Iodine, salt and smiling sun: A forgotten story
Iodine While salt is ancient, Iodine is relatively recent. It was 1811, and Europe was perpetually in a war. Gun-powder was in a short supply, and a French Chemist Bernard…
Dr TM Nair: A doctor politician in Madras Presidency
Many doctors may have come across a Monthly Medical Journal "The Antiseptic". This Journal - A monthly publication of medicine and Surgery, was established in the year 1904, in Madras…
Mirror, mirror on the wall… light it bends, to show it all.
Mirror reflects. It is so honest, that we frequently invoke a mirror for a reality check. In ancient times, mirrors were an item of luxury, made up from polished metals.…
Silhouettes of risk and their impact on our healthy lives
We all aspire to be healthy, yet with each passing day we navigate through its risks. Most of these risks are unseen, hidden in details, and they often impact us…
The first multinational HIV philately campaign by UPAEP 2000
Unión Postal de las Américas, España y Portugal or UPAEP is a postal organization of 28 member countries. It was set up in the year 1911 to improve postal linkages…
Bassini led the way for a perfect hernia repair
Bassini and his injury Edoardo Bassini was an Italian surgeon, and as the fate would have it he devoted his life for a perfect hernia repair. Born in 1844, he…
Golgi and Cajal: Two adversaries who shared a Nobel Prize
The prize It was 1906, and the Nobel committee declared that that years Prize for medicine was to be given for visualization of Neurons. It was to be shared by…
Sickle cell elimination is on a mission mode
On 19th August 2025, Sickle Cell elimination mission announced that it had completed screening of 6 crore individuals. As of now the program envisages screening entire population (upto 18 years…
Lunatic asylums: Borne out of shame and contempt
Advent of Lunatic Asylums in India British traders came to India in the 17th century, and over next 150 years became colonialists. The year 1757 is considered as a turning…
Finsen’s Nobel Prize for letting light to heal
Finsen's chemical light to heal Niels Finsen was born in 1860 in Faroe Islands, a remote Danish territory located in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Norway. He lived on…