Three modern emergency physicians and their show's "medical history intern" take a lighthearted, humorous quest through various stories in the history of medicine. New episodes every two weeks and a bonus episode once per month. Topics span from ancient times to relatively recent history, all related to important advancements, people, or discoveries in the history of medicine. To provide feedback, check out merch, and to support the show in other ways, head on over to our website: www.poorhi ...
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The First U.S. Opiate Crisis: The Civil War and the Opium Eaters
1:00:47
1:00:47
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History does have a way of repeating itself--at least in broad strokes. In this episode we'll discuss the first opiate crisis the U.S. ever suffered and do a bit of comparison to modern times. From opium, to morphine, to heroin, these substances have been a part of civilization for much longer than most realize. If you or someone you know may be st…
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Alcohol in Civilization, Culture, and Medical History
1:08:41
1:08:41
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It's probably popular knowledge that alcohol as a substance of use--and potential misuse--has been with humankind since our earliest days. In this episode, Dr. Mike explores the earliest references to alcohol and takes us through a tour of it's evolution alongside various cultures and eventual recognition as a poison that is capable of great harm. …
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Royal Pains: Medical Movie Show Review
1:19:07
1:19:07
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Thanks to a fan suggestion, we went ahead and gave this TV series about an ER doctor turned concierge physician for the rich and famous a try. It had its moments. ----- Patreon Page (support the show) ----- Submit a Question for Non-Medical Advice Segment (website form with instructions) ----- Podcast Linktree (social media links / reviews / rating…
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We've had many requests for this topic over the years and Dr. Aaron finally took charge of it. We'll explore the crossroads of medical history and medical ethics as it applies to the case of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who's peculiar tumor cells lived on to be the source of numerous medical discoveries--albeit without her permission.…
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Milk Sickness: The Story of Anna Pierce and a Uniquely American Deadly Historic Diagnosis
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In the early 19th century, pioneers on the American western frontier were dying of an unusual illness. It even claimed the life of Nancy Lincoln, mother of the accomplished wrestler (and incidental president of the U.S.), Abraham Lincoln. The cause of this mysterious illness was known to one Anna Pierce as well as the Native American populations of…
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We have a new piece of medicine infused awful cinema to check out. We reviewed Madame Web and boy was it bad, not only as a movie, but also as a portrayal of EMS medicine. Way to go, Marvel. ----- Patreon Page (support the show) ----- Submit a Question for Non-Medical Advice Segment (website form with instructions) ----- Podcast Linktree (social me…
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Preventing Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn: The Discovery of RhoGAM and the "Man with the Golden Arm"
51:45
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In the 1930's (and before), there was a mysterious cause of infant mortality. An astonishing number of newborns were victim to a mismatch between their blood type, and that of their mothers. Doctors at the time were not sure why this was happening. This is the story of the discovery of the cure for that condition and a man who went above and beyond…
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Strolling into Steroids: Pedestrianism and the History of Performance Enhancement in Sports
1:17:01
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If you can believe it, watching people walk around was once a spectator sport. It was the Gilded Age and there weren't many options for sport entertainment. We'll investigate how the participants in this early sport-ish activity helped inform the more modern practices of performance enhancing substance use as we know them today. We'll touch on cycl…
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The Resident Episode 2: Medical TV Show Roast
1:29:58
1:29:58
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We said that episode one of this TV series was bad, medically and critically speaking. Maybe that's not fair. It was a pilot, after all. We went ahead and checked out episode 2. It was worse. ----- Patreon Page (support the show) ----- Submit a Question for Non-Medical Advice Segment (website form with instructions) ----- Podcast Linktree (social m…
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The Green Tongue Epidemic in Post World War II Japan
1:06:41
1:06:41
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When a mysterious gastrointestinal illness starts turning into a dangerous neurologic disease accompanied by green tongues in post WWII Japan, researches scramble to find out why people are becoming sick. We'll do a deep dive on this one to figure out the cause. Sources: -https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-cure-is-cause-180967666/ -…
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The Discovery of Viagra (aka Sildenafil) With a History of Erectile Dysfunction and Priapism Treatments
53:18
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From the discovery of this well-known medication, to the science behind its function, and spanning all the way to treatments for the underlying condition of erectile dysfunction as well as a complication of said treatments called priapism, this episode covers a lot of ground. As you might imagine, there will be discussions of male genitalia, the ex…
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The Resident: A Poor Historians Medical TV Show Breakdown & Review
1:35:17
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The Patrons have spoken! They suggested we lend our medical expertise in a new and unique manner, by watching, reacting, and reviewing a popular medical show. We chose "The Resident" and boy-oh-boy was it bad. Whether you're a fan of that particular show or have yet to see it, this episode will let you experience all it's medically inaccurate glory…
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President Cleveland's Secret Surgery (With Presidencies of the United States Podcast)
