platform. Some characteristic examples are presented to highlight the application of this platform to personalized TCM research and development as well as some of the necessary milestones for moving TCM into mainstream health care. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What's Wrong with Early Medieval Medicine?

PubMed Central

Horden, Peregrine

2011-01-01

The medical writings of early medieval western Europe c. 700 – c. 1000 have often been derided for their disorganised appearance, poor Latin, nebulous conceptual framework, admixtures of magic and folklore, and general lack of those positive features that historians attribute to ancient or later medieval medicine. This paper attempts to rescue the period from its negative image. It examines a number of superficially bizarre writings so as to place them in an intellectual and sociological context, and to suggest that the presumed contrast between them and their ancient and later medieval counterparts has been wrongly drawn.

Are Allopathic and Holistic Medicine Incommensurable?

PubMed

Evangelatos, Nikolaos; Eliadi, Irini

2016-01-01

The shift from the Aristotelian to the Newtonian scientific paradigm gave birth to progresses in the natural, hard sciences and contributed to the emergence of modernity. Allopathic medicine gradually implemented those progresses, transforming itself into contemporary biomedicine. In the early 20th century, replacement of Newtonian physics by quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of relativity resulted in a new paradigm shift in the natural, hard sciences. This shift gave birth to post-modern perceptions, which attempt to put those changes in context. Within this new context, holistic therapeutic approaches are considered more compatible with the new paradigm. Different paradigms in the natural, hard sciences are considered to be incommensurable (in the Kuhnian sense). This incommensurability is also transferred to the different societal contexts, the different «Weltanschauungen» that rely on different scientific paradigms. However, drawing on arguments that range from historical and philosophical to practical and sociological ones, we argue that, although based on different scientific paradigms, allopathic and holistic medicine are not incommensurable, but rather complementary. This may be related to the inherent attributes of medicine, a fact that reinforces the debate on its epistemological status. © 2016 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

Resistant tissues of modern marchantioid liverworts resemble enigmatic Early Paleozoic microfossils

PubMed Central

Graham, Linda E.; Wilcox, Lee W.; Cook, Martha E.; Gensel, Patricia G.

2004-01-01

Absence of a substantial pretracheophyte fossil record for bryophytes (otherwise predicted by molecular systematics) poses a major problem in our understanding of earliest land-plant structure. In contrast, there exist enigmatic Cambrian–Devonian microfossils (aggregations of tubes or sheets of cells or possibly a combination of both) controversially interpreted as an extinct group of early land plants known as nematophytes. We used an innovative approach to explore these issues: comparison of tube and cell-sheet microfossils with experimentally degraded modern liverworts as analogues of ancient early land plants. Lower epidermal surface tissues, including rhizoids, of Marchantia polymorpha and Conocephalum conicum were resistant to breakdown after rotting for extended periods or high-temperature acid treatment (acetolysis), suggesting fossilization potential. Cell-sheet and rhizoid remains occurred separately or together depending on the degree of body degradation. Rhizoid break-off at the lower epidermal surface left rimmed pores at the centers of cell rosettes; these were similar in structure, diameter, and distribution to pores characterizing nematophyte cell-sheet microfossils known as Cosmochlaina. The range of Marchantia rhizoid diameters overlapped that of Cosmochlaina pores. Approximately 14% of dry biomass of Marchantia vegetative thalli and 40% of gametangiophores was resistant to acetolysis. Pre- and posttreatment cell-wall autofluorescence suggested the presence of phenolic compounds that likely protect lower epidermal tissues from soil microbe attack and provide dimensional stability to gametangiophores. Our results suggest that at least some microfossils identified as nematophytes may be the remains of early marchantioid liverworts similar in some ways to modern Marchantia and Conocephalum. PMID:15263095

Modern science for better quality control of medicinal products "Towards global harmonization of 3Rs in biologicals": The report of an EPAA workshop.

PubMed

Schutte, Katrin; Szczepanska, Anna; Halder, Marlies; Cussler, Klaus; Sauer, Ursula G; Stirling, Catrina; Uhlrich, Sylvie; Wilk-Zasadna, Iwona; John, David; Bopst, Martin; Garbe, Joerg; Glansbeek, Harrie L; Levis, Robin; Serreyn, Pieter-Jan; Smith, Dean; Stickings, Paul

2017-07-01

This article summarizes the outcome of an international workshop organized by the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) on Modern science for better quality control of medicinal products: Towards global harmonization of 3Rs in biologicals. As regards the safety testing of biologicals, the workshop participants agreed to actively encourage the deletion of abnormal toxicity tests and target animal batch safety tests from all relevant legal requirements and guidance documents (country-specific guidelines, pharmacopoeia monographs, WHO recommendations). To facilitate the global regulatory acceptance of non-animal methods for the potency testing of, e.g., human diphtheria and tetanus vaccines and veterinary swine erysipelas vaccines, international convergence on the scientific principles of the use of appropriately validated in vitro assays for replacing in vivo methods was identified as an overarching goal. The establishment of scientific requirements for new assays was recognized as a further means to unify regulatory approaches in different jurisdictions. It was recommended to include key regulators and manufacturers early in the corresponding discussions. Manufacturers and responsible expert groups, e.g. at the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Health Care of the Council of Europe or the European Medicines Agency, were invited to consider leadership for international collaboration. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Medicine and the space odyssey.

PubMed

Charlton, Bruce G

2006-01-01

Up to the mid-1960s, science and technology (including medicine) were generally regarded as exciting, beautiful and spiritually enthralling; and the space odyssey seemed a symbol of the optimistic future of humankind. The early seventies saw a growing disillusionment with space travel as part of a mood of cultural pessimism and anti-modernization - and this combined with a resurgence of therapeutic nihilism in medicine. But recent discussions of renewed space exploration and a Mars mission may be evidence of a changing zeitgeist, with Western culture moving towards a bolder and more optimistic attitude. The adventure of space travel, exploration and colonization could be seen as both a barometer of cultural optimism, and an enterprise which would feed-back into cultural optimism for many decades to come. Medical science could also be a beneficiary; since greater boldness and optimism would be likely to renew the goals of medicine to do positive good - as contrasted with the necessary, but relatively uninspiring, requirement to minimize risk and harm. In a modernizing society humankind needs to look outward as well as inward: we need a frontier, and we need to grow. A resurgent space odyssey may be the best way that this can be enacted.

Bioenhancers from mother nature and their applicability in modern medicine

PubMed Central

Randhawa, Gurpreet Kaur; Kullar, Jagdev Singh; Rajkumar

2011-01-01

Concept of bioenhancers or biopotentiators was first time reported in 1929 by Bose. A bioenhancer is an agent capable of enhancing bioavailability and efficacy of a drug with which it is co-administered, without any pharmacological activity of its own at therapeutic dose used. Development and consequent isolation of these molecules, such as piperine and quercetin, is considered as scientific breakthrough. A fixed drug combination (Risorine) of rifampicin, isoniazid, and piperine is the result of this research. It contains almost 60% less dose of rifampicin because of its increased bioavailability and it also prevents resistance. This concept is mentioned as yogvahi in ayurveda and was used to increase the effect of medicines by increasing oral bioavailability, decreasing adverse effects and to circumvent parenteral routes of drug administration. More such useful and economically viable drug combinations can be developed by integrating knowledge of time tested ayurveda with modern methods of research. This review is an account of these bioenhancers, available from the natural resources. PMID:23776764

Management of early pregnancy failure and induced abortion by family medicine educators.

PubMed

Herbitter, Cara; Bennett, Ariana; Schubert, Finn D; Bennett, Ian M; Gold, Marji

2013-01-01

Reproductive health care, including treatment of early pregnancy failure (EPF) and induced abortion, is an integral part of patient-centered care provided by family physicians, but data suggest that comprehensive training is not widely available to family medicine residents. The purpose of this study was to assess EPF and induced abortion management practices and attitudes of family medicine physician educators throughout the United States and Canada. These data were collected as part of a cross-sectional survey conducted by the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance that was distributed via E-mail to 3152 practicing physician members of Council of Academic Family Medicine organizations. The vast majority of respondents (88.2%) had treated EPF, whereas few respondents (15.3%) had provided induced medication or aspiration abortions. Of those who had treated EPF, most had offered medication management (72.7%), whereas a minority had provided aspiration management (16.4%). Almost all respondents (95%) agreed that EPF management is within the scope of family medicine, and nearly three-quarters (73.2%) agreed that early induced abortion is within the scope of family medicine. Our findings suggest that family physician educators are more experienced with EPF management than elective abortion. Given the overlap of skills needed for provision of these services, there is the potential to increase the number of family physician faculty members providing induced abortions.

Early modern human settlement of Europe north of the Alps occurred 43,500 years ago in a cold steppe-type environment

PubMed Central

Nigst, Philip R.; Haesaerts, Paul; Damblon, Freddy; Frank-Fellner, Christa; Mallol, Carolina; Viola, Bence; Götzinger, Michael; Niven, Laura; Trnka, Gerhard; Hublin, Jean-Jacques

2014-01-01

The first settlement of Europe by modern humans is thought to have occurred between 50,000 and 40,000 calendar years ago (cal B.P.). In Europe, modern human remains of this time period are scarce and often are not associated with archaeology or originate from old excavations with no contextual information. Hence, the behavior of the first modern humans in Europe is still unknown. Aurignacian assemblages—demonstrably made by modern humans—are commonly used as proxies for the presence of fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans. The site of Willendorf II (Austria) is well known for its Early Upper Paleolithic horizons, which are among the oldest in Europe. However, their age and attribution to the Aurignacian remain an issue of debate. Here, we show that archaeological horizon 3 (AH 3) consists of faunal remains and Early Aurignacian lithic artifacts. By using stratigraphic, paleoenvironmental, and chronological data, AH 3 is ascribed to the onset of Greenland Interstadial 11, around 43,500 cal B.P., and thus is older than any other Aurignacian assemblage. Furthermore, the AH 3 assemblage overlaps with the latest directly radiocarbon-dated Neanderthal remains, suggesting that Neanderthal and modern human presence overlapped in Europe for some millennia, possibly at rather close geographical range. Most importantly, for the first time to our knowledge, we have a high-resolution environmental context for an Early Aurignacian site in Central Europe, demonstrating an early appearance of behaviorally modern humans in a medium-cold steppe-type environment with some boreal trees along valleys around 43,500 cal B.P. PMID:25246543

Early brain development toward shaping of human mind: an integrative psychoneurodevelopmental model in prenatal and perinatal medicine.

PubMed

Hruby, Radovan; Maas, Lili M; Fedor-Freybergh, P G

2013-01-01

The article introduces an integrative psychoneurodevelopmental model of complex human brain and mind development based on the latest findings in prenatal and perinatal medicine in terms of integrative neuroscience. The human brain development is extraordinarily complex set of events and could be influenced by a lot of factors. It is supported by new insights into the early neuro-ontogenic processes with the help of structural 3D magnetic resonance imaging or diffusion tensor imaging of fetal human brain. Various factors and targets for neural development including birth weight variability, fetal and early-life programming, fetal neurobehavioral states and fetal behavioral responses to various stimuli and others are discussed. Molecular biology reveals increasing sets of genes families as well as transcription and neurotropic factors together with critical epigenetic mechanisms to be deeply employed in the crucial neurodevelopmental events. Another field of critical importance is psychoimmuno-neuroendocrinology. Various effects of glucocorticoids as well as other hormones, prenatal stress and fetal HPA axis modulation are thought to be of special importance for brain development. The early postnatal period is characterized by the next intense shaping of complex competences, induced mainly by the very unique mother - newborn´s interactions and bonding. All these mechanisms serve to shape individual human mind with complex abilities and neurobehavioral strategies. Continuous research elucidating these special competences of human fetus and newborn/child supports integrative neuroscientific approach to involve various scientific disciplines for the next progress in human brain and mind research, and opens new scientific challenges and philosophic attitudes. New findings and approaches in this field could establish new methods in science, in primary prevention and treatment strategies, and markedly contribute to the development of modern integrative and personalized

[Management of dysphagia in internal intensive-care medicine].

PubMed

Michels, G; Motzko, M; Weinert, M; Bruckner, M; Pfister, R; Guntinas-Lichius, O

2015-04-01

Physicians specializing in dysphagia are needed in modern intensive care medicine. Long-term intubation is associated with aspiration and swallowing disorders. Early and standardised dysphagia management should be initiated during a patient's stay on intensive care unit. A clinically experienced, interdisciplinary team is required to provide optimal care for critically ill patients with dysphagia. Intensive care physicians should therefore know about basics in dysphagiology.

The early modern kidney--nephrology in and about the nineteenth century. Part 1.

PubMed

Eknoyan, Garabed

2013-01-01

The 19th century was a period of momentous scientific discoveries, technological achievements, and societal changes. A beneficiary of these revolutionary upheavals was medical empiricism that supplanted the rationalism of the past giving rise to early modern scientific medicine. Continued reliance on sensory data now magnified by technical advances generated new medical information that could be quantified with increasing precision, verified by repeated experimentation, and validated by statistical analysis. The institutionalization and integration of these methodologies into medical education were a defining step that assured their progress and perpetuation. Major advances were made in the nosography of diseases of the kidney, notably that of the diagnosis of progressive kidney disease from the presence of albuminuria by Richard Bright (1789-1858); and of renal structure and function, notably the demonstration of the continuity of the glomerular capsule with the tubular basement membrane by William Bowman (1816-1892), and the arguments for hemodynamic physical forces mediated glomerular filtration by Carl Ludwig (1816-1895) and for active tubular transport by Rudolf Heidenhain (1834-1897). Improvements in microscopy and tissue processing were instrumental in describing the cellular ultrastructure of the glomerulus and tubular segments, but their integrated function remained to be elucidated. The kidney continued to be considered a tubular secretory organ and its pathology attributed to injury of the interstitium (interstitial nephritis) or tubules (parenchymatous nephritis). © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Collecting Knowledge for the Family: Recipes, Gender and Practical Knowledge in the Early Modern English Household

PubMed Central

Leong, Elaine

2013-01-01

When Mary Cholmeley married Henry Fairfax in 1627, she carried to her new home in Yorkshire a leather-bound notebook filled with medical recipes. Over the next few decades, Mary and Henry, their children and various members of the Fairfax and Cholmeley families continually entered new medical and culinary information into this ‘treasury for health.’ Consequently, as it stands now, the manuscript can be read both as a repository of household medical knowledge and as a family archive. Focusing on two Fairfax ‘family books,’ this essay traces on the process through which early modern recipe books were created. In particular, it explores the role of the family collective in compiling books of knowledge. In contrast to past studies where household recipe books have largely been described as the products of exclusively female endeavors, I argue that the majority of early modern recipe collections were created by family collectives and that the members of these collectives worked in collaboration across spatial, geographical and temporal boundaries. This new reading of recipe books as testaments of the interests and needs of particular families encourages renewed examination of the role played by gender in the transmission and production of knowledge in early modern households. PMID:23926360

Collecting Knowledge for the Family: Recipes, Gender and Practical Knowledge in the Early Modern English Household.

PubMed

Leong, Elaine

2013-05-01

When Mary Cholmeley married Henry Fairfax in 1627, she carried to her new home in Yorkshire a leather-bound notebook filled with medical recipes. Over the next few decades, Mary and Henry, their children and various members of the Fairfax and Cholmeley families continually entered new medical and culinary information into this 'treasury for health.' Consequently, as it stands now, the manuscript can be read both as a repository of household medical knowledge and as a family archive. Focusing on two Fairfax 'family books,' this essay traces on the process through which early modern recipe books were created. In particular, it explores the role of the family collective in compiling books of knowledge. In contrast to past studies where household recipe books have largely been described as the products of exclusively female endeavors, I argue that the majority of early modern recipe collections were created by family collectives and that the members of these collectives worked in collaboration across spatial, geographical and temporal boundaries. This new reading of recipe books as testaments of the interests and needs of particular families encourages renewed examination of the role played by gender in the transmission and production of knowledge in early modern households.

The health transition, global modernity and the crisis of traditional medicine: the Tibetan case.

PubMed

Janes, C R

1999-06-01

The epidemiologic and demographic consequences of the health transition, coupled with worldwide pressures for health care reform according to neoliberal tenets, will create new opportunities, and well as new problems, for organized systems of indigenous medicine. Spiraling costs of biomedically-based health care, coupled with an increasing global burden of chronic, degenerative diseases and mental disorder, will produce significant incentives for the expansion of indigenous alternatives. Yet this expansion will be accompanied by pressures to rationalize and modernize health care services according to the structurally dominant scientific paradigm. Without concerted effort to maintain native epistemologies, indigenous medical systems face an inevitable slide into narrow herbal traditions and a loss of those elements of diagnosis and therapy which may be the most valuable and effective. Analyzing the case of Tibetan medicine and other Asian medical systems, I show how this process occurs and how it is resisted. I conclude by discussing the policy dimensions of this problem.

Complementary and alternative medicine use during early pregnancy.

PubMed

Pallivalappila, Abdul Rouf; Stewart, Derek; Shetty, Ashalatha; Pande, Binita; Singh, Rajvir; Mclay, James S

2014-10-01

To determine the prevalence and explore predictors of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use during early pregnancy. A questionnaire survey of pregnant women (500) attending for mid trimester scan at the maternity services in Grampian, North-East Scotland. Outcome measures included; CAM used; vitamins and minerals used; independent predictors of use; views and experiences. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. The response rate was 66%. Two thirds of respondents (63%) reported using CAM, excluding vitamins and minerals, during early pregnancy. Respondents reported using a total of 28 different CAM modalities, of which oral herbal products were the most common (37% of respondents, 25 different products). The independent predictors of CAM use identified were: use by family and friends (OR 4.1, 95% CI 2.3-7.3, p<0.001); ethnicity (non-white British) (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.8-6.8, p<0.001); and use prior to pregnancy (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2-4.8, p=0.014). In comparison to prescribed medicines, most users were uncertain if CAM were safer (63%), more effective (66%), free from possible adverse effects (46%) or drug-CAM interactions (50%). Despite the majority of respondents being uncertain about their safety and effectiveness, CAM modalities and CAM products are widely used during the early stages of pregnancy in this study population. The role of family and friends rather than health professionals in the decision to use CAM may be of concern and requires further investigation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

(Re)placing health and health care: mapping the competing discourses and practices of 'traditional' and 'modern' Thai medicine.

PubMed

Del Casino, Vincent J

2004-03-01

In the wake of the AIDS crisis, 'traditional' Thai medicine has received new attention as a means by which people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) can receive some level of care. The revitalization of Thai medicine, however, is complicated by the competing organizational politics and social dynamics that regulate discourses and practices of health and health care in Thailand. This paper examines how Thai medicine is being (re)placed in the context of competing health-care systems and practices. Specifically, this analysis focuses on the complex interrelationships between 'traditional,' holistic medicine and 'modern,' allopathic medicine in a Thai context; and investigates the role of 'Thai medicine' (phaet phaen thai) and 'village medicine' (phaet pheun baan) as part of governmental and non-governmental efforts to provide health care to PLWHA in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The provision of such health care, however, takes place within the context of a struggle over 'local knowledge' and 'global change' and the ways in which places are organized in relation to the available treatment regimens for HIV/AIDS care. What this paper suggests is that the meanings of health and health care are inextricably linked to the complex, contested nature of social relations as they flow in, and are reworked through, particular places.

Hippocrates' complaint and the scientific ethos in early modern England.

PubMed

Yeo, Richard

2018-04-01

Among the elements of the modern scientific ethos, as identified by R.K. Merton and others, is the commitment of individual effort to a long-term inquiry that may not bring substantial results in a lifetime. The challenge this presents was encapsulated in the aphorism of the ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates of Kos: vita brevis, ars longa (life is short, art is long). This article explores how this complaint was answered in the early modern period by Francis Bacon's call for the inauguration of the sciences over several generations, thereby imagining a succession of lives added together over time. However, Bacon also explored another response to Hippocrates: the devotion of a 'whole life', whether brief or long, to science. The endorsement of long-term inquiry in combination with intensive lifetime involvement was embraced by some leading Fellows of the Royal Society, such as Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke. The problem for individuals, however, was to find satisfaction in science despite concerns, in some fields, that current observations and experiments would not yield material able to be extended by future investigations.

A Step towards Clerical Preferment: Secondary School Teachers' Careers in Early Modern Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindmark, Daniel

2004-01-01

This article investigates the function served by embarking on a teaching career in the Latin school system for recruitment to the clergy in early modern Sweden. The study is restricted to the eighty-nine teachers serving at Pitea Grammar School in Northern Sweden in the period from 1650 to 1849. The investigation pays considerable attention to the…

Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and implications for the dispersal of modern humans.

PubMed

Anikovich, M V; Sinitsyn, A A; Hoffecker, John F; Holliday, Vance T; Popov, V V; Lisitsyn, S N; Forman, Steven L; Levkovskaya, G M; Pospelova, G A; Kuz'mina, I E; Burova, N D; Goldberg, Paul; Macphail, Richard I; Giaccio, Biagio; Praslov, N D

2007-01-12

Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating and magnetic stratigraphy indicate Upper Paleolithic occupation-probably representing modern humans-at archaeological sites on the Don River in Russia 45,000 to 42,000 years ago. The oldest levels at Kostenki underlie a volcanic ash horizon identified as the Campanian Ignimbrite Y5 tephra that is dated elsewhere to about 40,000 years ago. The occupation layers contain bone and ivory artifacts, including possible figurative art, and fossil shells imported more than 500 kilometers. Thus, modern humans appeared on the central plain of Eastern Europe as early as anywhere else in northern Eurasia.

Voluntarist theology and early-modern science: The matter of the divine power, absolute and ordained.

PubMed

Oakley, Francis

2018-03-01

This paper is an intervention in the debate inaugurated by Peter Harrison in 2002 when he called into question the validity of what has come to be called 'the voluntarism and early-modern science thesis'. Though it subsequently drew support from such historians of science as J. E. McGuire, Margaret Osler, and Betty-Joe Teeter Dobbs, the origins of the thesis are usually traced back to articles published in 1934 and 1961 respectively by the philosopher Michael Foster and the historian of ideas Francis Oakley. Central to Harrison's critique of the thesis are claims he made about the meaning of the scholastic distinction between the potentia dei absoluta et ordinata and the role it played in the thinking of early-modern theologians and natural philosophers. This paper calls directly into question the accuracy of Harrison's claims on that very matter.

[Mental interiority in the early-modern age. The "Cartesian theater"].

PubMed

Gillot, Pascale

2010-01-01

This paper looks into the notion of mental interiority in the early-modern age and, more specifically, into the Cartesian conception of the mind as an "inner theater". The main claim emphasizes a close connexion at work between the representative theory of the mind, associated with internalism, on the one hand, and a "neuropsychological" view on the other hand. Cartesian mentalism, in so far as it is based upon a disjunction between representation and resemblance, can therefore not be separated from the general project, already at work in the Dioptrique, of an intra-cerebral localization of the mental.

Industrial medicinal chemistry insights: neuroscience hit generation at Janssen.

PubMed

Tresadern, Gary; Rombouts, Frederik J R; Oehlrich, Daniel; Macdonald, Gregor; Trabanco, Andres A

2017-10-01

The role of medicinal chemistry has changed over the past 10 years. Chemistry had become one step in a process; funneling the output of high-throughput screening (HTS) on to the next stage. The goal to identify the ideal clinical compound remains, but the means to achieve this have changed. Modern medicinal chemistry is responsible for integrating innovation throughout early drug discovery, including new screening paradigms, computational approaches, novel synthetic chemistry, gene-family screening, investigating routes of delivery, and so on. In this Foundation Review, we show how a successful medicinal chemistry team has a broad impact and requires multidisciplinary expertise in these areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Translation, Hybridization, and Modernization: John Dewey and Children's Literature in Early Twentieth Century China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Xu

2013-01-01

This essay examines how John Dewey's child-centered educational philosophy was adopted and adapted in the early twentieth century in China to create a Chinese children's literature. Chinese intellectuals applied Dewey's educational philosophy, which values children's interests and needs, to formulate a new concept of modern childhood that…

The Case of the Suzhou Hospital of National Medicine (1939-41): War, Medicine, and Eastern Civilization.

PubMed

Daidoji, Keiko; Karchmer, Eric I

2017-06-01

This article explores the founding of the Suzhou Hospital of National Medicine in 1939 during the Japanese occupation of Suzhou. We argue that the hospital was the culmination of a period of rich intellectual exchange between traditional Chinese and Japanese physicians in the early twentieth century and provides important insights into the modern development of medicine in both countries. The founding of this hospital was followed closely by leading Japanese Kampo physicians. As the Japanese empire expanded into East Asia, they hoped that they could revitalize their profession at home by disseminating their unique interpretations of the famous Treatise on Cold Damage abroad. The Chinese doctors that founded the Suzhou Hospital of National Medicine were close readers of Japanese scholarship on the Treatise and were inspired to experiment with a Japanese approach to diagnosis, based on new interpretations of the concept of "presentation" ( shō / zheng ). Unfortunately, the Sino-Japanese War cut short this fascinating dialogue on reforming medicine and set the traditional medicine professions in both countries on new nationalist trajectories.

Bridging the gap. The separate worlds of evidence-based medicine and patient-centered medicine.

PubMed

Bensing, J

2000-01-01

Modern medical care is influenced by two paradigms: 'evidence-based medicine' and 'patient-centered medicine'. In the last decade, both paradigms rapidly gained in popularity and are now both supposed to affect the process of clinical decision making during the daily practice of physicians. However, careful analysis shows that they focus on different aspects of medical care and have, in fact, little in common. Evidence-based medicine is a rather young concept that entered the scientific literature in the early 1990s. It has basically a positivistic, biomedical perspective. Its focus is on offering clinicians the best available evidence about the most adequate treatment for their patients, considering medicine merely as a cognitive-rational enterprise. In this approach the uniqueness of patients, their individual needs and preferences, and their emotional status are easily neglected as relevant factors in decision-making. Patient-centered medicine, although not a new phenomenon, has recently attracted renewed attention. It has basically a humanistic, biopsychosocial perspective, combining ethical values on 'the ideal physician', with psychotherapeutic theories on facilitating patients' disclosure of real worries, and negotiation theories on decision making. It puts a strong focus on patient participation in clinical decision making by taking into account the patients' perspective, and tuning medical care to the patients' needs and preferences. However, in this approach the ideological base is better developed than its evidence base. In modern medicine both paradigms are highly relevant, but yet seem to belong to different worlds. The challenge for the near future is to bring these separate worlds together. The aim of this paper is to give an impulse to this integration. Developments within both paradigms can benefit from interchanging ideas and principles from which eventually medical care will benefit. In this process a key role is foreseen for communication and

Cooperation and Conflict: Faction Problem of Western Medicine Group in Modern China.

PubMed

Jo, Jeongeun

2016-08-01

After the defeat of the Opium War and the Sino-Japanese War, China's intellectuals realized necessity of modernization (Westernization) to survive in the imperial order of the survival of the fittest. In particular, it was urgent to accept Western medicine and train the doctors who learned Western medicine to change the sick and weary Chinese to be robust. Thus, new occupations of the Western Medicine Group (xiyi, doctors who learned Western medicine) emerged in China. As with the first profession, the new Western Medicine Group tried to define standards of Western medicine and medical profession; however, it was difficult in the absence of the strong central government. In addition, they formed a faction by the country where they studied or the language they learned. The factions included the Britain - America faction(yingmeipai) consisting of the Britain - America studied doctors or graduates from Protestant missions based medical schools, and the Germany - Japan faction(deripai), graduates from medical schools by Japanese or German government and the Chinese government. In 1915, they founded the National Medical Association of China mainly consisting of the Britain - America faction and the National Medical and Pharmaceutical Association of China led by the Germany - Japan faction. Initially, exchanges were active so most of eminent doctors belonged the two associations at the same time. They had a consciousness of a common occupation group as a doctor who had learned Western medicine. Thus, they actively cooperated to keep their profits against Chinese medicine and enjoy their reputation. Their cooperation emitted light particularly in translation of medical terms and unified works. Thanks to cooperation, the two associations selected medical terminologies by properly using the cases of the West and Japan. Additionally, medical schools of the Britain - America faction and the Germany - Japan faction produced various levels of the Western Medicine Group doctors

Plantago major in Traditional Persian Medicine and modern phytotherapy: a narrative review

PubMed Central

Najafian, Younes; Hamedi, Shokouh Sadat; Farshchi, Masoumeh Kaboli

2018-01-01

Plantago major has been used widely since ancient times, to manage a wide range of diseases including constipation, coughs and wounds. The aim of this study is to review the traditional application, botanical characterization, pharmacological activities, phytochemistry effects and toxicity of Plantago major. In this review study, medicinal properties of Plantago major are collected from credible pharmacopeias, textbooks of traditional Persian medicine (TPM) belonging to the 10–18th century AD, such as “The Canon of Medicine”, “Makhzan-Al- Advia” and so on. Moreover, electronic databases including Scopus, Medline and Web of science were explored for this purpose. Plantago major has been prescribed in various forms such as roasted seeds, decoction, syrup, liniment, gargle, rectal enema, vaginal suppository, eye and nasal drop for each illness by TPM scholars. Some of its traditional properties including wound healing, antipyretic, antitussive, anti-infective, anti-hemorrhagic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, laxative, astringent and hemostatic have been confirmed in recent researches. Phytochemical investigations showed that Plantago major contains volatile compounds, triterpenoids, phenolic acids and flavonoids. Modern pharmacological studies have proven some of the traditional applications of Plantago major. Nevertheless, more investigations are required on this plant, because it has the potential to be used to produce various natural medications. PMID:29629064

[Exploration of microcosmic Chinese medicine used by western medicine].

PubMed

Zheng, Zhi-jing

2015-02-01

"Microcosmic syndrome", "treatment based on syndrome differentiation", and "combination of disease identification and syndrome differentiation" generally refer to a mode: following the syndrome if with no disease identified, following the disease if with no syndrome type differentiated. For example, Chinese medical treatment of hypertension, high blood lipids, increased transaminase, and so on candirectly use Chinese recipes, but no longer with syndrome differentiation. Clinical application of Chinese patent medicine can also obtain favorable clinical. Western doctors need not follow syndrome differentiation. The invention of artemisinin was screened from more than 40 000 kinds of compounds and herbs, but with no reference of any traditional Chinese medical theory. A lot of folk remedy and empirical recipes have obtained effective efficacy but unnecessarily with profound Chinese medical theories. Various evidences showed that disease can also be cured without syndrome differentiation. I held that it might be associated with the same mechanism of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Any disease can be cured or alleviated by Chinese medicine is a result from its modern pharmacological effect, which is achieved by improving etiologies, and pathogeneses. I was inspired by whether we can directly use traditional Chinese medicine with modern pharmacological effects to treat symptomatic disease. So I raised an idea of microcosmic Chinese medicine used by Western medicine, i.e., we find and use Chinese herbs with relatively effective modern pharmacological effect to treat diseases targeting at patients' clinical symptoms and signs, as well as various positive laboratory results (collectively called as microscopic dialectical indicators). More Western doctors would use it to treat disease due to omission of complicated and mysterious syndrome differentiation. This will promote extensive application and expansion of Chi- nese medicine and pharmacy, enlarge the team of

"None Must Meddle Betueene Man and Wife": assessing family and the fluidity of public and private in early modern Scotland.

PubMed

Nugent, Janay

2010-01-01

The physical and ideological boundaries between public and private in early modern Scotland were constantly contested, resulting in a shifting reality of what was public and private. This fluidity has been recognized by historians, but how, when, and why the shifting took place is not as clear. The moral church courts (Kirk Sessions) of Reformation Scotland allow a unique opportunity to begin to understand the largely elusive boundaries between public and private in the early modern era.

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: actual key issues and new encouraging steps.

PubMed

Teschke, Rolf; Eickhoff, Axel

2015-01-01

Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI) with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although, herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality.

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: actual key issues and new encouraging steps

PubMed Central

Teschke, Rolf; Eickhoff, Axel

2015-01-01

Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI) with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although, herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality. PMID:25954198

The Case of the Suzhou Hospital of National Medicine (1939–41): War, Medicine, and Eastern Civilization

PubMed Central

Daidoji, Keiko; Karchmer, Eric I.

2017-01-01

This article explores the founding of the Suzhou Hospital of National Medicine in 1939 during the Japanese occupation of Suzhou. We argue that the hospital was the culmination of a period of rich intellectual exchange between traditional Chinese and Japanese physicians in the early twentieth century and provides important insights into the modern development of medicine in both countries. The founding of this hospital was followed closely by leading Japanese Kampo physicians. As the Japanese empire expanded into East Asia, they hoped that they could revitalize their profession at home by disseminating their unique interpretations of the famous Treatise on Cold Damage 傷寒論 abroad. The Chinese doctors that founded the Suzhou Hospital of National Medicine were close readers of Japanese scholarship on the Treatise and were inspired to experiment with a Japanese approach to diagnosis, based on new interpretations of the concept of “presentation” (shō / zheng 證). Unfortunately, the Sino-Japanese War cut short this fascinating dialogue on reforming medicine and set the traditional medicine professions in both countries on new nationalist trajectories. PMID:29104703

The commercialization of traditional medicine in modern Cambodia.

PubMed

Ros, Bandeth; Lê, Gillian; McPake, Barbara; Fustukian, Suzanne

2018-01-01

Globally, traditional medicine has long been used to address relatively common illness, mental ill health and during childbirth and post-natal care. However, traditional medicine is primarily provided by the private sector and it is unclear how far expenditures on traditional medicine contribute to household impoverishment. A life history method was used to understand the health seeking experience of 24 households over the last 60 years in Cambodia, a country with high out-of-pocket expenditures for health. The life histories suggest that traditional medicine in Cambodia has been undergoing a process of commercialization, with significant impacts on poor households. In the earlier lives of respondents, payments for traditional medicine were reported to have been flexible, voluntary or appropriate to patients' financial means. In contrast, contemporary practitioners appear to seek immediate cash payments that have frequently led to considerable debt and asset sales by traditional medicine users. Given traditional medicine's popularity as a source of treatment in Cambodia and its potential to contribute to household impoverishment, we suggest that it needs to be included in a national conversation about achieving Universal Health Coverage in the country. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa

PubMed Central

Toups, Melissa A.; Kitchen, Andrew; Light, Jessica E.; Reed, David L.

2011-01-01

Clothing use is an important modern behavior that contributed to the successful expansion of humans into higher latitudes and cold climates. Previous research suggests that clothing use originated anywhere between 40,000 and 3 Ma, though there is little direct archaeological, fossil, or genetic evidence to support more specific estimates. Since clothing lice evolved from head louse ancestors once humans adopted clothing, dating the emergence of clothing lice may provide more specific estimates of the origin of clothing use. Here, we use a Bayesian coalescent modeling approach to estimate that clothing lice diverged from head louse ancestors at least by 83,000 and possibly as early as 170,000 years ago. Our analysis suggests that the use of clothing likely originated with anatomically modern humans in Africa and reinforces a broad trend of modern human developments in Africa during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. PMID:20823373

Juan Ruiz De Alarcón: Impairment as Empowerment in Early Modern Spain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Gloria Bodtorf

2016-01-01

Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, a seventeenth-century writer and native of New Spain, so excelled at the craft of writing "comedias" that he is recognized as one of the great writers of early modern Spain. In his personal life Ruiz de Alarcón struggled with a significant bodily impairment, a large hump on both his back and front, which made him…

Is modern medicine at risk of losing the plot?

PubMed

Scott, Ian A

2006-08-21

Contemporary medicine has much to its credit, but has created an insatiable demand for new technologies and more health services, fed by commercial promotion, professional advocacy and sociopolitical pressure. Total health expenditure at the national level is now almost 10% of gross domestic product and is expected to top 16% by 2020. After recent inquiries into the failings of its public health system, the Queensland Government has committed itself to a 25% increase in expenditure on health over the next 5 years. But will it lead to better population health, and is it sustainable? The return-on-investment curve for modern health care may be flattening out, in an environment of growing numbers of older patients with chronic illnesses, maldistribution of services and hospital overcrowding. A change in thinking is required if current medical practice is to avoid imploding when confronted with the next major economic downturn. Health policy, service funding and clinical training must focus on critical appraisal of the effectiveness of health care technologies and the structure and financing of health care systems. Practising clinicians will be obliged to provide leadership in determining value for money in the choice of health care for specific patient populations and how that care is delivered.

The early career researcher's toolkit: translating tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and cell therapy products.

PubMed

Rafiq, Qasim A; Ortega, Ilida; Jenkins, Stuart I; Wilson, Samantha L; Patel, Asha K; Barnes, Amanda L; Adams, Christopher F; Delcassian, Derfogail; Smith, David

2015-11-01

Although the importance of translation for the development of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and cell-based therapies is widely recognized, the process of translation is less well understood. This is particularly the case among some early career researchers who may not appreciate the intricacies of translational research or make decisions early in development which later hinders effective translation. Based on our own research and experiences as early career researchers involved in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine translation, we discuss common pitfalls associated with translational research, providing practical solutions and important considerations which will aid process and product development. Suggestions range from effective project management, consideration of key manufacturing, clinical and regulatory matters and means of exploiting research for successful commercialization.

