We’ve been following a list of the 50 most influential physicians in history compiled by a medical magazine and have reached number 32 with Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell.
A lot has been written about her, I suppose mostly due to the fact that she was the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. No small feat; but, it’s difficult to describe how to call it: serendipity? Chance? Accidental? Stubbornness? Tenacity? Luck?
Read more →
The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study holds a deep interest for me—really everything about type 1 diabetes. And has, actually, from the very first clinical years of medical school.
Service with Dr. Marv Rallison in pediatric endocrine clinic gave me many early career “firsts” which continued into leading diabetic clinics of my own during my residency and obtaining grants for early studies of hemoglobin A1C (glycosylated hemoglobin)—which eventually revolutionized care of diabetic children and has become the current mainstay of management.
Read more →
Despite dealing with it—and often even causing it—the medical profession woefully neglected the slightest consideration of “dying” until 1969 when Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote “On Death and Dying” about her experiences with terminal patients.
Read more →
“Discipline,” that’s a 200-pound-gorilla-in-the-room topic if I ever heard one!
These days the so-called “do-gooders,” “haters” and “conspiracy theorists” all over the internet have made poor parents fear even the word “discipline”… let alone actually giving it to their child. But “discipline” is different than “punishment” you know.
Read more →
The “discovery” of how DNA is constructed is a complicated story best told elsewhere; but, the two men who concluded just how it is done are number 34 in our list of the 50 most influential doctors in history: Francis Crick and James Watson—except neither of them are medical doctors; so perhaps, shouldn’t be included in this particular list at all.
Read more →
We’re at number 35 in our countdown of the top 50 most influential doctors in history and have come to a physician born in a cave, at gunpoint, in Eastern Turkey where his parents were being held by revolutionary/outlaws determined to challenge the new Turkish government in Ankara.
Born “baby” Yaşargil on July 6, 1925 he went on to become Neurosurgery’s Man of the Century (1950–1999) for his revolutionary achievements and advancements in micro-surgery; but… we get ahead of ourselves.
Read more →
I’ve written about back to school diseases and problems before but it seems that questions and issues just keep the topic alive and asking for an update.
This will be just a quick update of 15 back to school diseases your child may encounter now that school bells are ringing again.
Read more →
We’ve explained that it’s the politicians and their meddling which has so far prevented medical research from delineating the truth about medical uses of marijuana, when it was clearly used hundreds of years ago for “medical purposes”—so-called: medical marijuana.
Misguided and incompetent laws have even prevented and delayed the finding of ways to remove the “drug’s” psychotropic side effects and make it safe for use!
Read more →
Perhaps most, if not all, of you think of gangsters, terrorists, drug dealers and low-life “users” when you think of the word marijuana. And, with all the idiocy going on by politicians over “legalization” you might also think of societal breakdown, corruption, destruction of families… loss of moral values.
Or, after being beaten into a frazzle by the constant bombardment of so-called “do-gooders” on the media, you may be starting to feel guilty for living the life you’ve always lived trying to do right, knowing what you know about human nature and thinking what you think about the good and evil you’ve seen all around you during your life.
Read more →
If Dr. George Papanicolaou isn’t considered with our list of the top 50 influential physicians of all time; then, who is?
I must confess that I must have said the words “Pap test” thousands of times in my training without once thinking about the man whose name those words were associated with.
Read more →
Yea, I know there have been some reports about possible “benefits” of smoking Marijuana but you have to realize that I’m from THE generation where Leary convinced millions of gullibles to indiscriminately use drugs of all kinds with the sweeping generality: “look man, it don’t hurt nobody if I do it!”
That was looooong before the goofball that told me that had absolutely ANY proof of what he was saying… one way or the other. NOW we do!
Read more →
To my way of thinking the very thought that medical researchers are forced to stop what they are doing on important issues beyond our control and do research to prove that marijuana is bad for you and shouldn’t be used as a “toy” is unconscionable to the extreme.
We just can’t let the scammers and dealers destroy unborn babies like they did pushing tobacco however; so, that’s just what researchers had to do.
Read more →