tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55020754791506555762024-03-11T21:54:02.311-07:00HISTORY OF MEDICINELearn history of medicine, learn how the medicine provide explanations for birth, death and disease. History of medicine shows how ideas have developed over the centuries, and medicine had arrived at its modern state through the course of history. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger413125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-7978109781605496772024-03-10T08:23:00.000-07:002024-03-10T08:23:08.364-07:00Arthritis through HistoryArthritis, one of the oldest known ailments to afflict humanity, has left its mark on history with its varied forms and intriguing connections to human lifestyle and evolution. Dating back to antiquity, arthritis, particularly gout or gouty arthritis, was recognized as a malady by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates in the 5th century B.C. Interestingly, the term "gout" once served as a blanket description for all forms of arthritis, showcasing its pervasive presence in early medical literature.<br /><br />Renowned as the "Disease of Kings," gout earned its regal epithet due to its link with opulent diets rich in meats, seafood, and alcoholic beverages, commonly associated with affluent lifestyles. This association is vividly portrayed in historical art and literature, often accompanied by moral judgments on the character of those afflicted.<br /><br />Delving deeper into the annals of medical and archaeological records, it becomes evident that arthritis has plagued humans and even hominids since Paleolithic times. In the British Isles, a significant prevalence of arthritis is noted in remains from Romano-British and Saxon burials, hinting at both genetic predisposition and a remarkably high level of physical activity among these ancient populations.<br /><br />Remarkably, despite advancements in modern medicine and lifestyle changes, the prevalence of arthritis in the past might have been lower than in contemporary times. Studies examining skeletal remains from the late Medieval period reveal a decline in arthritis prevalence, possibly attributed to changes in physical activity accompanying shifts from hunting-gathering to agrarian societies. Additionally, severe cases of osteoporosis have been unearthed in individual skeletons from the Bronze Age, shedding light on the adverse effects of lifestyle transitions on bone health.<br /><br />Intriguingly, historical evidence from the Early Medieval period in Nubia indicates a progressive bone loss in women, possibly linked to factors such as multiple pregnancies, prolonged lactation, and dietary deficiencies. This echoes findings from the 18th and 19th centuries, where post-menopausal bone loss was observed but not as severe as in contemporary times, hinting at the role of modern lifestyle factors in exacerbating skeletal health issues.<br /><br />In summary, the history of arthritis is a tale woven with threads of medical observation, societal norms, and evolutionary shifts. From its ancient manifestations to its portrayal as a disease of excess, arthritis offers a window into the complexities of human health and adaptation throughout the ages. As we unravel its historical nuances, we gain valuable insights into the interplay between genetics, lifestyle, and disease prevalence across different epochs of human civilization.<br /><i>Arthritis through History</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-16939754767911054002024-02-27T07:14:00.000-08:002024-02-27T07:14:14.460-08:00Aspirin: Ancient Roots, Modern ScienceThe evolution of aspirin represents a significant milestone in medical history, showcasing a fascinating fusion of ancient wisdom with modern scientific advancements. Originating from natural salicylates found in plants such as the willow tree, which have been utilized since ancient times for pain relief, aspirin's journey epitomizes the seamless integration of traditional remedies with contemporary innovation.<br /><br />The narrative of aspirin can be traced back to the ancient Roman era, where salicylates derived from plants like willow were recognized for their pain-relieving properties. As early as 400 B.C., Hippocrates himself endorsed the use of willow leaf tea for alleviating discomfort. However, it wasn't until the 19th century that scientists commenced unraveling the active ingredients responsible for these effects.<br /><br />A pivotal moment occurred in 1763 when Edward Stone's discovery of willow bark's efficacy against fevers, presented to the Royal Society of London, sparked significant interest. This eventually led to the identification of salicylic acid as the active compound. Nonetheless, its direct application proved problematic due to severe stomach irritation.<br /><br />Fast forward to 1897, when German chemist Felix Hoffmann, driven by his father's arthritis, successfully synthesized acetylsalicylic acid—the pure form of aspirin. This breakthrough laid the groundwork for Bayer's mass production of aspirin, which swiftly gained acclaim for its effectiveness and relatively minimal side effects compared to previous alternatives.<br /><br />The medical community's comprehension of aspirin's mechanism of action continued to evolve over time. In 1948, Dr. Lawrence Craven observed a significant correlation between aspirin usage and reduced heart attack risk among his patients, prompting widespread recommendations for daily aspirin intake for cardiovascular health.<br /><br />However, it wasn't until 1971 that the mechanism behind aspirin's effects was fully elucidated. John Vane's groundbreaking research demonstrated that aspirin inhibits prostaglandin synthesis, thereby alleviating symptoms such as fever, pain, inflammation, and menstrual cramps by modulating the body's immune responses.<br /><br />The dual identity of aspirin, bridging ancient herbal medicine with modern pharmaceutical science, underscores its enduring significance. Its accessibility, rapid action, specificity, and mild side effects make it a quintessential example of a synthetic drug that revolutionized medicine.<br /><br />Furthermore, aspirin's journey emphasizes the collaborative efforts of scientists spanning centuries and continents, from Edward Stone's initial discovery to Felix Hoffmann's synthesis and John Vane's mechanistic elucidation. Their collective contributions have not only deepened our understanding of pharmacology but also revolutionized clinical practice, providing relief and protection to millions worldwide.<br /><br />In essence, aspirin serves as a testament to the convergence of historical knowledge and scientific advancement. From ancient remedies to cutting-edge pharmaceuticals, its story embodies humanity's timeless pursuit of alleviating suffering and enhancing human health.<br /><i>Aspirin: Ancient Roots, Modern Science<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoeZ4qDZE93MCVDAolCCRRA7S-ZsRIXfbBbcyvYnWzHqhkcIKUlatpdreAJR-hyIjNpkviYkD0GTNar7WyumGT0H8KaQJZRdDsyrQxiZQStaK0pUoUtEZn1cYfwmBAb3QzaGoprOo400rye3Ic-K1X9bfoQDX05tnvlbEIJ8BGf0ZKGHFpUJh-vTuzIy-/s708/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="708" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoeZ4qDZE93MCVDAolCCRRA7S-ZsRIXfbBbcyvYnWzHqhkcIKUlatpdreAJR-hyIjNpkviYkD0GTNar7WyumGT0H8KaQJZRdDsyrQxiZQStaK0pUoUtEZn1cYfwmBAb3QzaGoprOo400rye3Ic-K1X9bfoQDX05tnvlbEIJ8BGf0ZKGHFpUJh-vTuzIy-/w401-h366/4.jpg" width="401" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-16296313082816918322024-02-06T07:53:00.000-08:002024-02-06T07:53:53.327-08:00Amlodipine: Discovery and DevelopmentAmlodipine, a widely used medication available in generic form, is also distributed under brand names like Norvasc and Katerzia. This versatility underscores its importance in treating various cardiovascular conditions. Generic drugs, including amlodipine, are formulated to contain the same active ingredients and produce similar therapeutic effects as their branded counterparts, ensuring affordability and accessibility for patients worldwide.<br /><br />Belonging to the category of oral dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, amlodipine's development traces back to a comprehensive pharmacological study initiated in 1964 in the laboratory of renowned scientist Dr. Paul Godfraind. Pfizer, a leading pharmaceutical company, spearheaded the discovery of amlodipine and successfully secured its patent in 1982 (US patent 4,572,909), marking a significant milestone in cardiovascular medicine.<br /><br />In the initial stages of drug development, Pfizer explored the feasibility of using a maleate salt form of amlodipine. However, due to inherent challenges related to instability and manufacturing, this approach was discontinued. Undeterred, Pfizer's research team diligently pursued alternative formulations, eventually culminating in the development of the besylate salt form, commercially known as Norvasc, which debuted in 1990. The decision to focus on besylate salt was vindicated by its superior attributes, including enhanced solubility, stability, non-hygroscopicity, and ease of manufacturing, as highlighted in the patent filed in 1986 (US patent 4,879,303). This breakthrough paved the way for amlodipine's widespread adoption and regulatory approval by the FDA in 1987.