Glass and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe: An Analytical Study of Glassware from the Oberstockstall Laboratory in Austria.

PubMed

Veronesi, Umberto; Martinón-Torres, Marcos

2018-06-18

Glass distillation equipment from an early modern alchemical laboratory was analyzed for its technology of manufacture and potential origin. Chemical data show that the assemblage can be divided into sodium-rich, colorless distillation vessels made with glass from Venice or its European imitation, and potassium-rich dark-brown non-specialized forms produced within the technological tradition of forest glass typical for central and north-western Europe. These results complete our understanding of the supply of technical apparatus at one of the best-preserved alchemical laboratories and highlight an early awareness of the need for high-quality instruments to guarantee the successful outcome of specialized chemical operations. This study demonstrates the potential of archaeological science to inform historical research around the practice of early chemistry and the development of modern science. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

School Jailhouse: Discipline, Space and the Materiality of School Morale in Early-Modern Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norlin, Björn

2016-01-01

This paper uses a specific phenomenon of early-modern education in Sweden, the school jail, as a point of departure for a broader analysis of educational policy in the areas of discipline and moral instruction. The paper demonstrates how the jail evolved as a part of a wider network of objects, pedagogical technologies and social routines in this…

Health, healthcare access, and use of traditional versus modern medicine in remote Peruvian Amazon communities: a descriptive study of knowledge, attitudes, and practices.

PubMed

Williamson, Jonathan; Ramirez, Ronald; Wingfield, Tom

2015-04-01

There is an urgent need for healthcare research, funding, and infrastructure in the Peruvian Amazon. We performed a descriptive study of health, health knowledge and practice, and healthcare access of 13 remote communities of the Manatí and Amazon Rivers in northeastern Peru. Eighty-five adults attending a medical boat service were interviewed to collect data on socioeconomic position, health, diagnosed illnesses, pain, healthcare access, and traditional versus modern medicine use. In this setting, poverty and gender inequality were prevalent, and healthcare access was limited by long distances to the health post and long waiting times. There was a high burden of reported pain (mainly head and musculoskeletal) and chronic non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension (19%). Nearly all participants felt that they did not completely understand their diagnosed illnesses and wanted to know more. Participants preferred modern over traditional medicine, predominantly because of mistrust or lack of belief in traditional medicine. Our findings provide novel evidence concerning transitional health beliefs, hidden pain, and chronic non-communicable disease prevalence in marginalized communities of the Peruvian Amazon. Healthcare provision was limited by a breach between health education, knowledge, and access. Additional participatory research with similar rural populations is required to inform regional healthcare policy and decision-making. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Examples and experience: on the uncertainty of medicine.

PubMed

Pender, Stephen

2006-03-01

After a brief account of the uncertainty of medicine in early modern thought, this paper focuses on two supple, sophisticated accounts of medicine by 'non-medical' writers--Michel de Montaigne's views of medical theory and medical practice and Francis Bacon's proposals for renovating both--in which the claims of individual sufferers are set against the normativity of medicine as a whole. From around 1500 to around 1680, in the common ensemble of both learned and popular invective, medicine was disparaged as poor philosophy and worse practice, even as the 'lowest of professions'. In remarkably broad, elegant interventions, Montaigne argues that medicine is based on 'examples and experience' (and 'so is my opinion', he adds), impugning its universalizing claims with the tractable experience of his own embodiment, with his own historia and consilium, while Francis Bacon enlists dietetics, Hippocratic case-taking and medical history in his broad programme for the reform of medicine. He more or less accepts Montaigne's argument for particularity in medical theory and practice, but presses the particular into service in his reformist programme. Like many sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century scholars and physicians frustrated with Galenic methods and models, both turn to Hippocratic practice and to hygiene and dietetics as salves for an ailing discipline. Finally, I argue that both writers enquire into viable means for inflecting learned medicine with particular experience, and both settle on rhetorical tools - analogy and exemplarity - as the means by which universalized medical models might be particularized or reformed.

The Home Network: Identity and Materiality in Early Modern and Modern Ulster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whalen, Kathryn M.

This dissertation looks at three categories of ceramics and the creation of a hybrid culture during the Early Modern and Modern period in Ireland. During these time periods Ireland was a part of the English global colonial enterprises, and was the site of many legal and cultural changes due to its subordinate position in the hierarchy of socio-political and economic phenomenon that characterize the pinnacle of British global power. This study looks to understand how these powers articulated with England's one European colony, Ireland, and if that articulation has similarities to other colonial cultures across time and space. To study the possibility of hybridity between the Irish and English inhabitants of Ireland during the Post-Medieval Period, three categories of ceramics have been analyzed. Fine earthenwares in the form of tablewares and tea sets were macroscopically analyzed for patterns, age, and place of origin. Coarse earthenwares were subjected to X-ray florescence to look for patterns in the spectral data to see if a point of origin could be ascribed to them. And lastly, white ball clay pipe fragments were both macroscopically analyzed for makers' marks and subjected to X-ray florescence to verify their point of origin. The relationship between where these artifacts come from- if they are local productions or imports- and where they were disposed of- either across the landscaper or only associated with households of particular ethnicities- says something about how people negotiate their ethnic identities in colonial settings. As people in Ireland adopt the English style of tea drinking and start to use English mass-produced fine earthenwares, it disrupts the local cottage industry of coarse earthenware manufacturing. What this study seeks to know is if there is a difference in the adoption of English tea drinking, and if the purchasing of certain types of ceramic vessels contributes to the performance of ethnic identity in a colonial setting.

[Natural science vs. natural philosophy: Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs and the emergence of modern western medicine in the 19th century].

PubMed

Hansen, Werner

2016-12-01

The beginnings of modern western medicine reach to about 1800 when under the liberating influence of French Revolution observation of diseases was started to follow more scientifically justified criteria. At that time speculative doctrines prevailed, e. g. those set up natural philosopher Schelling. In this context Internist Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs at Berlin Charité University Hospital gained great merits because of his struggle for a scientifically-based experimental clinical medicine. This is demonstrated nicely in a recently found autograph document. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Assessing an early modern Fenland population: Whittlesey (Cambridgeshire).

PubMed

Falvey, Heather

2014-01-01

Improvement writers argued that drainage would bring prosperity and population growth to fenland communities; locals counter-argued that their communities were already thriving. The detailed surviving records from early modern Whittlesey, in the Isle of Ely, are analysed here to test the accuracy of these opposing claims. Using the returns of the 1523 Lay Subsidy, the 1563 ecclesiastical census, the Lady Day 1674 Hearth Tax records and the 1676 Compton Census, together with bishops' transcripts and probate inventories, this article finds that although the population did indeed increase after drainage, the pre-drainage population was also increasing. The Michaelmas 1664 Hearth Tax records are analysed to uncover something of the character of the inhabitants and the 1674 Lady Day returns are then used to test the relative wealth of the community compared with that of sub-regions throughout England identified by Tom Arkell. Finally, there is a discussion of Whittlesey's housing stock.

Ancient Records and Modern Research on the Mechanisms of Chinese Herbal Medicines in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus

PubMed Central

Zhang, Hai-ming; Liang, Feng-xia

2015-01-01

Over the past decades, Chinese herbal medicines (CHM) have been extensively and intensively studied through from both clinical and experimental perspectives and CHM have been proved to be effective in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM). This study, by searching ancient records and modern research papers, reviewed CHM in terms of their clinical application and principal mechanism in the treatment of DM. We summarized the use of CHM mentioned in 54 famous ancient materia medica monographs and searched papers on the hypoglycemic effect of several representative CHM. Main mechanisms and limitations of CHM and further research direction for DM were discussed. On the basis of the study, we were led to conclude that TCM, as a main form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), was well recorded in ancient literatures and has less adverse effects as shown by modern studies. The mechanisms of CHM treatment of DM are complex, multilink, and multitarget, so we should find main hypoglycemic mechanism through doing research on CHM monomer active constituents. Many CHM monomer constituents possess noteworthy hypoglycemic effects. Therefore, developing a novel natural product for DM and its complications is of much significance. It is strongly significant to pay close attention to CHM for treatment of DM and its complications. PMID:25815039

Early Patient Access to Medicines: Health Technology Assessment Bodies Need to Catch Up with New Marketing Authorization Methods.

PubMed

Leyens, Lada; Brand, Angela

National and international medicines agencies have developed innovative methods to expedite promising new medicines to the market and facilitate early patient access. Some of these approval pathways are the conditional approval and the adaptive pathways by the European Medicines Agency (EMA); the Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) designation and the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as well as the Fast Track, Breakthrough or Accelerated Approval methods by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, at least in Europe, these methods cannot achieve the goal of improving timely access for patients to new medicines on their own; the reimbursement process also has to become adaptive and flexible. In the past 2 years, the effective access (national patient access) to newly approved oncology drugs ranged from 1 to 30 months, with an extremely high variability between European countries. The goal of early patient access in Europe can only be achieved if the national health technology assessment bodies, such as NICE (ENG), HAS (FR), G-BA (DE) or AIFA (IT), provide harmonized, transparent, flexible, conditional and adaptive methods that adopt the level of evidence accepted by the medicines agencies. The efforts from medicines agencies are welcome but will be in vain if health technology assessments do not follow with similar initiatives, and the European 'postcode' lottery will continue. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The golden ratio and Loshu-Fibonacci Diagram: novel research view on relationship of Chinese medicine and modern biology.

PubMed

Chen, Zhao-xue; Huang, Yun-kun; Sun, Ying

2014-02-01

Associating geometric arrangements of 9 Loshu numbers modulo 5, investigating property of golden rectangles and characteristics of Fibonacci sequence modulo 10 as well as the two subsequences of its modular sequence by modulo 5, the Loshu-Fibonacci Diagram is created based on strict logical deduction in this paper, which can disclose inherent relationship among Taiji sign, Loshu and Fibonacci sequence modulo 10 perfectly and unite such key ideas of holism, symmetry, holographic thought and yin-yang balance pursuit from Chinese medicine as a whole. Based on further analysis and reasoning, the authors discover that taking the golden ratio and Loshu-Fibonacci Diagram as a link, there is profound and universal association existing between researches of Chinese medicine and modern biology.

From Apprentice to Master: Social Disciplining and Surgical Education in Early Modern London, 1570-1640

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chamberland, Celeste

2013-01-01

Due to its ascendancy as the administrative and commercial center of early modern England, London experienced sustained growth in the latter half of the sixteenth century, as waves of rural immigrants sought to enhance their material conditions by tapping into the city's bustling occupational and civic networks. The resultant crowded urban…

The Rhetoric of Bonds, Alliances, and Identities: Interrogating Social Networks in Early Modern English Drama

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cady, Christina J.

2010-01-01

The household and family have received considerable interest in studies of early modern English drama, but less attention has been paid to how writers represent intimate affective bonds on the stage. Emotion is intangible; yet many writers convincingly convey the intensity of emotional bonds through rhetoric. Rhetoric is a mainstay in…

The commercialization of traditional medicine in modern Cambodia

PubMed Central

Ros, Bandeth; Lê, Gillian; McPake, Barbara; Fustukian, Suzanne

2018-01-01

Abstract Globally, traditional medicine has long been used to address relatively common illness, mental ill health and during childbirth and post-natal care. However, traditional medicine is primarily provided by the private sector and it is unclear how far expenditures on traditional medicine contribute to household impoverishment. A life history method was used to understand the health seeking experience of 24 households over the last 60 years in Cambodia, a country with high out-of-pocket expenditures for health. The life histories suggest that traditional medicine in Cambodia has been undergoing a process of commercialization, with significant impacts on poor households. In the earlier lives of respondents, payments for traditional medicine were reported to have been flexible, voluntary or appropriate to patients’ financial means. In contrast, contemporary practitioners appear to seek immediate cash payments that have frequently led to considerable debt and asset sales by traditional medicine users. Given traditional medicine‘s popularity as a source of treatment in Cambodia and its potential to contribute to household impoverishment, we suggest that it needs to be included in a national conversation about achieving Universal Health Coverage in the country. PMID:29040469

Early Pleistocene third metacarpal from Kenya and the evolution of modern human-like hand morphology

PubMed Central

Ward, Carol V.; Tocheri, Matthew W.; Plavcan, J. Michael; Brown, Francis H.; Manthi, Fredrick Kyalo

2014-01-01

Despite discoveries of relatively complete hands from two early hominin species (Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus sediba) and partial hands from another (Australopithecus afarensis), fundamental questions remain about the evolution of human-like hand anatomy and function. These questions are driven by the paucity of hand fossils in the hominin fossil record between 800,000 and 1.8 My old, a time interval well documented for the emergence and subsequent proliferation of Acheulian technology (shaped bifacial stone tools). Modern and Middle to Late Pleistocene humans share a suite of derived features in the thumb, wrist, and radial carpometacarpal joints that is noticeably absent in early hominins. Here we show that one of the most distinctive features of this suite in the Middle Pleistocene to recent human hand, the third metacarpal styloid process, was present ∼1.42 Mya in an East African hominin from Kaitio, West Turkana, Kenya. This fossil thus provides the earliest unambiguous evidence for the evolution of a key shared derived characteristic of modern human and Neandertal hand morphology and suggests that the distinctive complex of radial carpometacarpal joint features in the human hand arose early in the evolution of the genus Homo and probably in Homo erectus sensu lato. PMID:24344276

Elementary Education and the Practices of Literacy in Catholic Girls' Schools in Early Modern Germany

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rutz, Andreas

2012-01-01

Girls' schools in the early modern era were largely run by nuns and can therefore be distinguished as Catholic institutions of learning. These schools flourished in the Catholic parts of Europe since the turn of the seventeenth century. Despite their focus on religious education, elementary skills such as reading, writing and sometimes arithmetic…

[Contributions of Catholicism, Protestantism, and Buddhism to medicine--taking into account the future of palliative medicine in Japan].

PubMed

Kato, Satoshi

2014-01-01

It is worth recalling that Catholicism and Protestantism have each played an important role in the development of modern medicine. Before modern medicine become widely accepted, palliative care was addressed by Catholic abbes in Western Europe, as well as by Buddhist monks in Japan. Palliative medicine exceeds the capability of contemporary medicine in general, insofar as spirituality is an important dimension when doctors are caring for patients who may be facing death. Being aware of this problem, the author tries to elucidate the contributions of religion to medicine, with the intention of considering the future of palliative medicine in Japan.

[Academy idea and Curiositas as leitmotif of the early modern Leopoldina].

PubMed

Boehm, Laetitia

2008-01-01

, it deals with aspects of privilege law, regarding the development of new kinds of higher learning institutions and university politics in the imperial city in the confessional era ("Semi-Universities"/"Academies" Strassburg, Nuremberg-Altdorf). This is followed by a thematic balancing.--Chapter III. Curiositas as an Early Modern Leitmotif of Natural Science Academies refers first to the multivalent popular usage of the fashionable and borrowed German word "Kuriosität" [curiosity] during the Enlightenment, then inquires about the word's original definitions in ancient and medieval scholarly traditions. In the age of humanist source study and expeditions into "new worlds", the concept of curiositas as an (ethically ambivalent) "desire for knowledge" was revitalized; this is exemplified by two types of sources: the report of the Orient and Brazil explorer André Thevet and the literarily virulent figure (around 1600) of knowledge-thirsty Faust. A reexamination of the academy's foundational documents, in conjunction with the peregrinatio academica of Schweinfurt doctors to Italy, confirms the old question, now newly posed, about the methodological and programmatic signal of the curiositas device. The self-reflection of the naturae-curiosi and their focus on observational development and natural-historical classifications in the area of "materia medica" show--besides other advances in scholarship in the early 17th century--clear correlation with the "phenomenology of modern thought" that is so often discussed today. However, there must be an evolutionary and innovative differentiation from what would later be called "natural science" disciplines (like biology, zoology, mineralogy, chemistry), as opposed to an all-inclusively defined "scientific revolution", which pertains to astronomical and mathematical ways of thinking, as well as new insights in the physical-instrumental field.--Chapter IV. The Urban Medical Profession Between Scholarly Medicine and Practice applies

Personalized medicine-a modern approach for the diagnosis and management of hypertension.

PubMed

Savoia, Carmine; Volpe, Massimo; Grassi, Guido; Borghi, Claudio; Agabiti Rosei, Enrico; Touyz, Rhian M

2017-11-15

The main goal of treating hypertension is to reduce blood pressure to physiological levels and thereby prevent risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension-associated target organ damage. Despite reductions in major risk factors and the availability of a plethora of effective antihypertensive drugs, the control of blood pressure to target values is still poor due to multiple factors including apparent drug resistance and lack of adherence. An explanation for this problem is related to the current reductionist and 'trial-and-error' approach in the management of hypertension, as we may oversimplify the complex nature of the disease and not pay enough attention to the heterogeneity of the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of the disorder. Taking into account specific risk factors, genetic phenotype, pharmacokinetic characteristics, and other particular features unique to each patient, would allow a personalized approach to managing the disease. Personalized medicine therefore represents the tailoring of medical approach and treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient and is expected to become the paradigm of future healthcare. The advancement of systems biology research and the rapid development of high-throughput technologies, as well as the characterization of different -omics, have contributed to a shift in modern biological and medical research from traditional hypothesis-driven designs toward data-driven studies and have facilitated the evolution of personalized or precision medicine for chronic diseases such as hypertension. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

An analysis of application of health informatics in Traditional Medicine: A review of four Traditional Medicine Systems.

PubMed

Raja Ikram, Raja Rina; Abd Ghani, Mohd Khanapi; Abdullah, Noraswaliza

2015-11-01

This paper shall first investigate the informatics areas and applications of the four Traditional Medicine systems - Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine and Traditional Malay Medicine. Then, this paper shall examine the national informatics infrastructure initiatives in the four respective countries that support the Traditional Medicine systems. Challenges of implementing informatics in Traditional Medicine Systems shall also be discussed. The literature was sourced from four databases: Ebsco Host, IEEE Explore, Proquest and Google scholar. The search term used was "Traditional Medicine", "informatics", "informatics infrastructure", "traditional Chinese medicine", "Ayurveda", "traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine", and "traditional malay medicine". A combination of the search terms above was also executed to enhance the searching process. A search was also conducted in Google to identify miscellaneous books, publications, and organization websites using the same terms. Amongst major advancements in TCM and Ayurveda are bioinformatics, development of Traditional Medicine databases for decision system support, data mining and image processing. Traditional Chinese Medicine differentiates itself from other Traditional Medicine systems with documented ISO Standards to support the standardization of TCM. Informatics applications in Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine are mostly ehealth applications that focus more on spiritual healing, Islamic obligations and prophetic traditions. Literature regarding development of health informatics to support Traditional Malay Medicine is still insufficient. Major informatics infrastructure that is common in China and India are automated insurance payment systems for Traditional Medicine treatment. National informatics infrastructure in Middle East and Malaysia mainly cater for modern medicine. Other infrastructure such as telemedicine and hospital information systems focus its

Hospitalist and Internal Medicine Leaders' Perspectives of Early Discharge Challenges at Academic Medical Centers.

PubMed

Patel, Hemali; Fang, Margaret C; Mourad, Michelle; Green, Adrienne; Wachter, Robert M; Murphy, Ryan D; Harrison, James D

2018-06-01

Improving early discharges may improve patient flow and increase hospital capacity. We conducted a national survey of academic medical centers addressing the prevalence, importance, and effectiveness of early-discharge initiatives. We assembled a list of hospitalist and general internal medicine leaders at 115 US-based academic medical centers. We emailed each institutional representative a 30-item online survey regarding early-discharge initiatives. The survey included questions on discharge prioritization, the prevalence and effectiveness of early-discharge initiatives, and barriers to implementation. We received 61 responses from 115 institutions (53% response rate). Forty-seven (77%) "strongly agreed" or "agreed" that early discharge was a priority. "Discharge by noon" was the most cited goal (n = 23; 38%) followed by "no set time but overall goal for improvement" (n = 13; 21%). The majority of respondents reported early discharge as more important than obtaining translators for non-English-speaking patients and equally important as reducing 30-day readmissions and improving patient satisfaction. The most commonly reported factors delaying discharge were availability of postacute care beds (n = 48; 79%) and patient-related transport complications (n = 44; 72%). The most effective early discharge initiatives reported involved changes to the rounding process, such as preemptive identification and early preparation of discharge paperwork (n = 34; 56%) and communication with patients about anticipated discharge (n = 29; 48%). There is a strong interest in increasing early discharges in an effort to improve hospital throughput and patient flow. © 2017 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum: Early 18th century botanical drawings of medicinal plants from colonial Ceylon.

PubMed

Van Andel, Tinde; Scholman, Ariane; Beumer, Mieke

2018-04-27

From 1640-1796, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupied the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Several VOC officers had a keen interest in the medicinal application of the local flora. The Leiden University Library holds a two-piece codex entitled: Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum, adscriptis nominibus et viribus, Vol. I. & II. (Illustrations of Plants from the Malabar, assigned names and strength). This manuscript contains 262 watercolour drawings of medicinal plants from Sri Lanka, with handwritten descriptions of local names, habitus, medicinal properties and therapeutic applications. This anonymous document had never been studied previously. To identify all depicted plant specimens, decipher the text, trace the author, and analyse the scientific relevance of this manuscript as well as its importance for Sri Lankan ethnobotany. We digitised the entire manuscript, transcribed and translated the handwritten Dutch texts and identified the depicted species using historic and modern literature, herbarium vouchers, online databases on Sri Lankan herbal medicine and 41 botanical drawings by the same artist in the Artis library, Amsterdam. We traced the origin of the manuscript by means of watermark analysis and historical literature. We compared the historic Sinhalese and Tamil names in the manuscript to recent plant names in ethnobotanical references from Sri Lanka and southern India. We published the entire manuscript online with translations and identifications. The watermarks indicate that the paper was made between 1694 and 1718. The handwriting is of a VOC scribe. In total, ca. 252 taxa are depicted, of which we could identify 221 to species level. The drawings represent mainly native species, including Sri Lankan endemics, but also introduced medicinal and ornamental plants. Lamiaceae, Zingiberaceae and Leguminosae were the best-represented families. Frequently mentioned applications were to purify the blood and to treat gastro-intestinal problems, fever and

Early Cambrian origin of modern food webs: evidence from predator arrow worms.

PubMed

Vannier, J; Steiner, M; Renvoisé, E; Hu, S-X; Casanova, J-P

2007-03-07

Although palaeontological evidence from exceptional biota demonstrates the existence of diverse marine communities in the Early Cambrian (approx. 540-520 Myr ago), little is known concerning the functioning of the marine ecosystem, especially its trophic structure and the full range of ecological niches colonized by the fauna. The presence of a diverse zooplankton in Early Cambrian oceans is still an open issue. Here we provide compelling evidence that chaetognaths, an important element of modern zooplankton, were present in the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota with morphologies almost identical to Recent forms. New information obtained from the lowermost Cambrian of China added to previous studies provide convincing evidence that protoconodont-bearing animals also belonged to chaetognaths. Chaetognaths were probably widespread and diverse in the earliest Cambrian. The obvious raptorial function of their circumoral apparatuses (grasping spines) places them among the earliest active predator metazoans. Morphology, body ratios and distribution suggest that the ancestral chaetognaths were planktonic with possible ecological preferences for hyperbenthic niches close to the sea bottom. Our results point to the early introduction of prey-predator relationships into the pelagic realm, and to the increase of trophic complexity (three-level structure) during the Precambrian-Cambrian transition, thus laying the foundations of present-day marine food chains.

Early Cambrian origin of modern food webs: evidence from predator arrow worms

PubMed Central

Vannier, J; Steiner, M; Renvoisé, E; Hu, S.-X; Casanova, J.-P

2006-01-01

Although palaeontological evidence from exceptional biota demonstrates the existence of diverse marine communities in the Early Cambrian (approx. 540–520 Myr ago), little is known concerning the functioning of the marine ecosystem, especially its trophic structure and the full range of ecological niches colonized by the fauna. The presence of a diverse zooplankton in Early Cambrian oceans is still an open issue. Here we provide compelling evidence that chaetognaths, an important element of modern zooplankton, were present in the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota with morphologies almost identical to Recent forms. New information obtained from the lowermost Cambrian of China added to previous studies provide convincing evidence that protoconodont-bearing animals also belonged to chaetognaths. Chaetognaths were probably widespread and diverse in the earliest Cambrian. The obvious raptorial function of their circumoral apparatuses (grasping spines) places them among the earliest active predator metazoans. Morphology, body ratios and distribution suggest that the ancestral chaetognaths were planktonic with possible ecological preferences for hyperbenthic niches close to the sea bottom. Our results point to the early introduction of prey–predator relationships into the pelagic realm, and to the increase of trophic complexity (three-level structure) during the Precambrian–Cambrian transition, thus laying the foundations of present-day marine food chains. PMID:17254986

Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards

PubMed Central

Lowe, John; Barton, Nick; Blockley, Simon; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Cullen, Victoria L.; Davies, William; Gamble, Clive; Grant, Katharine; Hardiman, Mark; Housley, Rupert; Lane, Christine S.; Lee, Sharen; Lewis, Mark; MacLeod, Alison; Menzies, Martin; Müller, Wolfgang; Pollard, Mark; Price, Catherine; Roberts, Andrew P.; Rohling, Eelco J.; Satow, Chris; Smith, Victoria C.; Stringer, Chris B.; Tomlinson, Emma L.; White, Dustin; Albert, Paul; Arienzo, Ilenia; Barker, Graeme; Borić, Dušan; Carandente, Antonio; Civetta, Lucia; Ferrier, Catherine; Guadelli, Jean-Luc; Karkanas, Panagiotis; Koumouzelis, Margarita; Müller, Ulrich C.; Orsi, Giovanni; Pross, Jörg; Rosi, Mauro; Shalamanov-Korobar, Ljiljiana; Sirakov, Nikolay; Tzedakis, Polychronis C.

2012-01-01

Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters. PMID:22826222

Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards.

PubMed

Lowe, John; Barton, Nick; Blockley, Simon; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Cullen, Victoria L; Davies, William; Gamble, Clive; Grant, Katharine; Hardiman, Mark; Housley, Rupert; Lane, Christine S; Lee, Sharen; Lewis, Mark; MacLeod, Alison; Menzies, Martin; Müller, Wolfgang; Pollard, Mark; Price, Catherine; Roberts, Andrew P; Rohling, Eelco J; Satow, Chris; Smith, Victoria C; Stringer, Chris B; Tomlinson, Emma L; White, Dustin; Albert, Paul; Arienzo, Ilenia; Barker, Graeme; Boric, Dusan; Carandente, Antonio; Civetta, Lucia; Ferrier, Catherine; Guadelli, Jean-Luc; Karkanas, Panagiotis; Koumouzelis, Margarita; Müller, Ulrich C; Orsi, Giovanni; Pross, Jörg; Rosi, Mauro; Shalamanov-Korobar, Ljiljiana; Sirakov, Nikolay; Tzedakis, Polychronis C

2012-08-21

Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.

[Discussion on knowledge structural system of modern acupuncture professionals].

PubMed

Wang, Qin-Yu; Li, Su-He

2012-02-01

To explore the knowledge structural system that the modern acupuncture professionals should have. The current situation of personnel training for modern acupuncture professionals was multi-dimensionally and comprehensively analyzed from course offering of higher education, laws of famous physicians growth, and discipline development features of the acupuncture and moxibustion subject, and suggestions were made to the shortages. The reasonable knowledge structural system that the modern acupuncture professionals should have included establishment of good Chinese medicine thoughts, mastery of complete Chinese medicine therapy, and ability of followup of dynamic development of subject. The reformation of course design is imperative in order to promote the reasonable knowledge structural system formation of modern acupuncture professionals.

Metaphors and images of cancer in early modern Europe.

PubMed

Stolberg, Michael

2014-01-01

Drawing on learned medical writing about cancer and on nonmedical texts that used cancer as a metaphor for hateful cultural, social, religious, or political phenomena that warranted drastic measures, this article traces the metaphors and images that framed the perception and experience of cancer in the early modern period. It finds that cancer was closely associated with notions of impurity and a visible destruction of the body's surface and was diagnosed primarily in women, as breast and uterine cancer. Putrid, corrosive cancerous humor was thought not only to accumulate and eat its way into the surrounding flesh but also to spread, like the seeds of a plant, "infecting" the whole body. This infectious quality, the putrid secretions, and the often horrendous smell emanating from cancer victims raised fears, in turn, of contagion and were taken to justify a separation of cancer patients from the rest of society.

The role of Austrian physicians and Prof. Joseph Hyrtl (1810-1894) on modernization of Ottoman-Turkish medicine.

PubMed

Ortuğ, Gürsel; Yücel, Ferruh; Ay, Hakan

2003-12-01

Medical schools have a long history in Ottoman-Turkish medical education. At Ottoman medical schools (medreses), education has been given to students regularly. But because of social dogma and oppression of religion on the science of human anatomy they could not get a chance to improve for centuries. Traditionally, Ottoman-Turkish medical education was shaped under the influence of Galenos (129-200) and Avicenna (980-1037). These influences continued until the beginning of the 19th century. In this period, Avicenna's most famous medical book "Kanun-i fit-tip" was a main anatomy textbook in medical education of the eleventh century. Modernization of educational systems in the Ottoman Empire started during the reign of Sultan Selim the 3rd (1789-1807) and modern anatomy in Ottoman-Turkish Medicine has flourished following the Austrian physicians. Today's Department of Anatomy at Istanbul Medical School of the Istanbul University is a continuation of Galatasaray Medical School which was the first medical school achieving the western educational level.

[The first official organization of traditional Chinese medicine in modern China-TCM Improvement Research Association].

PubMed

Liu, Y; Zhang, P F

2016-07-28

In modern China, most of the mass organizations of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) were civilian and established by the individuals with self support financially.The TCM Improvement Research Association of Shanxi Province was the first official TCM organization in modern China. For the purpose of ruling and recognition of TCM, Yan Xishan, the chief executive of Shanxi province, gave a full support to its creation, development, and operation of the Association with the military and political officials in the government served as part-time staff members of a few of important position in the Association. The Association was given funding and policy support by official ways. The local administrative departments cooperated with the Association affairs actively. Because of the stable organization and the abundant fund, the TCM Improvement Research Association developed quickly and steadily. As a result, the Association had been playing an important and increasing role in academic research, TCM education, medical and epidemic prevention and so on. It had become one of the great national TCM academic societies with prolonged existence. As an official Association, it was characterized with a dual property: a better foundation for development and little independency.

The art and science of prognostication in early university medicine.

PubMed

Demaitre, Luke

2003-01-01

Prognosis occupied a more prominent place in the medieval curriculum than it does at the modern university. Scholastic discussions were rooted in the Hippocratic Aphorisms and shaped by Galen's treatises On Crisis and On Critical Days. Medical prediction, as an art dependent on personal skills such as memory and conjecture, was taught with the aid of the liberal arts of rhetoric and logic. Scientific predictability was sought in branches of mathematics, moving from periodicity and numerology to astronomy. The search for certitude contributed to the cultivation of astrology; even at its peak, however, astrological medicine did not dominate the teaching on prognostication. The ultimate concern, which awaits further discussion, was not even with forecasting as such, but with the physician and, indeed, the patient.

BioTCM-SE: a semantic search engine for the information retrieval of modern biology and traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Chen, Xi; Chen, Huajun; Bi, Xuan; Gu, Peiqin; Chen, Jiaoyan; Wu, Zhaohui

2014-01-01

Understanding the functional mechanisms of the complex biological system as a whole is drawing more and more attention in global health care management. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), essentially different from Western Medicine (WM), is gaining increasing attention due to its emphasis on individual wellness and natural herbal medicine, which satisfies the goal of integrative medicine. However, with the explosive growth of biomedical data on the Web, biomedical researchers are now confronted with the problem of large-scale data analysis and data query. Besides that, biomedical data also has a wide coverage which usually comes from multiple heterogeneous data sources and has different taxonomies, making it hard to integrate and query the big biomedical data. Embedded with domain knowledge from different disciplines all regarding human biological systems, the heterogeneous data repositories are implicitly connected by human expert knowledge. Traditional search engines cannot provide accurate and comprehensive search results for the semantically associated knowledge since they only support keywords-based searches. In this paper, we present BioTCM-SE, a semantic search engine for the information retrieval of modern biology and TCM, which provides biologists with a comprehensive and accurate associated knowledge query platform to greatly facilitate the implicit knowledge discovery between WM and TCM.

BioTCM-SE: A Semantic Search Engine for the Information Retrieval of Modern Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine

PubMed Central

Chen, Xi; Chen, Huajun; Bi, Xuan; Gu, Peiqin; Chen, Jiaoyan; Wu, Zhaohui

2014-01-01

Understanding the functional mechanisms of the complex biological system as a whole is drawing more and more attention in global health care management. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), essentially different from Western Medicine (WM), is gaining increasing attention due to its emphasis on individual wellness and natural herbal medicine, which satisfies the goal of integrative medicine. However, with the explosive growth of biomedical data on the Web, biomedical researchers are now confronted with the problem of large-scale data analysis and data query. Besides that, biomedical data also has a wide coverage which usually comes from multiple heterogeneous data sources and has different taxonomies, making it hard to integrate and query the big biomedical data. Embedded with domain knowledge from different disciplines all regarding human biological systems, the heterogeneous data repositories are implicitly connected by human expert knowledge. Traditional search engines cannot provide accurate and comprehensive search results for the semantically associated knowledge since they only support keywords-based searches. In this paper, we present BioTCM-SE, a semantic search engine for the information retrieval of modern biology and TCM, which provides biologists with a comprehensive and accurate associated knowledge query platform to greatly facilitate the implicit knowledge discovery between WM and TCM. PMID:24772189

Tracing sexual identities in "old age": gender and seniority in advice literature of the early-modern and modern periods.

PubMed

van Tilburg, Marja

2009-10-01

Thus far, historians have interpreted representations of elderly women with reference to women's roles or to women's positions in society. This article proposes a different approach toward gender: to relate representations of the aged to the sexual identities of both men and women. This article analyzes representations of old age in conduct books of the early-modern period and the nineteenth century. By drawing a comparison, the eighteenth-century change of "identity regime" in European culture is brought to the fore. The article points to the influence of sexual identities on the representations of senior persons in advice literature both in Dutch and translated into Dutch.

Wombs, Worms and Wolves: Constructing Cancer in Early Modern England.

PubMed

Skuse, Alanna

2014-11-01

This essay examines medical and popular attitudes to cancer in the early modern period, c .1580-1720. Cancer, it is argued, was understood as a cruel and usually incurable disease, diagnosable by a well-defined set of symptoms understood to correspond to its etymological root, karkinos (the crab). It was primarily understood as produced by an imbalance of the humours, with women being particularly vulnerable. However, such explanations proved inadequate to make sense of the condition's malignancy, and medical writers frequently constructed cancer as quasi-sentient, zoomorphising the disease as an eating worm or wolf. In turn, these constructions materially influenced medical practice, in which practitioners swung between anxiety over 'aggravating' the disease and an adversarial approach which fostered the use of radical and dangerous 'cures' including caustics and surgery.

Wombs, Worms and Wolves: Constructing Cancer in Early Modern England

PubMed Central

Skuse, Alanna

2014-01-01

This essay examines medical and popular attitudes to cancer in the early modern period, c.1580–1720. Cancer, it is argued, was understood as a cruel and usually incurable disease, diagnosable by a well-defined set of symptoms understood to correspond to its etymological root, karkinos (the crab). It was primarily understood as produced by an imbalance of the humours, with women being particularly vulnerable. However, such explanations proved inadequate to make sense of the condition's malignancy, and medical writers frequently constructed cancer as quasi-sentient, zoomorphising the disease as an eating worm or wolf. In turn, these constructions materially influenced medical practice, in which practitioners swung between anxiety over ‘aggravating’ the disease and an adversarial approach which fostered the use of radical and dangerous ‘cures’ including caustics and surgery. PMID:25352720

A nearly modern amphibious bird from the Early Cretaceous of northwestern China.

PubMed

You, Hai-Lu; Lamanna, Matthew C; Harris, Jerald D; Chiappe, Luis M; O'connor, Jingmai; Ji, Shu-An; Lü, Jun-Chang; Yuan, Chong-Xi; Li, Da-Qing; Zhang, Xing; Lacovara, Kenneth J; Dodson, Peter; Ji, Qiang

2006-06-16

Three-dimensional specimens of the volant fossil bird Gansus yumenensis from the Early Cretaceous Xiagou Formation of northwestern China demonstrate that this taxon possesses advanced anatomical features previously known only in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic ornithuran birds. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Gansus within the Ornithurae, making it the oldest known member of the clade. The Xiagou Formation preserves the oldest known ornithuromorph-dominated avian assemblage. The anatomy of Gansus, like that of other non-neornithean (nonmodern) ornithuran birds, indicates specialization for an amphibious life-style, supporting the hypothesis that modern birds originated in aquatic or littoral niches.

Early Pliocene onset of modern Nordic Seas circulation related to ocean gateway changes.

