Bedside Rounds

Latest Episodes:

74 - R2D2 Sep 03, 2023

What does it mean when a computer can make better medical decisions than a human? The progress in large language models, and in particular the popularity of ChatGPT, has brought these questions to the forefront in 2023, but we’ve been discussing this for over 50 years. In this episode, Dr. Shani Herzig and I are going all the way back to the early 1970s with the invention of AAPHELP, the first real clinical decision support system, and the first time doctors had to contemplate working with – or competing against – computer systems.

73 - Seadragon Jun 26, 2023

What happens when a patient far from surgical care – say, at the bottom of the Pacific ocean on a submarine, or at a research base in Antarctica in the middle of the winter – develops a surgical abdomen? This dilemma was the impetus to build the first truly effective clinical decision support system – and to grapple with what it means when a computer can make better medical decisions than a doctor. In this episode, part one of three, we discuss the dramatic stories of appendectomies at Novolazarevskaya and aboard the submarine Seadragon. Also, there’s a brand new #AdamAnswers about the origin of the word “scut.”

72 - Problems Mar 20, 2023

American doctors spend the majority of their time during the day on the computer, either writing or reading notes about their patients; only a small fraction is spent with the human beings in their care. Technology itself – especially the electronic medical record – has often been blamed for this. But in this episode – a recorded grand rounds that I gave at the San Francisco VA in 2022 – I argue that this alienation has its roots in the way we’ve decided to organize clinical data, and the assumptions that we’ve made about the nature of medical care. In particular, I’m going to discuss one of the most influential medical thinkers of the second half of the 20th century, Larry Weed, his invention of the problem-oriented medical record and the SOAP note, and how his insight – that medical documentation fundamentally influences how we think about our patients – changed the way we think about our patients.

71 - A Doctor's Work, part 2 Jan 16, 2023

In the past episode, cultural and medical historians Lakshmi Krishnan and Mike Neuss discussed the history of the actual work of the doctor – Holmesian detective, data entry clerk, or something else altogether. In this episode, we conclude our discussion by talking about what type of metaphors are best suited for clinical work. Plus a brand new #AdamAnswers about the reason that American doctors are so obsessed with using, well, the # symbol in our notes.

70 - A Doctor's Work Dec 19, 2022

What do doctors actually do? Are they Sherlockian detectives, hunting down obscure clues to solve intractable cases? Are they virtuosic experts, training for half a lifetime to bring the latest science to bear to cure disease? Or are they clerks, whose main job is to collect and enter data into the electronic health record? In this episode, Adam is joined by medical and cultural historians Lakshmi Krishnan and Mike Neuss to discuss the stories we tell about our own work – and how this often conflicts with the realities of clinical practice.

69 - The Database Oct 31, 2022

How do doctors actually think? And if we can answer that, can we train a computer to do a better job? In the post-WW2 period, a group of iconoclastic physicians set about to redefine the nature and structure of clinical reasoning and tried to build a diagnostic machine. Though they would ultimately fail, their failure set the stage for the birth of the electronic health records, formalized the review of systems, and set up a metacognitive conflict that remains unresolved to this day. This episode, entitled “The Database,” is the second part of this on the history of diagnosis with Gurpreet Dhaliwal.

68 - The History Jul 25, 2022

Internal medicine physicians like to pride ourselves on our clinical reasoning – the ability to talk to any patient, pluck out seemingly random bits of information, and make a mystery diagnosis. But how does this actually work? In this episode, called The History, I’ll be joined by Gurpreet Dhaliwal as we explore the beginnings of our understanding on how clinical reasoning works – starting in the middle of the 19th century with polar tensions between two ways of approaching our patients that are still felt today. Along the way, we’ll talk about the American Civil War, Car Talk, Sherlock Holmes, and whether the practice of medicine can ever be considered a science.

Sources:

Fitzgerald F, Curiosity. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/0003-4819-130-1-199901050-00015
Montgomery K, How Doctors Thinks (amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/How-Doctors-Think-Clinical-Judgment/dp/0195187121)
Da Costa J, Medical Diagnosis, 1864. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL23402241M/Medical_diagnosis

The Facemaker with Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris (#histmedconsultservice) Jun 07, 2022

Modern plastic surgery was born out of the horrors of trench warfare in World War I. In this episode, Adam interviews historian Lindsey Fitzharris about her new book The Facemaker, about the life of surgeon Harold Gillies and his quest to rebuild his patients' faces.