<br /><br />Since its approval for medical use in 1990, amlodipine has garnered recognition as an essential medication, earning a coveted spot on the World Health Organization's Essential Medicines List. Its inclusion underscores its clinical efficacy and public health significance. Remarkably, amlodipine's impact extends beyond regulatory recognition, evident in its remarkable prescription statistics. In 2021 alone, amlodipine emerged as the fifth most prescribed medication in the United States, with healthcare professionals issuing over 73 million prescriptions, reaffirming its pivotal role in managing cardiovascular disorders and improving patient outcomes.<br /><i>Amlodipine: Discovery and Development<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTxFp35cbu5Hwvf6KLYS_UMF4kZgu2oicQy3SV_kfibPcGktcOx_Mw2mUTp8QFhXK2um3ebdbwDyY_UrtWAB_TKFJPFcdmYndeLS3kfxkV9DV1EgtTsSmSE90MaNMiXkvcT_gnN3kNAayQ_KMG2pAwDT1Ie5yMGhXjMr9k0y_LkAoJj9qQjvQnRzYsDuy/s658/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="658" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTxFp35cbu5Hwvf6KLYS_UMF4kZgu2oicQy3SV_kfibPcGktcOx_Mw2mUTp8QFhXK2um3ebdbwDyY_UrtWAB_TKFJPFcdmYndeLS3kfxkV9DV1EgtTsSmSE90MaNMiXkvcT_gnN3kNAayQ_KMG2pAwDT1Ie5yMGhXjMr9k0y_LkAoJj9qQjvQnRzYsDuy/w393-h211/1.jpg" width="393" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-21238000533793765682024-01-24T20:56:00.000-08:002024-01-24T20:56:41.756-08:00Paracetamol History and DevelopmentWidely employed as a medicinal remedy, paracetamol functions both as a pain reliever and fever reducer, celebrated for its analgesic and antipyretic properties. Its inception can be traced back to 1893 at the University of Strasbourg, where Professor Adolf Kussmaul tasked assistants Arnold Cahn and Paul Hepp with administering naphthalene treatment to patients. Despite the intended antiseptic effect being limited, the identification of paracetamol in the urine of patients who had ingested phenacetin resulted in a significant reduction in fever.<br /><br />In 1887, Bayer introduced phenacetin as a less harmful alternative to acetanilide, solidifying the company's standing as a pharmaceutical leader. Despite its initial success, concerns regarding carcinogenicity and kidney damage led to a decline in phenacetin usage after approximately 90 years.<br /><br />Recognized as a urinary metabolite of acetanilide in 1889, paracetamol did not garner much attention at the time. It wasn't until 1948-1949, when Brodie and Axelrod unveiled paracetamol as the primary metabolite of both acetanilide and phenacetin, that interest in paracetamol experienced a resurgence. Their research revealed that both acetanilide and phenacetin underwent metabolism into paracetamol, endowing them with their antipyretic and analgesic properties.<br /><br />In 1950, the initial paracetamol product, Triagesic, containing paracetamol, aspirin, and caffeine, entered the U.S. market but was promptly withdrawn due to reported cases of blood diseases. Subsequent confirmation that paracetamol was not linked to blood damage paved the way for its reintroduction to the American market by 1955.<br /><br />The year 1956 marked the introduction of 500 mg paracetamol tablets in the UK, swiftly gaining popularity as an over-the-counter analgesic. Its appeal was partly attributed to its gentler impact on the stomach compared to certain other pain relievers.<br /><i>Paracetamol History and Development<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVvWpcAWGHrwNbni13ZieAOexDufAU_XLm5VCz364yqH3FXKMRrGoSEIs0iiV0GL6KTdU5l7AWmzhIlLEZMPlgV_zjNSwrWsax9utNa8p3QvIGDvuOOAX6uwljVP8DfPLuvAkc5yJRoBgJARb1IKQ4D33QzhnaGGv5H6AAcoMLVs7JDEBfcSITLkEuuIy/s1068/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1068" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVvWpcAWGHrwNbni13ZieAOexDufAU_XLm5VCz364yqH3FXKMRrGoSEIs0iiV0GL6KTdU5l7AWmzhIlLEZMPlgV_zjNSwrWsax9utNa8p3QvIGDvuOOAX6uwljVP8DfPLuvAkc5yJRoBgJARb1IKQ4D33QzhnaGGv5H6AAcoMLVs7JDEBfcSITLkEuuIy/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-91821050435614535182024-01-10T20:14:00.000-08:002024-01-10T20:14:07.507-08:00George Huntington (1850-1916) - an American physicianGeorge Huntington, born on April 9, 1850, in East Hampton, Long Island, New York, hailed from a family deeply ingrained in the medical field.<br /><br />Growing up in the tranquil and secluded village of East Hampton, situated at the far eastern tip of Long Island, George inherited a medical legacy from both his grandfather and father, both practitioners in the field.<br /><br />After completing his education at the Clinton Academy in his hometown, George Huntington embarked on his medical studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York in 1868. His medical school thesis focused on 'Opium.'<br /><br />Upon returning to his hometown, he initiated his medical practice and promptly documented cases of dementia and chorea in middle-aged individuals, recognizing a familial pattern indicative of autosomal dominant transmission.<br /><br />In 1872, George Huntington provided the initial comprehensive description of the disease, drawing from his investigations of multiple generations within a single family displaying similar symptoms. He officially identified and delineated Huntington's disease among residents of East Hampton, Long Island.<br /><br />It wasn't until George Huntington's detailed account in 1872 that Huntington's disease gained wider recognition. In 1874, he resumed his medical practice in Dutchess County, New York.<div><i>George Huntington (1850-1916) - an American physician<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVIs4wBCO04bjng84cJHqmZEXFiD8CBaovP26YIFxzka6FL1mkJinhZnwMJZJ1-OFpA8sPIC2mGxckr2pPSIHffv73TinZfMglQZgfpj0LBbdnVX1RXep3hGHo6QBsLZysgscGT4rNV82rzuj2hTepmjaU-rW1vX9MGkPzXMTWn9JmdLuGvBUQ4BrUy71/s1120/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="763" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVIs4wBCO04bjng84cJHqmZEXFiD8CBaovP26YIFxzka6FL1mkJinhZnwMJZJ1-OFpA8sPIC2mGxckr2pPSIHffv73TinZfMglQZgfpj0LBbdnVX1RXep3hGHo6QBsLZysgscGT4rNV82rzuj2hTepmjaU-rW1vX9MGkPzXMTWn9JmdLuGvBUQ4BrUy71/s320/1.jpg" width="218" /></a></div></i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-40927749290688413322023-12-28T03:12:00.000-08:002023-12-28T03:12:48.415-08:00Arab Physician Ibn al-NafisBorn in Damascus in 1213, Ala-al-din Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi, an Arab physician, originated from Qarash, a village beyond the River Oxus, which bestowed upon him the "nisbah" of al-Qurashi, as indicated by certain records.<br /><br />Initiating his medical studies at 16, he devoted more than ten years to education at the Nuri Hospital in Damascus, founded by Nur-al Din Muhmud ibn Zanki, the Turkoman emir of Aleppo and Damascus, in the 12th century.<br /><br />Renowned for introducing the concept of pulmonary blood circulation, he challenged the prevailing Galen School belief that blood could pass through the cardiac interventricular septum. Instead, he asserted that all blood reaching the left ventricle traversed the lungs. Additionally, he posited the existence of tiny connections or pores between the pulmonary artery and vein, anticipating Marcello Malpighi's discovery of pulmonary capillaries by four centuries.<br /><br />Sultan Saladin appointed him as the chief physician at the al-Naseri Hospital. Noteworthy among his works is his Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon (Sharh Tashrih al-Qanun Ibn Sina).<br /><br />Among his prolific writings, Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb (The Comprehensive Book on Medicine) stands out as his most extensive undertaking, originally envisioned as a 300-volume encyclopedia. Regrettably, only 80 volumes were completed before his passing. Ibn al-Nafis died in Cairo on December 17, 1288, at the age of 78, succumbing to an undisclosed illness.<br /><i>Arab Physician Ibn al-Nafis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUERgWRZB8w9XmYNL7syXq-2b1hN5KrJm3MFuTm4_3plUNaEQ5vX8gg5SoZIZ0Z5P4Lyw9qRDNJI81In_HazdFKWnHabOAf6wmQC9_mWzhyphenhyphenYbHVELHkWLbFui-vs3eDtmmjKNrN9eo7msXXsEjbEagfeczKh0kBfgwxPtyqgMYWLaVvoOIiYy4FSHYkm4F/s330/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="330" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUERgWRZB8w9XmYNL7syXq-2b1hN5KrJm3MFuTm4_3plUNaEQ5vX8gg5SoZIZ0Z5P4Lyw9qRDNJI81In_HazdFKWnHabOAf6wmQC9_mWzhyphenhyphenYbHVELHkWLbFui-vs3eDtmmjKNrN9eo7msXXsEjbEagfeczKh0kBfgwxPtyqgMYWLaVvoOIiYy4FSHYkm4F/w422-h334/1.jpg" width="422" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-89828319489909480402023-12-23T21:42:00.000-08:002023-12-23T21:42:57.867-08:00Claude Bernard's Scientific ContributionsBorn on July 12, 1813, in St.-Julien near Villefranche, Beaujolais, France, Claude Bernard passed away on February 10, 1878, in Paris. His father, a winemaker, engaged him in vineyard care and harvest processing, while his mother, Jeanne Saulnier, had a background rooted in the peasantry.<br /><br />Initially instructed in Latin by the local priest, Bernard later attended a Jesuit-operated school in Villefranche, where a lack of natural science education prevailed. At the age of nineteen, he apprenticed under apothecary Millet in Vaise, Lyons, exposing himself to the empirical nature of pharmacotherapy during that period.