Month: October 2023

Index Home Refuge is to seek protection. Thus, a refugees is an individual who looses protection in their country, and is forced to flee. This loss of protection is usually a consequence of war, ethnic strife, or persecution. It may also be due to disasters such as famines or floods. However, current definition requires well founded… Continue reading Refugee health: distraught and displaced

Index Home While we knew for a long time, that blood travels inside conduits or vessels, we did not have much of clarity, till the middle of 16th century. It was only in 1540s, when Andreas Vesalius, a surgeon, anatomist and a medical illustrator drew it all. He first dissected actual human cadavers, and produced illustrations… Continue reading How did we start seeing our vessels: A history of angiography

Index Home Israel honoured two medical scientists, with a postage stamp-set in 1994. Both, worked on vaccines to prevent infections that are common in the tropics. Both were born, and received their early schooling in regions that were once part of Russian Empire. Being Jew, and faced with persecution, their families migrated westwards. India benefited from… Continue reading Medical scientists on Israeli stamps, and their Indian connection

Index Home Some discoveries are serendipitous. Born in 1881, medicine was not an initial choice for Alexander Flemming. He initially studied in a polytechnic and later worked in a shipping office for four years, before enrolling in St Mary’s medical school. In 1906, he had completed MBBS, and was contemplating training in surgery. His colleagues in… Continue reading A Mold that saved the world

Index Home Medical students know a deal about microscopists and scientists Robert Koch (who discovered TB bacillus), Rudolf Virchow (who gave us number of terms in pathology) , and Louis Pasteur (a pioneer in development of fermentation, preservation and vaccines). There may be a number of forgotten scientists, but one I stumbled on recently through a… Continue reading A medical scientist forgotten from the public view