67 - Fever on the Frontier Mar 21, 2022

In the early 19th century, a strange new illness, seemingly unknown to medicine, ravaged settler communities in the American Middle West. As fierce debates about this new disease, now called milk sickness, raged – was it from toxic swamp gasses? arsenic in the soil? infectious microorganisms? from the poor constitutions of the settlers – an irregular medicine woman named Dr. Anna and an indigenous Shawnee healer discovered the cause of the disease and successfully prevented it in their community. But their discovery went unheeded for over a half century. This is a live podcast that I gave to the South Dakota chapter of the American College of Physicians – plus a new Stethospeaks with Dr. Umme H. Faisal on the history of Resusci-Annie’s mysteriously serene face!

Teepublic store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/bedsiderounds

Sources:

DOYLE JT. Milk sickness. N C Med J. 1947 Jul;8(7):404-10. PMID: 20250350.
Furbee L, Snively WD Jr. Milk sickness, 1811-1966: a bibliography. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 1968 Jul;23(3):276-85. doi: 10.1093/jhmas/xxiii.3.276. PMID: 4875594.
HARTMANN AF Sr, HARTMANN AF Jr, PURKERSON ML, WESLEY ME. Tremetol poisoning--not yet extinct. JAMA. 1963 Aug 31;185:706-9. doi: 10.1001/jama.1963.03060090038014. PMID: 13953145.
Niederhofer RE. The milk sickness. Drake on medical interpretation. JAMA. 1985 Oct 18;254(15):2123-5. PMID: 3900448.
Pickard ME and Buley RC, The Midwest Pioneer; His Ills, Cures, & Doctors. 1945.
Snively WD Jr, Furbee L. Discoverer of the cause of milk sickness (Anna Pierce Hobbs Bixby). JAMA. 1966 Jun 20;196(12):1055-60. PMID: 5327806.
Stenn F. Pioneer History of Milk Sickness. Ann Med Hist. 1937 Jan;9(1):23-29. PMID: 33943945; PMCID: PMC7942921.
Townsend RB. Milk sickness- a plague on the new west. Scalpel Tongs. 1999 Jan-Feb;43(1):13-5. PMID: 11623628.
Walker JW. Milk-sickness. Science. 1886 Dec 10;8(201):540. doi: 10.1126/science.ns-8.201.540. PMID: 17741312.

66 - Burnout Jan 08, 2022

Burnout seems to stalk healthcare workers; between a third and a half of doctors and nurses had symptoms of burnout BEFORE the COVID-19 pandemic. Major medical associations have recognized burnout as a serious problem and the condition is being added to ICD-11 as an “occupational phenomenon.” How did we get ourselves into this situation? How has burnout gotten so bad? In this episode, the first #HistMedConsultService, I’m joined by historians of healthcare and emotions Agnes Arnold-Forster and Sam Schotland to historicize burnout. Along the way, we’ll talk about the different structural factors that have colored burnout in North America and the United Kingdom; the disgruntled pediatrician syndrome, physician “impairment”, whether burnout is a disease, and what we might all be able to do to make everyone less miserable.

Sources:

65 - The Last Breath Nov 05, 2021

How can we medically tell whether or not someone is alive or dead? The answer is much more complicated than you'd think. In this episode, which is a live podcast I gave with Tony Breu at the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Physicians annual meeting on October 16, 2021, we track the evolution and controversies of the death exam, from a trans-Atlantic scandal surrounding a possible vivisection, a 19th century “X-prize” to determine a technology that could diagnose death, the important distinction between “permanent” and irreversible, and the mysterious Lazarus phenomenon.

References:

Rodman A, Breu A. The last breath: historical controversies surrounding determination of cardiopulmonary death. Chest. 2021; [online ahead of print August 13, 2021]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2021.08.006

64 - A Vicious Circle Oct 04, 2021

During World War II, the US Army launched a seemingly routine experiment to find the ideal way to screen soldiers for tuberculosis. Jacob Yerushalmy, the statistician in charge of this project, would succeed at this task -- and end up fundamentally changing our conception of medical diagnosis in the process. This episode features Dr. Shani Herzig, as well as a new segment featuring Dr. Umme H. Faisal on Yellapragada Subbarow and his discovery of ATP.