PubMed

De Schepper, Stijn; Schreck, Michael; Beck, Kristina Marie; Matthiessen, Jens; Fahl, Kirsten; Mangerud, Gunn

2015-10-28

The globally warm climate of the early Pliocene gradually cooled from 4 million years ago, synchronous with decreasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. In contrast, palaeoceanographic records indicate that the Nordic Seas cooled during the earliest Pliocene, before global cooling. However, a lack of knowledge regarding the precise timing of Nordic Seas cooling has limited our understanding of the governing mechanisms. Here, using marine palynology, we show that cooling in the Nordic Seas was coincident with the first trans-Arctic migration of cool-water Pacific mollusks around 4.5 million years ago, and followed by the development of a modern-like Nordic Seas surface circulation. Nordic Seas cooling precedes global cooling by 500,000 years; as such, we propose that reconfiguration of the Bering Strait and Central American Seaway triggered the development of a modern circulation in the Nordic Seas, which is essential for North Atlantic Deep Water formation and a precursor for more widespread Greenland glaciation in the late Pliocene.

Plants used to treat diabetes in Sri Lankan Siddha Medicine - An ethnopharmacological review of historical and modern sources.

PubMed

Sathasivampillai, Saravanan V; Rajamanoharan, Pholtan R S; Munday, Michael; Heinrich, Michael

2017-02-23

In recent decades diabetes mellitus has become a considerable health problem in countries like Sri Lanka and results in an increasing economic burden hampering the social and economic development of these countries. About 60% to 70% of the rural population in Sri Lanka rely on indigenous medicinal systems as their main source for primary health care. Siddha (Tamil) Medicine is one of the four Sri Lankan traditional medicinal systems and it is practised mostly in the eastern and northern provinces of Sri Lanka where the majority of Tamils reside. The foundation of this study is a documentation of plant species recorded in historical and modern Sri Lankan Siddha Medical documents used to treat diabetes. Based on the systematic documentation and analysis of Siddha concepts about diabetes and its signs and preparations used to treat diabetes in Sri Lankan Siddha Medicine, the plant species included in these preparations (excluding globally or very widely used, very well studied species) were evaluated in terms of the current state-of-the-art about these species' pharmacology and effectiveness in order to lay a foundation for their further development. Historic and modern Sri Lankan university texts books in Tamil were used as sources for information on diabetes Siddha concepts and antidiabetic Sri Lankan Siddha Medicine preparations. Information on the known antidiabetic effects of extracts and compounds obtained from these species were used in order to assess the current state of the art of these species. Information of ingredients, preparation methods, amount of ingredients used, and dosages of 60 antidiabetic Sri Lankan Siddha Medicine preparations were obtained. Animal parts including marine organisms, inorganic substances, and plants are the three types of ingredients used. Overall 171 plant species in 73 families were documented. Senna auriculata (L.) Roxb. (Fabaceae) was identified as the most frequently cited species. Globally distributed and very well studied

Historical root of precision medicine: an ancient concept concordant with the modern pharmacotherapy.

PubMed

Moeini, Reihaneh; Memariani, Zahra; Pasalar, Parvin; Gorji, Narjes

2017-04-04

Pharmacogenomics and pharmacoproteomics are new sciences that their goal is achieving therapeutics with maximum results and minimal side effects for each individual due to the pattern of his genome and proteome.Although they considered new and high technology sciences but in distant past, Persian sages like Avicenna also knew about importance of "personalized medicine" and used specific patterns to detect individual differences in order to select suitable medication.Based on experience and analogy they divided individuals into different categories considering characteristics like body color, body temperature, sleep-awake pattern and skeletal structure.They also paid attention to effect of environmental conditions such as climate, job and the change of seasons on the influence of medication.Considering the low cost and ease of use of these experiences, it seems that researching their opinions can uncover the historical roots of modern pharmacoproteomics and can possibly infuse new ideas in this field.

[Quo vadis, modern intensive care medicine? Outdated considerations regarding risks and side effects].

PubMed

Duttge, G

2016-04-01

Modern intensive care medicine is faced with large challenges which are not solely caused by medical-technical progress, but above all by the demographic and value-related changes of society and its citizens. Thereby, three central problem areas are of particular interest: the fragile effectiveness of a patient's right to self-determination at the end of life, the uncertainties regarding the demarcation of futility, and the question of the influence of economic considerations (rationing) in view of the different levels for the allocation of duties and execution of duties. This article contains the revised version of the lecture from June 18, 2015 on the occasion of the 47th annual joint conference of DGIIN (Deutschen Gesellschaft für Internistische Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin) and ÖGIAIN (Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Internistische und Allgemeine Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin) on the general subject: "quality and humanity".

Medicines, Travellers and the Introduction and Spread of ‘Modern’ Medicine in the Mt Everest Region of Nepal

PubMed Central

Heydon, Susan

2011-01-01

The significant contribution of medicines in the introduction and spread of ‘modern’ medicine has, with the exception of vaccination, been neglected in historical studies, yet medicines have been a significant factor in people’s experiences of sickness and in their use and non-use of health services. Although medicines are implicitly acknowledged in the literature as important in the provision of healthcare, this article uses a case study of the Mt Everest region of Nepal during the second half of the twentieth century to argue that medicines have had an explicit and central role in the introduction and spread of modern medicine in this region. It also highlights the importance of travellers in the process. While this article focuses on biomedical products, modern medicine, as elsewhere in the wider Himalayan region, continued to be practised within a changing but plural medical environment. The first part of the article discusses medicines and travellers who, in the absence of biomedical services, were the main source of medicines prior to the mid-1960s, while the second part considers medicines and Khunde Hospital, which was built in 1966 by the area’s most famous overseas traveller and became not only the area’s main provider of modern health services but also the main source of medicines. PMID:22025798

Harvey Cushing's ghosts: death and hauntings in modern medicine.

PubMed

Shin, Paul

2011-06-01

The passing of Yale School of Medicine's 2010 Bicentennial occasions a moment of reflecting on the past, present, and future of medical education and research at Yale and beyond. Last June, a ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurated the opening of the Cushing Center in the Cushing-Whitney Medical Library. Named after Harvey Cushing, an early 20th-century neurosurgeon and former Yale College alum, the dual education/exhibition space now houses hundreds of gross brain specimens constituting the Cushing Tumor Registry. Originally a personal collection, Cushing donated his numerous medical specimens, photographs, and other medical relics from his deathbed, relinquishing the brains to Yale only under the condition that a suitable space be erected to preserve the many specimens. Some 70 years later and after nearly being destroyed, Cushing's wish is fully realized: The once desiccated, hidden brains have been painstakingly restored and are now on view in the Cushing Center. The brains express Cushing's singular and spectral worldview as a surgeon, artist, athlete, soldier, book collector, and historian.

Medicinal exploitation of inorganic substances in the Levant in the Medieval and early Ottoman periods.

PubMed

Lev, Efraim

2002-11-01

Various minerals, metals, clays, and rocks were among the natural medicinal substances used by physicians and pharmacists in early times in different cultures, for example, the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Classical physicians such as Hippocrates and Dioscorides mention tens of inorganic medicinal substances in their writings. Many references to minerals and chemicals are also found in the Muslim medical literature of the Eastern and Western Caliphates. The historical research presented in this article focuses on the inorganic substances applied as remedies by the medieval and early Ottoman (7th-17th) inhabitants of the Levant. The article is based upon a literature review covering tens of different historical sources, from the medieval and early Ottoman periods. Relevant information was found in the works of physicians such as al-Tamimi, Benevenutus, Ibn al-Baytar, Daud al-Antaki, and Hayyim Vital. The research revealed evidences of the medicinal uses of fifteen inorganic substances: Alum, Arsenic, Sulphide, Asphalt, Jew's stone, Earth sp., Galena, Haematite, iron, Lead, Pyrite, Salt, Sulphur, Thermal water, Green Vitriol, and Zinc. Inorganic materials comprise 5.2% of the list of medicinal substances. The geographic origin of most of these substances is the Levant, in which two geo-historical centers have been recorded: the Rift Valley and the northern region of the Levant, including upper Galilee, Mount Lebanon and Mount Hermon. A notable tendency to use these substances for treating diseases of the skin, the eyes, the sexual organs, and haemorrhoids was detected.

Early predictors of career achievement in academic medicine.

PubMed

Brancati, F L; Mead, L A; Levine, D M; Martin, D; Margolis, S; Klag, M J

1992-03-11

To identify early personal and scholastic factors that predict academic career choice and long-term career achievement among academic physicians. A longitudinal cohort study. Nine hundred forty-four male physicians who graduated from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, from 1948 through 1964. Career achievement outcomes included attained faculty rank in 1990 and the number of citations (20 to 24 years after graduation) to published work. Of the 944 physicians, 424 (45%) had chosen academic careers. Scholastic performance and research experience in medical school were independently associated with having chosen an academic career (P less than .001). Among academicians, higher attained rank in 1990 was independently associated with the following: (1) membership in Alpha Omega Alpha (relative risk [RR] = 4.94, P = .0001); (2) rank in the top third of the graduating class (RR = 2.68, P = .01); and (3) research experience in medical school (RR = 3.11, P = .0001). These three factors were also independently associated with more citations to participants' published work (P less than .05). These data suggest that scholastic performance and research experience during medical school predict career achievement in academic medicine over 20 years in the future.

Medical topics in the De anima commentary of Coimbra (1598) and the Jesuits' attitude towards medicine in education and natural philosophy.

PubMed

Sander, Christoph

2014-01-01

Early-modern Jesuit universities did not offer studies in medicine, and from 1586 onwards, the Jesuit Ratio studiorum prohibited digressions on medical topics in the Aristotelian curriculum. However, some sixteenth-century Jesuit text books used in philosophy classes provided detailed accounts on physiological issues such as sense perception and its organic location as discussed in Aristotle's De anima II, 7-11. This seeming contradiction needs to be explained. In this paper, I focus on the interst in medical topics manifested in a commentary by the Jesuits of Coimbra. Admittedly, the Coimbra commentary constituted an exception, as the Jesuit college that produced it was integrated in a royal university which had a strong interest in educating physicians. It will be claimed that the exclusion of medicine at Jesuit universities and colleges had its origin in rather incidental events in the course of the foundation of the first Jesuit university in Sicily. There, the lay professors of law and medicine intended to avoid subordination to the Jesuits and thereby provoked a conflict which finally led the Jesuit administration to refrain from including faculties of medicine and law in Jesuit universities. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, a veritable Jesuit animosity towards medicine emerged for philosophical and pedagogical reasons. This development reflects educational concerns within the Society as well as the role of commentaries on Aristotle for early-modern learning.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome in combat casualties: military medicine and advances in mechanical ventilation.

PubMed

Morris, Michael James

2006-11-01

Military medicine has made numerous enduring contributions to the advancement of pulmonary medicine. Acute respiratory distress syndrome was first recognized as a complication in battlefield casualties in World War I and continued to play a significant role in the treatment of casualties through the Vietnam War. Innovative surgeons during World War II devised methods to assist their patients with positive pressure breathing. This concept was later adopted and applied to the development of mechanical ventilation in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The continued treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome in combat casualties by military physicians has provided a major impetus for advances in modern mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit medicine.

[Patients' letters and pre-modern medical lay-culture].

PubMed

Stolberg, Michael

2007-01-01

Consulting by letter was fairly common practice among the educated, upper classes of early modern Europe. Surviving letters of consultation written by patients, relatives or friends count among the most valuable source for the analysis of pre-modern experiences of disease and the body. This essay gives a brief overview of the various types of consultation letters and related documents which resulted from this practice before tracing the historical development of epistolary consultations from the late Middle Ages through the heyday medical correspondence in the 18th c. before its decline in the 19th c. It presents "experience", "self-fashioning" and "discourse" as three particularly fruitful levels of analysis on which patients' letters can be used within the wider framework of a cultural history of medicine. These three levels of analysis, or three distinct approaches, enable historians to access a greater awareness of the ways in which the experience of illness and the body is culturally framed with an analysis of the performative effects of patients' narratives and the influence of medical discourse among the wider society.

INFLUENCE OF AEROSPACE MEDICINE ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPORT MEDICINE METHODOLOGY.

PubMed

R Yashina, E R; Kurashvili, V A; Turzin, P S

Modern technologies of aerospace medicine develop at rapid pace pulling on its orbit all spheres of the human activity, including sport. Innovations play a major role in the progress of sport medicine areas related to the biomedical support of precontest training. Overview of the most important aerospace medicine achievements and their methodical implications for sport medicine is presented. Discussion is devoted to how the aerospace medicine technologies can raise effectiveness of the biomedical support to different sectors of sport and fitness.

PCMO L01-Setting Specifications for Biological Investigational Medicinal Products.

PubMed

Krause, Stephan O

2015-01-01

This paper provides overall guidance and best practices for the setting of specifications for clinical biological drug substances and drug products within the framework of ICH guidelines on pharmaceutical development [Q8(R2) and Q11], quality risk management (Q9), and quality systems (Q10). A review is provided of the current regulatory expectations for the specification setting process as part of a control strategy during product development, pointing to existing challenges for the investigational new drug/investigational medicinal product dossier (IND/IMPD) sponsor. A case study illustrates how the investigational medicinal product specification revision process can be managed within a flexible quality system, and how specifications can be set and justified for early and late development stages. This paper provides an overview for the setting of product specifications for investigational medicinal products used in clinical trials. A case study illustrates how product specifications of investigational medicinal products can be justified and managed within a modern product quality system. © PDA, Inc. 2015.

Book review: Mapping gendered routes and spaces in the early modern world

USGS Publications Warehouse

Varanka, Dalia E.

2016-01-01

This book encapsulates and extends many seminal ideas presented at the eighth “Attending to Early Modern Women” conference held at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in June 2012. Merry Wiesner-Hanks has done a masterful job editing these papers within a central theme of the interaction of spatial domains with gender-based phenomena. The fifteen chapters of this book are organized into four sections: “Framework,” discussing theoretical concepts; “Embodied Environments,” focusing on physicality; “Communities and Networks” of social patterns; and “Exchanges” across geographic space. Together, a global society shaped by gender and sexuality and intersected by race and class emerges.

[Louis XIV's Ginseng: Shaping of Knowledge on an Herbal Medicine in the Late 17th and the Early 18th Century France].

PubMed

Lee, Hye-Min

2016-04-01

This article aims to investigate the shaping of knowledge and discourse on ginseng, especially among physicians and botanists, since its introduction to France from the 17th century until the early 18th century. In France, knowledge on herbal medicine, including that of ginseng, was shaped under the influence of the modern state's policy and institution: mercantilism and the Académie royale des sciences. The knowledge of herbal medicine developed as an important part of the mercantilist policy supported systematically by the Académie. The East Asian ginseng, renowned as a panacea, was first introduced into France in the 17th century, initially in a roundabout way through transportation and English and Dutch publications of travel tales from various foreign countries. The publication activity was mainly conducted by Thévenot company with the intention to meet the needs of French mercantilism promoted by Colbert. It also implied interests on medicine in order to bolster the people's health. The Thévenot company's activity thus offered vital information on plants and herbs abroad, one of which was ginseng. Furthermore, with Louis XIV's dispatching of the Jesuit missionaries to East Asia, the Frenchmen were able to directly gather information on ginseng. These information became a basis for research of the Académie. In the Académie, founded in 1666 by Colbert, the king's physicians and botanists systematically and collectively studied on exotic plants and medical herbs including ginseng. They were also key figures of the Jardin du Roi. These institutions bore a striking contrast to the faculty of medicine at the University of Paris which has been a center of the traditional Galenic medicine. The research of the Académie on ginseng was greatly advanced, owing much to the reports and samples sent from China and Canada by Jartoux, Sarrazin, and Lapitau. From the early 18th century, the conservative attitude of the University of Paris, which was a stronghold of

Simulations in Medicine and Biology: Insights and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spyrou, George M.

2015-01-01

Modern medicine and biology have been transformed into quantitative sciences of high complexity, with challenging objectives. The aims of medicine are related to early diagnosis, effective therapy, accurate intervention, real time monitoring, procedures/systems/instruments optimization, error reduction, and knowledge extraction. Concurrently, following the explosive production of biological data concerning DNA, RNA, and protein biomolecules, a plethora of questions has been raised in relation to their structure and function, the interactions between them, their relationships and dependencies, their regulation and expression, their location, and their thermodynamic characteristics. Furthermore, the interplay between medicine and biology gives rise to fields like molecular medicine and systems biology which are further interconnected with physics, mathematics, informatics, and engineering. Modelling and simulation is a powerful tool in the fields of Medicine and Biology. Simulating the phenomena hidden inside a diagnostic or therapeutic medical procedure, we are able to obtain control on the whole system and perform multilevel optimization. Furthermore, modelling and simulation gives insights in the various scales of biological representation, facilitating the understanding of the huge amounts of derived data and the related mechanisms behind them. Several examples, as well as the insights and the perspectives of simulations in biomedicine will be presented.

The 'special obligations' of the modern Hippocratic Oath for 21st century medicine.

PubMed

Holmboe, Eric; Bernabeo, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Profound advances and discoveries in medicine have markedly improved the lives of many over the 50 years since the modern Hippocratic Oath was written. Regrettably, these advances were and continue to be implemented suboptimally and inequitably across the globe. 'Special obligations to all my fellow humans' is an important theme of the modern Oath. From this perspective, we reflect on the special obligations of the medical profession, and examine how these obligations have changed over the past 50 years. We draw from perspectives of the social contract, professionalism, quality improvement, patient safety and a group of 31 international colleagues involved in medical education as we examine these obligations for individual doctors, health care institutions and medical education systems. The perspectives of the 31 clinician-educators helped us to situate the meaning of the theme of 'special obligations' in the context of challenges facing medical education and health care in the 21st century. Improving the quality of care and patient safety, and reducing health care disparities are now paramount as 'special obligations' for doctors, health care systems and medical education organisations, and require us to work collectively and collaboratively in an increasingly interconnected world. In our view, traditions such as the Hippocratic Oath will be worthy of public support only when the medical profession demonstrates in meaningful and transparent ways that it is meeting its social and civic obligations to make the world, not just health care, a better place. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Prehistoric Iroquois Medicine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hosbach, Richard E.; Doyle, Robert E.

1976-01-01

Study of pre-1750 medicine reveals that Iroquois diagnosis and treatment of disease was more advanced than the medicine of their European counterparts. The Iroquois developed a cure for scurvy, treated hypertension, and head lice, and even designed sauna baths. Indian psychiatry also included modern day techniques such as dream analysis. (MR)

Floods of the Maros river in the early modern and modern period (16th-20th centuries)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiss, Andrea

2016-04-01

In the poster presentation a series of historical and recent floods of the Maros river, with special emphasis on the flood events occurred on the lower sections, are presented. Similar to the Hungarian flood databases of the Middle-Danube and Lower-Tisza, the main sources of investigations are the institutional (legal-administrative) documentary evidence (e.g. Szeged and Makó town council protocols and related administrative documentation, Csanád County meeting protocols) mainly from the late 17th-early 18th century onwards. However, in case of the Maros river there is an increased importance of narrative sources, with special emphasis on the early modern period (16th-17th century): in this case the (mainly Transylvanian) narratives (chronicles, diaries, memoires etc.) written by aristocrats, other noblemen and town citizens have particular importance. In the presentation the frequency of detected flood events, from the mid-16th century onwards (with an outlook on sporadic medieval evidence), is provided; moreover, a 3-scaled magnitude classification and a seasonality analysis are also presented. Floods of the Maros river, especially those of the lower river sections, often cannot be understood and discussed without the floods of the (Lower-)Tisza; thus, a comparison of the two flood series are also a subject of discussion. Unlike the Lower-Tisza, the Maros is prone to winter and early spring ice jam floods: since the floods that belonged to this type (similar to those of the Middle-Danube at Budapest) were the most destructive among the flood events of the river, this flood type, and the greatest flood events (e.g. 1751-1752, 1784) are also presented in more detail.

Unexpected Early Triassic marine ecosystem and the rise of the Modern evolutionary fauna

PubMed Central

Brayard, Arnaud; Krumenacker, L. J.; Botting, Joseph P.; Jenks, James F.; Bylund, Kevin G.; Fara, Emmanuel; Vennin, Emmanuelle; Olivier, Nicolas; Goudemand, Nicolas; Saucède, Thomas; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Romano, Carlo; Doguzhaeva, Larisa; Thuy, Ben; Hautmann, Michael; Stephen, Daniel A.; Thomazo, Christophe; Escarguel, Gilles

2017-01-01

In the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction, the Early Triassic (~251.9 to 247 million years ago) is portrayed as an environmentally unstable interval characterized by several biotic crises and heavily depauperate marine benthic ecosystems. We describe a new fossil assemblage—the Paris Biota—from the earliest Spathian (middle Olenekian, ~250.6 million years ago) of the Bear Lake area, southeastern Idaho, USA. This highly diversified assemblage documents a remarkably complex marine ecosystem including at least seven phyla and 20 distinct metazoan orders, along with algae. Most unexpectedly, it combines early Paleozoic and middle Mesozoic taxa previously unknown from the Triassic strata, among which are primitive Cambrian-Ordovician leptomitid sponges (a 200–million year Lazarus taxon) and gladius-bearing coleoid cephalopods, a poorly documented group before the Jurassic (~50 million years after the Early Triassic). Additionally, the crinoid and ophiuroid specimens show derived anatomical characters that were thought to have evolved much later. Unlike previous works that suggested a sluggish postcrisis recovery and a low diversity for the Early Triassic benthic organisms, the unexpected composition of this exceptional assemblage points toward an early and rapid post-Permian diversification for these clades. Overall, it illustrates a phylogenetically diverse, functionally complex, and trophically multileveled marine ecosystem, from primary producers up to top predators and potential scavengers. Hence, the Paris Biota highlights the key evolutionary position of Early Triassic fossil ecosystems in the transition from the Paleozoic to the Modern marine evolutionary fauna at the dawn of the Mesozoic era. PMID:28246643

Unexpected Early Triassic marine ecosystem and the rise of the Modern evolutionary fauna.

PubMed

Brayard, Arnaud; Krumenacker, L J; Botting, Joseph P; Jenks, James F; Bylund, Kevin G; Fara, Emmanuel; Vennin, Emmanuelle; Olivier, Nicolas; Goudemand, Nicolas; Saucède, Thomas; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Romano, Carlo; Doguzhaeva, Larisa; Thuy, Ben; Hautmann, Michael; Stephen, Daniel A; Thomazo, Christophe; Escarguel, Gilles

2017-02-01

In the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction, the Early Triassic (~251.9 to 247 million years ago) is portrayed as an environmentally unstable interval characterized by several biotic crises and heavily depauperate marine benthic ecosystems. We describe a new fossil assemblage-the Paris Biota-from the earliest Spathian (middle Olenekian, ~250.6 million years ago) of the Bear Lake area, southeastern Idaho, USA. This highly diversified assemblage documents a remarkably complex marine ecosystem including at least seven phyla and 20 distinct metazoan orders, along with algae. Most unexpectedly, it combines early Paleozoic and middle Mesozoic taxa previously unknown from the Triassic strata, among which are primitive Cambrian-Ordovician leptomitid sponges (a 200-million year Lazarus taxon) and gladius-bearing coleoid cephalopods, a poorly documented group before the Jurassic (~50 million years after the Early Triassic). Additionally, the crinoid and ophiuroid specimens show derived anatomical characters that were thought to have evolved much later. Unlike previous works that suggested a sluggish postcrisis recovery and a low diversity for the Early Triassic benthic organisms, the unexpected composition of this exceptional assemblage points toward an early and rapid post-Permian diversification for these clades. Overall, it illustrates a phylogenetically diverse, functionally complex, and trophically multileveled marine ecosystem, from primary producers up to top predators and potential scavengers. Hence, the Paris Biota highlights the key evolutionary position of Early Triassic fossil ecosystems in the transition from the Paleozoic to the Modern marine evolutionary fauna at the dawn of the Mesozoic era.

Aristophanes' Wealth: ancient alternative medicine and its modern survival.

PubMed Central

Koutouvidis, N; Papamichael, E; Fotiadou, A

1996-01-01

The miraculous cure of the blind god Plutos ("Wealth') in Aristophanes' play illuminates some of the reasons why people have sought help in alternative medicine over the ages. Apart from limitations of conventional medicine these factors can be social, political, religious, psychological, and scientific. Alternative medicine may function in a complementary way to the conventional. Nevertheless, an overestimation of its therapeutic potentials by the public can lead to the domination of irrationalism, all in the name of liberation from the shackles of a mechanistic rationalism. PMID:9135601

Laughter and positive therapies: modern approach and practical use in medicine.

PubMed

Ripoll, Ramon Mora; Casado, Isabel Quintana

2010-01-01

The exploration of the possible strategies centered in positive emotions is a suggestion to investigate and probably useful to raise the efficiency of therapeutic interventions. Laughter and humor have been classified as part of the 24 personal strengths and are considered as one of the activities that encourage personal well-being, savoring, and promoting flow states. Laughter therapy, classified within alternative or complementary therapies in medicine, includes a group of techniques and therapeutic interventions aimed to achieve laughter experiences which result in health-related outcomes, both physiological and psychological. Recent advent of positive psychology has developed high interest and expectations in the benefits of adding positive techniques to laughter therapy (and to other mind-body therapies). Consequently with this modern approach positive laughter therapy was born, as add-on to conventional laughter therapy and positive psychology, with its contributions and limitations. Health professionals can exert an important role in order to disseminate overall benefits of "positive therapies" while applying them in real-world clinical settings, for both patients and themselves. Copyright © 2010 Sociedad Española de Psiquiatría and Sociedad Española de Psiquiatría Biológica. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Historical DNA reveals the demographic history of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in medieval and early modern Iceland

PubMed Central

Ólafsdóttir, Guðbjörg Ásta; Westfall, Kristen M.; Edvardsson, Ragnar; Pálsson, Snæbjörn

2014-01-01

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) vertebrae from archaeological sites were used to study the history of the Icelandic Atlantic cod population in the time period of 1500–1990. Specifically, we used coalescence modelling to estimate population size and fluctuations from the sequence diversity at the cytochrome b (cytb) and Pantophysin I (PanI) loci. The models are consistent with an expanding population during the warm medieval period, large historical effective population size (NE), a marked bottleneck event at 1400–1500 and a decrease in NE in early modern times. The model results are corroborated by the reduction of haplotype and nucleotide variation over time and pairwise population distance as a significant portion of nucleotide variation partitioned across the 1550 time mark. The mean age of the historical fished stock is high in medieval times with a truncation in age in early modern times. The population size crash coincides with a period of known cooling in the North Atlantic, and we conclude that the collapse may be related to climate or climate-induced ecosystem change. PMID:24403343

Historical DNA reveals the demographic history of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in medieval and early modern Iceland.

PubMed

Ólafsdóttir, Guðbjörg Ásta; Westfall, Kristen M; Edvardsson, Ragnar; Pálsson, Snæbjörn

2014-02-22

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) vertebrae from archaeological sites were used to study the history of the Icelandic Atlantic cod population in the time period of 1500-1990. Specifically, we used coalescence modelling to estimate population size and fluctuations from the sequence diversity at the cytochrome b (cytb) and Pantophysin I (PanI) loci. The models are consistent with an expanding population during the warm medieval period, large historical effective population size (NE), a marked bottleneck event at 1400-1500 and a decrease in NE in early modern times. The model results are corroborated by the reduction of haplotype and nucleotide variation over time and pairwise population distance as a significant portion of nucleotide variation partitioned across the 1550 time mark. The mean age of the historical fished stock is high in medieval times with a truncation in age in early modern times. The population size crash coincides with a period of known cooling in the North Atlantic, and we conclude that the collapse may be related to climate or climate-induced ecosystem change.

Getting comfortable with death & near-death experiences. Near-death experiences: an essay in medicine & philosophy.

PubMed

Moody, Raymond A

2013-01-01

Near-death experiences are an ancient and very common phenomenon that spans from ancient philosophy, religion and healing to the most modern clinical practice of medicine. Probably we are not much closer to an ultimate explanation of NDEs than were early thinkers like Plato and Democritus. Puzzling cases of near-death experiences continue to come to light and the ancient debate about what they mean continues unabated.

A Study on the Korean Medicine Education and the Changes in the Traditional Korean Medicine during the Japanese Colonial Era: Focused on the Korean Medicine Training Schools.

PubMed

Huang, Yongyuan

2018-04-01

The modern education institutes play an important role in fostering professional talents, reproducing knowledge and studies, and forming the identities of certain academic fields and vocational communities. It is a matter of common knowledge that the absence of an official Korean medicine medical school during the Japanese colonial era was a severely disadvantageous factor in the aspects of academic progress, fostering follow-up personnel, and establishment of social capability. Therefore, the then Korean medicine circle put emphasis on inadequate official education institutes as the main factor behind oppression. Furthermore, as the measure to promote the continuance of Korean medicine, the circle regarded establishing civilian Korean medicine training schools as their long-cherished wish and strived to accomplish the mission even after liberation. This study looked into how the Korean medicine circle during the Japanese colonial era utilized civilian training schools to conduct the Korean medicine education conforming to modern medical school and examined how the operation of these training schools influenced the changes in the traditional Korean medicine. After the introduction of the Western medical science, the Korean medicine circle aimed to improve the quality of Korean medicine doctors by establishing modern Korean medicine medical schools. However, after the annexation of Korea and Japan, official Korean medicine medical schools were not established since policies were organized centered on the Western medical science. In this light, the Korean medicine circle strived to nurture the younger generation of Korean medicine by establishing and operating the civilian Korean medicine training schools after the annexation between Korea and Japan. The schools were limited in terms of scale and status but possessed the forms conforming to the modern medical schools in terms of education system. In other words, the civilian training schools not only adhered to the

[Early Greek medicine and Plato's cosmology].

PubMed

Rhee, Kee-Bag

2004-06-01

The purpose of this paper is to show the influence of Early greek medicine on Plato's Cosmology. Alcmaeon holds that health depends on proportion (equality; isonomia) or proportioned mixture of opposing factors. This notion dominated nearly all greek medicine, and also influenced Plato's cosmology greatly. Generally each greek doctors believed that man consisted of opposing factors, though these are designated differently. Alcmaeon takes powers - hot and dry, cold and hot, vitter, sweet and the rest as those factors. On the other hand, Philistion of Locri adopts the four element theory of Empedocles. He conceives that human body as a mixture of the four elements, and health consists in proportion of these opposing four element, basically as Alcmaeon. This notion is accepted by Plato. Only Plato differs from Philistion in that he doesn't consider the four elements as the ultimate factors. In Timaeus Plato explain that the Demiourgos constructed the four elements through introducing 'proportion' into the primitive materials (the oppositives) by means of shapes and numbers. And Plato thinks that the cosmic body and soul was constructed basically in the same way as the four elements. This is true of the human body and soul. Also Plato explicates diseases from standpoint of proportion or symmetry. Moreover according to Philebus, the good states (i.e. 'health', 'music', 'season' etc) in the cosmos arises out of the right mixture of the limit and the unlimited. In the other word this mixture is proportioned mixture of the oppositives by aid of ratios. In short Plato believes that both the cosmos itself and the good states s proportioned mixture of the oppositives. Thus Plato' cosmology is fundamentally based upon Alcmaeon's or Philistion's concept of Health.

International health, the early cold war and Latin America.

PubMed

Cueto, Marcos

2008-01-01

This article offers a panoramic vision of the development of international health in Latin America during the late 1940s and the 1950s, when a series of bilateral and multilateral institutions, such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF, were founded and reshaped. The language, policies, and activities of these new institutional actors were heavily influenced by the context of the early Cold War between the era's superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. Vertical campaigns against yaws and malaria--implemented under the leadership of Fred L. Soper, director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau--symbolized international health's technical orientation, as well as its contribution to the modernization of the countries of the region. The Cold War period has received little attention by historians of medicine, though it bears certain similarities to historiographical discussions of the relationship between tropical medicine and imperialism in the early 20th century.

State of the art: stem cells in equine regenerative medicine.

PubMed

Lopez, M J; Jarazo, J

2015-03-01

According to Greek mythology, Prometheus' liver grew back nightly after it was removed each day by an eagle as punishment for giving mankind fire. Hence, contrary to popular belief, the concept of tissue and organ regeneration is not new. In the early 20th century, cell culture and ex vivo organ preservation studies by Alexis Carrel, some with famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, established a foundation for much of modern regenerative medicine. While early beliefs and discoveries foreshadowed significant accomplishments in regenerative medicine, advances in knowledge within numerous scientific disciplines, as well as nano- and micromolecular level imaging and detection technologies, have contributed to explosive advances over the last 20 years. Virtually limitless preparations, combinations and applications of the 3 major components of regenerative medicine, namely cells, biomaterials and bioactive molecules, have created a new paradigm of future therapeutic options for most species. It is increasingly clear, however, that despite significant parallels among and within species, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' regenerative therapy. Likewise, a panacea has yet to be discovered that completely reverses the consequences of time, trauma and disease. Nonetheless, there is no question that the promise and potential of regenerative medicine have forever altered medical practices. The horse is a relative newcomer to regenerative medicine applications, yet there is already a large body of work to incorporate novel regenerative therapies into standard care. This review focuses on the current state and potential future of stem cells in equine regenerative medicine. © 2014 EVJ Ltd.

Keeping modern in medicine: pharmaceutical promotion and physician education in postwar America.

PubMed

Greene, Jeremy A; Podolsky, Scott H

2009-01-01

Recent critiques of the role of pharmaceutical promotion in medical practice invoke a nostalgic version of 1950s and 1960s medicine as representing an uncomplicated relationship between an innovative pharmaceutical industry and an idealistic and sovereign medical profession-a relationship that was later corrupted by regulatory or business practice changes in the 1980s or 1990s. However, the escalation of innovation and promotion in the pharmaceutical industry at mid-century had already provoked a broader crisis of overflow in medical education in which physicians came to use both commercial and professional sources in an attempt to "keep modern" by incorporating emerging therapeutics into their practices. This phenomenon was simultaneously a crisis for the medical profession- playing a key role in attempts to inculcate a "rational therapeutics"-and a marketing opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry, and produced the structural foundations for contemporary debates regarding the role of pharmaceutical promotion in medical practice. Tracing the issue from the advent of the wonder drugs through today's concerns regarding formal CME, we document how and why the pharmaceutical industry was allowed (and even encouraged) to develop and maintain the central role it now plays within postgraduate medical education and prescribing practice.

The fourfold Democritus on the stage of early modern science.

PubMed

Lüthy, C

2000-09-01

The renewed success of ancient atomism in the seventeenth century has baffled historians not only because of the lack of empirical evidence in its favor but also because of the exotic heterogeneity of the models that were proposed under its name. This essay argues that one of the more intriguing reasons for the motley appearance of early modern atomism is that Democritus, with whose name this doctrine was most commonly associated, was a figure of similar incoherence. There existed in fact no fewer than four quite different Democriti of Abdera and as many literary traditions: the atomist, the "laughing philosopher," the moralizing anatomist, and the alchemist. Around the year 1600 the doctrines of these literary figures, three of whom had no tangible connection with atomism, began to merge into further hybrid personae, some of whom possessed notable scientific potential. This essay offers the story of how these Democriti contributed to the rise of incompatible "atomisms."

An Evidence-Based Review on Medicinal Value of Clays in Traditional Persian Medicine.

PubMed

Hosseinkhani, Ayda; Montaseri, Hashem; Hosamo, Ammar; Zarshenas, Mohammad Mehdi

2017-01-01

The use of earths and clays for medical purposes dates back to antiquity. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in researches on traditional remedies in the hope of discovering new drug. Iran is an ancient country with a medical backbone acquired from the experiences of ancient Persian scholars, who had made a great contribution to the development of the medical sciences. Many medical and pharmaceutical books by early Persian scientists still exist and may have the potential of leading researchers to new drug discoveries. Owing to the emergence of new and antimicrobial-resistant infections, present-day medicine has recently begun focusing on medicinal earths and clays especially as mineral antimicrobials. The current study is, therefore, aimed at gathering information regarding medicinal clays in traditional Persian medicine (TPM). Five main Persian materia medica with the key word 'tin' (clay) and current databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar were searched by key words 'white, green, red, maroon, violet, black, grey and pink clays' and 'pharmacological effects'. Twenty three clays were found in Persian manuscripts. Although their mineralogical compositions are unknown, different pharmacological properties have been attributed to these mineral medicaments. Clay's properties were widely used in medieval times for the treatment of infections to poisoning. They were also used in compound formulations, possibly for their pharmaceutical formulation modifying effects. Modern scientific proofs have also been found in many of the medicinal clays reported in Persian manuscripts. Although many of the reported clays are still unknown, their characterization may lead to new medicinal developments. Novel analytical methods available today make it possible to elucidate the chemical compositions of these minerals as parameters responsible for their medicinal effects. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please

Risk of second malignancies in patients with early-stage classical Hodgkin's lymphoma treated in a modern era.