<br /><br />Although Bernard earned a medical degree in Paris on December 7, 1843, he never practiced medicine and held ambivalent sentiments toward physicians. His 1843 doctoral thesis, "Du suc gastrique et de son rôle dans la nutrition," contributed to both medicine and pure science, providing fresh insights into gastric digestion and the transformation of carbohydrates in animals.<br /><br />Teaming up with François Magendie, a prominent physiologist, Bernard initially worked in Magendie's shadow but soon established his own prominence. In 1854, a chair of general physiology was established for him at the Sorbonne, and he became a member of the Academy of Sciences. After Magendie's demise in 1855, Bernard succeeded him as a full professor and later assumed the chair of experimental medicine at the Collège de France.<br /><br />A key figure in shaping experimental medicine, Bernard transcended the vitalism and indeterminism of earlier physiologists. His primary contribution lay in the concept of the internal organism environment, laying the groundwork for the contemporary understanding of homeostasis—the self-regulation of vital processes. He illustrated the reversibility of biochemical reactions, such as the conversion of glucose to glycogen. Prior to Bernard, it was established that some organs produced external excretions (urine, bile, sweat, tears). By revealing the liver's secretion of glucose into the blood, he introduced the notion of organs producing and secreting molecules internally, pioneering the concept of internal secretion.<br /><i>Claude Bernard's Scientific Contributions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21HW3dId7LVJ6gq4QNiP3mL0I0W3zyaO0lzVQzKpF3ruMlCuTzIoXfsaWK-yeLa1pzj2VvQcjvZuyvb9p5m8d6m3naTXVabis3Sj_3jlym_kBOFeMMw3_r9BAERhcVeWaa-XAB9DLwb4-ZWH4bDp0Sgydv6UP4Glc5SfEo86UEYUjYw9yA9qIK0NCUbdr/s220/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="220" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21HW3dId7LVJ6gq4QNiP3mL0I0W3zyaO0lzVQzKpF3ruMlCuTzIoXfsaWK-yeLa1pzj2VvQcjvZuyvb9p5m8d6m3naTXVabis3Sj_3jlym_kBOFeMMw3_r9BAERhcVeWaa-XAB9DLwb4-ZWH4bDp0Sgydv6UP4Glc5SfEo86UEYUjYw9yA9qIK0NCUbdr/w366-h213/1.jpg" width="366" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-73031017734240328732023-12-10T10:15:00.000-08:002023-12-10T10:15:51.862-08:00Staphylococcal Food Poisoning HistoryVaughan and Sternberg in Michigan, USA, scrutinized the first documented case of Staphylococcal food poisoning resulting from the consumption of contaminated cheese in 1884.<br /><br />A decade later, in 1894, J. Denys determined that a family's illness, arising from the consumption of meat from a cow that had succumbed to vitullary fever, was attributed to the presence of pyogenic staphylococci.<br /><br />In 1907, Owen detected staphylococci in dried beef associated with an outbreak exhibiting Staphylococcal food poisoning symptoms.<br /><br />The confirmation of staphylococci's role in food poisoning was initially presented in 1914 by M. A Barber, who identified a toxin substance produced by staphylococci as the cause of Staphylococcal food poisoning. Barber was the pioneer scientist to establish the link between this type of food poisoning and a toxic substance in the food. He isolated staphylococci from contaminated milk originating from a cow with mastitis.<br /><br />In 1922, Baerthlein reported a significant outbreak involving 2000 soldiers of the German army during World War I and established the potential role of bacteria.<br /><br />In 1929, B Gail Dack rediscovered the participation of staphylococci in food poisoning while investigating an outbreak caused by a Christmas cake.<br /><br />Today, there is widespread recognition that food poisoning caused by staphylococci constitutes a form of foodborne intoxication, with staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) acting as the primary causative agents.<br /><i>Staphylococcal Food Poisoning History<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8CuhXswPcTNIEHmIwmwyRfSgjvaTxjLYAwZ8DTdg1q_ZKFlzLq7iMhPhjnqqeszc68yJbTC70MJfQSuRhpWGbpMeQam_aXCWyB9Qrf_LKTfTrleI2SxlVU-wIvZLy5wdfS_D48CLGmt3Obf9tTA19EsDgqAdIrUAEn5TV03Gh3sZpB2HKI9zx52ChWk3h/s659/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="550" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8CuhXswPcTNIEHmIwmwyRfSgjvaTxjLYAwZ8DTdg1q_ZKFlzLq7iMhPhjnqqeszc68yJbTC70MJfQSuRhpWGbpMeQam_aXCWyB9Qrf_LKTfTrleI2SxlVU-wIvZLy5wdfS_D48CLGmt3Obf9tTA19EsDgqAdIrUAEn5TV03Gh3sZpB2HKI9zx52ChWk3h/w364-h436/2.jpg" width="364" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-27187794750222172252023-08-08T08:00:00.002-07:002023-08-08T08:00:08.517-07:00The invention of Lasik eye surgery by Gholam PeymanIn 1948, Father Szuniewicz, recognized as a trailblazer in the field of refractive surgery, voyaged to the United States with the intention of advancing his investigation into corneal reshaping. He embarked on this pursuit at Yale University in New Haven, CT.<br /><br />Starting as early as the 1950s, medical researchers began delving into techniques to correct vision by manipulating the cornea's shape. However, it was ophthalmologist Jose Barraquer from Colombia who initiated the historical trajectory of LASIK by devising the initial surgical remedy for vision correction. He honed a method that involved fashioning a flap within the cornea to facilitate alterations in its shape.<br /><br />Dr. Gholam Peyman initially undertook the study and evaluation of the potential utility of a CO2 laser to modify the structure of rabbit eye corneas. Nonetheless, he found this laser to be inadequate for the required procedure and lacking in its ability to prevent subsequent scarring.<br /><br />Peyman's primary aim was to avoid surface ablation in order to sidestep potential corneal scarring and the accompanying discomfort resulting from the removal of the corneal epithelium, a step needed to expose the cornea's surface.<br /><br />In 1980, Peyman published an article outlining the feasibility of performing eye surgery using ablative laser technology. However, this concept remained speculative at that time due to the unavailability of the necessary laser advancements.<br /><br />During the 1980s, Rangaswamy Srinivasan, an IBM researcher stationed in Yorktown Heights, NY, delved into the interaction of laser technology with organic matter, particularly exploring the impacts of ultraviolet light. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1980 when Dr. Srinivasan confirmed that an excimer laser could extract living tissue without causing thermal harm to surrounding cells.<br /><br />Towards the end of 1982, he stumbled upon an article from IBM Laboratories published in Laser Focus, which detailed their work involving excimer lasers and organic materials.<br /><br />Consequently, in July 1985, he submitted a patent application describing a technique for altering corneal refractive errors through laser ablation beneath a corneal flap. This patent was eventually granted in June 1989 after two revisions. Peyman initiated a series of experimental studies in collaboration with the Physics Department of the University of Helsinki, Finland, to assess the effects of various excimer lasers.<br /><br />In 1990, European eye specialists Ioannis Pallikaris and Lucio Burrato pioneered a method that laid the foundation for LASIK surgery. Termed the "flap and zap" technique, it encompassed the creation of a corneal flap, reshaping tissue using a laser, and subsequently sealing the flap to promote healing.<br /><br />Maintaining awareness of the potential limitations of his innovation, Peyman dedicated substantial time and effort in the following years to enhancing them. In a bid to optimize the risk-to-benefit ratio of the LASIK procedure, he introduced and obtained patents for a comprehensive range of ablative and non-ablative inlays in 2004. These were designed to be placed beneath the surgically fashioned corneal flap.<br /><i>The invention of Lasik eye surgery by Gholam Peyman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsz9PQmQ0SsfXJvAd9lbKuHwReANu70Swk1m7yK4h0oTKGFBZkPWNVUE5mMWnJrvK9FQHAAeAajK2rSZDKN-2KrWPYLqPWJhf6FKhSDdr1fQLhIERKeTGKYwWbp3ABTM80Ji9ynMXcE8ahRLqk0DgdcIiH1tljp5kt_ihCDXXNLU_VDLXKU1kC89zYQDr7/s265/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="208" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsz9PQmQ0SsfXJvAd9lbKuHwReANu70Swk1m7yK4h0oTKGFBZkPWNVUE5mMWnJrvK9FQHAAeAajK2rSZDKN-2KrWPYLqPWJhf6FKhSDdr1fQLhIERKeTGKYwWbp3ABTM80Ji9ynMXcE8ahRLqk0DgdcIiH1tljp5kt_ihCDXXNLU_VDLXKU1kC89zYQDr7/w291-h371/1.jpg" width="291" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-10247734945090572172023-07-14T23:02:00.001-07:002023-08-02T19:00:09.008-07:00History and discovery of Malignant MesotheliomaMalignant Mesothelioma (MM) is a rare, aggressive tumor that primarily affects the pleura and peritoneum, and it is known to have a high fatality rate. Despite its infrequency, research on mesothelioma traces back to the 18th century.<br /><br />However, as early as 1767, Joseph Lieutaud, a distinguished French pioneer in pathologic anatomy, documented two potential cases of mesothelioma during a study involving 3,000 autopsies. Subsequently, in 1870, E. Wagner identified this disease as a distinct pathological condition.