Bedside Rounds store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/bedsiderounds

Umme H. Faisal on Twitter: @stethospeaks

63 - Signals Aug 23, 2021

What does it mean when different physicians disagree about a diagnosis? I am joined by Dr. Shani Herzig as we explore this issue in the second part of my series on the development of diagnosis. We’re going to discuss the advent of signal detection theory in the middle of the 20th century as new diagnostics such as laboratory testing and x-rays started to challenge the classical view of diagnosis. Along the way, we’re going to talk about focal infection theory and why it seems that everyone in older generations had their tonsils removed as children, early and very inefficient chest x-rays, British radar operators trying to figure out if they were looking at a flock of geese or a German bomber, and finally probably one of the most important people in medical diagnostics that you’ve never heard of -- Jacob Yerushalmy.

If you want to purchase any Bedside Rounds swag, the store is at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/bedsiderounds.

62 - The Sisters Blackwell May 10, 2021

Elizabeth Blackwell -- the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States -- and her sister Emily Blackwell are some of the most important physicians of the 19th century, firmly establishing the role of women as physicians, starting an infirmary and hospital for poor women and children, and founding a women’s medical college that was decades ahead of its time. In this episode, Dr. Nora Taranto joins me to explore the legacy of the Blackwells along with Janice Nimura, who recently published a biography of the sisters.

61 - Etymologies Mar 29, 2021

Words matter. At its best, etymology gives us insight not only into the origins of words, but why they remain so important today, especially in medicine, where we’ve been accruing jargon for millennia. In this episode, we’re delving into four specific words -- doctor, cerebrovascular accident, rounds, and zebras. And along the way, we’re going to discuss pre-historical pastoralists on the Eurasian steppes, medieval universities, Octagonal air-ventilated chambers in 19th century Baltimore, and of course, early 21st century sitcoms.

Works cited:

OSLER W. THE NATURAL METHOD OF TEACHING THE SUBJECT OF MEDICINE. JAMA. 1901;XXXVI(24):1673–1679. doi:10.1001/jama.1901.52470240001001
Fair, A 2014, 'A Laboratory of Heating and Ventilation: The Johns Hopkins Hospital as experimental architecture, 1870–90', The Journal of Architecture, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 357-81.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2014.930063
Engelhardt E. Apoplexy, cerebrovascular disease, and stroke: Historical evolution of terms and definitions. Dement Neuropsychol. 2017 Oct-Dec;11(4):449-453. doi: 10.1590/1980-57642016dn11-040016. PMID: 29354227; PMCID: PMC5770005.
Coupland AP, Thapar A, Qureshi MI, Jenkins H, Davies AH. The definition of stroke. J R Soc Med. 2017 Jan;110(1):9-12. doi: 10.1177/0141076816680121. Epub 2017 Jan 13. PMID: 28084167; PMCID: PMC5298424.
An Updated Definition of Stroke for the 21st Century
Ralph L. Sacco, MD, MS, FAHA, FAAN, Co-Chair, Scott E. Kasner, MD, MSCE, FAHA, FAAN, Co-Chair, Joseph P. Broderick, MD, FAHA, Louis R. Caplan, MD, J.J. (Buddy) Connors, MD, Antonio Culebras, MD, FAHA, FAAN, Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS, FAHA, FAAN, Mary G. George, MD, MSPH, FAHA, Allen D. Hamdan, MD, Randall T. Higashida, MD, Brian L. Hoh, MD, FAHA, L. Scott Janis, PhD, Carlos S. Kase, MD, Dawn O. Kleindorfer, MD, FAHA, Jin-Moo Lee, MD, PhD, Michael E. Moseley, PhD, Eric D. Peterson, MD, MPH, FAHA, Tanya N. Turan, MD, MS, FAHA, Amy L. Valderrama, PhD, RN, and Harry V. Vinters, MD on behalf of the American Heart Association Stroke Council, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention, Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing, Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease, and Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism
Harrison F, Roberts AE, Gabrilska R, Rumbaugh KP, Lee C, Diggle SP. A 1,000-Year-Old Antimicrobial Remedy with Antistaphylococcal Activity. mBio. 2015;6(4):e01129. Published 2015 Aug 11. doi:10.1128/mBio.01129-15
Furner-Pardoe J, Anonye BO, Cain R, Moat J, Ortori CA, Lee C, Barrett DA, Corre C, Harrison F. Anti-biofilm efficacy of a medieval treatment for bacterial infection requires the combination of multiple ingredients. Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 28;10(1):12687. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-69273-8. PMID: 32724094; PMCID: PMC7387442.
American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, third edition, 2011
Oxford English Dictionary Online
Johnson S, Dictionary. Retrieved online: https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/doctor-noun/
Riva MA. No renaissance for doctors in Shakespeare's plays. BMJ. 2017 May 22;357:j2223. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j2223. PMID: 28533302.

