Index Home Our previous blog was a gallery of medical personnel with flowing beards. These flowing beards, a sign of wisdom till late 19th century, slowly faded away. Yet, facial hair did not disappear all of a sudden. In keeping with the times, doctors did wear various moustache and beard styles, before becoming clean-shaven in mid… Continue reading Why did doctors shed their facial hair
Month: June 2024
About flowing beards, wisdom and medical men
Index Home One of my postage stamp albums is about personalities. Quite like a ‘Guess-who‘ game, you can never miss the flowing beards of many famous personalities, especially those who lived more than a 100 years ago. Probably a flowing beard was a sign of intellect, before it was trimmed, shortened and eventually disappeared. It seems… Continue reading About flowing beards, wisdom and medical men
Bekhterev: A top Russian neurologist who had a mysterious end
Index Home The Lancet, a leading medical Journal in an article in its 2017 issue describes Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev as the most productive Russian scientist of his time. He published more than scientific 1700 papers. There are about twenty clinical signs, structures, diseases and phenomenon that carry his name. Most famous of these is Bekhterev’s disease, we… Continue reading Bekhterev: A top Russian neurologist who had a mysterious end
A doctor who was slaughtered with his 200 children
Index Home Each postage stamp is a window, not only to its glorious but also to its gory past. I came across one such 1978 postage stamp from Germany, on 100 years of Janusz Korczak, a doctor from Warsaw, Poland. Janusz was born in 1878 as Henryk Goldszmit. Twenty years later, he chose Janusz Korczak as… Continue reading A doctor who was slaughtered with his 200 children
Yoga: An Indian cultural export to the world
Index Home Yoga is a centuries-old practice that combines physical, mental, and spiritual elements to promote overall well-being and harmony. The word means – “to join”. It joins mind and the body. Rooted in ancient Indian philosophy, yoga has gained immense popularity worldwide as a holistic approach to health and self-discovery. Yoga describes a series of… Continue reading Yoga: An Indian cultural export to the world
Round blood cells get curved to clog our vessels
Index Home Our red blood cells are spherical, slightly flattened on the top and the bottom. This shape allows them to squeeze through tiny blood vessels. A genetic disease that goes by the name sickle cell disease (SCD) makes these cells curved or sickle in shape. Since this is a genetic condition, limited in its geography… Continue reading Round blood cells get curved to clog our vessels
Caring for age and to cherish our lives
Index Home We do not want to age, yet all of us will. We also want to live long, and defy both age and death. However, this wish gets fulfilled in mythology, and for a selected few. Hindu mythology identifies seven ‘immortals’ or ‘chiranjeevis‘. Six of these were blessed (Hanuman, Parashuram, Vibhishan, Mahabali, Kripacharya, and Ved… Continue reading Caring for age and to cherish our lives
Blood banking: Life in a bag
Index Home Blood is life. Human beings know it well. Over the centuries we have bled many of our own to death. In Mythology and history, blood represents valor, kinship, revenge and vitality. For example, in Indian mythology, goddess Kali sucks entire blood of a demon, to prevent its regeneration. There is also a reference to… Continue reading Blood banking: Life in a bag
Persecution, Politics and Science in China
Index Home Between 1988 and 2022, China post issued nine sets of postage in a series with a title “Scientists of modern China“. This series has a total of 38 postage stamps, three of them related to medical science. Most others are physicists, chemists, mathematicians and architects. Three medical scientists in the series Tang Feifan, Zhang… Continue reading Persecution, Politics and Science in China
The rise and fall of needle less injections: jet-inject
Index Home The other day, I was browsing through my cachet of health postage stamps. I came across a peculiar injection device in use in some stamps. This device was invented in 1960s, and was extensively used for mass-vaccinations. This device called jet-inject, could deliver injections, without a needle. However, more serious concerns in early 1980s… Continue reading The rise and fall of needle less injections: jet-inject