PubMed

LeMieux, Melissa H; Solanki, Abhishek A; Mahmood, Usama; Chmura, Steven J; Koshy, Matthew

2015-04-01

Second malignancies remain an issue affecting morbidity and mortality in long-term survivors of early stage Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). We undertook this study to determine if treatment in the modern era resulted in decreased second malignancies. Patients diagnosed with stage I-II cHL between 1988 and 2009 who received radiation therapy (RT) were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Freedom from second malignancy (FFSM) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate analysis (UVA) was performed using the Log-Rank test, and included age, gender, year of diagnosis, and stage. Multivariable analysis (MVA) was performed using Cox Proportional Hazards modeling. The study cohort included 8807 patients. The median age at diagnosis was 32 years (range: 2-85). The majority of patients had stage II disease (n = 6044, 69%), 597 (7%) had extranodal involvement (ENI), and 1925 (22%) had B symptoms. Median follow-up for the entire cohort was 7.2 years (range: 0-22). Five hundred twenty-three (6%) patients developed a second malignancy. Median latency to second malignancy was 5.8 years (range: 0.1-21.5). Of the 523 patients that developed a second malignancy, 228 (44%) occurred in the first 5 years, 139 (27%) were diagnosed between years 5-10, and 156 (30%) beyond 10 years. The 10 year FFSM for patients treated between 1988 and 1999 was 93.0% versus 95.1% for patients treated between 2000 and 2009 (P = 0.04), On MVA, treatment between 2000 and 2009 was associated with a HR for second malignancy of 0.77 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.62-0.96, P = 0.02) compared to the treatment between 1988 and 1999. Our analysis suggests that in patients treated with RT for stage I or II cHL, treatment prior to 2000 had a slightly higher risk of second malignancy compared to treatment in 2000 and later. Further studies, with longer follow-up of patients treated in the modern era are needed to confirm these findings. © 2015 The Authors. Cancer Medicine

Health and healing: spiritual, pharmaceutical, and mechanical medicine.

PubMed

Hutch, Richard A

2013-09-01

Modern medical practice is identified as a relatively recent way of approaching human ill health in the wide scope of how people have addressed sickness throughout history and across a wide range of cultures. The ideological biases of medical or "allopathic" (disease as "other" or "outsider") practice are identified and grafted onto other perspectives on how people not engaged in modern medicine have achieved healing and health. Alternative forms of healing and health open a consideration of ethnomedicine, many forms of which are unknown and, hence, untested by modern medical research. Ethnomedicine the world over and throughout human history has displayed unique spiritual (vitalism), pharmaceutical (herbs/drugs), and mechanical (manipulation/surgery) approaches to treating illness. The argument is that modern allopathic medicine would do well to consider such "world medicine" as having valuable alternative and complementary therapies, the use of which could enhance contemporary medical advice and practice.

Modern turtle origins: the oldest known cryptodire.

PubMed

Gaffney, E S; Hutchison, J H; Jenkins, F A; Meeker, L J

1987-07-17

The discovery of a turtle in the Early Jurassic(185 million years before present) Kayenta Formation of northeastern Arizona provides significant evidence about the origin of modern turtles. This new taxon possesses many of the primitive features expected in the hypothetical common ancestor of pleurodires and cryptodires, the two groups of modern turtles. It is identified as the oldest known cryptodire because of the presence of a distinctive cryptodiran jaw mechanism consisting of a trochlea over the otic chamber that redirects the line of action of the adductor muscle. Aquatic habits appear to have developed very early in turtle evolution. Kayentachelys extends the known record of cryptodires back at least 45 million years and documents a very early stage in the evolution of modern turtles.

Investigating early modern Ottoman consumer culture in the light of Bursa probate inventories.

PubMed

Karababa, Eminegül

2012-01-01

This study investigates the development of early modern Ottoman consumer culture. In particular, the democratization of consumption, which is a significant indicator of the development of western consumer cultures, is examined in relation to Ottoman society. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century probate inventories of the town of Bursa combined with literary and official sources are used in order to identify democratization of consumption and the macro conditions shaping this development. Findings demonstrate that commercialization, international trade, urbanization which created a fluid social structure, and the ability of the state to negotiate with guilds were possible contextual specificities which encouraged the democratization of consumption in the Bursa context.

An Evidence-Based Review on Medicinal Plants Used as Insecticide and Insect Repellent in Traditional Iranian Medicine

PubMed Central

Cheraghi Niroumand, Mina; Farzaei, Mohammad Hosein; Karimpour Razkenari, Elahe; Amin, Gholamreza; Khanavi, Mahnaz; Akbarzadeh, Tahmineh; Shams-Ardekani, Mohammad Reza

2016-01-01

Context Insects can be the cause of major ecological problems; they can transmit microbes and parasites that affect humans, and damage food crops, trees, and homes. The total economic cost of insect-related damage and disease is immeasurable. In traditional Iranian medicine (TIM), several medicinal plants have been identified as insecticides or insect repellents, but many of them are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review the insecticidal or insect repellent activity of certain medicinal plants described in TIM. Evidence Acquisition Information about medicinal plants proposed as insecticides and insect repellents in the TIM was collected from the TIM literature, and searched in modern medical databases to find studies that confirmed their efficacy. Results Modern investigations have supported the claims of the insecticidal activity of several plants, including Allium sativum, Artemisia absinthium, Citrullus colocynthis, Laurus nobilis, Mentha pulegium, Myrtus communis, Nerium oleander, Ocimum basilicum, and Origanum majorana. However, in the cases of plants like Iris florentina and Malva sylvestris, there is not enough evidence in modern medicine to prove their effectiveness with regard to their insecticidal and insect repellent activities. Conclusions This study confirmed the Iranian traditional medicine claims of the insecticidal and insect repellent activity of certain plants. Further pharmacological and clinical studies are recommended to evaluate the overall efficacy and possible mechanisms underlying these herbs. PMID:27186389

An Evidence-Based Review on Medicinal Plants Used as Insecticide and Insect Repellent in Traditional Iranian Medicine.

PubMed

Cheraghi Niroumand, Mina; Farzaei, Mohammad Hosein; Karimpour Razkenari, Elahe; Amin, Gholamreza; Khanavi, Mahnaz; Akbarzadeh, Tahmineh; Shams-Ardekani, Mohammad Reza

2016-02-01

Insects can be the cause of major ecological problems; they can transmit microbes and parasites that affect humans, and damage food crops, trees, and homes. The total economic cost of insect-related damage and disease is immeasurable. In traditional Iranian medicine (TIM), several medicinal plants have been identified as insecticides or insect repellents, but many of them are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review the insecticidal or insect repellent activity of certain medicinal plants described in TIM. Information about medicinal plants proposed as insecticides and insect repellents in the TIM was collected from the TIM literature, and searched in modern medical databases to find studies that confirmed their efficacy. Modern investigations have supported the claims of the insecticidal activity of several plants, including Allium sativum, Artemisia absinthium, Citrullus colocynthis, Laurus nobilis, Mentha pulegium, Myrtus communis, Nerium oleander, Ocimum basilicum, and Origanum majorana. However, in the cases of plants like Iris florentina and Malva sylvestris, there is not enough evidence in modern medicine to prove their effectiveness with regard to their insecticidal and insect repellent activities. This study confirmed the Iranian traditional medicine claims of the insecticidal and insect repellent activity of certain plants. Further pharmacological and clinical studies are recommended to evaluate the overall efficacy and possible mechanisms underlying these herbs.

Insecticide ADME for support of early-phase discovery: combining classical and modern techniques.

PubMed

David, Michael D

2017-04-01

The two factors that determine an insecticide's potency are its binding to a target site (intrinsic activity) and the ability of its active form to reach the target site (bioavailability). Bioavailability is dictated by the compound's stability and transport kinetics, which are determined by both physical and biochemical characteristics. At BASF Global Insecticide Research, we characterize bioavailability in early research with an ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion) approach, combining classical and modern techniques. For biochemical assessment of metabolism, we purify native insect enzymes using classical techniques, and recombinantly express individual insect enzymes that are known to be relevant in insecticide metabolism and resistance. For analytical characterization of an experimental insecticide and its metabolites, we conduct classical radiotracer translocation studies when a radiolabel is available. In discovery, where typically no radiolabel has been synthesized, we utilize modern high-resolution mass spectrometry to probe complex systems for the test compounds and its metabolites. By using these combined approaches, we can rapidly compare the ADME properties of sets of new experimental insecticides and aid in the design of structures with an improved potential to advance in the research pipeline. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Physical Activity in Early and Modern Populations. Papers from the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Physical Education (59th, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 11-13, 1987). No. 21.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malina, Robert M., Ed.; Eckert, Helen M., Ed.

Eleven conference papers explore physical activity in ancient societies as well as human adaptation of physical activities in modern society. The following papers are included: (1) "Physical Activity in Early and Modern Populations: An Evolutionary View" (Robert M. Malina); (2) "How Active Were Early Populations? or Squeezing the Fossil Record"…

Mengele medicus: medicine's Nazi heritage.

PubMed

Seidelman, W E

1988-01-01

Nazi medicine is commonly considered to be an aberration that began and ended with the horrors of the Hitler regime. But its beginnings were more gradual and its legacy is more pernicious. Data derived from research conducted on unknowing and unwilling subjects in death camps continue to be cited in authoritative contemporary medical literature. Nazi medicine has become a part of the professional genotype of modern medicine. This continuing influence of Nazi medicine raises profound questions for the epistemology and morality of medicine.

["Purified empiricism": Johann Christian Reil's (1759-1813) attempts at a foundation of medicine in relation to its tradition, kantianism, and speculative philosophy].

PubMed

Steinmann, Michael

2013-01-01

Johann Christian Reil's (1759-1813) importance lies in his theoretical approach to medicine. Following Kant in his early work, he attempts to combine medical experience with an underlying conceptual structure. This attempt is directed against both the chaotic empiricism of traditional medicine and speculative theories such as vitalism. The paper starts from his early reflections on the concept of a life force, which he interprets in the way of a non-reductive materialism. In the following, the basic outlines of his Theory of Fever will be shown. The Theory is a systematic attempt at finding a new foundation for diagnosis and therapy on the basis of the concept of fever, which is understood as modification of vital processes. The paper ends with a discussion of his later work, which has remained controversial so far. It shows that the combination of practical empiricism and scientific theory remained rather unstable in this early phase of the development of modern medicine.

Appendicular robusticity and the paleobiology of modern human emergence.

PubMed

Trinkaus, E

1997-11-25

The emergence of modern humans in the Late Pleistocene, whatever its phylogenetic history, was characterized by a series of behaviorally important shifts reflected in aspects of human hard tissue biology and the archeological record. To elucidate these shifts further, diaphyseal cross-sectional morphology was analyzed by using cross-sectional areas and second moments of area of the mid-distal humerus and midshaft femur. The humeral diaphysis indicates a gradual reduction in habitual load levels from Eurasian late archaic, to Early Upper Paleolithic early modern, to Middle Upper Paleolithic early modern hominids, with the Levantine Middle Paleolithic early modern humans being a gracile anomalous outlier. The femoral diaphysis, once variation in ecogeographically patterned body proportions is taken into account, indicates no changes across the pre-30,000 years B.P. samples in habitual locomotor load levels, followed by a modest decrease through the Middle Upper Paleolithic.

"This base stallion trade": he-whores and male sexuality on the early modern stage.

PubMed

Panek, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Recent scholarship on early modern male sexuality has stressed the threat that sexual relations with women were believed to pose to manhood. Focusing on such plays as Middleton's Your Five Gallants (c. 1608), Fletcher and Massinger's The Custom of The Country (c.1620), and Davenant's The Just Italian (1630), this paper analyzes representations of male prostitutes for women to argue that cultural attitudes toward male sexual performance were more complex and self-contradictory than generally acknowledged. The patriarchal codes that warned against effeminating sexual desire and advocated parsimonious seminal “spending” are undermined by their own inherent corollary: the most masculine man is one who can demonstrate unlimited seminal capacity. Furthermore, it has been posited that the early modern period marked the beginning of a shift from “reproductive” to “performative” constructions of manhood, in which the manhood-affirming aspects of male sexuality gradually became unmoored from their traditional association with bloodlines and attached instead to penetrative sexual conquest. The class implications of this shift inform patriarchal anxieties about the superior sexual stamina of servant-class men and their bodily “service” to elite women. Representing a fantasy of empowering male sexuality that relies on detaching virile performance from effeminating desire—a physiologically absurd notion—and on providing sexual “service” while leaving intact both class and gender hierarchies, a successful he-whore like Middleton's Tailby or Davenant's Sciolto playfully challenges the dictates of patriarchal masculinity by fulfilling them in absurd and unorthodox ways. Ultimately, he illuminates just how untenable those dictates might be.

OH 83: A new early modern human fossil cranium from the Ndutu beds of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.

PubMed

Reiner, Whitney B; Masao, Fidelis; Sholts, Sabrina B; Songita, Agustino Venance; Stanistreet, Ian; Stollhofen, Harald; Taylor, R E; Hlusko, Leslea J

2017-11-01

Herein we introduce a newly recovered partial calvaria, OH 83, from the upper Ndutu Beds of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. We present the geological context of its discovery and a comparative analysis of its morphology, placing OH 83 within the context of our current understanding of the origins and evolution of Homo sapiens. We comparatively assessed the morphology of OH 83 using quantitative and qualitative data from penecontemporaneous fossils and the W.W. Howells modern human craniometric dataset. OH 83 is geologically dated to ca. 60-32 ka. Its morphology is indicative of an early modern human, falling at the low end of the range of variation for post-orbital cranial breadth, the high end of the range for bifrontal breadth, and near average in frontal length. There have been numerous attempts to use cranial anatomy to define the species Homo sapiens and identify it in the fossil record. These efforts have not met wide agreement by the scientific community due, in part, to the mosaic patterns of cranial variation represented by the fossils. The variable, mosaic pattern of trait expression in the crania of Middle and Late Pleistocene fossils implies that morphological modernity did not occur at once. However, OH 83 demonstrates that by ca. 60-32 ka modern humans in Africa included individuals that are at the fairly small and gracile range of modern human cranial variation. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Globalization, National Identity, and Citizenship Education: China's Search for Modernization and a Modern Chinese Citizenry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Law, Wing-Wah

2013-01-01

Since the early 20th century, numerous scholars have proposed theories and models describing, interpreting, and suggesting the development paths countries have taken or should take. None of these, however, can fully explain China's efforts, mainly through education and citizenship education, to modernize itself and foster a modern citizenry since…

Clinical proteomics-driven precision medicine for targeted cancer therapy: current overview and future perspectives.

PubMed

Zhou, Li; Wang, Kui; Li, Qifu; Nice, Edouard C; Zhang, Haiyuan; Huang, Canhua

2016-01-01

Cancer is a common disease that is a leading cause of death worldwide. Currently, early detection and novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed for more effective management of cancer. Importantly, protein profiling using clinical proteomic strategies, with spectacular sensitivity and precision, offer excellent promise for the identification of potential biomarkers that would direct the development of targeted therapeutic anticancer drugs for precision medicine. In particular, clinical sample sources, including tumor tissues and body fluids (blood, feces, urine and saliva), have been widely investigated using modern high-throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches combined with bioinformatic analysis, to pursue the possibilities of precision medicine for targeted cancer therapy. Discussed in this review are the current advantages and limitations of clinical proteomics, the available strategies of clinical proteomics for the management of precision medicine, as well as the challenges and future perspectives of clinical proteomics-driven precision medicine for targeted cancer therapy.

Demonology, neurology, and medicine in Edwardian Britain.

PubMed

Hayward, Rhodri

2004-01-01

The idea of a conflict between demonology and psychiatry has been a foundational myth in the history of medicine. Nineteenth-century alienists such as J.-M. Charcot and Henry Maudsley developed critiques of supernatural phenomena in an attempt to pathologize religious experience. Modern historians have reanalyzed these critiques, representing them as strategies in medical professionalization. These accounts all maintain an oddly bifurcated approach to the perceived conflict, treating demonology, as a passive and unchanging set of practices, while medicine is depicted as an active and aggressive agent. An examination of early twentieth-century demonological literature reveals a very different story. Fundamentalists and Pentecostalists engaged with the problems of conversion and possession, developing sophisticated models of the normal and the pathological in spiritual experience. Their writings drew upon medical and psychiatric sources ranging widely from Pastorian germ theory to Jacksonian neurology. This article explores the points of contact between the medical and demonological communities in order to demonstrate the contested nature of biomedical innovation.

[The succession of the Hippocratic corpus in modern Greece].

PubMed

Sugano, Yukiko; Honda, Katsuya

2010-03-01

This paper examines how the Hippocratic corpus was passed on during the Enlightenment of modern Greece, introducing part of the latest Greek research on the history of medicine. Although classical studies at large had stagnated at the time under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, with the movement toward independence in the second half of the 18th century the Greeks raised their consciousness of the fact that they were the successors to their ancestral great achievements. From that time classical studies, including the history of medicine, had been activated. From some medical dissertations and books written by Greek doctors or researchers of those days, we will recognize that they made efforts to deepen the substance of modern Greek medicine, seeking the principles of medical practice from the ancient heritage.

The application of biotechnology in medicinal plants breeding research in China.

PubMed

Huang, He-Ping; Li, Jin-Cai; Huang, Lu-Qi; Wang, Dian-Lei; Huang, Peng; Nie, Jiu-Sheng

2015-07-01

Breeding is not only an important area of medicinal plants research but also the foundation for the superior varieties acquirement of medicinal plants. The rise of modern biotechnology provides good opportunities and new means for medicinal plants breeding research in China. Biotechnology shows its technical advantages and new development prospects in breeding of new medicinal plants varieties with high and stable yield, good quality, as well as stress-resistance. In this paper, we describe recent advances, problems, and development prospects about the application of modern biotechnology in medicinal plants breeding research in China.

Socio-cultural factors in dental diseases in the Medieval and early Modern Age of northern Spain.

PubMed

Lopez, Belen; Pardiñas, Antonio F; Garcia-Vazquez, Eva; Dopico, Eduardo

2012-02-01

The aim of this study is to present, discuss and compare the results of pathological conditions in teeth from skeletal remains found in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) in four Medieval cemeteries (late 15th century) and three cemeteries from the Modern Age (late 18th century). The final objective was to evaluate the impact of socioeconomic and cultural changes that took place during the early Modern Age in Spain, on oral health. Dental caries and antemortem tooth loss were considered as indicators of dental disease. A significant increase of both dental caries and antemortem tooth loss occurred in Modern Age individuals when compared to Medieval values, as reported for other regions. Increased trade with other continents may explain this deterioration of dental health, as food exchanges (mainly with America) contributed to diet changes for the overall population, including higher carbohydrate consumption (introduction of potatoes) at the expense of other vegetables. A sex-specific increase of dental disease with age, and a significantly higher prevalence of carious lesions in Modern Age females than in males, were also found. These changes can be explained by women having had limited access to dental care after the Middle-Modern Age transition, as a consequence of socio-cultural and political changes. In these changes, an increasing influence of the Catholic Church in Spanish society has to be noted, as it can contribute to the explanation of the unequal dental health of men and women. Women were socially excluded from dental care by regulations inspired by religious precepts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Dental enamel defects in German medieval and early-modern-age populations.

PubMed

Lang, J; Birkenbeil, S; Bock, S; Heinrich-Weltzien, R; Kromeyer-Hauschild, K

2016-11-01

Aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and type of developmental defects of enamel (DDE) in a medieval and an early-modern-age population from Thuringia, Germany. Sixty-six skeletons subdivided into 31 single burials (12 th /13 th c.) and 35 individuals buried in groups (15 th /16 th c.) were examined. DDE were classified on 1,246 teeth according to the DDE index. Molar-incisor-hypomineralisation (MIH), a special type of DDE, was recorded according to the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (EAPD) criteria. DDE was found in 89.4% of the individuals (single burials 90.3% and group burials 88.6%). Hypoplastic pits were the most frequent defect in primary teeth and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) in permanent teeth. 13 individuals (24.1%) showed at least one hypomineralised permanent tooth, 12.2% had MIH on at least one first permanent molar and 10.0% in permanent incisors. Second primary molars were affected in 8.0% of the children and juveniles. No individual suffered from affected molars and incisors in combination. Endogenous factors like nutritional deficiencies and health problems in early childhood could have been aetiological reasons of DDE and MIH. The frequency of DDE and MIH might have been masked by extended carious lesions, dental wear and ante-mortem tooth loss.

Early postdisaster health outreach to modern families: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Haga, Jon Magnus; Stene, Lise Eilin; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Thoresen, Siri; Dyb, Grete

2015-12-17

This study investigated whether the early outreach programme following the Utøya massacre reached out to the parents of the young survivors. Additionally, we explored whether specialised mental healthcare services were provided to parents presenting elevated levels of PTSD and depression reactions. Cross-sectional survey, face-to-face interviews and questionnaires. Norway, aftermath of the Utøya massacre, 4-7 months postdisaster. Following the Utøya massacre, proactive early outreach programmes were launched in all municipalities that were affected, facilitating access to appropriate healthcare services. A total of 453 parents of the Utøya survivors aged 13-33 years took part. Overall, 59.8% of the survivors were represented by one or more parent in our study. Engagement with the proactive early outreach programme (psychosocial crisis teams and contact persons in the municipalities), utilisation of healthcare services (general practitioner and specialised mental healthcare services) and mental distress (UCLA PTSD-RI and HSCL-8). A majority of the participants reported contact with the proactive early outreach programme (crisis team, 73.9%; and contact person, 73.0%). Failure of outreach to parents was significantly associated with non-intact family structure (crisis team: OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.72, p=0.032) and non-Norwegian origin (crisis team: OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.14 to 4.98, p=0.021). Gender of the parent was not significantly associated with failure of the outreach programme (p ≥ 0.075). Provision of specialised mental healthcare services was significantly associated with higher levels of PTSD (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.55 to 2.79, p<0.001) and depression (OR 2.42, 95% CI 1.71 to 3.43, p<0.001) and not with the sociodemography (p ≥ 0.122). Proactive early outreach strategies may be helpful in identifying healthcare needs and facilitating access to the required services in a population struck by disaster. Our findings prompt increased attention to the complexity

Genealogical relationships between early medieval and modern inhabitants of Piedmont.

PubMed

Vai, Stefania; Ghirotto, Silvia; Pilli, Elena; Tassi, Francesca; Lari, Martina; Rizzi, Ermanno; Matas-Lalueza, Laura; Ramirez, Oscar; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Achilli, Alessandro; Olivieri, Anna; Torroni, Antonio; Lancioni, Hovirag; Giostra, Caterina; Bedini, Elena; Pejrani Baricco, Luisella; Matullo, Giuseppe; Di Gaetano, Cornelia; Piazza, Alberto; Veeramah, Krishna; Geary, Patrick; Caramelli, David; Barbujani, Guido

2015-01-01

In the period between 400 to 800 AD, also known as the period of the Barbarian invasions, intense migration is documented in the historical record of Europe. However, little is known about the demographic impact of these historical movements, potentially ranging from negligible to substantial. As a pilot study in a broader project on Medieval Europe, we sampled 102 specimens from 5 burial sites in Northwestern Italy, archaeologically classified as belonging to Lombards or Longobards, a Germanic people ruling over a vast section of the Italian peninsula from 568 to 774. We successfully amplified and typed the mitochondrial hypervariable region I (HVR-I) of 28 individuals. Comparisons of genetic diversity with other ancient populations and haplotype networks did not suggest that these samples are heterogeneous, and hence allowed us to jointly compare them with three isolated contemporary populations, and with a modern sample of a large city, representing a control for the effects of recent immigration. We then generated by serial coalescent simulations 16 millions of genealogies, contrasting a model of genealogical continuity with one in which the contemporary samples are genealogically independent from the medieval sample. Analyses by Approximate Bayesian Computation showed that the latter model fits the data in most cases, with one exception, Trino Vercellese, in which the evidence was compatible with persistence up to the present time of genetic features observed among this early medieval population. We conclude that it is possible, in general, to detect evidence of genealogical ties between medieval and specific modern populations. However, only seldom did mitochondrial DNA data allow us to reject with confidence either model tested, which indicates that broader analyses, based on larger assemblages of samples and genetic markers, are needed to understand in detail the effects of medieval migration.

Genealogical Relationships between Early Medieval and Modern Inhabitants of Piedmont

PubMed Central

Vai, Stefania; Ghirotto, Silvia; Pilli, Elena; Tassi, Francesca; Lari, Martina; Rizzi, Ermanno; Matas-Lalueza, Laura; Ramirez, Oscar; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Achilli, Alessandro; Olivieri, Anna; Torroni, Antonio; Lancioni, Hovirag; Giostra, Caterina; Bedini, Elena; Baricco, Luisella Pejrani; Matullo, Giuseppe; Di Gaetano, Cornelia; Piazza, Alberto; Veeramah, Krishna; Geary, Patrick; Caramelli, David; Barbujani, Guido

2015-01-01

In the period between 400 to 800 AD, also known as the period of the Barbarian invasions, intense migration is documented in the historical record of Europe. However, little is known about the demographic impact of these historical movements, potentially ranging from negligible to substantial. As a pilot study in a broader project on Medieval Europe, we sampled 102 specimens from 5 burial sites in Northwestern Italy, archaeologically classified as belonging to Lombards or Longobards, a Germanic people ruling over a vast section of the Italian peninsula from 568 to 774. We successfully amplified and typed the mitochondrial hypervariable region I (HVR-I) of 28 individuals. Comparisons of genetic diversity with other ancient populations and haplotype networks did not suggest that these samples are heterogeneous, and hence allowed us to jointly compare them with three isolated contemporary populations, and with a modern sample of a large city, representing a control for the effects of recent immigration. We then generated by serial coalescent simulations 16 millions of genealogies, contrasting a model of genealogical continuity with one in which the contemporary samples are genealogically independent from the medieval sample. Analyses by Approximate Bayesian Computation showed that the latter model fits the data in most cases, with one exception, Trino Vercellese, in which the evidence was compatible with persistence up to the present time of genetic features observed among this early medieval population. We conclude that it is possible, in general, to detect evidence of genealogical ties between medieval and specific modern populations. However, only seldom did mitochondrial DNA data allow us to reject with confidence either model tested, which indicates that broader analyses, based on larger assemblages of samples and genetic markers, are needed to understand in detail the effects of medieval migration. PMID:25635682

Hyperhidrosis in Iranian Traditional Medicine.

PubMed

Shahroodi, Aniseh Saffar; Shirbeigi, Leila

2016-05-01

Excessive sweating is a medical condition in which a person sweats much more than needed. The medical name of this disorder is hyperhidrosis known as a common dermal problem that affects people of all ages and leads to negative impact on the quality of life. During the last decades, several studies have shown that in many cases of hyperhidrosis there is no evidence of systemic disease. Therefore, most treatments are temporary and symptomatic therapy. According to Iranian traditional medicine (ITM), different approaches are mentioned for hyperhidrosis. This study has reviewed ITM textbooks, such as "Canon of Medicine and Exir-e-azam" as well as scientific references and databases of modern medicine (ISI, PubMed, etc.) with specific keywords. Contents and related concepts were classified and results prepared. In modern medicine, hyperhidrosis has been defined as an abnormal excessive sweating, which is either primary (idiopathic) or secondary to other systemic diseases such as hyperthyroidism, neurological condition or heart disease. Current modalities for treatment are topical anti-perspiration, iontophoresis, Botox injection (Botulinum toxin type A) and eventually thoracic sympathectomy as the last therapeutic modalities. From the viewpoint of the Iranian traditional medicine as a holistic doctrine, hyperhidrosis etiologies include overfilled and repletion of body due to the accumulation of humors, excessive intake of food, excessive dilated skin pores, vigorous exercise, or physical activity. Therefore, therapeutic plan for hyperhidrosis was based on its cause, which includes reduction in the amount of food, increasing physical activity, purging the body from the excess humors and adjustment in temperament. Hyperhidrosis is not an important or dangerous disorder; however, due to the negative impact on quality of life and failure to achieve perfect answer in modern medicine treatments it seems that the recommendations of Iranian traditional medicine will be helpful

Confronting zoonoses through closer collaboration between medicine and veterinary medicine (as 'one medicine').

PubMed

Kahn, Laura H; Kaplan, Bruce; Steele, James H

2007-01-01

In the 19th century, the concept of 'one medicine' was embraced by leaders in the medical and veterinary medical communities. In the 20th century, collaborative efforts between medicine and veterinary medicine diminished considerably. While there have been some notable exceptions, such as Calvin W. Schwabe's proposal for unifying human and veterinary medicine and joint efforts by the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization to control zoonotic diseases, 'one medicine' has languished in the modern milieu of clinical care, public health, and biomedical research. Risks of zoonotic disease transmission are rarely discussed in clinical care which is of particular concern if humans and/or animals are immunosuppressed. Physicians and veterinarians should advise their patients and pet-owning clients that some animals should not be pets. The risk of zoonotic disease acquisition can be considerable in the occupational setting. Collaborative efforts in biomedical research could do much to improve human and animal health. As the threat of zoonotic diseases continues to increase in the 21st century, medicine and veterinary medicine must revive 'one medicine' in order to adequately address these challenges. 'One medicine' revival strategies must involve medical and veterinary medical education, clinical care, public health and biomedical research.

[The apprentice education system of Chinese medicinal industry in modern Kunming].

PubMed

Yang, Zhuqing

2015-07-01

In the late Qing Dynasty, following the appearance of the Chinese medicinal materials industry trade association of Kunming, the "master agreement" as a professional regulation, also implemented, marking the beginning of the contractualization and institutionalization of apprentice education in Yunnan. The contents and implementation of the "master agreement" was organized by the Chinese medicinal materials industry trade association of Kunming and its craft union. The apprentice education in Kunming traditional Chinese medicinal industry has the following characteristics: expanding the source of talent; adepting at agricultural production of the accorded apprentice; conforming to the conditions of human manipulation of Chinese traditional medicine; being in line with the characteristics and rules of Chinese medicine skills taught by oral narration and tacit understanding; unity of the medical and pharmaceutical professionals; and non-governmental organization. Apprentice training had trained a number of medical talents, and promoted the transformation of manual workshop to industrialization in Kunming. Apprentice education had catalyzed the establishment of specialized shops selling patent medicines exclusively to separated from those running both crude drugs and patent medicines, to form a set of effective teaching system, thus exerting profound influence on later generations.

Evolutionary medicine and its implications for endocrinological issues (e.g. menopause).

PubMed

Kirchengast, Sylvia; Rühli, Frank

2013-06-01

Evolutionary medicine, which was formalized in the early 1990s, investigates evolutionary causes of recent human disease, disorders and malfunctions but also the influence of changing living conditions and modernization on health and disease. Evolutionary medicine can also provide insights into endocrinological disorders and in particular in the process of female reproductive senescence. Female reproductive senescence, i.e. menopausal transition is physiologically caused by the decline of estrogen secretion, which is associated with various somatic and psychic discomforts making this stage of life extremely uncomfortable. From the viewpoint of evolutionary medicine, these menopausal symptoms are the result from the sudden decrease of very high lifetime estrogen levels to zero during postmenopause, a situation which is quite new in our evolution and history. While women in recent developed countries experience menarche early, menopause late, few pregnancies, short periods of lactation and consequently low life time estrogen levels. The opposite is true of women living in traditional societies, whose living conditions may be interpreted as a mirror of the situation in our history. From this viewpoint we can conclude that menopausal symptoms may are the result of a mismatch between female reproductive physiology and recent living conditions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program Operator Performance Metrics for Control Room Modernization: A Practical Guide for Early Design Evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ronald Boring; Roger Lew; Thomas Ulrich

2014-03-01

As control rooms are modernized with new digital systems at nuclear power plants, it is necessary to evaluate the operator performance using these systems as part of a verification and validation process. There are no standard, predefined metrics available for assessing what is satisfactory operator interaction with new systems, especially during the early design stages of a new system. This report identifies the process and metrics for evaluating human system interfaces as part of control room modernization. The report includes background information on design and evaluation, a thorough discussion of human performance measures, and a practical example of how themore » process and metrics have been used as part of a turbine control system upgrade during the formative stages of design. The process and metrics are geared toward generalizability to other applications and serve as a template for utilities undertaking their own control room modernization activities.« less

‘Very Sore Nights and Days’: The Child’s Experience of Illness in Early Modern England, c.1580–1720

PubMed Central

NEWTON, HANNAH

2011-01-01

Sick children were ubiquitous in early modern England, and yet they have received very little attention from historians. Taking the elusive perspective of the child, this article explores the physical, emotional, and spiritual experience of illness in England between approximately 1580 and 1720. What was it like being ill and suffering pain? How did the young respond emotionally to the anticipation of death? It is argued that children’s experiences were characterised by profound ambivalence: illness could be terrifying and distressing, but also a source of emotional and spiritual fulfilment and joy. This interpretation challenges the common assumption amongst medical historians that the experiences of early modern patients were utterly miserable. It also sheds light on children’s emotional feelings for their parents, a subject often overlooked in the historiography of childhood. The primary sources used in this article include diaries, autobiographies, letters, the biographies of pious children, printed possession cases, doctors’ casebooks, and theological treatises concerning the afterlife. PMID:21461308

The Molecular Mechanisms of Thalidomide Teratogenicity and Implications for Modern Medicine.

PubMed

Knobloch, J; Jungck, D; Koch, A

2017-01-01

Thalidomide is a teratogen that affects many organs but primarily induces limb truncations like phocomelia. Rodents are thalidomide resistant. In the 1950s, this has led to misinterpretations of animal tests and to the fatal assumption that the drug was safe for pregnant women to use against morning sickness. The result was one of the biggest scandals in medical history: 10.000 and more infants with birth defects in Europe. Nonetheless, thalidomide still has its place in modern medicine as it has strong therapeutic potential: it has been approved by the FDA for multiple myeloma and erythema nodosum leprosum, and its anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antiangiogenic activities are considered in many other refractory diseases. The aim is to develop derivatives that are not teratogenic but maintain the therapeutic potential. This requires detailed knowledge about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Much progress has been made in deciphering the teratogenic mechanisms in the last decade. Here, we summarize these mechanisms, explain thalidomide resistance of rodents, and discuss possible mechanisms that could explain why the drug primarily targets the developing limb in the embryo. We also summarize the most important therapeutic mechanisms. Finally, we discuss which therapeutic and teratogenic mechanisms do and do not overlap, and if there is a chance for the development of non-teratogenic thalidomide derivatives with therapeutic potential. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

'A WONDERFULL MONSTER BORNE IN GERMANY': HAIRY GIRLS IN MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN GERMAN BOOK, COURT AND PERFORMANCE CULTURE.

PubMed

Katritzky, M A

2014-09-24

Human hirsuteness, or pathological hair growth, can be symptomatic of various conditions, including genetic mutation or inheritance, and some cancers and hormonal disturbances. Modern investigations into hirsuteness were initiated by nineteenth-century German physicians. Most early modern European cases of hypertrichosis (genetically determined all-over body and facial hair) involve German-speaking parentage or patronage, and are documented in German print culture. Through the Wild Man tradition, modern historians routinely link early modern reception of historical hypertrichosis cases to issues of ethnicity without, however, recognising early modern awareness of links between temporary hirsuteness and the pathological nexus of starvation and anorexia. Here, four cases of hirsute females are reconsidered with reference to this medical perspective, and to texts and images uncovered by my current research at the Herzog August Library and German archives. One concerns an Italian girl taken to Prague in 1355 by the Holy Roman Empress, Anna von Schweidnitz. Another focuses on Madeleine and Antonietta Gonzalez, daughters of the 'Wild Man' of Tenerife, documented at German courts in the 1580s. The third and fourth cases consider the medieval bearded Sankt Kümmernis (also known as St Wilgefortis or St Uncumber), and the seventeenth-century Bavarian fairground performer Barbara Urslerin. Krankhafter menschlicher Hirsutismus kann aufgrund unterschiedlicher Ursachen auftreten, zu denen u.a. genetische Veländerungen und Vererbung, verschiedene Krebserkrankungen und hormonelle Störungen gehören. Die moderne Hirsutismus-Forschung ist im 19. Jh. von deutschen Forschern initiiert worden. Die meisten europäischen frühneuzeitlichen Erscheinungen von Hypertrichose (dem genetisch bedingten Haarwuchs am gesamten Körper und im Gesicht) gehen auf deutschsprachige Eltern oder Förderer zurück und sind in Deutschland in den Druck gelangt. Bei Untersuchungen des Motivs des Wilden

Training the intelligent eye: understanding illustrations in early modern astronomy texts.

PubMed

Crowther, Kathleen M; Barker, Peter

2013-09-01

Throughout the early modern period, the most widely read astronomical textbooks were Johannes de Sacrobosco's De sphaera and the Theorica planetarum, ultimately in the new form introduced by Georg Peurbach. This essay argues that the images in these texts were intended to develop an "intelligent eye." Students were trained to transform representations of specific heavenly phenomena into moving mental images of the structure of the cosmos. Only by learning the techniques of mental visualization and manipulation could the student "see" in the mind's eye the structure and motions of the cosmos. While anyone could look up at the heavens, only those who had acquired the intelligent eye could comprehend the divinely created order of the universe. Further, the essay demonstrates that the visual program of the Sphaera and Theorica texts played a significant and hitherto unrecognized role in later scientific work. Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler all utilized the same types of images in their own texts to explicate their ideas about the cosmos.