<br /><br />In 1819, Dr. Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec, a French physician, proposed the hypothesis that pleural tumors could be malignant. Later, Professor Karl Freiherr von Rokitansky postulated that pleural cancer was always a secondary condition, originating from primary cancers elsewhere in the body.<br /><br />During the early 1900s, the medical community gradually accepted the possibility of cancer originating in the pleura. In 1909, J.G. Adami introduced the term "mesothelioma" to classify this rare cancer.<br /><br />In 1931, Klemperer and Rabin provided a detailed description of the histologic characteristics of benign (localized) and malignant (diffuse) mesotheliomas. However, a case report discussing malignant pleural mesothelioma in 1947 failed to prompt the recognition of the diagnosis or raise suspicions of asbestos as a causative factor, despite mentioning the patient's occupation as an "asbestos worker" in the opening statement and describing their work involving "cutting asbestos insulating board."<br /><br />The association between mesothelioma and asbestos was not established until the 1940s when researcher H.W. Wedler reported a correlation between asbestosis and pleural cancer in 1943.<br /><br />In 1964, Dr. Irving J. Selikoff presented findings indicating that members of asbestos workers' unions in the New York area exhibited a higher-than-expected mortality rate from lung and pleural cancers.<br /><i>History and discovery of Malignant Mesothelioma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_1PPuOdr8_9ydoqqJdGrmJZ_9AESHHGXMAPd5chw1Pj0T1Dfwz6CKJUSU7mQiaLumg0Vpr_v0VP-WsGRjHfzo8q-6QZNGBvb1o9C9eLaxZOrnVa3vgevF17auq-QS9xrn611VU9iZgnJmNf1Au8PCATTMHjRLCwqrwhnhQT2XTvSjIXCNKICfSjMYpmy/s691/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="691" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_1PPuOdr8_9ydoqqJdGrmJZ_9AESHHGXMAPd5chw1Pj0T1Dfwz6CKJUSU7mQiaLumg0Vpr_v0VP-WsGRjHfzo8q-6QZNGBvb1o9C9eLaxZOrnVa3vgevF17auq-QS9xrn611VU9iZgnJmNf1Au8PCATTMHjRLCwqrwhnhQT2XTvSjIXCNKICfSjMYpmy/w439-h348/1.jpg" width="439" /></a></div></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-68988638054160776352023-06-22T01:11:00.003-07:002023-06-22T01:11:40.194-07:00History and discovery of melaninMelanin is synthesized by cells in the skin and hair follicles called melanocytes. The word "Melanin" is derived from the ancient Greek word "Melanos" which means Black as the pigment color appears black usually. <br /><br />Skin pigmentation has been a subject of interest since ancient times. There are references to diseases affecting skin color, such as vitiligo, dating back to the year 2200 BC. <br /><br />For the following 4000 yr, the origins of human skin color remained an enigma that was to generate a multitude of misconceptions. Even after European physicians began to dissect and compare dark and light colored skin to reveal its underlying anatomy, the origins of skin and hair pigmentation were a matter of frequently erroneous speculation. <br /><br />It was until the year 1819 that pigment cells, called chromatophores, were described in studies with the squid. A few years later, similar structures were recognized in human skin and eyes. <br /><br />C. P. Robin in is credited with having been the first to use the term "melanin" in 1873. He actually described the pigment in chromatophores of animals as "pigment melanique". <br /><br />Later, the specialized cells responsible for melanin synthesis in the skin, the melanocytes, were identified. <br /><br />One of the earliest studies relating melanin production to cellular function, was that of Aeby in 1885, who suggested that wandering cells (Ieucocytes) phagocytosed erythrocytes and transmitted the resulting pigment to epidermal cells as nutritive material. <br /><br />Once tyrosinase was identified to be the key enzyme in pigment formation, attention focused on elucidating the chemical structure of melanin. <br /><br />Recent study by a multidisciplinary, international team of scientists at McGill University, The Ohio State University, and the University of Girona announced that they had succeeded in synthesizing a melanin model compound. <br /><br />This breakthrough sheds new light on melanin’s structure and the unusual properties that enable it to protect organisms from the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation.<br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">History and discovery of melanin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVHPEhK7fzjAnBNTq0J8CiQmiOwufY1Bg0gpMcbFXnfXULRmewlfQ7PBqClq-xNFQ0nlDKnBM4NJ_NFUFLvb6gxe_5XE71fxS5OXob3IDyfVO5PVk2KR8amPaD8hwyZ7eVVqokAMZqQb2wRQaUKROPFAgYwWvUv1R7MfxdYpjFvI2JU7L8wqxIY-pwXYJ/s1538/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1538" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVHPEhK7fzjAnBNTq0J8CiQmiOwufY1Bg0gpMcbFXnfXULRmewlfQ7PBqClq-xNFQ0nlDKnBM4NJ_NFUFLvb6gxe_5XE71fxS5OXob3IDyfVO5PVk2KR8amPaD8hwyZ7eVVqokAMZqQb2wRQaUKROPFAgYwWvUv1R7MfxdYpjFvI2JU7L8wqxIY-pwXYJ/w461-h316/1.jpg" width="461" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-14552730665514977912023-05-22T22:43:00.000-07:002023-05-22T22:43:00.325-07:00Abu Muhammed Abdul Latiff Ibn Jusuf (AD 1162-1231)Abu Muhammed Abdul Latiff Ibn Jusuf, Arabian scientist and traveler in Egypt during the time of Saladin. Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi was born in his grandfather's house in a street called Darb al-Faludhaj in Baghdad. <br /><br />He grew up in a Shafi‘i family with excellent links with the Nizamiyya madrasa and he received a solid education in Islamic sciences. Then he turned to natural sciences, medicine, philosophy and, critically, to alchemy. His spasmodic search for knowledge brought him to meet through their writings Avicenna, al-Ghazali and al-Suhrawardi. <br /><br />Abd al-Latif was a celebrated physician, historian, Egyptologist and traveler, and one of the most voluminous writers of the Near East in his time. <br /><br />He taught medicine at Damascus, Aleppo abd Egypt and has been credited with 166 treatises some of which are on medical topics. He also studied human osteology and found that many of Gallon’s (129-200) writings on the subject were inaccurate. <br /><br />Abd al-Latif wrote that during the famine in Egypt in 597 AH (1200 C.E.), he had the opportunity to observe and examine a large number of skeletons. This was one of the earliest examples of a postmortem autopsy, through which he discovered that Galen was incorrect regarding the formation of the bones of the lower jaw and sacrum. <br /><br />Abd al-Latif had a strong preference for the ancient Greek physicians (Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Rufus of Ephesus and Galen). But he also clearly respected some Arab physicians, such as Ibn al-Tilmidh and Ahmad ibn abi l-Ashath. <br /><br />Abd-ul-Latif is credited with 166 works, of which many were on medical subjects. One of his book, <i>The Book of the Two Pieces of Advice</i> was probably written in Aleppo, Syria, during the years 1216–21, but may have been composed in the Anatolian city of Erzinjan sometime during the 1220s. In this book he challenges the idea that Arabic-Islamic medicine declined after the twelfth century A.D. Moreover, it offers some interesting insights into the social history of medicine. <br /><br />It is an extensive diatribe directed against ‘false knowledge’, which, according to Abd al-Latif, was even worse than ignorance.<br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Abu Muhammed Abdul Latiff Ibn Jusuf (AD 1162-1231)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9PtrHKuU7EsOGD7BZNBmt5gWKZUVm0CdELFCAqsoWKqVt3PT070yvvcPzooPUL-0TdFiF4Qh5qQCa8sjEqX6JK_oSfedJ_dC3K22BlkXoGFs73QcxhKMoPdAYeE_8dEr-NokheJZw-roWFaQciXDGV4G3SnFLEHGenBBb5iE5ylSqsSym_2hSIz6KNA/s512/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9PtrHKuU7EsOGD7BZNBmt5gWKZUVm0CdELFCAqsoWKqVt3PT070yvvcPzooPUL-0TdFiF4Qh5qQCa8sjEqX6JK_oSfedJ_dC3K22BlkXoGFs73QcxhKMoPdAYeE_8dEr-NokheJZw-roWFaQciXDGV4G3SnFLEHGenBBb5iE5ylSqsSym_2hSIz6KNA/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-80954184599640424732023-04-27T07:44:00.006-07:002023-04-27T07:44:48.981-07:00The first modern brain surgery“Trepanation” of the cranium was thought to be the first neurosurgical procedure. Its use was mainly for headaches, seizures, mental illnesses, bad spirits and traumatic brain injuries. Together with cranioplasty, it seems that they have been performed since the period of Inca, counting that head and spinal cord injuries existed since the beginning of time. <br /><br />The first modern brain surgery in the United States is credited to Drs. Hirschfelder and Morse, who removed a patient’s brain tumor on February 25, 1886. The actual operative procedure recorded was performed by John Frederick Morse. Hirschfelder’s paper represents the first report in the history of America neurological surgery of an attempt to remove a tumor of the brain. <br /><br />This operation followed fourteen months after the first recognized resection of a primary brain tumor in history was performed by Mr. Rickman Godless in London, England, November 25, 1884. This operation was carried out at the suggestion of Dr. A. Hughes Bennett, a neurologist at The Hospital for Epilepsy and Paralysis, Regents Park, London, England. <br /><br />Early in 1887 the first well-documented total removal of an unequivocal brain tumor in America was carried out in New York City by Robert F. Weir. The patient died during the immediate postoperative period. <br /><br />In the early 1900s Harvey Williams Cushing, “the father of neurosurgery,” performed the first successful operations for brain tumors. <br /><br />Harvey Cushing brought modern neurosurgery into the world. Since then, neurosurgery has reached such levels of development that it may considered to be one of the most futuristic specialties of all times. In 1937 Walter Dandy performed the first aneurysm clipping.