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We invited Jerry Landry, host of the exceptional Presidencies of the U.S. Podcast onto the show today to help us discuss the clandestine surgery at sea that was done on President Grover Cleveland in the late 1800's. It was kind of a big deal. Listen to the end to hear a teaser on the upcoming Patron inspired TV show review. We'll talk about it afte…
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Charles Darwin, Kissing Bugs, and Chagas Disease
53:01
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Charles Darwin, the famous naturalist of the 19th century, was a big fan of collecting specimens. Some of those specimens would crawl around and feed on one's blood. In this episode we'll talk about the life of Darwin and the medical history of his death, considering that a fascinating infectious disease may have been a contributing factor. Sources…
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Death To Beauty: The Transformative History of Botox with Dr. Eugene Helveston (Book Biopsy)
51:37
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Botox, the widely popular injectable medication, has been on the market and popular for a while now. What you might not realize is that there's an intricate and fascinating story behind the discovery of Botox, a literal bacterial toxin. This episode welcomes physician and author, Dr. Eugene Helveston to the show to discuss his book, "Death to Beaut…
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Napoleon's Narcissism: Discussing a Conqueror's Personality Disorder
48:19
48:19
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On this episode, Mike leads a discussion of the history of defining narcissistic personality disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis. Starting with Napoleon Bonaparte, and including other historical examples, we'll examine the diagnosis as defined through different perspectives in time. Enjoy this unique approach to this historic giant. Sources: -https…
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The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Story of Problematic Behavioral Health Research
58:34
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Behavioral health is certainly within the bounds of medicine and, thereby, medical history. The Stanford Prison Experiment asked the question of whether the environment of prison compelled bad behavior from those within the system. In order to study this, this 1970's university psychology experiment went to extreme lengths to turn its research subj…
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Dr. Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life (Book Biopsy with Author, Emily Sweeney)
51:55
51:55
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If you're like me (Dr. Max) and the words "Dropkick Murphy" conjure images of the legendary Boston-based punk rock band, you might be surprised to know the history behind that name. In this interview, Dr. Max sat down to interview Emily Sweeney, a staff reporter for the Boston Globe and author of a book on Dr. John "Dropkick" Murphy, who was not on…
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Alexander the Great's Final Illness: Medicine in Ancient Macedonia
58:46
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He conquered many lands, sailed many seas, and was finally awarded his own Netflix miniseries, but at the age of 32, the ruler of Macedonia known throughout the ages as Alexander the Great, died in the palace of a Babylonian king shortly after a night of partying. There have been numerous potential explanations as to what happened. In this episode …
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This is a fascinating dive into the world of genetics, set against a backdrop of a curious dermatology finding, and ending with one of the most interesting and convoluted paternity cases you may ever hear about. The Maury show has nothing on this one, trust us. Mike suggested this episode be titled "This is Chimerica!" or "Have you Heard About the …
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Curious Case Vault #3 - A Non-Fatal 19th Century Gunshot Wound to the Head
50:06
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This episode of the Curious Case Vault has an admittedly grim premise--a patient who suffered two gunshot wounds to the head. In this discussion, Alba leads us through a case of a young Brooklyn, NY man who, in the spring of 1888, sustained what could have been a devastating injury in any time in history. In his case, we'll see how the neurosurgeon…
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The Milwaukee Protocol: A Rabies Survival Story
1:02:58
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Rabies is a fascinating and frightening infectious disease. It has a long history in the natural world and stories involving a case of it rarely end on a happy note. It just so happens there is at least one such story. In this episode we'll talk about one of the only documented cases of survival from this viral infection. We'll discuss the disease …
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Patented Poison: Radithor and the Fate of Eben Byers
59:54
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The 1920's was a time in the U.S. when anybody with a clever sales pitch and a willingness to pull a patent could devise a concoction and call it a "medication." Unfortunately, the heyday of the "patent medicine" era coincided with the discovery of radium before the downstream consequences of radioactivity were known. The wealthy industrialist, Ebe…
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A 30 year old woman in 1842 comes down with an awful gastrointestinal illness and a physician is called. He recounts the case in this article and asks if this might have been something called "Cholera Morbus." We'll go through the case, talk about causes for this sort of thing, and do our best to guess the diagnosis. The approach to treating the di…
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Encephalitis Lethargica: A Mysterious Recurring Epidemic Illness
59:59
59:59
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This unusual, recurrent epidemic illness has popped its head in and out of the annals of history. It goes by many names: the English Sweats, coma somnolentum, Schlafkrankheit ("sleep sickness"), and the Nona, to name a few. The last time it was widespread was during the influenza pandemic of 1915-1926, but medical case studies and reports of recurr…
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Composition Under Pressure: George Gershwin - A Neurologic Case from the 1930's.
