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
Author: rjoshimgims
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
Only a handful of women medics, who found their way into postal stamps
Index Home Today many countries enrol more women than men in their medical schools. India reached this landmark in 2011. Among OECD countries, these proportions are highest in the Baltics (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia), where more than two-thirds of all doctors are women. Bottom four in this list are Japan, Korea, Luxembourg and the United States.… Continue reading Only a handful of women medics, who found their way into postal stamps
How “Paracelsus” changed the course of medicine ?
Index Home The name ‘Paracelsus’ itself is a mystery. A Swiss-German chemist, born in 1493 had an unusually long name-Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. In 1507, he embarked on a journey to become a physician and in this process he rejected all the then available medical texts. By 1526, he had travelled across most parts… Continue reading How “Paracelsus” changed the course of medicine ?
Transkei and its series on heroes of medicine
Index Home I had never heard about Transkei till I stumbled on its postage stamps. This country does not exist today. When it did, except one, none recognised it. Transkei was not alone, there were four that swam and sank together. Together these were TVBC – Transkei, Venda, Bophuthatswana and Ciskei – the four so-called homelands… Continue reading Transkei and its series on heroes of medicine
Einstein gets operated and Nissen is his surgeon
Index Home Albert Einstein In 1921, at 42 years of age, Einstein was a Nobel Laureate. He was a celebrated physicist, a genius, and a sought after speaker. The next year, he was representing Germany on International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations. Based out of Berlin, he was touring around the world. In 1933,… Continue reading Einstein gets operated and Nissen is his surgeon
A Canadian and an Indian doctor who served in China
Index Home In 1931 Japan had occupied Manchuria, in north eastern China. This marked beginning of Japanese occupation of China. Six years later, in 1937 Japan occupied larger Chinese territory. Thus began Sino-Japanese wars from 1937 to 1945. This war was devastating, with large casualties on the Chinese side. The republican and communist Chinese sides were… Continue reading A Canadian and an Indian doctor who served in China
Siebold: A German doctor, who served Dutch, and lived in Japan
Index Home 19th century was an age of exploration. European powers were in unchartered waters, and their expeditions were now in far ends of the world. Rare breed of such explorers were doctors, who travelled far to quench their curiosities. Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold, or Siebold for this blog, was one of them. Born on… Continue reading Siebold: A German doctor, who served Dutch, and lived in Japan