<br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The first modern brain surgery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-S9Bn4JhiznSz_hl8FlCD6LsMAMv_kt9GjzApx6NmOS5sXfQ-fcExpKRhfi61uwLwnrkSIrRJXiT8g-4SyZsM4NvcfoCY1dWnEtCwp9w-levNTT0kfx0RI4JC59b8nUqDe584PwS5Mnm-L2gLCqKJsw3xiPW3Vr3eZ7IG1Db2hp5tJ22HW-FVsMV8lA/s360/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="320" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-S9Bn4JhiznSz_hl8FlCD6LsMAMv_kt9GjzApx6NmOS5sXfQ-fcExpKRhfi61uwLwnrkSIrRJXiT8g-4SyZsM4NvcfoCY1dWnEtCwp9w-levNTT0kfx0RI4JC59b8nUqDe584PwS5Mnm-L2gLCqKJsw3xiPW3Vr3eZ7IG1Db2hp5tJ22HW-FVsMV8lA/w394-h444/1.jpg" width="394" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-316588137478725212023-03-18T08:35:00.003-07:002023-03-18T08:35:18.827-07:00Discovery of serotoninSerotonin is one of the oldest neurotransmitters, in an evolutionary sense, and is also one of the earliest to develop in the fetal brain. Serotonin is a key player in the functioning of GI tract muscles, causing the contraction of human intestines, and triggering the gut nerves which signal pain, nausea, and other GI problems. Serotonin is thought to be involved with the etiology of many other disorders other than migraines, for example depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. <br /><br />Serotonin is implicated in a diverse range of behavioral and physiological functions such as sleep, appetite, thermoregulation, mood, and notably pain perception. <br /><br />In the 1930's, Dr. Erspamer Vittorio was interested in the smooth muscle constricting or contracting properties of various amine substances found in the skins and intestinal tracts of a variety of species, including rabbits, mollusks, and frogs. At that time, he was working at the Institute of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, University of Pavia in Italy. <br /><br />One substance which interested him was found in enterochromaffin cells of the gut. In 1935, Erspamer Vittorio showed an extract from enterochromaffin cells made intestines contract. Some believed it contained adrenaline, but two years later, Erspamer was able to show it was a previously unknown amine, which he named "enteramine". He continued studies on smooth muscle for several more years. He also studied the mollusc heart and the occurrence of enteramine in the salivary glands of the octopus. <br /><br />Meanwhile, Irvine Page’s laboratory at the Cleveland Clinic had been studying substances that could cause contraction of blood vessels, searching for some natural factor that might be responsible for causing high blood pressure. <br /><br />In 1948, Maurice M. Rapport, Arda Green, and Irvine Page of the Cleveland Clinic discovered a vasoconstrictor substance in blood serum, and since it was a serum agent affecting vascular tone, they crystallized and coined the term serotonin. The hormone was chemically identified as 5-hydroxytryptamine later by Rapport and became known of more broadly as 5HT.<br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Discovery of serotonin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17Pgvl8GHqaqL03meBVy4_1wdhXsvtWrz5IVaBtDCiX-0HYHfA9FnBQZ0XxeIQEwLjiLAGDBrRDXuzNwkvnuWhzOp5luFkWotSMxaaqgX1UyIjcIu30K4XxkTn8klkZEXlwpYAfy4eITO7CFDee0v_b27tXD-4WU81ZHyVp8tl6kwgifTnkyyrSiHNw/s636/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="636" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17Pgvl8GHqaqL03meBVy4_1wdhXsvtWrz5IVaBtDCiX-0HYHfA9FnBQZ0XxeIQEwLjiLAGDBrRDXuzNwkvnuWhzOp5luFkWotSMxaaqgX1UyIjcIu30K4XxkTn8klkZEXlwpYAfy4eITO7CFDee0v_b27tXD-4WU81ZHyVp8tl6kwgifTnkyyrSiHNw/w409-h409/1.jpg" width="409" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-52604760056986993822023-02-08T21:59:00.000-08:002023-02-08T21:59:01.760-08:00Alzheimer’s Disease: The historyAlzheimer’s disease is currently ranked as the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. The disease was first recognized by Egyptian physicians in about 2000 BC when they noted that people who got older started to lose their memory. Up until the 15th century, it was believed that dementia was simply a part of aging and not a disease. <br /><br />Alzheimer's disease was first described in 1906. On November 3, 1906, a clinical psychiatrist and neuroanatomist, Alois Alzheimer, reported “A peculiar severe disease process of the cerebral cortex” to the 37th Meeting of South-West German Psychiatrists in Tubingen, <br /><br />He describes the haunting case of 50-year-old woman, Auguste Deter, a patient who had profound memory loss, unfounded suspicions about her family, and other worsening psychological changes. His report noted distinctive plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain histology. <br /><br />Alzheimer later published his descriptions of several similar patients in 1909 and Emil Kraepelin included Ms. Deter’s case in the 1910 edition of his widely respected psychiatry textbook <i>Psychiatrie</i>. It was Emil Kraepelin, a German psychiatrist who worked with Dr. Alzheimer who named this dementia after his junior colleague. <br /><br />In the late 1960’s, the British psychiatrists Tomlinson and Roth described the importance of these plaques in older adults, and in 1970 Dr. Roth questioned the meaningfulness of the age criterion that distinguished AD from “senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type.” <br /><br />In 1976, neurologist Robert Katzman identifies Alzheimer's disease as the most common cause of dementia and a major public health challenge in his editorial published in Archives of Neurology. In response to Katzman's editorial, organizations from around the world to raise funds for Alzheimer's research and increase awareness of people living with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. <br /><br />In 1987, researchers identify the first gene associated with rare, inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease. This gene on chromosome 21 codes amyloid precursor protein (APP), the parent molecule from which beta-amyloid is formed. Chromosome 21 is also the chromosome of which those with Down syndrome have three copies rather than two. <br /><br />In 2020, as many as 5.8 million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s disease. Younger people may get Alzheimer’s disease, but it is less common.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Alzheimer’s Disease: The history<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_HZQLC-Jgh46HCwiN-xrJ2BElX1FtI47le4IjcbHjQjELffDlZX1bYRwYnFO6xHFu8ICucXEJC_VNir3DzlWM2xfJacNBctVWi0vV9eUl8hDxS6G5lZyTCVOJeL3JzEyl0bMF8PNZjjGBfeT2PrSVlZKSnxaxN5FUFtVSRMY_M6AyUs6-0aaO7BoGQ/s676/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="676" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_HZQLC-Jgh46HCwiN-xrJ2BElX1FtI47le4IjcbHjQjELffDlZX1bYRwYnFO6xHFu8ICucXEJC_VNir3DzlWM2xfJacNBctVWi0vV9eUl8hDxS6G5lZyTCVOJeL3JzEyl0bMF8PNZjjGBfeT2PrSVlZKSnxaxN5FUFtVSRMY_M6AyUs6-0aaO7BoGQ/w462-h357/1.jpg" width="462" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-24776150135383895272023-01-07T06:39:00.000-08:002023-01-07T06:39:23.176-08:00Discovery of Hartnup disease Hartnup disease is a hereditary nutritional disorder resulting in niacin deficiency. It is a rare genetic disorder that involves an inborn error of amino acid metabolism. Hartnup disease was named for the Hartnup family of England, who were featured in a 1956 study of the condition. <br /><br />Hartnup was first described in four of the eight family members with aminoaciduria, a skin rash resembling pellagra and cerebellar ataxia by Baron and his colleagues. <br /><br />The condition was discovered in a boy in Hartnup family who present with photosensitive rash, ataxia, hand tremors, and gait disturbances. The causative gene, SLC6A19, is located on a locus on short arm of chromosome 5 (band 5p15.33) which encodes a transporter. <br /><br />On investigation of further family members, his other three siblings were also found to have the same syndrome with varying clinical symptoms. <br /><br />The disease is due to a deficit in the intestines and kidneys, making it difficult for the body to break down and absorb dietary tryptophan (an essential amino acid that is utilized to synthesize niacin). <br /><br />The National Organization for Rare Disorders reports that Hartnup disease is estimated to affect about one in 30,000 people in the United States. Symptoms normally start to appear in infancy or the first few years of life.