1:02:12
1:02:12
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Let's do a neurologic case featuring an American music legend who sought help after developing unusual headaches and a distorted sense of smell. We'll figure out what happened and who it is in this installment! Avoid clicking through the references if you wish to keep the mystery intact. References https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140…
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Bellows, Barrels, and Smoke: The History of CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation)
59:35
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CPR (aka cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is a simple way to save a life. When a heart stops, the modern teaching is to "get on the chest" and start giving compressions. But it may surprise nobody that there were early forms of CPR. There were whole committees devoted to this topic. Some of the first ideas were definitely a rough draft. Others were d…
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(Bonus): Curious Case Vault: A Deadly Case of Sore Throat
53:08
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We decided to throw out a little bit of a bonus episode. In what we're calling the Curious Case Vault for now, we'll go into the archives of a well-established medical journal and read a real case report from long ago--1841, to be exact. In this case, with our help as physicians, Alba will puzzle through the case of a 53 year old patient who, unfor…
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Andre the Giant: A History of Gigantism, Acromegaly, and Professional Wrestling
1:06:15
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He was dubbed "The 8th Wonder of the World" in the wrestling universe. The career of Andre the Giant was legendary and interesting on it's own, but on this episode we'll dive into the history of the discovery of gigantism and acromegaly, the condition that gave Andre his astounding stature. We'll talk about other notable cases in history and how ph…
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Cold Hard Steel: The Myth of the Modern Surgeon with Guest: Agnes Arnold-Forster, PhD
59:13
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Who do you picture when someone says the word "surgeon?" There are many common depictions of surgeons in popular media--from TV shows and other avenues of fiction. What makes up the persona of a surgeon? In her book, Cold Hard Steel, author Agnes Arnold-Forster draws upon the historical building blocks of the profession to examine our ideas of who …
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The Mysterious Case of Madamoiselle X: Walking Corpse Syndrome
1:06:54
1:06:54
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Halloween may be approaching, but this is no ghost story. This episode's unusual case takes us back in time to Paris, 1882. It is based on a patient known as Mademoiselle X, who was brought in for evaluation by a French neuropsychologist, Dr. Jules Cotard to discover the reasons for her seemingly strange behavior. What follows in this episode is an…
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Unethical Science: The History of the U.S. Tuskegee and Guatemala Syphilis Experiments
1:11:04
1:11:04
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When you hear the story of how syphilis research was carried out in the United States in the 20th century, you'll probably start to understand why there is a history of mistrust of the medical establishment, especially among the African American community. This episode details one of the bleakest and most shameful chapters in U.S. medical history, …
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Hearth and Hazard: Dr. Percival Pott and the Chimney Sweeper's Affliction
1:06:17
1:06:17
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You've heard the sayings about how hard life was back in the 18th and 19th centuries, but have you ever considered the life of a chimney sweep in London during those times? Far from the cheery character in Mary Poppins, the actual chimney sweeps of the time were children, hired into a very dangerous job. One surgeon made the association between tha…
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Blood and Crystals: A 1990's Medical Mystery Case
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In the 1990's a curious thing happened. When a patient arrived very ill to the emergency department, doctors and nurses were astonished to find crystals in her blood with a foul odor. Why were they smelling the blood? Who knows, it was the 90's? Soon thereafter, multiple people in the hospital room with her started to fall ill. What might have caus…
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Unjust Desserts: Illness vs Ill-Will in 1920's New York City
1:03:25
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This is a historic episode. We'd like to welcome the newest addition to the Poor Historians Podcast crew, the exceptionally talented and enthusiastic new medical history intern, Alba! This is her first episode on the show and we're stoked to have her along on our misadventures. Here we have another mystery case. Aaron will take us through a harrowi…
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Heart Disease: The Mavericks - from the book, The Masters of Medicine, with author, Dr. Andrew Lam
1:06:51
1:06:51
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Esteemed retinal surgeon and accomplished author, Dr. Andrew Lam joined us on the show to discuss multiple foundational stories to explain how modern cardiology came to be. This comes from a chapter out of his most recent book, The Masters of Medicine which also contains other stories about the most important innovations and discoveries from a vari…
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The Medical Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe's Demise
1:10:10
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This episode has a fun twist. Aaron and Mike will go through the case of the famous American author and mastery of mystery and suspense, Edgar Allen Poe's. They'll be presented with his final moments and hospital course, initially not knowing who we're talking about. This is a bit of a look at how physicians brainstorm medical cases to come up with…
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Typhoid Mary - The Story of Salmonella and Mary Mallon
51:08
51:08
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You've probably heard her name before but do you know the real story behind this infamous moniker? The story of Typhoid Mary is a complicated one having to do with public health, an infectious disease, and impressively human stubbornness. We'll talk about Typhoid fever, the bacteria that causes it, and how a healthy person ended up exiled to an isl…
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"The Edinburgh Seven - The Story of the First Women in Medicine" with Guest, Janey Jones.