60 - Santa's Salmonella Dec 24, 2020

For a special holiday treat, we’re going to explore two tales of salmonella disease detectives -- the first about Mary Mallon (“Typhoid Mary”) and the birth of the genre; and the second about a mysterious salmonella outbreak at Massachusetts General Hospital solved with the assistance of a very jolly patient. Along the way, we’ll talk about clinical epidemiology, the long-lasting influence of Berton Roueché, and the joys of being an internist!

You can sign up for the Digital Education conference at cmeregistration.hms.harvard.edu/digitaleducation.

Sources:

Buckle GC, Fischer Walker CL, and Black RE, Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever: Systematic review to estimate global morbidity and mortality for 2010.J Glob Health. 2012 Jun; 2(1): 010401.
Marineli F et al, Mary Mallon (1869-1938) and the history of typhoid fever.Ann Gastroenterol. 2013; 26(2): 132–134.
Soper GA, The Curious Career of Typhoid Mary, read on May 10, 1939 before the Section of Historical and Cultural Medicine. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1911442/pdf/bullnyacadmed00595-0063.pdf
Norrington B, Cochineal: A Little Insect Goes a Long Way, UCSB Geography.
Roueche B, The Santa Claus Culture, The New Yorker, Aug 27, 1971.
Lang DJ et al, Carmine as a Source of Nosocomial Salmonellosis, NEJM. Apr 13, 1967.

You can buy Medical Detectives here: https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Detectives-Collection-Award-Winning-Investigative/dp/0452265886

59 - Cry of the Suffering Organs Nov 30, 2020

Diagnosis is arguably the most important job of a physician. But what does it actually mean to make a diagnosis? In this episode, we’ll explore this question by tracking the development of the “classical” model of diagnosis and pathological anatomy and discussing three cases over three hundred years. Along the way, we’ll ponder the concept of the lesion, iatromechanistic theories of the human machine, the birth of the International Classification of Diseases, and the rise and decline of the autopsy.

You can sign up for the iMED Digital Education conference at cmeregistration.hms.harvard.edu/digitaleducation.

Sources:

Hooper R, The Physician’s Vade-Mecum: Containing the Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Prognosis and Treatment of Diseases. 1812.
Holdman L et al, The Value of the Autopsy in Three Medical Eras. N Engl J Med 1983; 308:1000-1005.
Cabot RC et al. CASE RECORDS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITALANTE-MORTEM AND POST-MORTEM RECORDS AS USED IN WEEKLY CLINICO-PATHOLOGICAL EXERCISES. Case 9431. Boston Med Surg J 1923; 189:595-599.
Shojania KG and Burton EC, The Vanishing Nonforensic Autopsy. N Engl J Med 2008; 358:873-875
Morgagni GB. The seats and causes of diseases investigated by anatomy in five books, containing a great variety of dissections, with remarks. To which are added ... copious indexes. 1769. Retrieved online: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15821973W/The_seats_and_causes_of_diseases_investigated_by_anatomy
Castiglioni A, GB Morgagni and the Anatomico-pathological Conception of the Clinical. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, November 7, 1934.
Thiene G, Padua University: The role it has played in the History of Medicine and Cardiology and its position today. European Heart Journal, Volume 30, Issue 6, March 2009, Pages 629–635.
Zampieri F et al, Origin and development of modern medicine at the University of Padua and the role of the “Serenissima” Republic of Venice. Glob Cardiol Sci Pract. 2013; 2013(2): 149–162.
Conner, Annastasia (2017) "Galen’s Analogy: Animal Experimentation and Anatomy in the Second Century C.E.," Anthós: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 9.
Zampieri F et al. The clinico-pathological conference, based upon Giovanni Battista Morgagni's legacy, remains of fundamental importance even in the era of the vanishing autopsy. Virchows Arch. 2015 Sep;467(3):249-54.
Ghosh SK, Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771): father of pathologic anatomy and pioneer of modern medicine. Anat Sci Int. 2017 Jun;92(3):305-312.
O’Neal JC, Auenbrugger, Corvisart, and the Perception of Disease. Eighteenth-Century Studies Vol. 31, No. 4, The Mind/Body Problem (Summer, 1998), pp. 473-489
Brown TM, THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF IATROMECHANISM IN ENGLAND, 1665-1695. Bulletin of the History of Medicine Vol. 44, No. 1 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1970), pp. 12-30
Roos AM, Luminaries in Medicine: Richard Mead, James Gibbs, and Solar and Lunar Effects on the Human Body in Early Modern England. Bulletin of the History of Medicine Vol. 74, No. 3 (Fall 2000), pp. 433-457 (25 pages)
Frith J, History of Tuberculosis. Part 1 – Phthisis, consumption and the White Plague. JMVH. 2014; 22(2).
World Health Organization, History of the development of the ICD. https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/HistoryOfICD.pdf
Laennec RTH, A treatise on diseases of the chest and on mediate auscultation. 1834. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/b21987002.
Marinker M, Why make people patients? J Med Ethics. 1975 Jul; 1(2): 81–84.
King LS, Medical Thinking: A Historical Preface. Princeton University Press, 2016.

The House of Pod: How medical podcasting made me a better doctor and educator … and how it might change the future of medical education for everyone Nov 23, 2020

In this episode, I talk about my podcasting journey -- how I started Bedside Rounds for inspiration during a low period in residency, how it changed me as a physician, and how it has changed my views about digital education and the future of medical education in general. This is a live recording of a talk I gave at the Michigan ACP annual meeting last month.

Also, we are hosting the first annual iMED conference in January (virtual this year, of course) -- the link is cmeregistration.hms.harvard.edu/digitaleducation to sign up!

58 - The Original (Antigenic) Sin Oct 26, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the racial health disparities in the United States, with markedly increased mortality especially among Blacks and Native Americans. In this episode, Tony Breu and I discuss the conception of race, racism, and the social determinants of health through three historic plagues in the United States -- from yellow fever in New Orleans, to poliomyelitis, and finally the early days of HIV/AIDS -- and what lessons we can draw for COVID-19. Along the way, we’ll discuss the unique social capital afforded by acclimation, immunity passports, the concept of the “original antigenic sin,” and constitutionalism and eugenics. This presentation was performed live at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts American College of Physicians, and is only lightly edited.

SOURCES:

Monath TP, Yellow fever: an update. Lancet Infect Dis. 2001 Aug;1(1):11-20. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(01)00016-0.
Kallas EG, D'Elia Zanella LGFAB, Moreira CHV, Buccheri R, Diniz GBF, Castiñeiras ACP, Costa PR, Dias JZC, Marmorato MP, Song ATW, Maestri A, Borges IC, Joelsons D, Cerqueira NB, Santiago E Souza NC, Morales Claro I, Sabino EC, Levi JE, Avelino-Silva VI, Ho YL. Predictors of mortality in patients with yellow fever: an observational cohort study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019 Jul;19(7):750-758. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30125-2. Epub 2019 May 16. Erratum in: Lancet Infect Dis. 2019 Nov;19(11):e370. PMID: 31104909.
Blake LE, Garcia-Blanco MA. Human genetic variation and yellow fever mortality during 19th century U.S. epidemics. mBio. 2014 Jun 3;5(3):e01253-14. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01253-14. PMID: 24895309; PMCID: PMC4049105.
Jelili Ojodu, MPH1, Mary M. Hulihan, MPH2, Shammara N. Pope, MPH2, Althea M. Grant, PhD2,, MMWR, Incidence of Sickle Cell Trait — United States, 2010.
IthaMaps, Haemoglobin Epidemiology. https://www.ithanet.eu/db/ithamaps?country=GR
Serjeant GR, The natural history of sickle cell disease. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2013 Oct; 3(10): a011783.
Hamosh A, FitzSimmons SC, Macek M Jr, Knowles MR, Rosenstein BJ, Cutting GR. Comparison of the clinical manifestations of cystic fibrosis in black and white patients. J Pediatr. 1998 Feb;132(2):255-9. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(98)70441-x. PMID: 9506637.
Gershman KD et al, Yellow Fever Vaccine & Malaria Prophylaxis Information, by Country. CDC.
Kofler N and Baylis F, Ten reasons why immunity passports are a bad idea. Nature 21 May 2020.
NASEM, National Academies Release Framework for Equitable Allocation of a COVID-19 Vaccine for Adoption by HHS, State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Authorities.
Schmidt H et al, Covid-19: how to prioritize worse-off populations in allocating safe and effective vaccines.BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3795 (Published 05 October 2020).
Siegal FP, Lopez C, Hammer GS, Brown AE, Kornfeld SJ, Gold J, Hassett J, Hirschman SZ, Cunningham-Rundles C, Adelsberg BR, et al. Severe acquired immunodeficiency in male homosexuals, manifested by chronic perianal ulcerative herpes simplex lesions. N Engl J Med. 1981 Dec 10;305(24):1439-44. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198112103052403. PMID: 6272110.
Lushniak BD, Surgeon General’s Perspectives. Public Health Rep. 2014 Mar-Apr; 129(2): 112–114.
Booske BC et al, “Different Perspectives For Assigning Weights to Determinants of Health,” University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Marc LG et al,HIV among Haitian-born persons in the United States, 1985–2007, AIDS. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 Aug 24.
Rogers N, Race and the Politics of Polio: Warm Springs, Tuskegee, and the March of Dimes. Am J Public Health. 2007 May; 97(5): 784–795.
Curran JW and Jaffe HW, AIDS: the Early Years and CDC’s Response. MMWR.
Olivarius Kathryn, Immunity, Capital, and Power in Antebellum New Orleans. The American Historical Review, Volume 124, Issue 2, April 2019, Pages 425–455,

57 - The Second Wave Aug 31, 2020

In August of 1918, a horrific second wave of the Spanish Flu crashed across the world. In this episode, the third of a four-part series exploring hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19, I’ll explore this single moment in time, through the mysterious origins of the Spanish Flu and historiographical controversies, scientific missions to mass burial sites in remote Alaskan villages, the ill-fated journey of the HMS Mantua, debates about how to count victims of a pandemic, and the mystery behind Pfeiffer’s bacillus. Plus a new #AdamAnswers about that annoying yellow on blue powerpoint template so common in the medical field!

Sources:

Viboud, C. et al. Age- and Sex-Specific Mortality Associated With the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic in Kentucky. J Infect Dis 207, 721–729 (2013).
Oxford, J. S. & Gill, D. A possible European origin of the Spanish influenza and the first attempts to reduce mortality to combat superinfecting bacteria: an opinion from a virologist and a military historian. Hum Vacc Immunother 15, 2009–2012 (2019).
Epps, H. L. V. Influenza: exposing the true killer. J Exp Medicine 203, 803–803 (2006).
Patterson, S. W. & Williams, F. E. PFEIFFER’S BACILLUS AND INFLUENZA. Lancet 200, 806–807 (1922).
Taubenberger, J. K. & Morens, D. M. The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Its Legacy. Csh Perspect Med a038695 (2019) doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a038695.
Trilla, A., Trilla, G. & Daer, C. The 1918 “Spanish Flu” in Spain. Clin Infect Dis 47, 668–673 (2008).
Taubenberger, J. K. The origin and virulence of the 1918 “Spanish” influenza virus. P Am Philos Soc 150, 86–112 (2006).
Heinz, E. The return of Pfeiffer’s bacillus: Rising incidence of ampicillin resistance in Haemophilus influenzae. Microb Genom 4, (2018).
Barry, J. M. The site of origin of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its public health implications. J Transl Med 2, 3 (2004).
Johnson, N. P. A. S. & Mueller, J. Updating the Accounts: Global Mortality of the 1918-1920 “Spanish” Influenza Pandemic. B Hist Med 76, 105–115 (2002).