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Discovery of Hartnup disease<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJOFACj32tTdWCyHAQEJp19F0Z8-fGbXNLD90kKLAKaiQGXF6xlZ6JnFxT3mBFVaSFYmL2m3D25Wb5rRApRZZSYPdPxxpN5_cY8lwSqZ9fGaJ13fMWu3KL_r01_-LARmr03al-CThYwAOyjPOSGNUTaZv2VwmKqlIDzPw-bepBsxk5asfg0JTlmOPdA/s269/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="269" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJOFACj32tTdWCyHAQEJp19F0Z8-fGbXNLD90kKLAKaiQGXF6xlZ6JnFxT3mBFVaSFYmL2m3D25Wb5rRApRZZSYPdPxxpN5_cY8lwSqZ9fGaJ13fMWu3KL_r01_-LARmr03al-CThYwAOyjPOSGNUTaZv2VwmKqlIDzPw-bepBsxk5asfg0JTlmOPdA/w409-h367/1.jpg" width="409" /></a></div> </span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-38104987479705110792022-11-24T16:46:00.003-08:002022-11-24T16:46:32.072-08:00David Bruce (1855–1931) - Scottish pathologist and microbiologistSir David Bruce was born in Melbourne, Australia while his Scots father was installing a crushing machine at Sandhurst in the Australian goldfields. He was an only son, and when he was five years of age his parents returned home and settled in Stirling. David was subsequently sent to the Stirling High School, where he remained until he was fourteen years old. <br /><br />He entered the university with the intention of reading zoology but changed to medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1876. He graduated from Edinburgh in 1881 and spent a large part of his career as a military physician. <br /><br />In 1881, after obtaining his degree, he became an assistant to Dr. Stone, a practitioner in Reigate, and there met the lady, Miss Mary Elizabeth Steele, who, as his wife and fellow worker in all his subsequent scientific work, was to exert such a marked influence on his life and career. <br /><br />In 1883, soon after his marriage, David Bruce joined the Army Medical Service and he received his commission as Surgeon-Captain on August 4, 1883. <br /><br />David and Mary Bruce were assigned to Malta in 1884, where Bruce began a study of an often-fatal disease suffered by English soldiers assigned to the Maltese garrison. The disease, known as Malta, Mediterranean, or undulating fever, caused chills,sweats, and weakness. <br /><br />He found the hospitals full of patients suffering from a mysterious complaint which sometimes resembled typhoid fever and sometimes malaria. Bruce set up a laboratory in an abandoned shack and spent weeks with the culture medium using Koch's techniques. In 1887 he discovered the causal organism at first called <i>Microccus melitensis</i> but later renamed <i>Brucella melitensis</i>. <br /><br />Bruce chaired the Mediterranean Fever Commission which sat from 1904-1906 and the commission succeeded in tracing the reservoir of infection to the Maltese goat. <br /><br />Shortly after his return to England in 1889, Bruce was named an assistant professor of pathology at the Royal Army Medical College at Netley. Several years later, he arrived in Natal, South Africa, to investigate an animal disease known as ‘nagana’, which killed cattle in the Zulu region. <br /><br />In Africa, he was able proved that <i>Trypanosoma brucei </i>was the causative organism and that the vector was the tsetse fly. This work was of great help with his later research on sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis). <br /><br />He returned to Britain in October 1901 and in 1903 was seconded to service in Uganda to study sleeping sickness. The symptoms included long lasting fevers leading to confusion and stupor, and the patients usually had enlarged lymph nodes and spleens. <br /><br />When Bruce arrived, Aldo Castellani, who was on the verge of leaving, told him that he had found a trypanosome in cerebrospinal fluid. He taught Bruce the techniques for lumbar puncture and specimen examination. <br /><br />Shortly afterwards Bruce proved that it was the causative organism of sleeping sickness which, like the trypanosome that causes nagana, was transmitted by the tsetse fly. Sleeping sickness is now called trypanosomiasis, the aetiologic agent is <i>Trypanosoma gambiense</i>, and the sole vector the tsetse fly. <br /><br />Bruce was knighted in 1908. By 1914, the Bruces had returned to England, where David served as commandant of the Royal Army Medical College. He finally retired in 1919. He died twelve years later on the day of his wife's funeral.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">David Bruce (1855–1931) - Scottish pathologist and microbiologist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cpMqMF1BIsJjy1-rfRe5pP9QqTP3UDpDLLg2acNEuonMnInbrzuAioAMvPtreidMgChqgSTRChY23PzqS31NqxWTWJnQkfREJZ_vvwUpE7wMs6NxQAjJHCtGF8cLFrrVxFPzpmS9W31mfhS8CoZt7RJ2tWbnG3Q1uEtK9TqoQfisHWlaDSah8AanEw/s566/2022-11-25.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="566" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cpMqMF1BIsJjy1-rfRe5pP9QqTP3UDpDLLg2acNEuonMnInbrzuAioAMvPtreidMgChqgSTRChY23PzqS31NqxWTWJnQkfREJZ_vvwUpE7wMs6NxQAjJHCtGF8cLFrrVxFPzpmS9W31mfhS8CoZt7RJ2tWbnG3Q1uEtK9TqoQfisHWlaDSah8AanEw/w422-h374/2022-11-25.png" width="422" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-36583167858905660812022-11-03T07:58:00.002-07:002022-11-03T07:58:23.133-07:00The invention of cataract laserphaco probeIn 1988, Patricia Era Bath patented the cataract laserphaco probe that helped save the eyesight of a million. Patricia Bath (November 4, 1942 – May 30, 2019) was the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology and the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent. <br /><br />Bath was born in Harlem, New York, to Rupert and Gladys Bath. After graduating from high school in only two years, Bath headed to Hunter College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1964. She received her medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., interned at Harlem Hospital from 1968 to 1969, and completed a fellowship in ophthalmology at Columbia University from 1969 to 1970. <br /><br />Following her fellowship in ophthalmology at Columbia University, from 1970 to 1973, she completed her training at New York University, where she became the first Black resident in ophthalmology. In 1974 Bath joined the faculty of UCLA and Charles R. Drew University as an assistant professor of surgery (Drew) and ophthalmology (UCLA). <br /><br />In 1981, Bath began working on her most well-known invention: the Laserphaco Probe (1986). Harnessing laser technology, the device created a less painful and more precise treatment of cataracts. The laserphaco probe is a tool that uses a tiny laser to safely vaporize cataracts in a patient’s eye. Once the probe has removed the cataract, a surgeon is then able to remove the lens of the eye and insert a replacement. <br /><br />It took her nearly five years to complete the research and testing needed to make it work and apply for a patent. She received a patent for the device in 1988, becoming the first African American female doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The invention of cataract laserphaco probe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYtXoox0Z0NTF34Obo5tHgSaxSypl0QG7SUsDuTDikNReXeVt2ImPpHBuiHb2hNvodcIgrdj_bdRKNFsS7Q3hIKeI3jWrKHx4rcngLmZAIw-sT0PLUa_h_49BGPWSBWVkOo5bdLUDd0Q5dYKI-V3I70AMDAVpkPjcxJzaz-lsu-g6iZidrz6IZkpHBQ/s307/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="307" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYtXoox0Z0NTF34Obo5tHgSaxSypl0QG7SUsDuTDikNReXeVt2ImPpHBuiHb2hNvodcIgrdj_bdRKNFsS7Q3hIKeI3jWrKHx4rcngLmZAIw-sT0PLUa_h_49BGPWSBWVkOo5bdLUDd0Q5dYKI-V3I70AMDAVpkPjcxJzaz-lsu-g6iZidrz6IZkpHBQ/w440-h436/1.jpg" width="440" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-80963249063890476982022-09-11T09:02:00.006-07:002022-09-11T09:02:57.962-07:00History of varicella infection and the vaccines Varicella is an acute infectious disease caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The first description of varicella infection on record was made by the Italian scientist Giovanni Filippo during the 1500s. <br /><br />In 1875, Rudolf Steiner confirmed that chicken pox was contagious by using the vesicular fluid from varicella blister of a patient and using it on volunteers. The volunteer then contracted varicella which prove his finding. <br /><br />It was not until 1888, that a relationship between herpes zoster and varicella was suggested. The relationship between varicella and herpes Zoster was noticed by man named von Bokay, when he realized a child had gotten varicella after being in contact with someone who had herpes zoster. <br /><br />In 1954, Thomas Weller used cell culture to isolate VZV from vesicular fluid of patients with varicella or zoster. <br /><br />The complete DNA sequence of VZV was established in 1986. The first live vaccine for Varicella virus was developed in Japan in 1970. <br /><br />The vaccine virus was developed from virus isolated by Michiaki Takahashi from vesicular fluid from an otherwise healthy child with varicella disease. The virus used for this vaccine was named the Oka strain after the family name of the child. <br /><br />Varicella vaccine was licensed for general use in Japan and Korea in 1988, and in the United States in 1995 for persons age 12 months or older. <br /><br />Since its introduction in 1995 in United States, the varicella vaccine has resulted in a decrease in the number of cases and complications from the disease.