Philosophy of experiment in early modern England: the case of Bacon, Boyle and Hooke.

PubMed

Anstey, Peter R

2014-01-01

Serious philosophical reflection on the nature of experiment began in earnest in the seventeenth century. This paper expounds the most influential philosophy of experiment in seventeenth-century England, the Bacon-Boyle-Hooke view of experiment. It is argued that this can only be understood in the context of the new experimental philosophy practised according to the Baconian theory of natural history. The distinctive typology of experiments of this view is discussed, as well as its account of the relation between experiment and theory. This leads into an assessment of other recent discussions of early modern experiment, namely, those of David Gooding, Thomas Kuhn, J.E. Tiles and Peter Dear.

Physiopathology of dementia from the perspective of traditional Persian medicine.

PubMed

Seifaddini, Rostam; Tajadini, Haleh; Choopani, Rasool

2015-07-01

The most common cognitive disorder that is disabling is dementia. During the medieval period, traditional Persian medicine was an outstanding source of medicine that was used as standard references in medical schools of in the West and Middle East. In ancient manuscripts of traditional Persian medicine, a condition has been introduced similar to dementi (raoonat and homgh). In this article, by collecting materials of traditional medicine texts on dementia, we aim to provide theories for further studies on this topics, as there is an obvious difference between traditional Persian medicine and modern medicine with regard to dementia; however, since modern medicine has not found a suitable response to treatment for all diseases, reviewing traditional Persian medicine for finding better treatment strategies is wise. Use of all medical potentials approved by the World Health Organization beside classic medicine like traditional medicine and considering the availability and acceptability among people is recommended. © The Author(s) 2015.

Useful known and unknown views of the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates and his teacher Democritus.

PubMed

Grammaticos, Philip C; Diamantis, Aristidis

2008-01-01

Hippocrates is considered to be the father of modern medicine because in his books, which are more than 70. He described in a scientific manner, many diseases and their treatment after detailed observation. He lived about 2400 years ago. He was born in the island of Kos and died at the outskirts of Larissa at the age of 104. Hippocrates taught and wrote under the shade of a big plane tree, its descendant now is believed to be 500 years old, the oldest tree in Europe--platanus orientalis Hippocraticus--with a diameter of 15 meters. Hippocrates saved Athens from a plague epidemic and for that was highly honored by the Athenians. He considered Democritus--the father of the atomic theory--to be his teacher and after visiting him as a physician to look after his health, he accepted no money for this visit. Some of his important aphorisms were: "As to diseases, make a habit of two things -to help or at least to do no harm". Also: "Those by nature over weight, die earlier than the slim.", also, "In the wounds there are miasmata causing disease if entered the body". He used as a pain relief, the abstract from a tree containing what he called "salycasia", like aspirin. He described for the first time epilepsy not as a sacred disease, as was considered at those times, but as a hereditary disease of the brain and added: "Do not cut the temporal place, because spasms shall occur on the opposite area". According to Hippocrates, people on those times had either one or two meals (lunch and dinner). He also suggested: "...little exercise...and walk...do not eat to saturation". Also he declared: "Physician must convert or insert wisdom to medicine and medicine to wisdom". If all scientists followed this aphorism we would have more happiness on earth.

Medical education, global health and travel medicine: a modern student's experience.

PubMed

Tissingh, Elizabeth Khadija

2009-01-01

Today's medical student will practice medicine in a globalised world, where an understanding of travel medicine and global health will be vital. Students at UK medical schools are keen to learn more about these areas and yet receive little specific training. Tomorrow's doctors should be taught about global health and travel medicine if they are to be prepared to work in tomorrow's world.

Evidence-Based Medicine: Rhinoplasty.

PubMed

Lee, Matthew K; Most, Sam P

2015-08-01

Evidence-based medicine has become increasingly prominent in the climate of modern day healthcare. The practice of evidence-based medicine involves the integration of the best available evidence with clinical experience and expertise to help guide clinical decision-making. The essential tenets of evidence-based medicine can be applied to both functional and aesthetic rhinoplasty. Current outcome measures in functional and aesthetic rhinoplasty, including objective, subjective, and clinician-reported measures, is summarized and the current data is reviewed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The evolution of modern human brain shape

PubMed Central

Neubauer, Simon; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Gunz, Philipp

2018-01-01

Modern humans have large and globular brains that distinguish them from their extinct Homo relatives. The characteristic globularity develops during a prenatal and early postnatal period of rapid brain growth critical for neural wiring and cognitive development. However, it remains unknown when and how brain globularity evolved and how it relates to evolutionary brain size increase. On the basis of computed tomographic scans and geometric morphometric analyses, we analyzed endocranial casts of Homo sapiens fossils (N = 20) from different time periods. Our data show that, 300,000 years ago, brain size in early H. sapiens already fell within the range of present-day humans. Brain shape, however, evolved gradually within the H. sapiens lineage, reaching present-day human variation between about 100,000 and 35,000 years ago. This process started only after other key features of craniofacial morphology appeared modern and paralleled the emergence of behavioral modernity as seen from the archeological record. Our findings are consistent with important genetic changes affecting early brain development within the H. sapiens lineage since the origin of the species and before the transition to the Later Stone Age and the Upper Paleolithic that mark full behavioral modernity. PMID:29376123

The evolution of modern human brain shape.

PubMed

Neubauer, Simon; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Gunz, Philipp

2018-01-01

Modern humans have large and globular brains that distinguish them from their extinct Homo relatives. The characteristic globularity develops during a prenatal and early postnatal period of rapid brain growth critical for neural wiring and cognitive development. However, it remains unknown when and how brain globularity evolved and how it relates to evolutionary brain size increase. On the basis of computed tomographic scans and geometric morphometric analyses, we analyzed endocranial casts of Homo sapiens fossils ( N = 20) from different time periods. Our data show that, 300,000 years ago, brain size in early H. sapiens already fell within the range of present-day humans. Brain shape, however, evolved gradually within the H. sapiens lineage, reaching present-day human variation between about 100,000 and 35,000 years ago. This process started only after other key features of craniofacial morphology appeared modern and paralleled the emergence of behavioral modernity as seen from the archeological record. Our findings are consistent with important genetic changes affecting early brain development within the H. sapiens lineage since the origin of the species and before the transition to the Later Stone Age and the Upper Paleolithic that mark full behavioral modernity.

Physics and medicine: a historical perspective.

PubMed

Keevil, Stephen F

2012-04-21

Nowadays, the term medical physics usually refers to the work of physicists employed in hospitals, who are concerned mainly with medical applications of radiation, diagnostic imaging, and clinical measurement. This involvement in clinical work began barely 100 years ago, but the relation between physics and medicine has a much longer history. In this report, I have traced this history from the earliest recorded period, when physical agents such as heat and light began to be used to diagnose and treat disease. Later, great polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci and Alhazen used physical principles to begin the quest to understand the function of the body. After the scientific revolution in the 17th century, early medical physicists developed a purely mechanistic approach to physiology, whereas others applied ideas derived from physics in an effort to comprehend the nature of life itself. These early investigations led directly to the development of specialties such as electrophysiology, biomechanics, and ophthalmology. Physics-based medical technology developed rapidly during the 19th century, but it was the revolutionary discoveries about radiation and radioactivity at the end of the century that ushered in a new era of radiation-based medical diagnosis and treatment, thereby giving rise to the modern medical physics profession. Subsequent developments in imaging in particular have revolutionised the practice of medicine. We now stand on the brink of a new revolution in post-genomic personalised medicine, with physics-based techniques again at the forefront. As before, these techniques are often the unpredictable fruits of earlier investment in basic physics research. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of a simple educational intervention on interest in early abortion training among family medicine residents.

PubMed

Wu, Justine P; Bennett, Ian; Levine, Jeffrey P; Aguirre, Abigail Calkins; Bellamy, Scarlett; Fleischman, Joan

2006-06-01

We aimed to assess the effect of an educational intervention on the interest in and support for abortion training among family medicine residents. We conducted a cross-sectional survey before and after an educational lecture on medical and surgical abortion in primary care among 89 residents in 10 New Jersey family medicine programs. Before the lecture, there was more interest in medical abortion training than surgical abortion. Resident interest in surgical abortion and overall support for abortion training increased after the educational intervention (p<.01). Efforts to develop educational programs on early abortion care may facilitate the integration of abortion training in family medicine.

Tactility and the body in early Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Hsu, Elisabeth

2005-03-01

If visual inspection of corpses was central to the development of anatomy in modern Europe, one may ask which of the senses was important for the emergence of the predominant currents of scholarly medical knowledge and practice in third- and second-century B.C.E. China? This article argues that it was tactile perception prompted by a tactile exploration of living bodies. The evidence, derived from a close reading of the Mawangdui medical manuscripts, the 105th chapter of the Records of the Historian, and selected passages from the Huang Di's Inner Canon, points to three important trends: first, the tactile exploration of the extremities led to a rich vocabulary of compound words for pain as localized in specific body parts; second, the tactile exploration of the mai gave rise to an even richer vocabulary on qualities of touch in pulse diagnostics; and third, the tactile exploration of the abdomen led to the assessment of the quality of the internal viscera with words that generally were used for describing the tactile quality of skin and flesh. This finding may appear surprising in the light of later developments during the dynastic history of Chinese medicine where tactile exploration of abdomen and extremities would appear unseemly. The author suggests that extensive tactile explorations of the body were possible before Confucius' teachings became a predominant aspect of state ideology.

An early history of human breast cancer: West meets East.

PubMed

Yan, Shou-He

2013-09-01

Cancer has been increasingly recognized as a global issue. This is especially true in countries like China, where cancer incidence has increased likely because of changes in environment and lifestyle. However, cancer is not a modern disease; early cases have been recorded in ancient medical books in the West and in China. Here, we provide a brief history of cancer, focusing on cancer of the breast, and review the etymology of ai, the Chinese character for cancer. Notable findings from both Western and Chinese traditional medicine are presented to give an overview of the most important, early contributors to our evolving understanding of human breast cancer. We also discuss the earliest historical documents to record patients with breast cancer.

Cognition research and constitutional classification in Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Wang, Ji; Li, Yingshuai; Ni, Cheng; Zhang, Huimin; Li, Lingru; Wang, Qi

2011-01-01

In the Western medicine system, scholars have explained individual differences in terms of behaviour and thinking, leading to the emergence of various classification theories on individual differences. Traditional Chinese medicine has long observed human constitutions. Modern Chinese medicine studies have also involved study of human constitutions; however, differences exist in the ways traditional and modern Chinese medicine explore individual constitutions. In the late 1970s, the constitutional theory of Chinese medicine was proposed. This theory takes a global and dynamic view of human differences (e.g., the shape of the human body, function, psychology, and other characteristics) based on arguments from traditional Chinese medicine. The establishment of a standard for classifying constitutions into nine modules was critical for clinical application of this theory. In this review, we describe the history and recent research progress of this theory, and compare it with related studies in the western medicine system. Several research methods, including philology, informatics, epidemiology, and molecular biology, in classifying constitutions used in the constitutional theory of Chinese medicine were discussed. In summary, this constitutional theory of Chinese medicine can be used in clinical practice and would contribute to health control of patients.

Aristotle's ethical theory & modern health care.

PubMed

Majumdar, S K

1996-01-01

The Greek physician of antiquity - Hippocrates (460-356 B.C.) is called the Father of Modern Medicine and the Hippocratic Oath to which doctors of modern medicine traditionally and formally express their allegiance, forms the basic foundation of medical ethics. The tradition of Western ethical philosophy began with the ancient Greeks. From Socrates (469-399 B.C.) and his immediate successors, Plato (427-347 B.C.) and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), there is a clear line of continuity, through Hellenistic period (from the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.) to the end of Ptolemic dynasty (30 B.C.) and the Roman annexation of Egypt - broadly post-Aristotelian and medieval thought to the present day. But the society has qualitatively and quantitatively changed since the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Society, today, is just a collection of discrete individuals, each with his or her own purposes and interests. Hence it has become almost imperative to apply the principle of autonomy to issues in the ethics of health care. The aim of this short essay is, therefore, an attempt to explore the relevance, if any, of Aristotelian ethical theory to the modern health care.

What can comparative effectiveness research, propensity score and registry study bring to Chinese medicine?

PubMed

Liao, Xing; Xie, Yan-ming

2014-10-01

The impact of evidence-based medicine and clinical epidemiology on clinical research has contributed to the development of Chinese medicine in modern times over the past two decades. Many concepts and methods of modern science and technology are emerging in Chinese medicine research, resulting in constant progress. Systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials and other advanced mathematic approaches and statistical analysis methods have brought reform to Chinese medicine. In this new era, Chinese medicine researchers have many opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, Chinese medicine researchers need to dedicate themselves to providing enough evidence to the world through rigorous studies, whilst on the other hand, they also need to keep up with the speed of modern medicine research. For example, recently, real world study, comparative effectiveness research, propensity score techniques and registry study have emerged. This article aims to inspire Chinese medicine researchers to explore new areas by introducing these new ideas and new techniques.

The Modern Religious Language of Education: Rousseau's "Emile"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osterwalder, Fritz

2012-01-01

The Republican education, its concepts, theories, and form of discourse belong to the shared European heritage of the pre-modern Age. The pedagogy of humanism and its effects on the early Modern Age are represented by Republicanism. Even if Republicanism found a political continuation in liberalism and democratism of the Modern Age, the same…

The Live Chicken Treatment for Buboes: Trying a Plague Cure in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.

PubMed

Heinrichs, Erik A

2017-01-01

This article traces a seven-hundred-year history of one puzzling treatment for plague buboes that used the rumps of chickens to draw out the bubo's poisons. It traces the origin of the recipe to Avicenna's Canon and explores how medieval and early modern physicians altered the treatment and explained its workings up to the early eighteenth century. Much of the analysis focuses on the variants of the recipe that German physicians created as they adapted or elaborated on older recipes. This article argues that most variations of the treatment likely resulted from physicians trying ideas on paper, rather than in practice, as they attempted to unlock the mysteries of the plague's underlying poisons. Starting in the sixteenth century, however, evidence suggests that practice began to play an important role in the adaptation and interpretation of the "live chicken" recipes.

(See symbol in text) in early modern discussions of the passions: Stoicism, Christianity and natural history.

PubMed

Kraye, Jill

2012-01-01

This paper examines the reception of the Stoic theory of the passions in the early modern period, highlighting various differences between the way notions such as (see symbol in text) (complete freedom from passions) and(see symbol in text) (pre-passions) were handled and interpreted by Continental and English authors. Both groups were concerned about the compatibility of Stoicism with Christianity, but came to opposing conclusions; and while the Continental scholars drew primarily on ancient philosophical texts, the English ones relied, in addition, on experience and observation, developing a natural history of the passions.

Use of traditional medicine in Lao PDR.

PubMed

Sydara, K; Gneunphonsavath, S; Wahlström, R; Freudenthal, S; Houamboun, K; Tomson, G; Falkenberg, T

2005-09-01

Exploring the attitudes and knowledge of household members and health staff in Lao PDR regarding the use of traditional medicine. Along with modern medicine, traditional medicine utilisation is officially supported in Laos, being part of the cultural heritage and considered useful for this low-income country in relation to the problems with access to modern pharmaceuticals. The study population comprised 600 households from one lowland (Pakse) and one mountainous (Paksong) district. In a stratified two-stage sampling procedure, household surveys were conducted and focus group discussions (FGD) were performed among health staff and villagers in the same districts. Seventy-seven per cent of the households stated the ever use of traditional medicine including herbal medicines, sauna, massage and acupuncture. The main reason given was perceived efficacy. Traditional medicine was used for both chronic and acute diseases. The FGD revealed the perceived need to have training courses for traditional medicine providers and to have a medicinal garden in the villages. Utilisation was similar in lowland and mountainous districts as well as in urban and rural areas. The study indicates that traditional medicine is widely used and perceived as effective by a fairly large proportion of Lao people. The findings may form a basis for health sector reforms that are congruent with perceived local needs, e.g. in establishing a strategic plan for the development of the traditional medicine sector in Lao PDR.

‘A Wonderfull Monster Borne in Germany’: Hairy Girls in Medieval and Early Modern German Book, Court and Performance Culture*

PubMed Central

Katritzky, MA

2014-01-01

Human hirsuteness, or pathological hair growth, can be symptomatic of various conditions, including genetic mutation or inheritance, and some cancers and hormonal disturbances. Modern investigations into hirsuteness were initiated by nineteenth-century German physicians. Most early modern European cases of hypertrichosis (genetically determined all-over body and facial hair) involve German-speaking parentage or patronage, and are documented in German print culture. Through the Wild Man tradition, modern historians routinely link early modern reception of historical hypertrichosis cases to issues of ethnicity without, however, recognising early modern awareness of links between temporary hirsuteness and the pathological nexus of starvation and anorexia. Here, four cases of hirsute females are reconsidered with reference to this medical perspective, and to texts and images uncovered by my current research at the Herzog August Library and German archives. One concerns an Italian girl taken to Prague in 1355 by the Holy Roman Empress, Anna von Schweidnitz. Another focuses on Madeleine and Antonietta Gonzalez, daughters of the ‘Wild Man’ of Tenerife, documented at German courts in the 1580s. The third and fourth cases consider the medieval bearded Sankt Kümmernis (also known as St Wilgefortis or St Uncumber), and the seventeenth-century Bavarian fairground performer Barbara Urslerin. Krankhafter menschlicher Hirsutismus kann aufgrund unterschiedlicher Ursachen auftreten, zu denen u.a. genetische Veränderungen und Vererbung, verschiedene Krebserkrankungen und hormonelle Störungen gehören. Die moderne Hirsutismus-Forschung ist im 19. Jh. von deutschen Forschern initiiert worden. Die meisten europäischen frühneuzeitlichen Erscheinungen von Hypertrichose (dem genetisch bedingten Haarwuchs am gesamten Körper und im Gesicht) gehen auf deutschsprachige Eltern oder Förderer zurück und sind in Deutschland in den Druck gelangt. Bei Untersuchungen des Motivs des

[Traditional medicine in Ethiopia in childhood diseases].

PubMed

Schneider, P; Shewangizaw, E; Tayé, E; Gebrehiwot, T; Worku, S; Oppermann, J; Leupold, W; Teka, T

1989-08-01

Parents of 100 paediatric patients hospitalized in the Gondar College of Medical Sciences were interviewed on their knowledge of and experience with indigenous medicine in the region. The result has provided an orienting review of methods used for common childhood disorders and attitudes towards traditional and modern medicine, resp. and some understanding of ideas of the rural population on the "etiology" of some diseases. Among the methods some are dangerous. Traditional medicine is the primary (and often the only) source of health care for major parts of the population in developing countries. Some knowledge of this system is also necessary for modern style medical staff working in such regions for a variety of reasons. Some of these aspects are discussed.

Centella asiatica (L.) Urban: From Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine with Neuroprotective Potential

PubMed Central

Orhan, Ilkay Erdogan

2012-01-01

This paper covers the studies relevant to neuroprotective activity of Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, also known as “Gotu Kola.” The plant is native to the Southeast Asia and has been used traditionally as brain tonic in ayurvedic medicine. The neuroprotective effect of C. asiatica has been searched using the key words “Centella, Centella asiatica, gotu kola, Asiatic pennywort, neuroprotection, and memory” through the electronic databases including Sciencedirect, Web of Science, Scopus, Pubmed, and Google Scholar. According to the literature survey, C. asiatica (gotu kola) has been reported to have a comprehensive neuroprotection by different modes of action such as enzyme inhibition, prevention of amyloid plaque formation in Alzheimer's disease, dopamine neurotoxicity in Parkinson's disease, and decreasing oxidative stress. Therefore, C. asiatica could be suggested to be a desired phytopharmaceutical with neuroprotective effect emerged from traditional medicine. PMID:22666298

Centella asiatica (L.) Urban: From Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine with Neuroprotective Potential.

PubMed

Orhan, Ilkay Erdogan

2012-01-01

This paper covers the studies relevant to neuroprotective activity of Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, also known as "Gotu Kola." The plant is native to the Southeast Asia and has been used traditionally as brain tonic in ayurvedic medicine. The neuroprotective effect of C. asiatica has been searched using the key words "Centella, Centella asiatica, gotu kola, Asiatic pennywort, neuroprotection, and memory" through the electronic databases including Sciencedirect, Web of Science, Scopus, Pubmed, and Google Scholar. According to the literature survey, C. asiatica (gotu kola) has been reported to have a comprehensive neuroprotection by different modes of action such as enzyme inhibition, prevention of amyloid plaque formation in Alzheimer's disease, dopamine neurotoxicity in Parkinson's disease, and decreasing oxidative stress. Therefore, C. asiatica could be suggested to be a desired phytopharmaceutical with neuroprotective effect emerged from traditional medicine.

Ethnobotany and herbal medicine in modern complementary and alternative medicine: An overview of publications in the field of I&C medicine 2001-2013.

PubMed

Popović, Zorica; Matić, Rada; Bojović, Srđan; Stefanović, Milena; Vidaković, Vera

2016-04-02

Ethnobotanical knowledge and traditional medicinal practices from different parts of the world are of global importance and documentation of ethnobotanical, and ethnopharmacological data is a key prerequisite for further research in the area of herbal medicine and its implementation in clinical practice. An attempt was made to evaluate the scientific output of research related to ethnobotany and herbal medicine in journals indexed in the subject area "Integrative and Complementary Medicine" in the period 2001-2013, in order to ascertain research trends in both subdisciplines. All articles related to ethnobotany and herbal medicine, extracted from journals included in the field of I&C Medicine and published in the period 2001-2013, have been analyzed for general bibliometric data, and specific data: ethnobotanical data (geographic, floristic, pharmacological, sociological and other relevant data) and phytotherapeutic data (type of applied herbal medicine, plant species studied, pharmacological activity of studied plant species and disease and disorder type studied on a particular model). In the studied period, the number of articles dealing with ethnobotany and herbal medicine increased 6.3-fold. Articles related to ethnobotanical studies documented medicinal flora from 81 countries, either giving an overview of overall medicinal flora, or presenting the ethnomedicinal aspect of the use of plants for the treatment of ailments typical to the studied area. Additionally, the authors provided significant information on the methods of use and herbal preparations. In herbal medicine studies, plants, traditional plant remedies, herbal medicinal products and active herbal compounds were tested for many of pharmacological activities (146), with the curative activity emerging as most frequently tested. Out of 39 model systems, most of the studies were carried out under controlled in vitro conditions (4589 articles), followed by rat in vivo (2320), human in vivo (1285), mouse

Circles of Confidence in Correspondence: Modeling Confidentiality and Secrecy in Knowledge Exchange Networks of Letters and Drawings in the Early Modern Period.

PubMed

van den Heuvel, Charles; Weingart, Scott B; Spelt, Nils; Nellen, Henk

2016-01-01

Science in the early modern world depended on openness in scholarly communication. On the other hand, a web of commercial, political, and religious conflicts required broad measures of secrecy and confidentiality; similar measures were integral to scholarly rivalries and plagiarism. This paper analyzes confidentiality and secrecy in intellectual and technological knowledge exchange via letters and drawings. We argue that existing approaches to understanding knowledge exchange in early modern Europe--which focus on the Republic of Letters as a unified entity of corresponding scholars--can be improved upon by analyzing multilayered networks of communication. We describe a data model to analyze circles of confidence and cultures of secrecy in intellectual and technological knowledge exchanges. Finally, we discuss the outcomes of a first experiment focusing on the question of how personal and professional/official relationships interact with confidentiality and secrecy, based on a case study of the correspondence of Hugo Grotius.

Depression from the perspective of modern and Persian medicine

PubMed Central

Anushiravani, Majid; Manteghi, Ali Akhondpour; Taghipur, Ali

2018-01-01

Background Depression is one of the five most-common diseases globally, and is expected to be the second leading cause of disability by 2020 and its economic and social burden is a major problem worldwide Objective The aim of this research was to elucidate the causes and symptoms of depression according to Persian Medicine (PM) and classic medicine. Methods In this study, works that were investigated were the Canon of Medicine, Al-Hawi Fi Teb, Kamel Al-Sina’a, Zakhireh Kharazmshahi and Exir A’azam. Classic medicine sources investigated were Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry and related articles in the Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, SID and Magiran. Research was done from January through April 2017, using keywords. Results To explain the biologic causes, various factors including humoral dystemperaments, cold and hot dystemperaments of chief organs especially heart and brain and some qualitative and quantitative changes in medical spirit should be considered. According to manuscripts some mental-emotional events in life can cause these changes. They independently may cause depression. Semiologically some symptoms and signs happen consequently to in the above-mentioned causes which are in common with depression signs and symptoms including grief, crying, low libido, weight loss, appetite and sleep disorders, exhaustion, slow cognitive processing, indecisiveness and willingness to die. Conclusion The major biological causes of depression is a group of dystemperamental syndromes (hot, cold, dry, and wet) on different bodily structures (humors, organs, and spirits). So preventive and therapeutic strategies for depression couldn’t be the same for all patients and the treatment should be designed according to the exact diagnosis. PMID:29629061

Model Organisms and Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Models

PubMed Central

Xu, Jin-Wen

2013-01-01

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an ancient medical system with a unique cultural background. Nowadays, more and more Western countries due to its therapeutic efficacy are accepting it. However, safety and clear pharmacological action mechanisms of TCM are still uncertain. Due to the potential application of TCM in healthcare, it is necessary to construct a scientific evaluation system with TCM characteristics and benchmark the difference from the standard of Western medicine. Model organisms have played an important role in the understanding of basic biological processes. It is easier to be studied in certain research aspects and to obtain the information of other species. Despite the controversy over suitable syndrome animal model under TCM theoretical guide, it is unquestionable that many model organisms should be used in the studies of TCM modernization, which will bring modern scientific standards into mysterious ancient Chinese medicine. In this review, we aim to summarize the utilization of model organisms in the construction of TCM syndrome model and highlight the relevance of modern medicine with TCM syndrome animal model. It will serve as the foundation for further research of model organisms and for its application in TCM syndrome model. PMID:24381636

[Survey scheme of the main Chinese medicines resources].

PubMed

Chen, Shi-lin; Zhang, Ben-gang; Yang, Zhi; Su, Gang-qiang; Zhao, Run-huai; Huang, Lin-fang; Ma, Xiao-jun; Zhang, Jin-sheng; Xiao, Pei-gen

2005-08-01

The survey of Chinese medicines resources concerns the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry. It also directly influences the modernization process of traditional Chinese medicines. Owing to lacking of the scientific data on the Chinese medicines resources, it is a extremely urgent work to carry out survey of main Chinese medicine resources in nationwide. This paper explains the meaning and necessity. And it also investigated the survey object, contents, new technologies and methods.

State of emergency medicine in Rwanda 2015: an innovative trainee and trainer model.

PubMed

Mbanjumucyo, Gabin; DeVos, Elizabeth; Pulfrey, Simon; Epino, Henry M

2015-01-01

The 1994 Rwandan war and genocide left more than 1 million people dead; millions displaced; and the country's economic, social, and health infrastructure destroyed. Despite remaining one of the poorest countries in the world, Rwanda has made remarkable gains in health, social, and economic development over the last 20 years, but modern emergency care has been slow to progress. Rwanda has recently established the Human Resources for Health program to rapidly build capacity in multiple sectors of its healthcare delivery system, including emergency medicine. This project involves multiple medical and surgical residencies, nursing programs, allied health professional trainings, and hospital administrative support. A real strength of the program is that trainers work with international faculty at Rwanda's referral hospital, but also as emergency medicine specialty trainers when returning to their respective district hospitals. Rwanda's first emergency medicine trainees are playing a unique and important role in the implementation of emergency care systems and education in the country's district hospitals. While there has been early vital progress in building emergency medicine's foundations in Rwanda, there remains much work to be done. This will be accomplished with careful planning and strong commitment from the country's healthcare and emergency medicine leaders.

Pre-Columbian medicine and the kidney.

PubMed

Peña, J C

1999-01-01

Medicine in Mesoamerican cultures began in the year 1500 BC and ended with the conquest and destruction of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1521 by Spain. Mesoamerica started with the Olmec civilization followed by the Teoitihuacanes, Toltecs, and Mayas and perished with the Nahoa Empire. The medicine used by the Aztecs (ticiotl) is undoubtedly the sum of all Mesoamerican medicine. The medical history of the ticiotl was recovered in the years that followed the conquest from the works of Bernardino de Sahagún and Francisco Hernández and the Cruz-Badiano codex. All these works describe the use of plants and herbs in the treatment of diseases, including, edema, urinary retention, kidney stones, and podagra. The Aztec doctors (titicih) were also well acquainted with innumerable diseases and were excellent healers of wounds and fractures. The works of modern historians confirm the theory of the ticiotl medicine and its application by the titicih and define the differences between the hippocratic-galenic medicine and the ticiotl medicine. The latter used a complex and philosophically elaborated medical theory based on the polarity cold/warm, different from the four-humor theory. They demonstrate that every culture is capable to understand and 'invent' the meaning of disease and its cure, even when it is different from our modern medical views.

[Modern dietetics on the new step development of medicine (clinical essay)].

PubMed

Baranovskiĭ, A Iu; Nazarenko, L I

2011-01-01

THE AIM OF REVIEW: To discuss some controversy moments in terminology. To show the possibility of modern dietetics in prophylacxis and treatment of deseases. Dietetics is an impotent part of modern treatment, that is considered on exemple of endoecology and gerontal diet. The authors offer necessary information to create an individual diet for concrete patient. In Russia it is not reasonable to change a term "dietetics" to a term "nutrition" or "clinical nutrition". It is necessary to improve a teaching of dietetics to doctors of different specializations.

Sketching together the modern histories of science, technology, and medicine.

PubMed

Pickstone, John V

2011-03-01

This essay explores ways to "write together" the awkwardly jointed histories of "science" and "me dicine"--but it also includes other "arts" (in the old sense) and technologies. It draws especially on the historiography of medicine, but I try to use terms that are applicable across all of science, technology, and medicine (STM). I stress the variety of knowledges and practices in play at any time and the ways in which the ensembles change. I focus on the various relations of "science" and "medicine," as they were understood for a succession of periods--from mainly agricultural societies, through industrial societies, to our biomedical present--trying to sketch a history that encompasses daily practices and understandings as well as major conceptual and technical innovations. The model is meant to facilitate inquiry across topics and across times, including those to come.

Ethics in sports medicine.

PubMed

Dunn, Warren R; George, Michael S; Churchill, Larry; Spindler, Kurt P

2007-05-01

Physicians have struggled with the medical ramifications of athletic competition since ancient Greece, where rational medicine and organized athletics originated. Historically, the relationship between sport and medicine was adversarial because of conflicts between health and sport. However, modern sports medicine has emerged with the goal of improving performance and preventing injury, and the concept of the "team physician" has become an integral part of athletic culture. With this distinction come unique ethical challenges because the customary ethical norms for most forms of clinical practice, such as confidentiality and patient autonomy, cannot be translated easily into sports medicine. The particular areas of medical ethics that present unique challenges in sports medicine are informed consent, third parties, advertising, confidentiality, drug use, and innovative technology. Unfortunately, there is no widely accepted code of sports medicine ethics that adequately addresses these issues.

Medicinal Bioprospecting of the Amazon Rainforest: A Modern Eldorado?

PubMed

Skirycz, Aleksandra; Kierszniowska, Sylwia; Méret, Michaël; Willmitzer, Lothar; Tzotzos, George

2016-10-01

Ignorant of the New World, Europeans believed in El Dorado, a hidden city of immense wealth in gold. Many consider the Amazonian forest to be a medicinal treasure chest and potentially the largest drug dispensary in the world. Yet, the quest to obtain drugs from indigenous tropical plants remains elusive. Here, we assess the potential of new technologies to tap into the metabolic diversity of tropical plants. We also consider how regulations affect access to plant resources. We conclude that, although the road to this medicinal El Dorado may be long and arduous, many other smaller but still valuable finds are hidden along the way. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comment from the Editor to the Special Issue: “Big Data and Precision Medicine Series I: Lung Cancer Early Diagnosis”

PubMed Central

Spaggiari, Lorenzo

2018-01-01

With this Editorial we want to present the Special Issue “Big Data and Precision Medicine Series I: Lung Cancer Early Diagnosis” to the scientific community, which aims to gather experts on the early detection of lung cancer in order to implement common efforts in the fight against cancer. PMID:29425180

[From Einstein's Quantum Theory to modern laser therapy. The history of lasers in dermatology and aesthetic medicine].

PubMed

Graudenz, K; Raulin, C

2003-07-01

Laser technology has considerably expanded therapeutic modalities in dermatology and aesthetic medicine. In addition, lasers have broadened the spectrum of diagnostic and therapeutic options in many other medical fields. Dermatologists, especially Dr. Leon Goldman, played an important role in the evolution and use of medical lasers. There was a long way from the concept of stimulated emission as the fundamental idea of laser technology by Albert Einstein in 1917 to the practical use of the laser today. We review the development of laser technology from the early days through the latest advances.

Sex-related risks of trauma in medieval to early modern Denmark, and its relationship to change in interpersonal violence over time.

PubMed

Milner, G R; Boldsen, J L; Weise, S; Lauritsen, J M; Freund, U H

2015-06-01

Skeletons from three Danish cemeteries, Sortebrødre, Tirup, and St. Mikkel, that collectively held 822 adults (>15 years) and spanned the medieval to early modern periods (ca. AD 1100-1610) show that men, in general, experienced more bone fractures than women. Men were three times more likely to have healed cranial vault and ulnar shaft fractures than women, with many of these bones presumably broken in interpersonal violence. More women, however, broke distal radii, presumably often the result of falls. Both sexes suffered more cranial fractures than modern Danes, with the proportional difference for men and women being about the same. The difference in cranial trauma frequencies between historic-period and modern Danes has implications for a decline over the past several centuries in interpersonal violence that scholars in other disciplines have inferred from historical sources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

‘To[o] much eating stifles the child’: fat bodies and reproduction in early modern England†

PubMed Central

Toulalan, Sarah

2013-01-01

Abstract This article examines associations between fat bodies and reproductive dysfunction that were prevalent in medical, midwifery and other literature in early modern England. In a period when fertility and successful reproduction were regarded as hugely important for social, economic and political stability such associations further contributed to negative attitudes towards fat bodies that were fuelled by connection with the vices of sloth and gluttony. Fat bodies were categorized as inherently, constitutionally, less sexual and reproductively successful. Consequently they were perceived as unhealthy and unfit for their primary purpose once they had reached sexual maturity: marriage and the production of children. PMID:25960608

What is medical about psychoanalysis--and what is psychoanalytic about medicine?

PubMed

Clemens, Norman A

2014-07-01

Despite the birth of psychoanalysis in neurology, modern psychoanalysis and modern medicine seem to have drifted apart. The author explores how and why this has taken place and what its effects may be. Yet the core principles of both medicine and psychoanalysis remain intertwined and vital to both, and the future holds the promise of new possibilities. As American medicine and American psychoanalysis both confront critical stages in their existence, both professions would be well advised to be mindful of their common foundations in science and the ethical, professional bond with the patient.

THE MODERN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON THE THEORY OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

PubMed Central

Wei-Bo, Lu

1983-01-01

Traditional Chinese Medicine, unlike in many countries, with its well defined concepts and content, is developed due to the progressive policies of the government. The past 30 years work on scientific lines complemented by the successful and significant efforts to integrate Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western medicine has proved the scientific essence of the theory of this system. Added to this are the social acceptebility, relevance, and effectiveness. This brief review of some of the major work done indicates the bright future it has in contributing to the improvement of the health of the world. PMID:22556966

A Short History of Clinical Holistic Medicine

PubMed Central

Ventegodt, Søren; Kandel, Isack; Merrick, Joav

2007-01-01

Clinical holistic medicine has its roots in the medicine and tradition of Hippocrates. Modern epidemiological research in quality of life, the emerging science of complementary and alternative medicine, the tradition of psychodynamic therapy, and the tradition of bodywork are merging into a new scientific way of treating patients. This approach seems able to help every second patient with physical, mental, existential or sexual health problem in 20 sessions over one year. The paper discusses the development of holistic medicine into scientific holistic medicine with discussion of future research efforts. PMID:17982604

[The concept of illness and kidney diseases in Nahuatl medicine. Synthesis of Mesoamerican pre-Columbian medicine].

PubMed

Peña, José Carlos

2002-01-01

Medicine in Mesoamerican cultures began in the year 1,500 BC and ended with the conquest and destruction of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1521 by the Spanish conquerors. Mesoamerica began with the Olmec civilization followed by the Teotihuacans, Toltecs and Mayans, and perished during the Nahoa empire. The medicine used by the Aztecs (ticiotl) is undoubtedly the sum of all Mesoamerican medicine. The medical history of the ticiotl was recovered in the years that followed the conquest from the works of Bernardino de Sahagún, Francisco Hernández and the Cruz-Badiano codex. All these works described the use of plants and herbs in the treatment of diseases, including edema, urinary retention, kidney stones, and podagra. The Aztec doctors (Titici) were well acquainted with innumerable diseases and were excellent healers of wounds and fractures. The works of modern historians confirm the theory of the ticiotl medicine. The later used a complex and philosophically elaborated medical theory based on, religion, astronomy, divination and the polarity cold/warm; different from the four humor theory of galenic medicine. They demonstrated that every culture is capable of understanding and "inventing" the meaning of disease and its cure, even when it is different from our modern medical views.