1:09:11
1:09:11
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New episode this week with special guest @janeyjonesliteraryprincess who joined us to talk about her new book, "The Edinburgh Seven." It's the tale of seven women, led by the inimitable Sophia Jex-Blake who sought to become, along with her colleagues, the first women to be trained in medicine at the #universityofedinburgh. This is the story as well…
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Koch v. Pasteur - Germs, Postulates, and Egos (with Special Guest, Patrick Kelly)
1:11:18
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These two titans of medical history were contemporaries whose scientific sparring was as interesting as it was helpful. By butting heads over topics in microbiology, Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, used a rivalry to further our understanding of infectious disease and both contributed greatly to mitigating the impact that so many different microbes h…
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Tuberculosis Chic: The Most Fashionable Disease of the Victorian Era
1:02:14
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Tuberculosis is an infectious disease of historic proportions. Not only is it still around, infecting an estimated 10+million people in 2021 alone, but in a prior era, in Victorian England, having tuberculosis became something of a fashion achievement, believe it or not. In this episode, we'll explore how having this awful and deadly disease--espec…
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"BONUS" Episode: Dr. William Beaumont and a Famous Gutshot (Radio Drama)
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This episode will be a deviation from our normal format. Unfortunately, the entire episode we'd recorded for release this week was lost to the cyberspace aether. A whole episode just gone from existence. Discovering this with no time to re-record, we decided to release something previously unheard: a Poor Historians Podcast pilot episode. We had pl…
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Osteopathic Medicine and its Founder, A.T. Still
1:23:54
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As the resident Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) on this podcast, Max will lead his MD colleagues through an examination of the roots of osteopathic medicine from its founding by Andrew Taylor Still, its quest to re-define medicine, and its eventual growth into the medical profession it is today. If you've ever wondered why some doctors have D.O. after …
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We'll look inward this week to talk about the history of our own specialty as emergency physicians. People may not be aware that the practice of emergency medicine is relatively new in the house of medicine. Before the 1970's the ER was a very different place as you'll find out. Link to documentary called 24/7/365 on the topic discussed in episode …
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The Fungus Among Us: Historically Bad Fungal Infections
1:05:09
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With the success of "The Last of Us" show, we thought we'd take some time to look at historically important cases of fungal infection. We'll investigate a possible explanation for all those witch trials of yesteryear as well as a common childhood fungal infection that accounted for quite the degree of social upheaval in Victorian England. Also, we'…
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Historical Medical Case Discussion: The Death of Harry Houdini
1:12:23
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There are many misconceptions and myths surrounding the death of the great magician and skeptic, Harry Houdini. Though many believe he may have died during one of his dangerous escape performances, the truth leads to a common diagnosis with a possible uncommon and unusual cause. FYI: Full show notes will be posted to our website. Sources: -https://…
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Early Beginnings of the ICU and Critical Care Medicine
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In this week's episode we'll trace back the beginnings of the modern intensive care unit and critical care medicine as we know it. Much of this arose thanks to two particular infectious diseases--polio and tetanus. Tune in to find out how intrepid Danish physicians collaborated to save the lives of people dying from these diseases and ultimately le…
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A History of Diabetes and the Amazing Discovery of Insulin
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We're back! Many people know that insulin is an important part of the treatment for diabetes. In this episode we'll talk about how insulin was discovered and first used to treat a disease that, throughout the whole of human history, was previously fatal. We'll explain what diabetes is, how it used to be treated in the age before insulin, and how a …
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Apologies but we'll have to delay the episode another week. Technical issues + scheduling conflicts + illness have all made for difficulty getting the episode done on our usual schedule. Also, the podcast will be moving back to releases every two weeks. Good changes in Max's career have unfortunately overtaken the free time he'd had to increase the…
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M&M (Museums and Medicine): The Old Operating Theatre Museum in London England with Monica Walker, PhD
1:19:47
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While we've discussed numerous famous Victorian era surgeons, we haven't taken this deep of a dive into their facilities. This week we bring you a conversation with Monica Walker, PhD, all the way from London, England. This episode runs a bit longer than the others but that's just where the interview took us. So many neat tidbits. We'll talk about …
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