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">History of varicella infection and the vaccines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhznzSJpGseGPPm0nJ0Jklaw_XAsiKs4Bnb4w1fUTBXXnu9BPClCdvZQSVZW1IYtFeWPQGzwy9WiimWBt3-dgeSlfpC5Qs0dbkh8lBjQQs9XKD2EP9JUZMle4XYTtSmm1urwl49mYsRaPGNADU4EHky97MVIYtcjvwZ3oMHo8JO8iUvoSMSlP-ajKZw/s707/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="707" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhznzSJpGseGPPm0nJ0Jklaw_XAsiKs4Bnb4w1fUTBXXnu9BPClCdvZQSVZW1IYtFeWPQGzwy9WiimWBt3-dgeSlfpC5Qs0dbkh8lBjQQs9XKD2EP9JUZMle4XYTtSmm1urwl49mYsRaPGNADU4EHky97MVIYtcjvwZ3oMHo8JO8iUvoSMSlP-ajKZw/w485-h294/1.jpg" width="485" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-56550695136515513912022-08-16T08:44:00.007-07:002022-08-16T08:44:50.884-07:00Dr.Themistocles Zammit (1864-1935)Sir Temi Zammit was born in Valletta on the 30th September 1864 at a time when Malta was an important British naval base and died 2 November 1935 with obituary notices in Malta and England. His parents were illiterate and yet they succeeded to nurture his thirst for knowledge and his ability to triumph in spite of all the obstacles he faced. <br /><br />During his time, extreme poverty alternated with periods of economic prosperity that were often brought about by war. <br /><br />After studying at the Lyceum and the University of Malta he obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1889. In 1905 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry in the same University, of which he was also appointed Rector in 1920. <br /><br />Dr Temi Zammit name gained renown as a result of his archaeological excavations of prehistoric sites in the Maltese Islands and also of his scholarly writings on the material found on such sites. He was one of the key persons to promote Maltese archaeology in the early 20th century. <br /><br />In September 1896 he made the earliest Xray photograph taken in Malta, of a human hand – probably his own. <br /><br />His first recorded experiments with Mediterranean or Malta Fever (now Brucellosis) modified the Widal precipitation test where bacteria and sera are mixed in a tube. On 14 June 1905, Temi Zammit, found that five out of six goats reacted to the blood test for brucellosis, then known as Mediterranean or Malta Fever. The work of Temi Zammit showed that infected goats transmitted brucellosis and that banning use of their milk would be effective. <br /><br />In 1902 he made the first survey of brucellosis in civilians in Malta, comparing it with typhoid fever and concluding that it might be insect borne. <br /><br />He served as the rector of the Royal University of Malta for some years, and also as the director of the National Museum. Author of several books in the Maltese language, he was awarded a DLitt Honoris Causa by Oxford University.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dr.Themistocles Zammit (1864-1935)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6nZOMSxWPshOtzKVyiFlwHXoLCtzo1to59YlISiyS4cmUw8h-VJCouDMwxMfcsqT-0BSZSQcFOU0Lo_f1cSV4EFUIghq8xKks3tPHXlLKc3cPe9JkBdXSNCOm4zw9bGBzvKR2hBpCTKvC5xm0fybOBPBlWdq-2raIOjaKjKDFSUSZ3ZO65ZqcTMe2w/s410/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="300" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6nZOMSxWPshOtzKVyiFlwHXoLCtzo1to59YlISiyS4cmUw8h-VJCouDMwxMfcsqT-0BSZSQcFOU0Lo_f1cSV4EFUIghq8xKks3tPHXlLKc3cPe9JkBdXSNCOm4zw9bGBzvKR2hBpCTKvC5xm0fybOBPBlWdq-2raIOjaKjKDFSUSZ3ZO65ZqcTMe2w/w324-h443/1.jpg" width="324" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-62311029426737097132022-07-22T20:32:00.005-07:002022-07-22T20:32:30.049-07:00Modern history of chicken poxMuhammad Ibn Zakariya Razi, also known as Razi, collected some of the first known information on chickenpox and noted the differences between the measles and small pox. Giovanni Filippo (1510-1580) of Palermo gave the first description Chicken Pox. In 1600s, English Physician named Richard Morton mistook this disease with small pox he thought it was a milder form of smallpox. <br /><br />It's believed the disease was brought to the Americas in the 15th century by European explorers and settlers. Once on the continent, it (and other diseases) spread among Native Americans since Indigenous people had not previously been exposed to the virus. <br /><br />In 1767, English physician William Heberden demonstrated that small pox was different from chicken pox. He showed that chickenpox is different from the more deadly disease, smallpox. He also showed that once a person has had chickenpox, that person usually never gets it again. <br /><br />In modern times, the scientists who first described the chickenpox were E.Paschen, 1919; EE Tyzzer, 1906; von Bokay 1909. Paschen described elementary bodies in smears of vesicles obtained from patients with varicella while Ernest Tyzzer developed a bedside test to distinguish smallpox from chickenpox based on the presence of multinucleated cells in varicella lesions that were not found in smallpox. In 1888, von Bókay of Budapest reported the relationship between herpes zoster and chickenpox. He was first pointed out when he reported cases of the latter disease in members of two families after episodes of herpes zoster in other members. <br /><br />Prior to 1995, when the chickenpox vaccine was introduced, nearly all U.S. children got infected with chickenpox by age 10. Although usually mild, rare complications resulted in more than 10,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths per year. <br /><br />In the 1950s, scientists isolated the varicella-zoster virus for the first time, paving the way for efforts to vaccinate against chickenpox and shingles. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first chickenpox vaccine in 1995 and the first shingles vaccine in 2006.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Modern history of chicken pox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5cTtqWL9TRpU1hcXmwlgfirTnkxXNbsBmrUlSgjTP7ZKmag7ozUSZWrDeAhSunwOyiIUjq-97FCb4g-b96buCGvjCRgRs3N-Gu_oF6irbEoLmrKuKUrixUO23_sOFmNkfJ1qNtj0u5sP3wJ3Gz4wUTE9KgZgzM9Ko-0GKERMnPoVUcu_Dt0EYiqUuQ/s585/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="585" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5cTtqWL9TRpU1hcXmwlgfirTnkxXNbsBmrUlSgjTP7ZKmag7ozUSZWrDeAhSunwOyiIUjq-97FCb4g-b96buCGvjCRgRs3N-Gu_oF6irbEoLmrKuKUrixUO23_sOFmNkfJ1qNtj0u5sP3wJ3Gz4wUTE9KgZgzM9Ko-0GKERMnPoVUcu_Dt0EYiqUuQ/w460-h285/1.jpg" width="460" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-68707066777119044182022-07-15T08:08:00.008-07:002022-07-15T08:08:54.926-07:00History discovery of salmonellaAround the year 430 B.C., a plague thought to be an outbreak of typhoid fever killed one-third of all the people in Athens. Salmonella infections have been present in America since at least the early 1600s. Scholars studying the history of Jamestown in Virginia believe that typhoid fever was responsible for the deaths of over 6,000 settlers between 1607 and 1624. <br /><br />Salmonella bacterium was first found by Soholerin in 1839, and described by Theobald Smith (1859-1934) and it isolated by Eberth in 1880 from the mesenteric lymph nodes and spleen of a person died from typhoid fever. <br /><br />Salmonella was first cultured from the intestines of pigs infected with classical swine fever, by Theobald Smith in 1855. <br /><br />The bacterial strain was named in recognition of a famous veterinary bacteriologist Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850 - 1914), who ran the United States Department of Agriculture. <br /><br />Prof. Theobald Smith an American bacteriologist discovered a new species of bacteria (<i>Salmonella enterica</i>, formerly called <i>Salmonella choleraesuis</i>) during his two years at Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), which he thought was the cause of hog cholera. <br /><br />In 1886, Smith, collaborating with Salmon, presented the first proof that killed bacteria could be used to induce active immunity in experimental animals. <br /><br />Salmonella bacteria as a causative agent for gastroenteritis was isolated by Gartner in 1888 from a fatal case of gastroenteritis in a young man who had eaten raw meat taken from a diseased cow. <br /><br />In 1880, German pathologist Karl Eberth identified <i>S. enterica</i>. It was first cultured in 1884 by Georg Gaffky. <br /><br /><i>S. typhimurium</i> was isolated by Loeffler in 1892 from an infected mouse. In 1896, Achard and Bensaud isolated an organism to which they gave the name <i>Bacillus paratyphique</i> and this organism according to Boycott (1911) was S. schottmuller. <br /><br />In 1985 deadliest Salmonella outbreaks occurred when approximately 6,149 cases of <i>Salmonella Typhimurium</i> were reported among people who had consumed 2% pasteurized milk sold in northern Illinois.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">History discovery of salmonella<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQbymI8OdGYxXYeAtQ3387QlPEATLSwwbJyVaUpr9t9VQZHhvxJi_KWWoiDNl0wWP86ebLXvN1dpRjq2R0hIbBZQQ72cNb8czTwDp8KjATrrTmsxe_33OeR74xY4DGHA79JAlYieFklE8-X1zWpui3_0OKk-9Sy9tdpQ-W3wt95yfXPD5m_otvahM3w/s758/2022-07-15.