Critical Care and Personalized or Precision Medicine: Who needs whom?

PubMed

Sugeir, Shihab; Naylor, Stephen

2018-02-01

The current paradigm of modern healthcare is a reactive response to patient symptoms, subsequent diagnosis and corresponding treatment of the specific disease(s). This approach is predicated on methodologies first espoused by the Cnidean School of Medicine approximately 2500years ago. More recently escalating healthcare costs and relatively poor disease treatment outcomes have fermented a rethink in how we carry out medical practices. This has led to the emergence of "P-Medicine" in the form of Personalized and Precision Medicine. The terms are used interchangeably, but in fact there are significant differences in the way they are implemented. The former relies on an "N-of-1" model whereas the latter uses a "1-in-N" model. Personalized Medicine is still in a fledgling and evolutionary phase and there has been much debate over its current status and future prospects. A confounding factor has been the sudden development of Precision Medicine, which has currently captured the imagination of policymakers responsible for modern healthcare systems. There is some confusion over the terms Personalized versus Precision Medicine. Here we attempt to define the key differences and working definitions of each P-Medicine approach, as well as a taxonomic relationship tree. Finally, we discuss the impact of Personalized and Precision Medicine on the practice of Critical Care Medicine (CCM). Practitioners of CCM have been participating in Personalized Medicine unknowingly as it takes the protocols of sepsis, mechanical ventilation, and daily awakening trials and applies it to each individual patient. However, the immediate next step for CCM should be an active development of Precision Medicine. This developmental process should break down the silos of modern medicine and create a multidisciplinary approach between clinicians and basic/translational scientists. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perspectives of Medieval Persian Medicine on Multiple Sclerosis.

PubMed

Sahraian, Mohammad Ali; Parviz, Mohsen; Sheibani, Behnam; Schiess, Nicoline; Ghorbanifar, Zahra; Kamalinejad, Mohammad; Nazem, Esmail; Sadeghpour, Omid; Rezaeizadeh, Hossein

2018-01-01

Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) was the prevailing practice of medicine in the Eurasia region up through the 18th century, a practice of medicine stemming back to Hippocrates and to the 5000 year old civilization of the region. It is a school of medicine which touches on many a delicate points which may seem unimaginable within the realm of modern allopathic medicine. This practice of ancient medicine besides shedding light on various possible theoretical modern day disorders serves as a vast resource for therapeutics. In this paper, we present study of the manuscripts of this ancient medical practice in search of symptom presentations coinciding with presentation of multiple sclerosis (MS). This paper represents a comprehensive search through TPM texts and manuscripts with the intention to seek possible clues on MS from potentially valuable age-old resources. We predominantly focused our search on the works of five eminent physicians of Medieval Persia: Avicenna (980-1037 AD), Haly Abbas (949-982 AD), Rhazes (865-925 AD), Averroes (1126-1198 AD) and Jorjani (1042-1137 AD). In this paper, the authors attempt a theory and conclude with high probability that a conjunction of a series of signs, symptoms found in TPM texts under the terms khadar, isterkha and falej form the symptoms and the disease pattern of modern day MS. This theory draws upon existent similarities in terms of disease pathology, disease patterns and predisposing factors seen between MS and the related morbidities within Persian Medicine. We recommend further examinations of such potentially valuable long-standing resources, examining the diagnoses and treatments as set forth by Persian Medicine through international collaboration within the global scientific community. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Traditional Chinese medicine--sea urchin.

PubMed

Shang, Xiao-Hui; Liu, Xiao-Yu; Zhang, Jian-Peng; Gao, Yun; Jiao, Bing-Hua; Zheng, Heng; Lu, Xiao-Ling

2014-01-01

The sea urchin is an ancient, common, seafloor-dwelling marine invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Echinodermata. There are multiple species of sea urchin with resources that are widely distributed in China, where they were used in ancient times as Traditional Chinese Medicine for treating a variety of diseases. At present, it is known that the shell, spine and gonad of the sea urchin have many medicinal values determined through modern research. In this paper, we summarized the major chemical constituents and medicinal value of the sea urchin.

European medicinal polypores--a modern view on traditional uses.

PubMed

Grienke, Ulrike; Zöll, Margit; Peintner, Ursula; Rollinger, Judith M

2014-07-03

In particular five polypore species, i.e. Laetiporus sulphureus, Fomes fomentarius, Fomitopsis pinicola, Piptoporus betulinus, and Laricifomes officinalis, have been widely used in central European folk medicines for the treatment of various diseases, e.g. dysmenorrhoea, haemorrhoids, bladder disorders, pyretic diseases, treatment of coughs, cancer, and rheumatism. Prehistoric artefacts going back to over 5000 years underline the long tradition of using polypores for various applications ranging from food or tinder material to medicinal-spiritual uses as witnessed by two polypore species found among items of Ötzi, the Iceman. The present paper reviews the traditional uses, phytochemistry, and biological activity of the five mentioned polypores. All available information on the selected polypore taxa used in traditional folk medicine was collected through evaluation of literature in libraries and searches in online databases using SciFinder and Web of Knowledge. Mycochemical studies report the presence of many primary (e.g. polysaccharides) and secondary metabolites (e.g. triterpenes). Crude extracts and isolated compounds show a wide spectrum of biological properties, such as anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, and antimicrobial activities. The investigated polypores possess a longstanding ethnomycological tradition in Europe. Here, we compile biological results which highlight their therapeutic value. Moreover, this work provides a solid base for further investigations on a molecular level, both compound- and target-wise. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of Judaism and Jewish physicians on Greek and Byzantine medicine and their contribution to nephrology.

PubMed

Massry, S G; Smogorzewski, M; Hazani, E; Shasha, S M

1997-01-01

Both the Old Testament and the Talmud contain a great deal of information on medicine, nephrology, health and disease. The basic premise of early Jewish medicine is based on the notion that disease is due to structural changes in internal organs. This is in contrast to the mythical dogma of humoralism as the basis of health and disease espoused by Hippocrates and Galen. The Old Testament and the Mosaic Codes provided the basis for modern public health and for the hygienic rules practised in our times. The Talmudists laid the foundations for the science of pathology as we know it today. These issues are discussed in detail and the contributions of three prominent medieval physicians (Asaph Judaeus, Isaac Judaeus and Maimonides) are presented.

Expanding women's rural medical work in early modern Brittany: the Daughters of the Holy Spirit.

PubMed

McHugh, Tim

2012-07-01

During the eighteenth century, orders of nursing sisters took on an expanded role in the rural areas of Brittany. This article explores the impact of religious change on the medical activities of these women. While limits were placed on the medical practice of unlicensed individuals, areas of new opportunity for nuns as charitable practitioners were created by devout nobles throughout the eighteenth century. These nuns provided comprehensive care for the sick poor on their patrons' estates, acting not only as nurses, but also in lieu of physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries. This article argues that the medical knowledge and expertise of these sisters from the nursing orders were highly valued by the elites of early modern Brittany.

Expanding Women's Rural Medical Work in Early Modern Brittany: The Daughters of the Holy Spirit

PubMed Central

McHugh, Tim

2012-01-01

During the eighteenth century, orders of nursing sisters took on an expanded role in the rural areas of Brittany. This article explores the impact of religious change on the medical activities of these women. While limits were placed on the medical practice of unlicensed individuals, areas of new opportunity for nuns as charitable practitioners were created by devout nobles throughout the eighteenth century. These nuns provided comprehensive care for the sick poor on their patrons' estates, acting not only as nurses, but also in lieu of physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries. This article argues that the medical knowledge and expertise of these sisters from the nursing orders were highly valued by the elites of early modern Brittany. PMID:21724643

When medicine rediscovered its social roots.

PubMed

Fathalla, M F

2000-01-01

This article reviews the 1952 paper by Dugald Baird on preventive medicine in obstetrics, and comments on its significance from a modern day perspective. It notes that the paper is a public health classic in the sense that it attempts to bring back the social perspective to the practice of medicine. It also highlights the impact of social factors on the health of mothers and children and gives voice to women's perceptions of modern medical practice. Over the past few decades, it has been shown that poverty is not an insurmountable barrier to health when the policies are right; that gender is a health determinant; and that improvement in perinatal health needs more than improvement in socioeconomic conditions. In view of such, there is evidence that most health professionals are willing to concede that a major proportion of ill health results from socioeconomic factors and that there are limitations to what modern medicine can achieve without social interventions. However, there is no consensus discerned on the implication of these facts for the health profession. The need for the profession to study the effect on health of actions taken or not taken outside the health sector and to disseminate this information is highlighted.

Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans

PubMed Central

Chirchir, Habiba; Kivell, Tracy L.; Ruff, Christopher B.; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Carlson, Kristian J.; Zipfel, Bernhard; Richmond, Brian G.

2015-01-01

Humans are unique, compared with our closest living relatives (chimpanzees) and early fossil hominins, in having an enlarged body size and lower limb joint surfaces in combination with a relatively gracile skeleton (i.e., lower bone mass for our body size). Some analyses have observed that in at least a few anatomical regions modern humans today appear to have relatively low trabecular density, but little is known about how that density varies throughout the human skeleton and across species or how and when the present trabecular patterns emerged over the course of human evolution. Here, we test the hypotheses that (i) recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the upper and lower limbs compared with other primate taxa and (ii) the reduction in trabecular density first occurred in early Homo erectus, consistent with the shift toward a modern human locomotor anatomy, or more recently in concert with diaphyseal gracilization in Holocene humans. We used peripheral quantitative CT and microtomography to measure trabecular bone of limb epiphyses (long bone articular ends) in modern humans and chimpanzees and in fossil hominins attributed to Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus/early Homo from Swartkrans, Homo neanderthalensis, and early Homo sapiens. Results show that only recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the limb joints. Extinct hominins, including pre-Holocene Homo sapiens, retain the high levels seen in nonhuman primates. Thus, the low trabecular density of the recent modern human skeleton evolved late in our evolutionary history, potentially resulting from increased sedentism and reliance on technological and cultural innovations. PMID:25535354

Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans.

PubMed

Chirchir, Habiba; Kivell, Tracy L; Ruff, Christopher B; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Carlson, Kristian J; Zipfel, Bernhard; Richmond, Brian G

2015-01-13

Humans are unique, compared with our closest living relatives (chimpanzees) and early fossil hominins, in having an enlarged body size and lower limb joint surfaces in combination with a relatively gracile skeleton (i.e., lower bone mass for our body size). Some analyses have observed that in at least a few anatomical regions modern humans today appear to have relatively low trabecular density, but little is known about how that density varies throughout the human skeleton and across species or how and when the present trabecular patterns emerged over the course of human evolution. Here, we test the hypotheses that (i) recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the upper and lower limbs compared with other primate taxa and (ii) the reduction in trabecular density first occurred in early Homo erectus, consistent with the shift toward a modern human locomotor anatomy, or more recently in concert with diaphyseal gracilization in Holocene humans. We used peripheral quantitative CT and microtomography to measure trabecular bone of limb epiphyses (long bone articular ends) in modern humans and chimpanzees and in fossil hominins attributed to Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus/early Homo from Swartkrans, Homo neanderthalensis, and early Homo sapiens. Results show that only recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the limb joints. Extinct hominins, including pre-Holocene Homo sapiens, retain the high levels seen in nonhuman primates. Thus, the low trabecular density of the recent modern human skeleton evolved late in our evolutionary history, potentially resulting from increased sedentism and reliance on technological and cultural innovations.

Personalized medicine: a confluence of traditional and contemporary medicine.

PubMed

Jafari, Samineh; Abdollahi, Mohammad; Saeidnia, Soodabeh

2014-01-01

Traditional systems of medicine have attained great popularity among patients in recent years. Success of this system in the treatment of disease warrants consideration, particularly in cases for which conventional medicine has been insufficient. This study investigates the similarities in principles and approaches of 3 traditional systems and explores whether conventional medicine is able to exploit the advantages of traditional systems. This study first identifies and explores the advantages of 3 well-known systems-traditional Iranian medicine (TIM), ayurveda, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-that are similar in their basic principles and methods. Second, it clarifies whether and how conventional medicine could exploit the advantages of traditional systems as it modernizes, to become more personalized. Finally, this study investigates the possibility that conventional medicine could benefit from traditional typology to improve its personalization. The acknowledgment of the unity of humans and nature, applying rational methods, and personalized approaches is fundamentally similar in the 3 systems. Additionally, they all promote the holistic view that health is harmony and disease is disharmony of the body. Other similarities include their recognition of the unique nature of every person and their categorization of people into different body types. Although conventional medicine has mostly failed to incorporate the advantages of traditional medicine, its integration with traditional medicine is achievable. For instance, exploiting traditional typologies in genomic and other studies may facilitate personalization of conventional medicine. From its review, the research team concludes that prospects are bright for the integration of traditional and conventional medicines and, consequently, for a dramatic improvement in health systems.

Sasang Constitutional Medicine as a Holistic Tailored Medicine

PubMed Central

Pham, Duong Duc

2009-01-01

Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM) is a unique traditional Korean therapeutic alternative form of medicine. Based on the Yin and Yang theory and on Confucianism, humans are classified into four constitutions. These differ in terms of (i) sensitivity to certain groups of herbs and medicines, (ii) equilibrium among internal organic functions, (iii) physical features and (iv) psychological characteristics. We propose that two main axes in the physiopathology of SCM (food intake/waste discharge and consuming/storing Qi and body fluids) are equivalent to the process of internal–external exchange and catabolism/anabolism in modern physiology, respectively. We then used this hypothesis to discuss the physiological and pathological principles of SCM. Constitution-based medicine is based on the theory that some medicinal herbs and remedies are only appropriate for certain constitutions and can cause adverse effects in others. The constitutional approach of SCM share the same vision as tailored medicine; an individualized therapy that can minimize the risk of adverse reaction while increasing the efficacy and an individualized self-regulation that can help prevent specific susceptible chronic disease and live healthily. There is still a long way to this goal for both SCM and tailored medicine, but we may benefit from systems approaches such as systems biology. We suggest that constitutional perspective of SCM and our hypothesis of two main processes may provide a novel insight for further studies. PMID:19745007

Sasang constitutional medicine as a holistic tailored medicine.

PubMed

Kim, Jong Yeol; Pham, Duong Duc

2009-09-01

Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM) is a unique traditional Korean therapeutic alternative form of medicine. Based on the Yin and Yang theory and on Confucianism, humans are classified into four constitutions. These differ in terms of (i) sensitivity to certain groups of herbs and medicines, (ii) equilibrium among internal organic functions, (iii) physical features and (iv) psychological characteristics. We propose that two main axes in the physiopathology of SCM (food intake/waste discharge and consuming/storing Qi and body fluids) are equivalent to the process of internal-external exchange and catabolism/anabolism in modern physiology, respectively. We then used this hypothesis to discuss the physiological and pathological principles of SCM. Constitution-based medicine is based on the theory that some medicinal herbs and remedies are only appropriate for certain constitutions and can cause adverse effects in others. The constitutional approach of SCM share the same vision as tailored medicine; an individualized therapy that can minimize the risk of adverse reaction while increasing the efficacy and an individualized self-regulation that can help prevent specific susceptible chronic disease and live healthily. There is still a long way to this goal for both SCM and tailored medicine, but we may benefit from systems approaches such as systems biology. We suggest that constitutional perspective of SCM and our hypothesis of two main processes may provide a novel insight for further studies.

[Use of Ancient texts in modern therapeutic research].

PubMed

Fabre, André

2003-01-01

Two main purposes were assigned to this study of medicinal prescription of spices at the time of the Roman Empire: analyze Roman pharmacopoeia of spices in reference to modern criteria and assess a new discipline, close to "ethno-botany" and "ethno-pharmacology", aiming to a new approach of drug research: "archeopharmacology". A brief overview is given of the Roman world of spices : all aromatic substances from Orient, India and Far-East held a major place which can only be compared to the role of petroleum in our modern times. The study is conducted on a thesaurus of 2600 quotations from twelve authors: Apicius, Caelius Aurelianus, Cassius Felix, Celsus, Dioscorides, Galen, Marcellus,(Anonymous) Mulonmedicina, Pelagorius, Pliny the Elder, Serenus Sammonicus and Scribonius Largus and a set of 33 medicinal spices among which: cyperus, ferulas (Asa foetida), frankincense, pepper, myrrh and saffron. Medicinal use of spices (mainly for pneumology, dermatology and gastroenterology) do not differ notably from the rest of Roman pharmacopoeia: the main criteria for prescription of spices is not their place of origin but a "therapeutic profile" which is clearly assigned to each substance by tradition. During the last decades, new methods of therapeutic research: ethno-botany and ethno-pharmacology have been used extensively to explore traditional medicines. A new discipline is ready to emerge: "archeo-pharmacology", aiming towards a drug research based on Ancient texts.

Description and Early Outcomes of a Comprehensive Curriculum Redesign at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

PubMed

Heiman, Heather L; O'Brien, Celia L; Curry, Raymond H; Green, Marianne M; Baker, James F; Kushner, Robert F; Thomas, John X; Corbridge, Thomas C; Corcoran, Julia F; Hauser, Joshua M; Garcia, Patricia M

2017-09-26

In 2012, the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine launched a redesigned curriculum addressing the four primary recommendations in the 2010 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching report on reforming medical education. This new curriculum provides a more standardized evaluation of students' competency achievement through a robust portfolio review process coupled with standard evaluations of medical knowledge and clinical skills. It individualizes learning processes through curriculum flexibility, enabling students to take electives earlier and complete clerkships in their preferred order. The new curriculum is integrated both horizontally and vertically, combining disciplines within organ-based modules and deliberately linking elements (science in medicine, clinical medicine, health and society, professional development) and threads (medical decision making, quality and safety, teamwork and leadership, lifestyle medicine, advocacy and equity) across the three phases that replaced the traditional four-year timeline. It encourages students to conduct research in an area of interest and commit to lifelong learning and self-improvement. The curriculum formalizes the process of professional identity formation and requires students to reflect on their experiences with the informal and hidden curricula, which strongly shape their identities.The authors describe the new curriculum structure, explain their approach to each Carnegie report recommendation, describe early outcomes and challenges, and propose areas for further work. Early data from the first cohort to progress through the curriculum show unchanged United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 and 2 scores, enhanced student research engagement and career exploration, and improved student confidence in the patient care and professional development domains.

Science and Pseudoscience in Medicine: Evidence-Based vs. Evidence-Biased Medicine.

PubMed

Jakovljević, Miro; Ostojić, Ljerka

2016-12-01

The concept of evidence-based medicine (EBM), as the highest standard of health care, came into existence in 1990s to promote a systematic approach to helping clinicians in their practice to be guided by the best available scientific evidence. However, there has been an increasing number of warning reports that in modern research, misrepresented, false and unuseful findings may be the majority or even the vast majority of published research claims In spite of the huge scientific progress, pseudoscience and associated evidence biased medicine represent a serious threat to the concept of the EBM. Effective education in medicine, proper research motivation, sound systems and creative thinking and culture of scientific dialogue may significantly contribute to better science and evidence-based medicine. The seven key words of good science, research and publishing are: integrity, motivation, capacity, understanding, knowledge, experience, and creativity.

[Comparison between transmission of modern western medicine in China and Japan].

PubMed

Liu, Yuan-Ming

2009-05-01

In the middle period of the 16th century, western medicine had been introduced successively into China and Japan by the medium of Catholic missionaries. The transmission mode of western medicine in the two countries differed dramatically from each other due to the political, economic and social cultural differences of that time. In China, the transmission of western medicine focused on the theory first and transferred to the practical use later; while in Japan, it began with clinical treatment, then rose from the technology to the theory. As a result, the cognition to the western medical knowledge and medical system as well as the transplanting and localization in China and Japan were significantly different. The local western medical groups emerged earlier in Japan than in China, and the attitude toward western medicine was also more positive and a national health system was quickly established. The corresponding situation in China obviously lagged behind the one in Japan, and China learned from the successful experiences of Japan for a time.

Quantifying traditional Chinese medicine patterns using modern test theory: an example of functional constipation.

PubMed

Shen, Minxue; Cui, Yuanwu; Hu, Ming; Xu, Linyong

2017-01-13

The study aimed to validate a scale to assess the severity of "Yin deficiency, intestine heat" pattern of functional constipation based on the modern test theory. Pooled longitudinal data of 237 patients with "Yin deficiency, intestine heat" pattern of constipation from a prospective cohort study were used to validate the scale. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the common factors of items. A multidimensional item response model was used to assess the scale with the presence of multidimensionality. The Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.79 to 0.89, and the split-half reliability ranged from 0.67 to 0.79 at different measurements. Exploratory factor analysis identified two common factors, and all items had cross factor loadings. Bidimensional model had better goodness of fit than the unidimensional model. Multidimensional item response model showed that the all items had moderate to high discrimination parameters. Parameters indicated that the first latent trait signified intestine heat, while the second trait characterized Yin deficiency. Information function showed that items demonstrated highest discrimination power among patients with moderate to high level of disease severity. Multidimensional item response theory provides a useful and rational approach in validating scales for assessing the severity of patterns in traditional Chinese medicine.

Archaeogenetics in evolutionary medicine.

PubMed

Bouwman, Abigail; Rühli, Frank

2016-09-01

Archaeogenetics is the study of exploration of ancient DNA (aDNA) of more than 70 years old. It is an important part of the wider studies of many different areas of our past, including animal, plant and pathogen evolution and domestication events. Hereby, we address specifically the impact of research in archaeogenetics in the broader field of evolutionary medicine. Studies on ancient hominid genomes help to understand even modern health patterns. Human genetic microevolution, e.g. related to abilities of post-weaning milk consumption, and specifically genetic adaptation in disease susceptibility, e.g. towards malaria and other infectious diseases, are of the upmost importance in contributions of archeogenetics on the evolutionary understanding of human health and disease. With the increase in both the understanding of modern medical genetics and the ability to deep sequence ancient genetic information, the field of archaeogenetic evolutionary medicine is blossoming.

Ludwig Edinger (1855-1918): founder of modern neuroanatomy.

PubMed

Prithishkumar, Ivan James

2012-03-01

Ludwig Edinger, a German neurologist is considered as one of the founders of modern neuroanatomy. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of Strassburg. His observation of small living organisms under a microscope at an early age led him to study medicine. Edinger had many discoveries to his credit. He was the first to describe the ventral and dorsal spinocerebellar tracts, to distinguish between paleo-encephalon and neo-encephalon, and between paleo-cerebellum and neo-cerebellum. He coined the terms "gnosis" and "praxis," which were later adopted in psychological descriptions of agnosia and apraxia. He identified the Edinger-Westphal nucleus in 1885 and was the first to describe the syndrome of thalamic pain. Edinger worked with renowned clinicians and published a large number of papers. He founded the Neurological Institute at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, which is the oldest neurological Institute in Germany. Edinger was a rare combination of a profound scientist, a brilliant teacher, a fine artist, and a noted hypnotist. While at the height of his career, he underwent a surgery and died a few hours later. It was his last will that his brain should be dissected in his own institute. It showed extraordinarily well-developed occipital lobes as well as other unusual features. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Artificial heart pumps: bridging the gap between science, technology and personalized medicine by relational medicine.

PubMed

Raia, Federica; Deng, Mario C

2017-01-01

In the US population of 300 million, 3 million have heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and 300,000 have advanced heart failure. Long-term mechanical circulatory support will, within the next decade, be recommended to 30,000 patients annually in the USA, 3000 undergo heart transplantation annually. What do these advances mean for persons suffering from advanced heart failure and their loved ones/caregivers? In this perspective article, we discuss - by exemplifying a case report of a 27-year-old man receiving a Total Artificial Heart - a practice concept of modern medicine that fully incorporates the patient's personhood perspective which we have termed Relational Medicine™. From this case study, it becomes apparent that the successful practice of modern cardiovascular medicine requires the person-person encounter as a core practice element.

[In venerem ignavus: medicine, impotence and law in modern age].

PubMed

Gazzaniga, V; Frati, P

2001-01-01

Surgical and forensic medical texts of modern age classifies male impotence according to two different patterns. If both psychological and functional causes can be admitted as responsible of male disfunctions, physical deficiencies only can be regarded as legal reason to obtain divorce.

The First Sports Medicine Books in English.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Allan J.

The modern history of sports medicine is chronicled in a discussion of the first writings in English on sports medicine. What may have been the first writing in English is a section on first aid in the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPORT, published in England in 1898. It describes injuries commonly sustained in angling, boxing, cricket, cycling, football,…

Trends in Modern Drug Discovery.

PubMed

Eder, Jörg; Herrling, Paul L

2016-01-01

Drugs discovered by the pharmaceutical industry over the past 100 years have dramatically changed the practice of medicine and impacted on many aspects of our culture. For many years, drug discovery was a target- and mechanism-agnostic approach that was based on ethnobotanical knowledge often fueled by serendipity. With the advent of modern molecular biology methods and based on knowledge of the human genome, drug discovery has now largely changed into a hypothesis-driven target-based approach, a development which was paralleled by significant environmental changes in the pharmaceutical industry. Laboratories became increasingly computerized and automated, and geographically dispersed research sites are now more and more clustered into large centers to capture technological and biological synergies. Today, academia, the regulatory agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry all contribute to drug discovery, and, in order to translate the basic science into new medical treatments for unmet medical needs, pharmaceutical companies have to have a critical mass of excellent scientists working in many therapeutic fields, disciplines, and technologies. The imperative for the pharmaceutical industry to discover breakthrough medicines is matched by the increasing numbers of first-in-class drugs approved in recent years and reflects the impact of modern drug discovery approaches, technologies, and genomics.

A Supramolecular Approach to Medicinal Chemistry: Medicine Beyond the Molecule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, David K.

2005-03-01

This article focuses on the essential roles played by intermolecular forces in mediating the interactions between chemical molecules and biological systems. Intermolecular forces constitute a key topic in chemistry programs, yet can sometimes seem disconnected from real-life applications. However, by taking a "supramolecular" view of medicinal chemistry and focusing on interactions between molecules, it is possible to come to a deeper understanding of recent developments in medicine. This allows us to gain a real insight into the interface between biology and chemistry—an interdisciplinary area that is crucial for the development of modern medicinal products. This article emphasizes a conceptual view of medicinal chemistry, which has important implications for the future, as the supramolecular approach to medicinal-chemistry products outlined here is rapidly allowing nanotechnology to converge with medicine. In particular, this article discusses recent developments including the rational design of drugs such as Relenza and Tamiflu, the mode of action of vancomycin, and the mechanism by which bacteria develop resistance, drug delivery using cyclodextrins, and the importance of supramolecular chemistry in understanding protein aggregation diseases such as Alzheimer's and Creutzfield Jacob. The article also indicates how taking a supramolecular approach will enable the development of new nanoscale medicines.

[A brief review of the history of interventional medicine].

PubMed

Wang, Zi-xuan; Chen, Feng

2009-03-01

Interventional medicine is an important part of modern medicine. The origin of its thought can be traced back to ancient Egypt and the Babylonian Period. After long-time accumulation of experiences, interventional medicine gradually evolved as a system with the rise of radiology in 20th century. New equipment as well as new techniques promoted the improvement of interventional medicine. Through its development over several decades, interventional medicine has already taken shape. Its techniques and application fields have exceeded those of interventional radiology.

Patterns in medicinal plant knowledge and use in a Maroon village in Suriname.

PubMed

Van't Klooster, Charlotte; van Andel, Tinde; Reis, Ria

2016-08-02

Traditional medicine plays an important role in the primary health care practices of Maroons living in the interior of Suriname. Large numbers of medicinal plants are employed to maintain general health and cure illnesses. Little is known, however, on how knowledge of herbal medicine varies within the community and whether plant use remains important when modern health care becomes available. To document the diversity in medicinal plant knowledge and use in a remote Saramaccan Maroon community and to assess the importance of medicinal plants vis a vis locally available modern healthcare. We hypothesized that ailments which could be treated by the village health center would be less salient in herbal medicine reports. During three months fieldwork in the Saramaccan village of Pikin Slee, ethnobotanical data were collected by means of participant observations, voucher collections and 27 semi-structured interviews and informal discussions with 20 respondents. To test whether knowledge of medicinal plant species was kept within families, we performed a Detrended Correspondence Analysis. In total, 110 medicinal plant species were recorded, with 302 health use reports and 72 uses, mostly related to general health concerns (42%), diseases of the digestive system (10%), musculoskeletal system and fever (each 7%). Bathing was the most important mode of application. Most health use reports related to cure (58%) and health promotion (39%), while disease prevention played a minor role. Traditional medicine not only treated cultural illnesses, but also health concerns that could be treated with locally available modern medicines. Knowledge of medicinal plant species is not strictly kept within families, but also shared with friends. Certain recipes and applications, however, may be specific family knowledge. Medicinal plants play a very important role in the daily lives of the Pikin Slee villagers. Plant use reflects actual health concerns, but as modern medicines are available

The hidden truths of the belly: the uncertainties of pregnancy in early modern Europe. (Society for the Social History of Medicine Student Prize Essay 1999, runner-up.).

PubMed

McClive, Cathy

2002-08-01

For early modern men and women and their medical practitioners, the experience and understanding of pregnancy was primarily uncertain. This uncertainty extended to the whole process of pregnancy--from the moment of conception to delivery, the detection and bearing of a 'true fruit' was doubtful. This 'uncertainty' was heightened by the fact that both body and language could conceal the truth. The woman herself was frequently uncertain and could be mistaken in her interpretation of the condition of her belly. This ambiguity is expressed in the vague and faltering language used to describe such experiences. Women's bodies were believed to conceal the truth more readily than their male counterparts. Equally a woman's physical narrative was more likely to be distrusted. Tensions surrounding the appropriate nature of women's 'knowledge' of such hidden 'secrets' also affected the ways in which women and their practitioners described the 'truths' of the belly. This article traces the ambiguities faced by women and their midwives/accoucheurs through three areas of pregnancy: quickening, false conceptions, and the threat of miscarriage. The much-neglected source of medical texts and observations is drawn upon, alongside letters and diaries and judicial material.

Traditional medicines and globalization: current and future perspectives in ethnopharmacology.

PubMed

Leonti, Marco; Casu, Laura

2013-01-01

The ethnopharmacological approach toward the understanding and appraisal of traditional and herbal medicines is characterized by the inclusions of the social as well as the natural sciences. Anthropological field-observations describing the local use of nature-derived medicines are the basis for ethnopharmacological enquiries. The multidisciplinary scientific validation of indigenous drugs is of relevance to modern societies at large and helps to sustain local health care practices. Especially with respect to therapies related to aging related, chronic and infectious diseases traditional medicines offer promising alternatives to biomedicine. Bioassays applied in ethnopharmacology represent the molecular characteristics and complexities of the disease or symptoms for which an indigenous drug is used in "traditional" medicine to variable depth and extent. One-dimensional in vitro approaches rarely cope with the complexity of human diseases and ignore the concept of polypharmacological synergies. The recent focus on holistic approaches and systems biology in medicinal plant research represents the trend toward the description and the understanding of complex multi-parameter systems. Ethnopharmacopoeias are non-static cultural constructs shaped by belief and knowledge systems. Intensified globalization and economic liberalism currently accelerates the interchange between local and global pharmacopoeias via international trade, television, the World Wide Web and print media. The increased infiltration of newly generated biomedical knowledge and introduction of "foreign" medicines into local pharmacopoeias leads to syncretic developments and generates a feedback loop. While modern and post-modern cultures and knowledge systems adapt and transform the global impact, they become more relevant for ethnopharmacology. Moreover, what is traditional, alternative or complementary medicine depends on the adopted historic-cultural perspective.

Bioethics: secular philosophy, Jewish law and modern medicine.

PubMed

Steinberg, A

1989-07-01

The recent unprecedented expansion of scientific knowledge and the greater awareness and involvement of the public in medical matters, as well as additional causes described here, have impelled the development of a new form of bioethics over the past three decades. Jewish law and philosophy have always dealt with medical issues. In recent years, however, a voluminous body of literature devoted to Jewish medical ethics has developed. It covers all relevant issues and offers Jewish solutions to many complex problems arising from the recent scientific breakthroughs. This article analyzes the differences between Jewish and secular philosophies regarding fundamental moral theories relevant to modern medical ethics.

The Evolution of Modern Dance Therapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Fran

1988-01-01

The article traces the impact of the modern dance movement from the early 1900s and its emphasis on creativity and self-expression on the professional and institutional development of dance therapy. (CB)

Assembling cyavanaprāsh, Ayurveda's best-selling medicine.

PubMed

Bode, Maarten

2015-04-01

The paper discusses the many forms and representations of cyavanaprāsh, Ayurveda's best-selling medicine, already mentioned in Caraka's Compendium (c. 200 CE). The medicine's compositions, applications, and meanings, change over time and from locality to locality. Cyavanaprāsh is, for example, a patriotic formula, a booster of the immune system, a modern geriatric drug, and one of the elements in canonical Ayurvedic treatments. In the beginning of the 19th century cyavanaprāsh was a patriotic formula for fortifying Indian bodies and the nascent Indian nation. Nowadays the medicine is a Fast Moving Consumer Good (FMCG) and a money maker for Dabur India Ltd., the world largest Ayurvedic manufacturer. Instead of vitalising the nation its consumption now promises to make urban middle class consumers effectively modern. Branding and modern science must make Dabur Chyawanprash attractive in the eyes of these consumers. Ayurveda and cyavanaprāsh are also part of a global counter culture marked by neo-Orientalism and Ayurvedic medicines as facilitators of spirituality. The marketing of cyavanaprāsh by India's largest Ayurvedic manufacturer is used as a case study for discussing the proliferation of Ayurvedic brands and its critics. The imaging of Ayurvedic brands such as Dabur Chyawanprash threatens to obscure the fact that Ayurveda represents a unique way of looking upon health, disease and the human body. The proliferation of brands also makes Ayurvedic medicines more expensive and puts pressure on the natural environment as the main supplier of Ayurvedic ingredients.

Study on the interaction between active components from traditional Chinese medicine and plasma proteins.

PubMed

Jiao, Qishu; Wang, Rufeng; Jiang, Yanyan; Liu, Bin

2018-05-04

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as a unique form of natural medicine, has been used in Chinese traditional therapeutic systems over two thousand years. Active components in Chinese herbal medicine are the material basis for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Research on drug-protein binding is one of the important contents in the study of early stage clinical pharmacokinetics of drugs. Plasma protein binding study has far-reaching influence on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs and helps to understand the basic rule of drug effects. It is important to study the binding characteristics of the active components in Chinese herbal medicine with plasma proteins for the medical science and modernization of TCM. This review summarizes the common analytical methods which are used to study the active herbal components-protein binding and gives the examples to illustrate their application. Rules and influence factors of the binding between different types of active herbal components and plasma proteins are summarized in the end. Finally, a suggestion on choosing the suitable technique for different types of active herbal components is provided, and the prospect of the drug-protein binding used in the area of TCM research is also discussed.

Traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine: Focusing on research into traditional Tibetan medicine in China.

PubMed

Song, Peipei; Xia, Jufeng; Rezeng, Caidan; Tong, Li; Tang, Wei

2016-07-19

As a form of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM), traditional Tibetan medicine has developed into a mainstay of medical care in Tibet and has spread from there to China and then to the rest of the world. Thus far, research on traditional Tibetan medicine has focused on the study of the plant and animal sources of traditional medicines, study of the histology of those plants and animals, chemical analysis of traditional medicines, pharmacological study of those medicines, and evaluation of the clinical efficacy of those medicines. A number of papers on traditional Tibetan medicines have been published, providing some evidence of the efficacy of traditional Tibetan medicine. However, many traditional Tibetan medicines have unknown active ingredients, hampering the establishment of drug quality standards, the development of new medicines, commercial production of medicines, and market availability of those medicines. Traditional Tibetan medicine must take several steps to modernize and spread to the rest of the world: the pharmacodynamics of traditional Tibetan medicines need to be determined, the clinical efficacy of those medicines needs to be verified, criteria to evaluate the efficacy of those medicines need to be established in order to guide their clinical use, and efficacious medicines need to be acknowledged by the pharmaceutical market. The components of traditional Tibetan medicine should be studied, traditional Tibetan medicines should be screened for their active ingredients, and techniques should be devised to prepare and manufacture those medicines.