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="758" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQbymI8OdGYxXYeAtQ3387QlPEATLSwwbJyVaUpr9t9VQZHhvxJi_KWWoiDNl0wWP86ebLXvN1dpRjq2R0hIbBZQQ72cNb8czTwDp8KjATrrTmsxe_33OeR74xY4DGHA79JAlYieFklE8-X1zWpui3_0OKk-9Sy9tdpQ-W3wt95yfXPD5m_otvahM3w/w431-h355/2022-07-15.png" width="431" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-80051280223898294562022-06-23T20:39:00.007-07:002022-06-23T20:39:57.669-07:00Discovery of vitamin B9Folic acid (vitamin B9) is important in a number of human metabolic pathways as well as being needed for nucleic acid synthesis, growth and the healthy development of a foetus. Folate and its role in human biochemical functioning was first identified by researcher Lucy Wills in 1931. <br /><br />Wills was born in 1888, near Birmingham England, and in 1911 became one of the first women in the country to get degrees in botany and geology from Cambridge University. <br /><br />In 1930, she was working as medical research scientists in India having been especially interested in the problem of severe anemia in pregnant poor textile workers. She became aware that poor female textile workers in India were suffering in large numbers from anemia. <br /><br />Wills demonstrated amazing accuracy and insistence in her investigation excluding the infectious and parasitic nature of anemia and having come to the conclusion that it was linked to bad monotonous nutrition. <br /><br />In 1931, her studies in rats suggested two things seemed to help: liver supplements and a spread called Marmite. It’s made from brewer’s yeast and it’s especially rich in B vitamins. Unknown substances possessing antianemic action together with improving the pregnancy outcomes at first was designated as “the Wills Factor”. <br /><br />It wasn't until late in the 1930s that folates (compounds with the same vitamin activity including naturally occurring folates and folic acid) were discovered to be the active agent in the cure of anemia. <br /><br />Over time, other names were applied for this essential substance—vitamin M (“necessary for normal hemopoiesis in monkey”), vitamin Bc (“required for chicken growth”), Lactobacillus casei growth factor (“supporting Lactobacillus proliferation”), and vitamin B9. <br /><br />It was first isolated via extraction from spinach leaves by Herschel K. Mitchell, Esmond E. Snell, and Roger J. Williams in 1941. (“folic” originates from Latin “folium” translating as “a leaf”). <br /><br />Bob Stokstad isolated the pure crystalline form in 1943, and was able to determine its chemical structure while working at the Lederle Laboratories of the American Cyanamid Company. The cycle of industrial synthesis of folic acid was developed in 1945.<br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Discovery of vitamin B9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkzg4wbOggnIZ-0jmP80TaGVY8IiDxC5JDA3swZd3QbWQhAfYIij_dhbKHK25klXhla6mvH3LGP4SQBAYpjkz2l_hxR3SOqsD0534ivPr13ExMMiM5u63yH7bpbkGDd2gMDRy1kQ6R5uTaqVXR7rDcehFBHggsdpfhSRwJqEldmn0IPdRr8ntf57sig/s598/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="598" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkzg4wbOggnIZ-0jmP80TaGVY8IiDxC5JDA3swZd3QbWQhAfYIij_dhbKHK25klXhla6mvH3LGP4SQBAYpjkz2l_hxR3SOqsD0534ivPr13ExMMiM5u63yH7bpbkGDd2gMDRy1kQ6R5uTaqVXR7rDcehFBHggsdpfhSRwJqEldmn0IPdRr8ntf57sig/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-65098417307520349162022-05-22T20:50:00.000-07:002022-05-22T20:50:03.289-07:00Research on arthritis in modern times According to the CDC, arthritis accounts for 18% or nearly 9 million reports of disability, making it the number one cause of adult disability. Rheumatoid arthritis and gout are two types of arthritis. Both types affect the joints, causing pain and inflammation. <br /><br />In 1715, William Musgrave British physician was credited with the earliest description of arthritis. He published the second edition of his most important medical work, <i>De arthritide symptomatica</i>, which concerned arthritis and its effects. <br /><br /><i>De arthritide symptomatica</i> and Musgrave later work <i>De artritide anomala</i> (1707) were included in Sydenham’s <i>Opera medica</i>, volume II, as <i>Dictionary of National Biography</i> notes. <br /><br />Augustin Jacob Landré-Beauvais, a 28-year-old resident physician at Saltpêtrière Asylum in France was the first person to describe the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Landre-Beauvais, working under Philippe Pinel, titled his doctoral dissertation '<i>Doit-on admettre une nouvelle espece de goutte sous la denomination de goutte asthenique primitive </i>'(should one acknowledge a new kind of gout under the name of primary asthenic gout?).' He described a chronic deforming polyarthritis characterized by remissions and exacerbations. <br /><br />He had examined and treated a handful of patients with severe joint pain that could not be explained by other known nosological entities at the time, neither rheumatism, nor osteoarthritis. Unlike gout, which was the disease of the upper class, this condition mainly affected the poor. <br /><br />Though Landré-Beauvais' classification of rheumatoid arthritis as a relative of gout was inaccurate, his dissertation encouraged others to further study the disease. <br /><br />The term rheumatoid arthritis was first suggested in 1859 by Alfred Baring Garrod, who emphasized the differences from gout and rheumatic fever. At a public lecture on 8 February 1848, reported in the Medical Chirurgical Transactions, he demonstrated the increase in uric acid in the blood of patients with gout, whereas there was no such increase in acute rheumatism or Bright's disease. <br /><br />In 1859, Alfred Garrod wrote his <i>Treatise on Nature of Gout and Rheumatic Gout</i>, wherein he describes his observations. This work differentiated arthritis from gout and also categorized rheumatoid arthritis as a distinct condition, which he referred to as “Rheumatic Gout.”<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Research on arthritis in modern times<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJ78P3b0k5s2lnBdsKRH5JkZgUnGn-qPOR1Al1EX9WU-1Y62F9No4hIKXiyHfD7o15LAkIltzbPhuvDbafoWfew0L_qzPrk-A4qZR54pnibdQhRtX-_2ynuYgfLM9D8HZLuhcfm2tyGZeqPiUfmrGaAcAqsRYVSpKq4iLaZfz7D6UcPkKzsXFhKsbeg/s733/2022-05-23.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="537" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJ78P3b0k5s2lnBdsKRH5JkZgUnGn-qPOR1Al1EX9WU-1Y62F9No4hIKXiyHfD7o15LAkIltzbPhuvDbafoWfew0L_qzPrk-A4qZR54pnibdQhRtX-_2ynuYgfLM9D8HZLuhcfm2tyGZeqPiUfmrGaAcAqsRYVSpKq4iLaZfz7D6UcPkKzsXFhKsbeg/w336-h459/2022-05-23.png" width="336" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502075479150655576.post-77422163541004902392022-05-16T21:29:00.006-07:002022-05-16T21:29:39.470-07:00History of computed tomographic (CT) scannerIn the early 1900s an Italian radiologist named Alessandro Vallebona invented tomography which used radiographic film to see a single slice of the body. As conventional tomography evolved, it was still considered ineffective when it came to imaging soft tissues. <br /><br />The computed tomographic (CT) scanner was conceived in 1967 by British engineer Sir Godfrey Hounsfield at EMI Central Research Laboratories using x-ray technology. The first patient studies were performed on Friday, October 1, 1971 in Wimbledon, England but it was not publicized until a year later. <br /><br />Sir Godfrey Hounsfield continued to improve the quality of the devise and the first commercially available CT scanner was available in 1972. He co-invented the technology with physicist Dr. Allan Cormack. <br /><br />However, it was the mathematical theory of Johann Radon way back in 1917, called “Radon transform,” that brought the technology to life. He demonstrated that the image of a three-dimensional object can be constructed from an infinite number of two-dimensional images of the object. <br /><br />Another mathematical advancement that Hounsfield built on is the “Algebraic Reconstruction Technique,” which was formulated by Polish mathematician Stefan Kaczmarz in 1937. Stefan Kaczmarz proposed a simple method, called the Kaczmarz algorithm, to solve iteratively systems of linear equations Ax = b in Euclidean spaces. This procedure employs cyclic orthogonal projections onto the hyperplanes associated with such a system. <br /><br />Both theories by Johann Radon and Stefan Kaczmarz were adopted by Hounsfield to create one of the greatest advancements in medical history. <br /><br />In 1973, the first CT scanners were installed in the United States. Sir Hounsfield would go on to share the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Allan M Cormack.<br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">History of computed tomographic (CT) scanner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnXXDLv-YILhRe17GZJ2ZEpDu5HecdZY3M2yclH01--Hp_t7-ck2jntMNi_0s3CtBTsev3o71u2Qh4ri9oi8RxxQd-z-Bigr1LvcCLADXq7ypt6g8Tt_xTUQdfEF3VR48RB5ul4MNgYGRigbmHrEkbrpSBo5iz-z4yxdLV0Dto0kcMfHz-waWiNmL5A/s976/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnXXDLv-YILhRe17GZJ2ZEpDu5HecdZY3M2yclH01--Hp_t7-ck2jntMNi_0s3CtBTsev3o71u2Qh4ri9oi8RxxQd-z-Bigr1LvcCLADXq7ypt6g8Tt_xTUQdfEF3VR48RB5ul4MNgYGRigbmHrEkbrpSBo5iz-z4yxdLV0Dto0kcMfHz-waWiNmL5A/w485-h273/1.jpg" width="485" /></a></div></span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com