Force and Presence in the World of Medicine

PubMed Central

Bleakley, Alan

2017-01-01

Medicine can not only be read with a poetic imagination, but also configured as a poetic practice, moving beyond the instrumental. The poet Wallace Stevens made a distinction between ‘Force’ and ‘Presence’—the former can be read as combative, the latter as pacific. Modern medicine has been shaped historically by the combative metaphor of a ‘war against disease’, turning medicine into a quasi-militaristic culture fond of hierarchy. This is supplemented by the metaphor of the ‘body as machine’, reducing the complex and unpredictable body to a linear, if complicated, apparatus. The two metaphors align medicine with the modern industrial–military complex that is masculine, heroic, and controlling in character. In an era in which medicine is feminising and expected to be patient-centred, collaborative (inter-professional) and transparent to the public as a democratic gesture, the industrial–military metaphor complex should no longer be shaping medicine—yet its influence is still keenly felt, especially in surgery. This continuing dominance of Force over Presence matters because it is a style running counter to the collaborative, team-based medicine needed for high levels of patient safety. Medicine will authentically democratise only as new, pacific shaping metaphors emerge: those of ‘Presence’, such as ‘hospitality’. Hospitals can once again become places of hospitality.

[A study on Horace N. Allen's medicine and recognition of Korean body].

PubMed

Lee, Young Ah

2011-12-31

Je Jung Won was the first modern-style Government hospital built by the Korean King Ko-Jong in April 1885, and it was the medical missionary Horace Newton Allen(1858~1932) who made one of the greatest contributions to the establishment of the hospital. Allen was an American missionary. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a degree in theology in 1881, and completed one-yearcourse at Miami Medical College. In Korea and America he worked as a physician, a missionary, an American diplomatic minister to Korea and a Korean minister's secretary to America. While acting as a mediator between Korea and America, he knew and recorded the domestic and foreign situation of Korea during Gaehwagi(the civilized and enlightened age). Thus to study him is to understand Korea's Gaehwagi as well as to research American medical missionaries. During his stay in Korea(1884~1905), Allen steadily wrote diaries and letters about Korean politics, diplomacy, society, culture, and medicine. Thus his public/private record through diaries and letters(the quantity of these materials amounts to several thousands) supplements the Korean early modern era's historical record. However, until now these materials have received little scholarly attention from researchers except for a few historians of missionary work between Korea and America, or of Korean modern medicine. I intended to use these materials to suggest a new perspective on the study of Korean Gaehwagi. Allen, along with John W. Heron, who came to Seoul on June 21st 1885, treated about 10,460 Korean patients in the first year of the opening of JeJungWon. They made "the first annual report of the Korean Government Hospital". This report explained how Allen and Heron regarded and treated Korean patients. Allen's diaries, letters and other writings offer a realistic view of how the western people actually recognized the Korean people at that time. As a western doctor, Allen had an ambivalent attitude toward Korean medical concepts

Pursuing Humanistic Medicine in a Technological Age.

PubMed

Bertman, Stephen

2017-06-01

The humanistic practice of medicine requires that the practitioner have sufficient time and appropriate focus. Both elements, however, are under assault by the high-speed, distraction-filled environment within which primary care is delivered today. Despite or perhaps because of modern medicine's technological advances, the potentially healing bond between doctor and patient is being frayed and the quality of care consequently degraded.

Emotional foundations of music as a non-pharmacological pain management tool in modern medicine.

PubMed

Bernatzky, Guenther; Presch, Michaela; Anderson, Mary; Panksepp, Jaak

2011-10-01

This paper reviews the use of music as an adjuvant to the control of pain, especially in medical procedures. Surgery causes stress and anxiety that exacerbates the experience of pain. Self-report of and physiological measures on post-surgical patients indicate that music therapy or music stimulation reduces the perception of pain, both alone and when part of a multimodal pain management program, and can reduce the need for pharmaceutical interventions. However, multimodal pain therapy, including non-pharmacological interventions after surgery, is still rare in medical practice. We summarize how music can enhance medical therapies and can be used as an adjuvant with other pain-management programs to increase the effectiveness of those therapies. As summarized, we currently know that musical pieces chosen by the patient are commonly, but not always, more effective than pieces chosen by another person. Further research should focus both on finding the specific indications and contra-indications of music therapy and on the biological and neurological pathways responsible for those findings (related evidence has implicated brain opioid and oxytocin mechanisms in affective changes evoked by music). In turn, these findings will allow medical investigators and practitioners to design guidelines and reliable, standardized applications for this promising method of pain management in modern medicine. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Communication Concepts for Prevention and Early Intervention in Aesthetic Medicine: Consensus and Literature Review.

PubMed

Gout, Uliana; Anand, Chytra V; Braz, Andre; Chao, Yates Yen Yu; Fabi, Sabrina Guillen; Kerscher, Martina; Landau, Marina; Pavicic, Tatjana; Peng, Peter Hsien Li; Rzany, Berthold; Sattler, Gerhard; Tiryaki, Tunk; Waldorf, Heidi A; Besins, Thierry

2017-09-01

Communication concepts relating to prevention and early intervention (P&E) within aesthetic medicine are poorly understood and highly underexplored. However, effective communication is a key criterion for successful outcomes. To introduce the framework for P&E communication strategies within a younger population and explore the barriers that may be encountered. A literature review on P&E communication strategies in aesthetic medicine and related topics of interest was conducted and used to construct a working framework that may be applied in clinical practice. Examination of existing literature revealed a need for a more structured communication framework for P&E encompassing up-to-date evidence-based learning and educational marketing that is tailored to individual needs and target populations. Message framing-the way in which a message is presented-is an important consideration in the dissemination of information to promote changes in health behaviour. A structured consultation is key to optimising patient engagement and ensures a tailored approach to understanding and catering to the specific needs of each patient. This is the first paper to discuss the communication concepts behind P&E within aesthetic medicine and paves the way for further research and focus in this significant field.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(9):859-864.

Aerospace Medicine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Jeffrey R.

2006-01-01

This abstract describes the content of a presentation for ground rounds at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. The presentation contains three sections. The first describes the history of aerospace medicine beginning with early flights with animals. The second section of the presentation describes current programs and planning for future missions. The third section describes the medical challenges of exploration missions.

Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Asthma: A Traditional Persian Medicine Perspective.

PubMed

Javadi, Behjat; Sahebkar, Amirhossein; Emami, Seyed Ahmad

2017-01-01

To search major Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) textbooks for medicinal plants used to treat asthma. The conformity of the TPM findings on the anti-asthmatic efficacy of plants with the findings of pharmacological studies was also explored. Major TPM textbooks were hand searched to find medicinal plants used for the treatment of asthma. Scientific names of TPM-suggested plants were determined using botanical databases and were used for a multidatabase electronic search in PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases. Then, the antiasthmatic effectiveness of TPM-recommended plants was verified in view of the findings from modern pharmacological investigations. According to the main TPM texts, Adianthum capillus-veneris, Boswellia oleogumresin, Crocus sativus, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Hyssopus officinalis and Ruta graveolens were the most efficacious medicinal plants for the treatment of asthma. This finding was confirmed by pharmacological studies which showed counterbalancing effects of the above-mentioned plants on inflammation, oxidative stress, allergic response, tracheal smooth muscle cell constriction and airway remodeling. The strong ethnobotanical background of plants used in TPM could be a valuable tool to find new anti-asthmatic medications. In this review, TPM-suggested anti-asthmatic plants were found to possess several mechanisms relevant to the treatment of respiratory diseases according to the information retrieved from modern pharmacological studies. This high degree of conformity suggested further proof-of-concept trials to ascertain the role of these plants in the routine management of asthmatic patients. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

[Theory of toxic classification of traditional Chinese medicine and recommendations for revision of China pharmacopeia (volume 1)].

PubMed

Zhao, Junning; Ye, Zuguang

2012-08-01

Toxic classification of traditional Chinese medicine, as a contribution of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to the recognition of medicinal toxicity and rational use of medicinal materials by Chinese people, is now a great issue related to safe medication, sustainable development and internationalization of Chinese medicine. In this article, the origination and development of toxic classification theory was summarized and analyzed. Because toxic classification is an urgent issue related to TCM industrialization, modernization and internationalization, this article made a systematic analysis on the nature and connotation of toxic classification as well as risk control for TCM industry due to the medicinal toxicity. Based on the toxic studies, this article made some recommendations on toxic classification of Chinese medicinal materials for the revision of China Pharmacopeia (volume 1). From the aspect of scientific research, a new technical guideline for research on toxic classification of Chinese medicine should be formulated based on new biological toxicity test technology such as Microtox and ADME/Tox, because the present classification of acute toxicity of mice/rats can not met the modern development of Chinese medicine any more. The evaluation system and technical SOP of TCM toxic classification should also be established, and they should well balance TCM features, superiority and international requirements. From the aspect of medicine management, list of toxic medicines and their risk classification should be further improved by competent government according to scientific research. In China Pharmacopeia (volume I), such descriptions of strong toxicity, toxicity or mild toxicity should be abandoned when describing medicine nature and flavor. This revision might help promote TCM sustainable development and internationalization, and enhance the competitive capacity of Chinese medicine in both domestic and international market. However, description of strong

Hybridizing scholastic psychology with Chinese medicine: a seventeenth-century Chinese Catholic's conceptions of xin (mind and heart).

PubMed

Zhang, Qiong

2008-01-01

This paper explores the dynamics of cultural interactions between early modern China and Europe initiated by the Jesuits and other Catholic missionaries through a case study of Wang Honghan, a seventeenth-century Chinese Catholic who systematically sought to integrate European learning introduced by the missionaries with pre-modern Chinese medicine. Focusing on the ways in which Wang combined his Western and Chinese sources to develop and articulate his views on xin (mind and heart), this paper argues that Wang arrived at a peculiar hybrid between scholastic psychology and Chinese medicine, not so much through a course of haphazard misunderstanding as through his conscious and patterned use and abuse of his Western sources, which was motivated most possibly by a wish to define a theoretical position that most suited his social roles as a Catholic convert and a Chinese medical doctor. Thus, rather than seeing Wang as an epitome of"transmission failure," this paper offers it as a showcase for the tremendous dynamism and creativity occurring at this East-West "contact zone as representatives of both cultures sought to appropriate and transform the symbolic and textual resources of the other side.

[Advancements of computer chemistry in separation of Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Li, Lingjuan; Hong, Hong; Xu, Xuesong; Guo, Liwei

2011-12-01

Separating technique of Chinese medicine is not only a key technique in the field of Chinese medicine' s research and development, but also a significant step in the modernization of Chinese medicinal preparation. Computer chemistry can build model and look for the regulations from Chinese medicine system which is full of complicated data. This paper analyzed the applicability, key technology, basic mode and common algorithm of computer chemistry applied in the separation of Chinese medicine, introduced the mathematic mode and the setting methods of Extraction kinetics, investigated several problems which based on traditional Chinese medicine membrane procession, and forecasted the application prospect.

[Principles of traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Meng, A

2000-01-01

The beginnings of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can be related to the three most important philosophic and religious personalities. Modern Western medicine (MM), which was already sensationally successful at that time, was brought to China by business men, missionaries and soldiers. Compared to MM, the theories of TCM seem abstract, its concept unusual. Historical hallmarks of TCM influenced by culture are the following: the medical system is philosophical, oriented towards humanism. TCM is a medical system without strict structural relationships (without anatomy).

Demons, nature, or God? Witchcraft accusations and the French disease in early modern Venice.

PubMed

McGough, Laura J

2006-01-01

In early modern Venice, establishing the cause of a disease was critical to determining the appropriate cure: natural remedies for natural illnesses, spiritual solutions for supernatural or demonic ones. One common ailment was the French disease (syphilis), widely distributed throughout Venice's neighborhoods and social hierarchy, and evenly distributed between men and women. The disease was widely regarded as curable by the mid-sixteenth century, and cases that did not respond to natural remedies presented problems of interpretation to physicians and laypeople. Witchcraft was one possible explanation; using expert testimony from physicians, however, the Holy Office ruled out witchcraft as a cause of incurable cases and reinforced perceptions that the disease was of natural origin. Incurable cases were explained as the result of immoral behavior, thereby reinforcing the associated stigma. This article uses archival material from Venice's Inquisition records from 1580 to 1650, as well as mortality data.

Prophecy, patriarchy, and violence in the early modern household: the revelations of Anne Wentworth.

PubMed

Johnston, Warren

2009-10-01

In 1676 the apostate Baptist prophet Anne Wentworth (1629/30-1693?) published "A True Account of Anne Wentworths Being Cruelly, Unjustly, and Unchristianly Dealt with by Some of Those People called Anabaptists," the first in a series of pamphlets that would continue to the end of the decade. Orignially a member of a London Baptist church, Wentworth left the congregation and eventually her own home after her husband used physical force to stop her writing and prophesying. Yet Wentworth persisted in her "revelations." These prophecies increasingly focused on her response to those who were trying to stop her efforts, especially within her own household. This article examines Wentworth's writings as an effort by an early modern woman, using arguments of spiritual agency, to assert ideas about proper gender roles and household responsibilities to denounce her husband and rebut those who criticized and attempted to suppress her.

Traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of alcoholism: from ancient to modern.

PubMed

Liu, Qing; Lawrence, Andrew J; Liang, Jian-Hui

2011-01-01

Alcohol has long been used as a daily beverage in China and around the world. It is a medicinal substance with various biological activities. In fact, alcohol has played an important role in the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), within which it is considered as the earliest exhilarant and anaesthetic. Yet, as a substance with great potency of misuse and addiction, the consumption of alcohol can lead to serious damage to individual health and the society. Over the past 20 years, alcohol abuse or alcoholism has become an increasing social problem in China along with the rapid economic development. China, the country of origin for TCM, has accumulated abundant clinical experience in the treatment of alcoholism with its ancient medicine. In the present research, we have summarized clinical and primary studies concerning various remedies of TCM for alcohol abuse, including herbal components (such as Kudzu/Pueraria Lobata, Pediculus melo, Hypericumpperforatum L.), decoctions and acupuncture.

[Sport medicine].

PubMed

Epstein, Yoram

2012-02-01

It is only since the late 20th century that Sport and Exercise Medicine has emerged as a distinct entity in health care. In Israel, sports medicine is regulated by a State Law and a sport physician is certified after graduating a structured program. In the past, sports medicine was related to the diagnosis and treatment of injuries encountered by top athletes. In recent years, the scope of sport medicine has broadened to reflect the awareness of modern society of the dangers of physical inactivity. In this perspective the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) recently launched a program--"Exercise is Medicine", to promote physical activity in order to improve health and well-being and prevention of diseases through physical activity prescriptions. This program is from doctors and healthcare providers, adjusted to the patient or trainee. The sport physician does not replace a medical specialist, but having a thorough understanding about the etiology of a sport-related injury enables him to better focus on treatment and prevention. Therefore, Team Physicians in Elite Sport often play a role regarding not only the medical care of athletes, but also in the physiological monitoring of the athlete and correcting aberrations, to achieve peak physical performance. The broad spectrum of issues in sport and exercise medicine cannot be completely covered in one issue of the Journal. Therefore, the few reports that are presented to enhance interest and understanding in the broad spectrum of issues in sports and exercise medicine are only the tip of the iceberg.

From medical tradition to traditional medicine: A Tibetan formula in the European framework.

PubMed

Schwabl, Herbert; Vennos, Cécile

2015-06-05

The increasing prevalence of complex multi-factorial chronic diseases and multimorbidity reveals the need for an enlargement of the therapeutic options. Potent multicompound herbal formulations from traditional medicine systems such as Tibetan Medicine might meet the requirements. With its practice over the centuries Tibetan Medicine is one of the important medical heritages of the world. In the 20th century Tibetan formulas came to Switzerland, where the formula Gabur-25 was then registered as medicine in 1977 (Padma 28, Swissmedic No 35872). The new European directive 2004/24/EC opened the avenue for traditional herbal medicinal products and registrations followed in Austria (HERB-00037) and the UK (39568/0001). The aim of this review was to analyse not only the critical points and hazards but also chances that occur in the endeavour of bringing a ethnopharmacological based preparation to the market within a modern Western medical and regulatory framework and to discuss the necessary transformation steps from a traditional herbal formula towards a modern pharmaceutical product with the example of the Tibetan formula Gabur-25. The historic transformation process from the 19th to the 21st century is analysed, using the registration documents and other material from the library of Padma AG, Hinwil, Switzerland. The transformation of a traditional formula into a modern traditional herbal medicinal product according to the present EU regulations is a multi faceted process. The modern indication represents only a small part of the possible traditional indications. Quality and product labelling has to be adopted to modern standards. The formula, once registered, is a fixed combination of herbal and mineral ingredients. Contrary to this the concept of Asian medical tradition allows a certain flexibility in the composition of an herbal formula. The ingredients are constantly adapted to local conditions, availability of raw material and therapeutic situation. The example

[To see the future development of burn medicine from the view of holistic integrative medicine].

PubMed

Hu, D H; Tao, K

2017-04-20

The therapeutic methods and effects have been improved greatly in the past few decades for burn care and management with several important advancements which have resulted in more effective patient stabilization and significantly decreased mortality in China. However, the challenges still exist, such as how to further improve the recovery of the patients' appearance and function, and how to advance the treatment of severe deep extensive burn injury, etc. The theory of holistic integrative medicine (HIM) provides a new opportunity for the development of clinical medicine. This article emphasizes the important roles of HIM in exploration of burn medicine, considering the advanced development of modern life sciences and relevant techniques.

Traditional medicines and globalization: current and future perspectives in ethnopharmacology

PubMed Central

Leonti, Marco; Casu, Laura

2013-01-01

The ethnopharmacological approach toward the understanding and appraisal of traditional and herbal medicines is characterized by the inclusions of the social as well as the natural sciences. Anthropological field-observations describing the local use of nature-derived medicines are the basis for ethnopharmacological enquiries. The multidisciplinary scientific validation of indigenous drugs is of relevance to modern societies at large and helps to sustain local health care practices. Especially with respect to therapies related to aging related, chronic and infectious diseases traditional medicines offer promising alternatives to biomedicine. Bioassays applied in ethnopharmacology represent the molecular characteristics and complexities of the disease or symptoms for which an indigenous drug is used in “traditional” medicine to variable depth and extent. One-dimensional in vitro approaches rarely cope with the complexity of human diseases and ignore the concept of polypharmacological synergies. The recent focus on holistic approaches and systems biology in medicinal plant research represents the trend toward the description and the understanding of complex multi-parameter systems. Ethnopharmacopoeias are non-static cultural constructs shaped by belief and knowledge systems. Intensified globalization and economic liberalism currently accelerates the interchange between local and global pharmacopoeias via international trade, television, the World Wide Web and print media. The increased infiltration of newly generated biomedical knowledge and introduction of “foreign” medicines into local pharmacopoeias leads to syncretic developments and generates a feedback loop. While modern and post-modern cultures and knowledge systems adapt and transform the global impact, they become more relevant for ethnopharmacology. Moreover, what is traditional, alternative or complementary medicine depends on the adopted historic-cultural perspective. PMID:23898296

Overcoming early barriers to PCMH practice improvement in family medicine residencies.

PubMed

Fernald, Douglas H; Deaner, Nicole; O'Neill, Caitlin; Jortberg, Bonnie T; degruy, Frank Verloin; Dickinson, W Perry

2011-01-01

Residency programs face inevitable challenges as they redesign their practices for higher quality care and resident training. Identifying and addressing early barriers can help align priorities and thereby augment the capacity to change. Evaluation of the Colorado Family Medicine Residency PCMH Project included iterative qualitative analysis of field notes, interviews, and documents to identify early barriers to change and strategies to overcome them. Nine common but not universal barriers were identified: (1) a practice's history reflected some negative past experiences with quality improvement or routines incompatible with transformative change, (2) leadership gaps were evident in unprepared practice leaders or hierarchical leadership, (3) resistance and skepticism about change were expressed through cynicism aimed at change or ability to change, (4) unproductive team processes were reflected in patterns of canceled meetings, absentee leaders, or lack of accountability, (5) knowledge gaps about the Patient-centered Medical Home (PCMH) were apparent from incomplete dissemination about the project or planned changes, (6) EHR implementation distracted focus or stalled improvement activity, (7) sponsoring organizations' constraints emerged from staffing rules and differing priorities, (8) insufficient staff participation resulted from traditional role expectations and structures, and (9) communication was hampered by ineffective methods and part-time faculty and residents. Early barriers responded to varying degrees to specific interventions by practice coaches. Some barriers that interfere with practices getting started with cultural and structural transformation can be addressed with persistent attention and reflection from on-site coaches and by realigning the talents, leaders, and priorities already in these residency programs.

The First Modern Human Dispersals across Africa

PubMed Central

Rito, Teresa; Richards, Martin B.; Fernandes, Verónica; Alshamali, Farida; Cerny, Viktor

2013-01-01

The emergence of more refined chronologies for climate change and archaeology in prehistoric Africa, and for the evolution of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), now make it feasible to test more sophisticated models of early modern human dispersals suggested by mtDNA distributions. Here we have generated 42 novel whole-mtDNA genomes belonging to haplogroup L0, the most divergent clade in the maternal line of descent, and analysed them alongside the growing database of African lineages belonging to L0’s sister clade, L1’6. We propose that the last common ancestor of modern human mtDNAs (carried by “mitochondrial Eve”) possibly arose in central Africa ~180 ka, at a time of low population size. By ~130 ka two distinct groups of anatomically modern humans co-existed in Africa: broadly, the ancestors of many modern-day Khoe and San populations in the south and a second central/eastern African group that includes the ancestors of most extant worldwide populations. Early modern human dispersals correlate with climate changes, particularly the tropical African “megadroughts” of MIS 5 (marine isotope stage 5, 135–75 ka) which paradoxically may have facilitated expansions in central and eastern Africa, ultimately triggering the dispersal out of Africa of people carrying haplogroup L3 ~60 ka. Two south to east migrations are discernible within haplogroup LO. One, between 120 and 75 ka, represents the first unambiguous long-range modern human dispersal detected by mtDNA and might have allowed the dispersal of several markers of modernity. A second one, within the last 20 ka signalled by L0d, may have been responsible for the spread of southern click-consonant languages to eastern Africa, contrary to the view that these eastern examples constitute relicts of an ancient, much wider distribution. PMID:24236171

Artemisinin, a miracle of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Kong, Ling Yi; Tan, Ren Xiang

2015-12-19

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared by Professor Youyou Tu, focused worldwide attention on artemisinin, a natural product antimalarial drug inspired by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This is the first Nobel Prize in natural sciences presented to a Chinese scientist for her impactful research work in China in collaboration with other Chinese scientists. We are delighted to provide the background and implications of the discovery of artemisinin, along with our personal viewpoints toward the affordability of modern medicines from natural products.

Prevention and Treatment of Flatulence From a Traditional Persian Medicine Perspective.

PubMed

Larijani, Bagher; Esfahani, Mohammad Medhi; Moghimi, Maryam; Shams Ardakani, Mohammad Reza; Keshavarz, Mansoor; Kordafshari, Gholamreza; Nazem, Esmaiel; Hasani Ranjbar, Shirin; Mohammadi Kenari, Hoorieh; Zargaran, Arman

2016-04-01

The feeling of abdominal fullness, bloating, and movement of gas in the abdomen is a very uncomfortable sensation termed flatulence. Since flatulence is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms that is bothersome to patients, it is important to identify effective methods to resolve this issue. In modern medicine, management of flatulence is often not satisfactory. On the other hand, traditional systems of medicine can be considered good potential sources to find new approaches for preventing and treating flatulence. The aim of this study is to review flatulence treatments from a traditional Persian medicine (TPM) viewpoint. In this study, the reasons for flatulence and methods for its prevention and treatment are reviewed in traditional Persian medicine (TPM) texts and then related with evidence from modern medicine by searching in databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and IranMedex. From a traditional Persian scholar viewpoint, one of the most important causes of flatulence is an incorrect manner of eating; valuable advice to correct bad eating habits will be illustrated. In addition, traditional practitioners describe some herbs and vegetables as well as herbal compounds that are effective food additives to relieve flatulence. The anti-flatulent effect of most of these herbs has been experimentally verified using modern medicine. Attention to TPM can lead to the identification of new preventive and curative approaches to avoid and treat flatulence. In addition, Persian viewpoints from the medieval era regarding flatulence are historically important.

Prevention and Treatment of Flatulence From a Traditional Persian Medicine Perspective

PubMed Central

Larijani, Bagher; Esfahani, Mohammad Medhi; Moghimi, Maryam; Shams Ardakani, Mohammad Reza; Keshavarz, Mansoor; Kordafshari, Gholamreza; Nazem, Esmaiel; Hasani Ranjbar, Shirin; Mohammadi Kenari, Hoorieh; Zargaran, Arman

2016-01-01

Context The feeling of abdominal fullness, bloating, and movement of gas in the abdomen is a very uncomfortable sensation termed flatulence. Since flatulence is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms that is bothersome to patients, it is important to identify effective methods to resolve this issue. In modern medicine, management of flatulence is often not satisfactory. On the other hand, traditional systems of medicine can be considered good potential sources to find new approaches for preventing and treating flatulence. The aim of this study is to review flatulence treatments from a traditional Persian medicine (TPM) viewpoint. Evidence Acquisition In this study, the reasons for flatulence and methods for its prevention and treatment are reviewed in traditional Persian medicine (TPM) texts and then related with evidence from modern medicine by searching in databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and IranMedex. Results From a traditional Persian scholar viewpoint, one of the most important causes of flatulence is an incorrect manner of eating; valuable advice to correct bad eating habits will be illustrated. In addition, traditional practitioners describe some herbs and vegetables as well as herbal compounds that are effective food additives to relieve flatulence. The anti-flatulent effect of most of these herbs has been experimentally verified using modern medicine. Conclusions Attention to TPM can lead to the identification of new preventive and curative approaches to avoid and treat flatulence. In addition, Persian viewpoints from the medieval era regarding flatulence are historically important. PMID:27275398

Advance modern medicine with clinical case reports.

PubMed

Wáng, Yì-Xiáng J

2014-12-01

Randomized clinical trial (RCT) can fail to demonstrate the richness of individual patient characteristics. Given the unpredictable nature of medicine, a patient may present in an unusual way, have a strange new pathology, or react to a medical intervention in a manner not seen before. The publication of these novelties as case reports is a fundamental way of conveying medical knowledge. Throughout history there have been famous case studies that shaped the way we view health and disease. Case reports can have the following functions: (I) descriptions of new diseases; (II) study of mechanisms; (III) discovery new therapies; (IV) recognition of side effects; and (V) education. Before submitting a case report, it is worthwhile to refer to the Case Report Check Sheet described by Green and Johnson [2006].

The long road to the use of microscope in clinical medicine in vivo: from early pioneering proposals to the modern perspectives of optical biopsy.

PubMed

Ponti, Giovanni; Muscatello, Umberto; Sgantzos, Markos

2015-01-01

For a long period the scientists did not recognized the potentialities of the compound microscope in medicine. Only few scientists recognized the potentialities of the microscope for the medicine; among them G. Campani who proposed the utilization of his microscope to investigate the skin lesions directly on the patient. The proposal was illustrated in a letter Acta Eruditorum of 1686. The recent development of optical techniques, capable of providing in-focus images of an object from different planes with high spatial resolution, significantly increased the diagnostic potential of the microscope directly on the patient.

[Origin and thought on the philosophical ideas of acupuncture in Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Ren, Xiumei

2017-12-12

Acupuncture in Chinese medicine has been a treasure in Chinese traditional medicine for thousands of years. It is opposite to many basic theories in modern medicine in dynasties. Different from the cross compatibility and interactions among medical medicines, acupuncture in Chinese medicine has its own consolidation and inherent philosophical ideas. In view of this, how to discuss the philosophical ideas and its development of acupuncture in Chinese medicine becomes of great importance. It is crucial to clearly answer the three theoretical propositions in the development of acupuncture in Chinese medicine. Firstly, the differences in acupuncture should be identified between the ancient time and the modern time. The issues focus on the origin of Huangdi Neijing ( Yellow Emperor's Internal Medicine ) and its philosophical divergence. Secondly, the origin of acupuncture should be identified, whether it is from China or India. Thirdly, the differences in acupuncture should be identified between China and the west, focusing on the explanation and rectification of the interrelationship between the acupuncture in Chinese medicine and the western acupuncture. Hence, the basic features are discussed on the reality of acupuncture in Chinese medicine as well as its diversity. Finally, the proposition is extended on how to holistically grasp the philosophical foundation of acupuncture in Chinese medicine and its future trend.

Teaching history of medicine in the perspective of "medical humanities".

PubMed

von Engelhardt, D

1999-03-01

The current interest in philosophical questions and ethical aspects of medicine turns attention towards the past and obtains suggestions and perspectives from previous descriptions and interpretations of sickness, therapy, and the relation between the patient and physician. Culture as therapy and therapy as culture are fundamental challenges for the present; physician, patient, and society, i.e., humans and humane medicine, need this dialogue, which should also be constitutive for teaching history of medicine. Through the separation of the natural sciences and the humanities, modern progress of medicine has produced many benefits but has, at the same time, raised many problems. Negative consequences of this development exist not only for the patient, but also for his personal environment and for the physician. In the course of modern history, there have been several reactions aimed at overcoming these one-sided tendencies: in the Renaissance, in the epoch of Romanticism and Idealism, and at the beginning and the end of the 19th century. This article outlines, with historical examples and contemporary reflections, the concept of teaching history of medicine in the perspective of "medical humanities".

Earth's early biosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Des Marais, D. J.

1998-01-01

Understanding our own early biosphere is essential to our search for life elsewhere, because life arose on Earth very early and rocky planets shared similar early histories. The biosphere arose before 3.8 Ga ago, was exclusively unicellular and was dominated by hyperthermophiles that utilized chemical sources of energy and employed a range of metabolic pathways for CO2 assimilation. Photosynthesis also arose very early. Oxygenic photosynthesis arose later but still prior to 2.7 Ga. The transition toward the modern global environment was paced by a decline in volcanic and hydrothermal activity. These developments allowed atmospheric O2 levels to increase. The O2 increase created new niches for aerobic life, most notably the more advanced Eukarya that eventually spawned the megascopic fauna and flora of our modern biosphere.

Curiosity, forbidden knowledge, and the reformation of natural philosophy in early modern England.

PubMed

Harrison, P

2001-06-01

From the patristic period to the beginning of the seventeenth century curiosity was regarded as an intellectual vice. Curious individuals were considered to be proud and "puffed up," and the objects of their investigations were deemed illicit, dispute engendering, unknowable, or useless. Seventeenth-century projects for the advancement of learning had to distance themselves from curiosity and its dubious fruits or, alternatively, enhance the moral status of the curious sensibility. Francis Bacon's proposals for the instauration of knowledge were an integral part of a process by which curiosity underwent a remarkable transformation from vice to virtue over the course of the seventeenth century. The changing fortunes of this human propensity highlight the morally charged nature of early modern debates over the status of natural philosophy and the particular virtues required of its practitioners. The rehabilitation of curiosity was a crucial element in the objectification of scientific knowledge and led to a gradual shift of focus away from the moral qualities of investigators and the propriety of particular objects of knowledge to specific procedures and methods.

Ludwig Edelstein (1902-1965): a German historian of medicine in North American exile and the emergence of the modern Hippocratic Oath.

PubMed

Pow, Stephen; Stahnisch, Frank W

2016-11-01

Already emerging as an original thinker in the field of classical philology and history of medicine, German scholar Ludwig Edelstein became one of many scholars who lost his academic position when the National Socialists came to power in early 1933. This paper details his life before and after his difficult transition from Europe to North America, while reviewing the lasting significance of his translation and commentary on the Hippocratic Oath. © The Author(s) 2015.

[Development and application of component-based Chinese medicine theory].

PubMed

Zhang, Jun-Hua; Fan, Guan-Wei; Zhang, Han; Fan, Xiao-Hui; Wang, Yi; Liu, Li-Mei; Li, Chuan; Gao, Yue; Gao, Xiu-Mei; Zhang, Bo-Li

2017-11-01

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription is the main therapies for disease prevention and treatment in Chinese medicine. Following the guidance of the theory of TCM and developing drug by composing prescriptions of TCM materials and pieces, it is a traditional application mode of TCM, and still widely used in clinic. TCM prescription has theoretical advantages and rich clinical application experience in dealing with multi-factor complex diseases, but scientific research is relatively weak. The lack of scientific cognition of the effective substances and mechanism of Chinese medicine leads to insufficient understanding of the efficacy regularity, which affects the stability of effect and hinders the improvement of quality of Chinese medicinal products. Component-based Chinese medicine (CCM) is an innovation based on inheritance, which breaks through the tradition of experience-based prescription and realize the transformation of compatibility from herbal pieces to components. CCM is an important achievement during the research process of modernization of Chinese medicine. Under the support of three national "973" projects, in order to reveal the scientific connotation of the prescription compatibility theory and develop innovative Chinese drugs, we have launched theoretical innovation and technological innovation around the "two relatively clear", and opened up the research field of CCM. CCM is an innovation based on inheritance, breaking through the tradition of experience based prescription, and realizing the transformation from compatibility of herbal pieces to component compatibility, which is an important achievement of the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. In the past more than 10 years, with the deepening of research and the expansion of application, the theory and methods of CCM and efficacy-oriented compatibility have been continuously improved. The value of CCM is not only in developing new drug, more important is to build a

On medicine and politics.

PubMed Central

Krakauer, E.

1992-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between medicine and politics, between medical management of the human body and governmental management of the body politic. It argues that the increasing complexity both of society and of governmental administration of society in the modern age has made it impossible completely to separate medicine from politics. It demonstrates that, along with great potential for social benefit, "medico-politics" brought with it great danger; much harm has been done purportedly to heal the body politic. The paper concludes by suggesting a way for physicians to minimize this danger. Images FIG. 1 PMID:1285451

Two medieval plague treatises and their afterlife in early modern England.

PubMed

Keiser, George R

2003-07-01

This study of an adaptation of the popular John of Burgundy plague treatise by Thomas Moulton, a Dominican friar, ca. 1475, and a translation of the so-called Canutus plague treatise by Thomas Paynell, printed 1534, shows how the medieval traditions they represent were carried forward, well into the sixteenth century, and also subjected to change in light of religious, moral, and medical concerns of early modern England. The former had a long life in print, ca. 1530-1580, whereas Paynell's translation exists in one printed version. Moulton's adaptation differs from its original and from the Canutus treatise in putting great emphasis on the idea that onsets of plague were acts of divine retribution for human sinfulness. In this respect, Moulton reshaped the tradition of the medieval plague treatise and anticipated the religious and social construction of plague that would take shape in the first half of the sixteenth century. Its long history in print indicates that Moulton's treatise expressed the spirit of that construction and probably influenced the construction as well. The contrasting histories of the two treatises attest not only to the dramatic change brought about by religious and social forces in the sixteenth century, but to a growing recognition of the value of the printing press for disseminating medical information-in forms that served social and ideological ends.

Hysteria in ancient civilisations: A neurological review: Possible significance for the modern disorder.

PubMed

Reynolds, Edward H

2018-05-15

The word hysteria originated in the Corpus Hippocraticum (c420 BCE) as a natural explanation for a variety of diseases in women linked in the Greco-Roman mind to an animate or inanimate womb, but which in the last five centuries has evolved to describe an elusive disorder of brain ± mind in men and women, currently referred to by neurologists as "functional neurological disorder". The Babylonians, Assyrians and Egyptians had no knowledge of brain or psychological function. Babylonian and Assyrian descriptions of disease and behaviour include only rare examples suggestive of modern hysteria. An earlier suggestion that the Greek concept of hysteria was transmitted from Egypt is not supported by recent evidence. The Greco-Roman civilisations had some knowledge of neuroanatomy, but little of nervous system function, conceived in terms of humors. The examples cited here suggestive of modern hysteria are relatively infrequent and fragmentary. The most plausible are attempts to separate the "sacred disease" from other causes of loss of consciousness. The great achievement of Greco-Roman medicine was in introducing natural causation, including causation linked to the womb, rather than gods or evil spirits. Nevertheless medicine, magic and religion have remained intertwined to varying degrees in all cultures up to the present time, despite the growth of modern scientific medicine. The study of hysteria in ancient civilisations adds interesting insight into the evolution of thinking about brain, psyche, mind and self. Babylonian and Egyptian medical and behavioural descriptions are based on observation. Greek and Roman accounts include some subjective aspects, probably linked to early attempts to understand identity, the psyche, intellectual and emotional functions. The great philosophical debate whether the latter resided in the head/brain (Plato) or the heart (Aristotle) has only been settled in the last few centuries, during which hysteria also became linked to

The relevance of the Hippocratic Oath to the ethical and moral values of contemporary medicine. Part I: The Hippocratic Oath from antiquity to modern times.

PubMed

Askitopoulou, Helen; Vgontzas, Antoniοs N

2017-10-27

The present paper discusses the relevance and significance of the Hippocratic Oath to contemporary medical ethical and moral values. It attempts to answer the questions about some controversial issues related to the Oath. The text is divided in two parts. Part I discusses the general attributes and ethical values of the Oath, while Part II presents a detailed analysis of each passage of the Oath with regard to perennial ethical principles and moral values. Part I starts with the contribution of Hippocrates and his School of Cos to medicine. It continues by examining the moral dilemmas concerning physicians and patients in the Classical Times and in the Modern World. It also investigates how the Hippocratic Oath stands nowadays, with regard to the remarkable and often revolutionary advancements in medical practice and the significant evolution in medical ethics. Further, it presents the debate and the criticism about the relevance of the general attributes and ethical values of the Oath to those of modern societies. Finally, it discusses the endurance of the ethical values of the Hippocratic Oath over the centuries until today with respect to the physicians' commitment to the practice of patient-oriented medicine. Part I concludes with the Oath's historic input in the Judgment delivered at the close of the Nuremberg "Doctors' Trial"; this Judgement has become legally binding for the discipline in the Western World and was the basis of the Nuremberg Code. The ethical code of the Oath turned out to be a fundamental part of western law not only on medical ethics but also on patients' rights regarding research.

Insights into Modern Human Prehistory Using Ancient Genomes.

PubMed

Yang, Melinda A; Fu, Qiaomei

2018-03-01

The genetic relationship of past modern humans to today's populations and each other was largely unknown until recently, when advances in ancient DNA sequencing allowed for unprecedented analysis of the genomes of these early people. These ancient genomes reveal new insights into human prehistory not always observed studying present-day populations, including greater details on the genetic diversity, population structure, and gene flow that characterized past human populations, particularly in early Eurasia, as well as increased insight on the relationship between archaic and modern humans. Here, we review genetic studies on ∼45000- to 7500-year-old individuals associated with mainly preagricultural cultures found in Eurasia, the Americas, and Africa. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Briefly analysis on academic origins of traditional Chinese medicine dispensing].

PubMed

Zhao, Xue-Min; Zhang, Xiao-Juan; Zhai, Hua-Qiang; Jin, Shi-Yuan

2014-04-01

Through collecting and collating the development process of traditional Chinese medicine dispensing, the development of modern Chinese medicine dispensing on the basis of experience could be promoted. "Heyaofenji", "Hehe", " Heji" in ancient Chinese medicine, herbal medicine literature and law were collected, and then things were sorted out according to traditional Chinese medicine dispensing theory, skills and legal norms. Firstly, "Tang Ye Jing Fa" is the earliest book which marks the rudiment of traditional Chinese medicine dispensing. Secondly, traditional Chinese medicine dispensing theory formed in "Shen Nong's herbal classic". Thirdly, Zhang Zhongjing's "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" marked the formation of Chinese medicine dispensing skills. Lastly, Provisions in Tang Dynasty law marks the development of traditional Chinese medicine dispensing.

The snake as the symbol of medicine, toxicology and toxinology.

PubMed

Ramoutsaki, I A; Haniotakis, S; Tsatsakis, A M

2000-10-01

We investigated the meaning and the roots of the snake's usage as a symbol of medicine, the medical profession, toxicology and toxinology by examining mythological, archeological data and a variety of texts from the ancient Greek world. The snake figure was associated with Asclepios, the ancient Greek God of medicine, and possessed benevolent properties. It was believed to be able to cure a patient or a wounded person just by touch. The snake is also connected with pharmacology and antisepsis, as snakes possess an antivenom against their own poison. The snake is related to sciences associated with poison and death, such as toxicology and toxinology, and it also implies a metaphysical idea. It is connected with the underworld, not only because it crawls on the ground, but because it can bring death, connecting the upper with the underground world. The ability of the snake to shed its skin has been associated with the circle of life, and the renaissance spirit also, ever since early Hellenic antiquity. Consequently, as a symbol of the modern medical profession, toxicology and toxinology, the snake twisted around a stick or the snake beside a pharmapeutic cup, which also implies the use of medicines or even poison, has its roots in the ancient Mediterranean area as proven by the archeological data combined with literary references. Its benevolent as well as its poisonous properties could be paralleled by the similar properties of medicines.

The use of the local flora in Switzerland: a comparison of past and recent medicinal plant knowledge.

PubMed

Dal Cero, Maja; Saller, Reinhard; Weckerle, Caroline S

2014-01-01

This analysis of documented medicinal plants of the Swiss Flora over the last two millennia provides a rich source of knowledge on earlier uses of plants and use patterns of the local flora. We ask which local plant species were used during different time periods of the last 2000 years and how the numbers of species and the use intensity of specific plant families, growth forms and habitats changed over time. Totally 25 herbals from the antiquity, monastic medicine, Renaissance, early modern era and the contemporary time as well as five recent ethnobotanical studies were considered. Use patterns were analysed with the Bayesian approach. A total of 768 species, i.e. 32% of the vascular plants of the Swiss Flora have been documented as medicinal plants. Numbers increase until the monastic period (366 spp.) and the Renaissance (476) and remain relatively stable since then (modern and contemporary era: 477). But, 465 formerly documented species do not occur in the ethnobotanical studies and thus seem not to be used any more. Overall, 104 species are documented through all time periods. Archeophytes, trees and forest plants are generally overrepresented in herbals from all time periods while plants from above the timberline are generally underrepresented. Most widely used are the Lamiaceae and Apiaceae. A constant body of medicinal plant knowledge in Switzerland exists since ancient time. This knowledge was always influenced by knowledge from neighboring countries and no "typical Swiss specialties" seem to exist. Medicinal plants are not randomly chosen from the available flora. Certain species are deliberately introduced others are neglected. This process, which is still ongoing, can be traced back with the help of herbals to the antiquity. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary Study of Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene Plant Food Strategies in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayashi Tang, M.; Liu, X.; Fritz, G.; Zhao, Z.

2017-12-01

In recent decades, studies on the domestication and early cultivation of seed crops have contributed significantly to how we understand human-plant interactions, and their impact on human social organisation and the environment. It is becoming clear, however, that plants have been critical to the human diet for much longer and in more diverse ways than previously assumed. This paper is a preliminary attempt at identifying and addressing early prehistoric plant food strategies in China. In particular, very little is known about the use of vegetatively propagated plants, despite their significant representation in modern crops. Many ingredients of Chinese medicine are also roots and tubers (or vegetative storage organs, VSOs). Unlike seed crops, however, we lack a systematic criterion for examining diagnostic characters of different VSO taxa in the archaeological record. To address this issue, we characterized commonly consumed and historically significant VSOs in China, by studying experimentally charred modern samples under the optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. We then compared the characteristics of these modern VSO samples against plant remains from Late Pleistocene to early Holocene archaeological sites in China, such as Zengpiyan (Guangxi), Zhaoguodong (Guizhou), and Jiahu (Henan) sites. We found that different taxa of VSOs can be differentiated by using multiple lines of evidence, including: shape and size of various cells, texture and arrangement of cell walls, as well as anatomical arrangements of organs, especially the vascular bundles. Though identification can be difficult when fragile cell structures have collapsed or deteriorated, more robust features are often preserved for diagnosis. Our results suggest that the potential for studying the role of vegetatively propagated plants in early human-environmental interactions is overlooked, and can be expanded significantly with further investment in their systematic identification.

Safety of Traditional Arab Herbal Medicine

PubMed Central

Saad, Bashar; Azaizeh, Hassan; Abu-Hijleh, Ghassan; Said, Omar

2006-01-01

Herbal remedies are widely used for the treatment and prevention of various diseases and often contain highly active pharmacological compounds. Many medicinal herbs and pharmaceutical drugs are therapeutic at one dose and toxic at another. Toxicity related to traditional medicines is becoming more widely recognized as these remedies become popular in the Mediterranean region as well as worldwide. Most reports concerning the toxic effects of herbal medicines are associated with hepatotoxicity although reports of other toxic effects including kidney, nervous system, blood, cardiovascular and dermatologic effects, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity have also been published in the medical literature. This article presents a systematic review on safety of traditional Arab medicine and the contribution of Arab scholars to toxicology. Use of modern cell biological, biochemical, in vitro and in vivo techniques for the evaluation of medicinal plants safety is also discussed. PMID:17173106

From One Medicine to Two:

PubMed Central

Woods, Abigail

2017-01-01

summary This article offers a novel perspective on the evolving identities and relationships of human medicine and veterinary medicine in England during the decades that followed the 1791 foundation of the London Veterinary College. Contrary to the impressions conveyed by both medical and veterinary historians, it reveals that veterinary medicine, as initially defined, taught and studied at the college, was not a domain apart from human medicine but rather was continuous with it. It then shows how this social, cultural, and epistemological continuity fractured over the period 1815 to 1835. Under the impetus of a movement for medical reform, veterinarians began to advance an alternative vision of their field as an autonomous, independent domain. They developed their own societies and journals and a uniquely veterinary epistemology that was rooted in the experiences of veterinary practice. In this way, "one medicine" became "two," and the professions began to assume their modern forms and relations. PMID:29081431

Shaping the military wound: issues surrounding the reconstruction of injured servicemen at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine

PubMed Central

Evriviades, Demetrius; Jeffery, Steven; Cubison, Tania; Lawton, Graham; Gill, Martin; Mortiboy, Deborah

2011-01-01

The conflict in Afghanistan has produced injuries similar to those produced from military conflicts for generations. What distinguishes the modern casualty of the conflict in Afghanistan from those of other conflicts is the effectiveness of modern field medical care that has led to individuals surviving with injuries, which would have been immediately fatal even a few years ago. These patients present several challenges to the reconstructive surgeon. These injured individuals present early challenges of massive soft-tissue trauma, unstable physiology, complex bony and soft-tissue defects, unusual infections, limited reconstructive donor sites, peripheral nerve injuries and traumatic amputations. Late challenges to rehabilitation include the development of heterotopic ossification in amputation stumps. This paper outlines the approach taken by the reconstructive team at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in managing these most difficult of reconstructive challenges. PMID:21149357

Native American medicine and cardiovascular disease.

PubMed

Nauman, Eileen

2007-01-01

Native American medicine provides an approach to the treatment of cardiovascular disease that is unique and that can complement modern medicine treatments. Although specific practices among the various Native American tribes (Nations) can vary, there is a strong emphasis on the power of shamanism that can be supplemented by the use of herbal remedies, sweat lodges, and special ceremonies. Most of the practices are passed down by oral tradition, and there is specific training regarding the Native American healer. Native American medicine has strong testimonial experiences to suggest benefit in cardiac patients; however, critical scientific scrutiny is necessary to confirm the validity of the benefits shown to date.

Shen-Jing as a Chinese medicine concept might be a counterpart of stem cells in regenerative medicine.

PubMed

Ren, Yan-Bo; Huang, Jian-Hua; Cai, Wai-Jiao; Shen, Zi-Yin

2015-07-04

As the epitome of the modern regenerative medicine, stem cells were proposed in the basic sense no more than 200 years ago. However, the concept of "stem cells" existed long before the modern medical description. The hypothesis that all things, including our sentient body, were generated from a small origin was shared between Western and Chinese people. The ancient Chinese philosophers considered Jing (also known as essence) as the origin of life. In Chinese medicine (CM), Jing is mainly stored in Kidney (Shen) and the so-called Shen-Jing (Kidney essence). Here, we propose that Shen-Jing is the CM term used to express the meaning of "origin and regeneration". This theoretical discovery has at least two applications. First, the actions underlying causing Shen-Jing deficiency, such as excess sexual intercourse, chronic diseases, and aging, might damage the function of stem cells. Second, a large number of Chinese herbs with Shen-Jing-nourishing efficacy had been proven to affect stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Therefore, if Shen-Jing in CM is equivalent with stem cells in regenerative medicine, higher effective modulators for regulating stem-cell behaviors from Kidney-tonifying herbs would be expected.

Redefining Democracy for the Modern State.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rahe, Paul A.

1992-01-01

Draws distinctions between classical and modern concepts of democracy. Contrasts Pythagoras' dislike of factions with Madison's support for economic differentiation and religious toleration. Discusses Aristotle's and Noah Webster's ideas on addressing class tensions. Examines early U.S. theorists' suspicions of direct democracy and support for…

Big data analytics for early detection of breast cancer based on machine learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanova, Desislava

2017-12-01

This paper presents the concept and the modern advances in personalized medicine that rely on technology and review the existing tools for early detection of breast cancer. The breast cancer types and distribution worldwide is discussed. It is spent time to explain the importance of identifying the normality and to specify the main classes in breast cancer, benign or malignant. The main purpose of the paper is to propose a conceptual model for early detection of breast cancer based on machine learning for processing and analysis of medical big dataand further knowledge discovery for personalized treatment. The proposed conceptual model is realized by using Naive Bayes classifier. The software is written in python programming language and for the experiments the Wisconsin breast cancer database is used. Finally, the experimental results are presented and discussed.

American medicine as religious practice: care of the sick as a sacred obligation and the unholy descent into secularization.

PubMed

Wardlaw, Margaret P

2011-03-01

Modern medicine serves a religious function for modern Americans as a conduit through which science can be applied directly to the human body. The first half of this paper will focus on the theoretical foundations for viewing medicine as a religious practice arguing that just as a hierarchical structured authoritarian church historically mediated access to God, contemporary Western medicine provides a conduit by which the universalizable truths of science can be applied to the human being thereby functioning as a new established religion. I will then illustrate the many parallels between medicine and religion through an analysis of rituals and symbols surrounding and embedded within the modern practice of medicine. This analysis will pay special attention to the primacy placed on secret interior knowledge of the human body. I will end by responding to the hope for a "secularization of American medicine," exploring some of the negative consequences of secularization, and arguing that, rather than seeking to secularize, American medicine should strive to use its religious features to offer hope and healing to the sick, in keeping with its historically religious legacy.

[Research progress of genetic engineering on medicinal plants].

PubMed

Teng, Zhong-qiu; Shen, Ye

2015-02-01

The application of genetic engineering technology in modern agriculture shows its outstanding role in dealing with food shortage. Traditional medicinal plant cultivation and collection have also faced with challenges, such as lack of resources, deterioration of environment, germplasm of recession and a series of problems. Genetic engineering can be used to improve the disease resistance, insect resistance, herbicides resistant ability of medicinal plant, also can improve the medicinal plant yield and increase the content of active substances in medicinal plants. Thus, the potent biotechnology can play an important role in protection and large area planting of medicinal plants. In the development of medicinal plant genetic engineering, the safety of transgenic medicinal plants should also be paid attention to. A set of scientific safety evaluation and judgment standard which is suitable for transgenic medicinal plants should be established based on the recognition of the particularity of medicinal plants.

Magnetism in Medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schenck, John

2000-03-01

For centuries physicians, scientists and others have postulated an important role, either as a cause of disease or as a mode of therapy, for magnetism in medicine. Although there is a straightforward role in the removal of magnetic foreign bodies, the majority of the proposed magnetic applications have been controversial and have often been attributed by mainstream practitioners to fraud, quackery or self-deception. Calculations indicate that many of the proposed methods of action, e.g., the field-induced alignment of water molecules or alterations in blood flow, are of negligible magnitude. Nonetheless, even at the present time, the use of small surface magnets (magnetotherapy) to treat arthritis and similar diseases is a widespread form of folk medicine and is said to involve sales of approximately one billion dollars per year. Another medical application of magnetism associated with Mesmer and others (eventually known as animal magnetism) has been discredited, but has had a culturally significant role in the development of hypnotism and as one of the sources of modern psychotherapy. Over the last two decades, in marked contrast to previous applications of magnetism to medicine, magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, has become firmly established as a clinical diagnostic tool. MRI permits the non-invasive study of subtle biological processes in intact, living organisms and approximately 150,000,000 diagnostic studies have been performed since its clinical introduction in the early 1980s. The dramatically swift and widespread acceptance of MRI was made possible by scientific and engineering advances - including nuclear magnetic resonance, computer technology and whole-body-sized, high field superconducting magnets - in the decades following World War Two. Although presently used much less than MRI, additional applications, including nerve and muscle stimulation by pulsed magnetic fields, the use of magnetic forces to guide surgical instruments, and imaging utilizing

Thinking in early modernity and the separation process between philosophy and psychology.

PubMed

Klempe, Sven Hroar

2015-03-01

One of the big questions in psychology is when and how psychology disentangled from philosophy. Usually it is referred to the laboratory Wundt established in Leipzig in 1879 as the birth for psychology as an independent science. However this separation process can also be traced in other ways, like by focusing on how the two sciences approach and understand thinking. Although thinking and language were not included in the research in this laboratory, Wundt (1897) regarded thinking as the core of psychology. As a commentary to Papanicolaou (Integr Psychol Behav Sci doi:10.1007/s12124-014-9273-3, 2014), this paper investigates the differences in how psychology and philosophy conceptualized thinking in early Western modernity. Thus one of the findings is that the separation process between the two was more or less initiated by Immanuel Kant. By defining thinking in terms of the pure reason he excluded the psychological understanding of thinking because psychology basically defined thinking in terms of ideas derived from qualia and sensation. Another finding is that psychology itself has not completely realized the differences between the philosophical and the psychological understanding of thinking by having been influenced by Kant's ideal of the pure reason. This may also explain some of the crises psychology went through during the twentieth century.

Artificial intelligence in medicine: the challenges ahead.

PubMed

Coiera, E W

1996-01-01

The modern study of artificial intelligence in medicine (AIM) is 25 years old. Throughout this period, the field has attracted many of the best computer scientists, and their work represents a remarkable achievement. However, AIM has not been successful-if success is judged as making an impact on the practice of medicine. Much recent work in AIM has been focused inward, addressing problems that are at the crossroads of the parent disciplines of medicine and artificial intelligence. Now, AIM must move forward with the insights that it has gained and focus on finding solutions for problems at the heart of medical practice. The growing emphasis within medicine on evidence-based practice should provide the right environment for that change.

Use of alternative medicine for hypertension in Buikwe and Mukono districts of Uganda: a cross sectional study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Use of alternative medicine for chronic diseases such as hypertension is common in low as well as high income countries. This study estimated the proportion of people who were aware of their hypertension that use alternative medicine and identified factors predicting the use of alternative medicine. Methods In a community based cross sectional survey among people ≥ 15 years in Buikwe and Mukono districts of Uganda 258 people aware of their hypertension were questioned about use of alternative medicine for hypertension, advice about uptake of life style intervention for hypertension control such as reduction of salt intake and about their attitude towards use of alternative medicine. Proportions of people who used alternative medicine and adopt life style interventions and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Predictors of using alternative medicine were identified using logistic binary regression analysis. Results More than a half 144 (56.2%) had ever used alternative medicine whereas more than one in four 74 (28.6%) were currently using alternative medicine alone or in combination with modern medicine (50%). People who were using alternative medicine alone (29.7% CI 17.5-45.9) were less likely to have received advice on reduction of salt intake compared to those using modern medicine alone or in combination with traditional medicine (56.6%, CI 47.7-65.0). The only independent predictor for using alternative medicine was agreeing that alternative medicine is effective for treatment of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.6; 95% CI 1.40-4.82). Conclusion The use of alternative medicine was common among patients with hypertension and usage was underpinned by the belief that alternative medicine is effective. As patients with hypertension use alternative medicine and modern medicine concurrently, there is need for open communication between health workers and patients regarding use of alternative medicine. PMID:24180548

Use of alternative medicine for hypertension in Buikwe and Mukono districts of Uganda: a cross sectional study.

PubMed

Nuwaha, Fred; Musinguzi, Geofrey

2013-11-04

Use of alternative medicine for chronic diseases such as hypertension is common in low as well as high income countries. This study estimated the proportion of people who were aware of their hypertension that use alternative medicine and identified factors predicting the use of alternative medicine. In a community based cross sectional survey among people ≥ 15 years in Buikwe and Mukono districts of Uganda 258 people aware of their hypertension were questioned about use of alternative medicine for hypertension, advice about uptake of life style intervention for hypertension control such as reduction of salt intake and about their attitude towards use of alternative medicine. Proportions of people who used alternative medicine and adopt life style interventions and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Predictors of using alternative medicine were identified using logistic binary regression analysis. More than a half 144 (56.2%) had ever used alternative medicine whereas more than one in four 74 (28.6%) were currently using alternative medicine alone or in combination with modern medicine (50%). People who were using alternative medicine alone (29.7% CI 17.5-45.9) were less likely to have received advice on reduction of salt intake compared to those using modern medicine alone or in combination with traditional medicine (56.6%, CI 47.7-65.0). The only independent predictor for using alternative medicine was agreeing that alternative medicine is effective for treatment of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.6; 95% CI 1.40-4.82). The use of alternative medicine was common among patients with hypertension and usage was underpinned by the belief that alternative medicine is effective. As patients with hypertension use alternative medicine and modern medicine concurrently, there is need for open communication between health workers and patients regarding use of alternative medicine.

A new look at medicine and the mind-body problem: can Dewey's pragmatism help medicine connect with its mission?

PubMed

Shelton, Wayne

2013-01-01

This article discusses how the paradigm of Cartesian mind-body dualism has shaped the cultural and institutional life of modern science and medicine. John Dewey (1859-1952) made this case in a speech to the New York Academy of Medicine in 1927, "Preoccupation with the Disconnected," an expanded version of which was published as "Body and Mind" in the Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine in January 1928. From the perspective of Dewey's broader philosophy, the most urgent aspect of mind-body dualism is of a practical, not theoretical, nature. Medicine at present has an opportunity in both education and practice to reconcile internally disparate trends that result from mind-body dualism and to renew its mission.

Cytomics in predictive medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarnok, Attila; Valet, Guenther K.

2004-07-01

Predictive Medicine aims at the detection of changes in patient's disease state prior to the manifestation of deterioration or improvement of the current status. Patient-specific, disease-course predictions with >95% or >99% accuracy during therapy would be highly valuable for everyday medicine. If these predictors were available, disease aggravation or progression, frequently accompanied by irreversible tissue damage or therapeutic side effects, could then potentially be avoided by early preventive therapy. The molecular analysis of heterogeneous cellular systems (Cytomics) by cytometry in conjunction with pattern-oriented bioinformatic analysis of the multiparametric cytometric and other data provides a promising approach to individualized or personalized medical treatment or disease management. Predictive medicine is best implemented by cell oriented measurements e.g. by flow or image cytometry. Cell oriented gene or protein arrays as well as bead arrays for the capture of solute molecules form serum, plasma, urine or liquor are equally of high value. Clinical applications of predictive medicine by Cytomics will include multi organ failure in sepsis or non infectious posttraumatic shock in intensive care, or the pretherapeutic identification of high risk patients in cancer cytostatic. Early individualized therapy may provide better survival chances for individual patient at concomitant cost containment. Predictive medicine guided early reduction or stop of therapy may lower or abrogate potential therapeutic side effects. Further important aspects of predictive medicine concern the preoperative identification of patients with a tendency for postoperative complications or coronary artery disease patients with an increased tendency for restenosis. As a consequence, better patient care and new forms of inductive scientific hypothesis development based on the interpretation of predictive data patterns are at reach.

[Brief discourse on development of psychology of modern traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Zhang, Jinxia; Li, Peng; Wang, Zhen'e

2014-05-01

In 1980, Wang Miqu proposed the concept of "The Psychology of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM Psychology)". In 1985, "The First National Symposium on Psychology of Traditional Chinese Medicine" was held, and the concept of TCM Psychology was put forward in the symposium, thus declaring the establishment of TCM Psychology, a new disciplinary branch. Since then, 12 national or international academic symposia of TCM Psychology were convened nationwide. Based on inheriting the original TCM, by means of exploring, sorting out and improving, and by combining and integrating with psychology and medical psychology, the theory of TCM Psychology was thus gradually innovated, and a systematic knowledge of TCM Psychology was set up and utilized in the clinical practice extensively.

A comparison of traditional healers' medicinal plant knowledge in the Bolivian Andes and Amazon.

PubMed

Vandebroek, Ina; Van Damme, Patrick; Van Puyvelde, Luc; Arrazola, Susana; De Kimpe, Norbert

2004-08-01

Medicinal plant knowledge of two groups of traditional healers was thoroughly studied during a 2-year ethnobotanical survey in the Bolivian Andes (Quechua farmers from Apillapampa) and Amazon rainforest (Yuracaré-Trinitario slash-and-burn cultivators from Isiboro-Sécure National Park), respectively. Both areas represent ecologically and culturally diverse zones, differing in floristic diversity, physical accessibility to health care and degree of modernization, the latter evidenced by presence or intensity in use of modern services such as electricity, water distribution, and materials for house construction. It is generally believed that indigenous people have an impressive knowledge of useful plant species and that this knowledge reflects the plant wealth of their living environment. However, the present study shows that healers' knowledge of collected medicinal plants (expressed as percentage of plants known by name and use by the majority of healers) is higher in the Andean area characterised by a long history of anthropogenic activity, than in the biodiversity-rich rainforest (protected since 1965). Therefore, medicinal plant knowledge does not seem to depend on the level of plant diversity, degree of modernization or absence of Western health care infrastructure. Indeed, although Andean healers live in a floristically poorer environment, have adopted more modern services and have easier access to primary health care facilities, they are more knowledgeable about medicinal plants than rainforest healers who live isolated in an environment with considerable floristic/ecological variation and lack of Western health care. It is hypothesised that social factors underlying traditional medical practices (background of extensive family in traditional medicine) play an important role in transmission--and hence survival of knowledge on medicinal plants.

Education and Modernization in Greece.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kazamias, Andreas M.

This history of Greek education traces the path of modernization from the emergence of Greece as an independent state in the early 1800's up to the present date. Educational philosophy and content are seen as pawns in the social and political struggles of those years. Detailed coverage of the historical events describes the structure of education…

Facial ontogeny in Neanderthals and modern humans

PubMed Central

Bastir, Markus; O'Higgins, Paul; Rosas, Antonio

2007-01-01

One hundred and fifty years after the discovery of Neanderthals, it is held that this morphologically and genetically distinct human species does not differ from modern Homo sapiens in its craniofacial ontogenetic trajectory after the early post-natal period. This is striking given the evident morphological differences between these species, since it implies that all of the major differences are established by the early post-natal period and carried into adulthood through identical trajectories, despite the extent to which mechanical and spatial factors are thought to influence craniofacial ontogeny. Here, we present statistical and morphological analyses demonstrating that the spatio-temporal processes responsible for craniofacial ontogenetic transformations differ. The findings emphasize that pre-natal as well as post-natal ontogeny are both important in establishing the cranial morphological differences between adult Neanderthals and modern humans. PMID:17311777

Value added medicines: what value repurposed medicines might bring to society?

PubMed

Toumi, Mondher; Rémuzat, Cécile

2017-01-01

; (2) to improve healthcare system efficiency; and (3) to contribute to sustainability of healthcare systems through economic advantages. Current HTA framework, generic stigma, and pricing rules, such as internal reference pricing or tendering processes in place in some countries, were reported as the current key hurdles preventing the full recognition of value added medicines' benefits, discouraging manufacturers from bringing such products to the market. Discussion & conclusions : There is currently a gap between increasing regulatory authority interest in capturing value added medicines' benefits and the resistance of HTA bodies/payers, who tend to ignore this important segment of the pharmaceutical field. This situation calls for policy changes to foster appropriate incentives to enhance value recognition of value added medicines and deliver the expected benefit to society. Policy changes from HTA perspective should include: absence of any legislative barriers preventing companies from pursuing HTA; HTA requirements proportionate to potential reward; HTA decision-making framework taking into account the specific characteristics of value added medicines; eligibility for early HTA dialogues; Policy changes from pricing perspective should encompass: tenders/procurement policies allowing differentiation from generic medicines; eligibility for early entry agreement; non-systematic implementation of external and internal reference pricing policies; recognition of indication-specific pricing. At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry should engage all the stakeholders (patients, healthcare providers, HTA bodies/payers) in early dialogues to identify their expectations and to ensure the developed value added medicines address their needs.

[Theory and practice of bionic cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Liu, Dahui; Huang, Luqi; Guo, Lanping; Shao, Aijuan; Chen, Meilan

2009-03-01

The bionic cultivation of medicinal plant is an ecological cultivation pattern, which is adopting ecological engineering and modern agricultural techniques to simulate the natural ecosystem of wild medicinal plant community, and has been given greater attention on the agriculture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is also the cross subject that combines Chinese traditional medicine, agronomy, horticulture, ecology, agricultural engineering and management. Moreover, it has significant technology advantages of promoting the sustainable utilization of medicinal plant resources, improving the ecological environment and harmonizing man and nature. So it's important to develop the bionic cultivation of TCM.

Modern Microbial Ecosystems are a Key to Understanding Our Biosphere's Early Evolution and its Contributions To The Atmosphere and Rock Record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DesMarais, David J.; DeVincenzi, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The survival of our early biosphere depended upon efficient coordination anion- diverse microbial populations. Microbial mats exhibit a 3.46-billion-year fossil record, thus they are the oldest known ecosystems. Photosynthetic microbial mats were key because, today, sunlight powers more than 99 percent of global primary productivity. Thus photosynthetic ecosystems have affected the atmosphere profoundly and have created the most pervasive, easily-detected fossils. Photosynthetic biospheres elsewhere will be most detectible via telescopes or spacecraft. As a part of the Astrobiology Institute, our Ames Microbial Ecosystems group examines the roles played by ecological processes in the early evolution of our biosphere, as recorded in geologic fossils and in the macromolecules of living cells: (1) We are defining the microbial mat microenvironment, which was an important milieu for early evolution. (2) We are comparing mats in contrasting environments to discern strategies of adaptation and diversification, traits that were key for long-term survival. (3) We have selected sites that mimic key environmental attributes of early Earth and thereby focus upon evolutionary adaptations to long-term changes in the global environment. (4) Our studies of gas exchange contribute to better estimates of biogenic gases in Earth's early atmosphere. This group therefore directly addresses the question: How have the Earth and its biosphere influenced each other over time Our studies strengthen the systematics for interpreting the microbial fossil record and thereby enhance astrobiological studies of martian samples. Our models of biogenic gas emissions will enhance models of atmospheres that might be detected on inhabited extrasolar planets. This work therefore also addresses the question: How can other biospheres be recogniZed" Our choice of field sites helps us explore Earth's evolving early environment. For example, modern mats that occupy thermal springs and certain freshwater

Epilepsy in popular Medicine from the Classic Age to the Modern Age: a study on elk hoof as an original treatment.

PubMed

Tagarelli, Antonio; Piro, Anna

2018-04-12

European people believed that epilepsy was both a sacred and demoniac disease in the pre- and post-Hippocratic Age, and this belief continued into the Christian era. Epilepsy was wrapped in mystery. The present work shows an epileptic treatment using elk (Alces alces) hoof, which was better known among Northern European people, and explains its historical and popular origins that lead to its importance and success within the Official Medicine in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries until its gradual decline as a specific treatment in the subsequent centuries. We study authors from both Antiquity and the Modern Age. The present work concludes by highlighting the relationship between epilepsy and its magic-religious inheritance. It could be considered a valid example showing how a popular treatment can earn honors in the Official Pharmacopoeia, but later be excluded.

Rational use of medicines - Indian perspective!

PubMed

Mohanta, G P; Manna, P K

2015-01-01

India, the largest democracy in the world, is with a federal structure of 29 states and 7 union territories. With a population of more than 1.2 billion, resource is always a constraint and so is in the health system too. In the federal structure, providing healthcare is largely the responsibility of state governments. Medicines are important component of health care delivery system and quality care is dependent on the availability and proper use of quality medicines. In spite of being known as pharmacy of the third world, poor access to medicines in the country is always a serious concern. Realizing the need of quality use of medicines, several initiatives have been initiated. As early as 1994, seeds of rational use of medicines were sown in the country with two initiatives: establishment of a civil society, Delhi Society for Promoting Rational Use of Drugs (DSPURD) and establishment of government agency in Tamil Nadu, a southern state, called Tamil Medical Services Corporation Limited (TNMSCL). DSPUD was in official association with World Health Organization Country Office for implementing essential medicine programme in the country for two biennia. In addition to organizing sensitising and training programme for healthcare professionals throughout the country, it looked after the procurement and appropriate use of medicines in Delhi government health facilities. TNMSCL has made innovations in medicine management including procurement directly from manufacturers as a part of pooled procurement, establishing warehouses with modern storage facilities and Information Technology enabled management of whole process. TNMSCL Model is now replicated in almost the entire country and even in some small other countries as it is successful in improving access to medicines.The National Government and the State Governments have developed strategies to promote rational use of medicines as a part of improving access and quality care in public health facilities. National

[The evolutionist fallacy of early visitors. Analogies between 'primitive peoples' and prehistoric man in medical historiography].

PubMed

Bruchhausen, Walter

2006-01-01

Accounts of 'prehistoric medicine' and 'ethnomedicine' have sometimes led to conclusions by analogy in medical historiography that are seen as highly problematic in modern cultural anthropology. However, this review of medical historical writings of the last three centuries shows that evolutionist identifications of early with foreign medicine were not a permanent trait of medical historiography. This approach flourished mainly in the climate of certain movements or periods that were characterised by fanatical belief in progress and by social utopias: the French Revolution, Darwinism and the period of industrial expansion in Germany, and National Socialism. Medical historiography shared this problematic approach with contemporary (social and cultural) anthropology, and - despite this methodological misuse - both acknowledged the legitimacy or even requirement of studying also similarities in the development of different periods and cultures.

Some doctors of medicine who published optometry books and played significant roles in early twentieth century optometric education.

PubMed

Goss, David A

2011-01-01

This paper provides brief profiles of four doctors of medicine who wrote books for optometrists and who were faculty members in, and/or directors of, optometry schools in the early twentieth century. Those studied were Thomas G. Atkinson (1870-1946), Marshall B. Ketchum (1856-1937), Joseph I. Pascal (1890-1955), and Clarence W. Talbot (1883-1958). The content of the books they wrote is also discussed.

Normal/Modern: Reconstructive Surgery in a Mexican Public Hospital.

PubMed

Taylor-Alexander, Samuel

2017-10-01

A growing corpus of anthropological scholarship demonstrates how science and medicine in Mexico are imbued by national concerns with modernization. Drawing on ethnographic research in a public hospital located in the south of Mexico City, I unpack one manifestation of this dynamic, which is the conjugation of the normal and the modern in Mexican reconstructive surgery. The aspiration toward normality underlies everyday clinic practices and relationships in this field, including why parents want surgery for their children and how doctors see their patients and their responsibilities toward them. It is also central to the professional ethic of reconstructive surgeons. I argue that the realities of health care provision in Mexico coalesced with this ethic to produce reconstructive surgeons as political subjects. They aimed to modernize craniofacial surgery in Mexico and so make the bodies of craniofacial patients normal.

Radiologic Professionalism in Modern Health Care.

PubMed

Hryhorczuk, Anastasia L; Hanneman, Kate; Eisenberg, Ronald L; Meyer, Elaine C; Brown, Stephen D

2015-10-01

Modern radiology is at the forefront of technological progress in medicine, a position that often places unique challenges on its professional character. This article uses "Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter," a document published in 2002 and endorsed by several major radiology organizations, as a lens for exploring professional challenges in modern radiology. The three main tenets of the Charter emphasize patient welfare, patient autonomy, and the reduction of disparities in health care distribution. This article reviews the ways in which modern technology and financial structures potentially create stressors on professionalism in radiology, while highlighting the opportunities they provide for radiologists seeking to fulfill the professional goals articulated in the Charter. Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) and voice recognition systems have transformed the speed of radiology and enhanced the ability of radiologists to improve patient care but also have brought new tensions to the workplace. Although teleradiology may improve global access to radiologists, it may also promote the commoditization of radiology, which diminishes the professional stature of radiologists. Social media and patient portals provide radiologists with new forums for interacting with the public and patients, potentially promoting patient welfare. However, patient privacy and autonomy are important considerations. Finally, modern financial structures provide radiologists with both entrepreneurial opportunities as well as the temptation for unprofessional conduct. Each of these advances carries the potential for professional growth while testing the professional stature of radiology. By considering the risks and benefits of emerging technologies in the modern radiology world, radiologists can chart an ethical and professional future path. © RSNA, 2015.

Artificial intelligence in medicine: the challenges ahead.

PubMed Central

Coiera, E W

1996-01-01

The modern study of artificial intelligence in medicine (AIM) is 25 years old. Throughout this period, the field has attracted many of the best computer scientists, and their work represents a remarkable achievement. However, AIM has not been successful-if success is judged as making an impact on the practice of medicine. Much recent work in AIM has been focused inward, addressing problems that are at the crossroads of the parent disciplines of medicine and artificial intelligence. Now, AIM must move forward with the insights that it has gained and focus on finding solutions for problems at the heart of medical practice. The growing emphasis within medicine on evidence-based practice should provide the right environment for that change. PMID:8930853

[Brief history of education of Mongolian medicine 1947-1977].

PubMed

Yan, H X; Zhen, Y

2017-03-28

From 1947 to 1977, the education of Mongolian medicine was developed to a certain degree, in different levels and different forms with attribute of modern education. Through opening training school and class, the traditional Mongolian practitioners and its education are standardized and its levels elevated. In addition, by means of medical colleges and health schools, Mongolian medical talents of different types at different levels were cultivated. All of them were at the forefront of the development of Mongolian medicine later. In 1958, the first undergraduate education, a Department of Sino-Mongolian Medicine was set up in Inner Mongolia Medical College, marking the development of beginning of the higher education of Mongolian medicine. Therefore, Mongolian medicine was the forerunner of higher education of Chinese minority medicine.