Tomkins SM, Colonial Administration in British Africa during the Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines. Vol. 28, No. 1 (1994), pp. 60-83 (24 pages)
Qiang Liu et al, The cytokine storm of severe influenza and development of immunomodulatory therapy. Cell Mol Immunol. 2016 Jan; 13(1): 3–10.
Spreeuwenberg et al. Reassessing the Global Mortality Burden of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic.Am J Epidemiol . 2018 Dec 1;187(12):2561-2567. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwy191.
R. F. J. Pfeiffer: Vorläufige Mittheilungen über den Erreger der Influenza. Deutsche medicinische Wochenschrift, Berlin, 1892, 18: 28. Die Aetiologie der Influenza. Zeitschrift für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten, 1893, 13: 357-386.

56 - La Grippe Jul 13, 2020

The 1889 Russian Flu was the first influenza pandemic in an increasingly globalized world. In this episode, the second of a two-parter on how hydroxychloroquine became a great hope in COVID-19, we’ll talk about how quinine became the standard of care for influenza. Along the way, we’ll discuss the astrological origins of the flu, the nosological difficulties of identifying past pandemics, conspiracy theories about previous global coronavirus outbreaks, the media panic over the Russian Flu, first year law school cases about Carbolic Smoke Balls, and the first studies into quinine’s efficacy in influenza.

References

Seeler, A. O., Graessle, O. & Ott, W. H. Effect of Quinine on Influenza Virus Infections in Mice. J Infect Dis 79, 156–158 (1946).
Barberis, I., Myles, P., Ault, S. K., Bragazzi, N. L. & Martini, M. History and evolution of influenza control through vaccination: from the first monovalent vaccine to universal vaccines. J Prev Medicine Hyg 57, E115–E120 (2016).
Ewing, E. T. La Grippe or Russian influenza: Mortality statistics during the 1890 Epidemic in Indiana. Influenza Other Resp 13, 279–287 (2019).
Gold, E. Pandemic Influenza 1700-1900: A Study in Historical Epidemiology. Jama 257, 2656–2656 (1987).
Rice, G. W. & Palmer, E. Pandemic Influenza in Japan, 1918-19: Mortality Patterns and Official Responses. J Jpn Stud 19, 389 (1993).
Mulder, J., Masurel, N., Deggars, E. M. & Webbers, P. T. PRE-EPIDEMIC ANTIBODY AGAINST 1957 STRAIN OF ASIATIC INFLUENZA IN SERUM OF OLDER PEOPLE LIVING IN THE NETHERLANDS. Lancet 271, 810–814 (1958).
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Moore, J. W. The influenza epidemic of 1889–90, as observed in Dublin. Transactions Royal Acad Medicine Irel 8, 56–74 (1890).
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Coghill, J. G. S. The Prophylaxis of Influenza. Brit Med J 1, 751 (1895).
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Valleron AJ et al, Transmissibility and geographic spread of the 1889 influenza pandemic. PNAS May 11, 2010 107 (19) 8778-8781
Cavallaro JJ and Monto AS. Community-wide Outbreak of Infection with a 229E-like Coronavirus in Tecumseh, Michigan.The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Vol. 122, No. 4 (Oct., 1970), pp. 272-279
Mulder J and Masurel N, Pre-epidemic Antibody Against 1957 Strain of Asiatic Influenza in Serum of Older People Living in the Netherlands. Lancet. 1958 Apr 19;1(7025):810-4
Vijgen L et al. Complete Genomic Sequence of Human Coronavirus OC43: Molecular Clock Analysis Suggests a Relatively Recent Zoonotic Coronavirus Transmission Event. J Virol. 2005 Feb; 79(3): 1595–1604.
Saunders-Hastings PR and Krewski D. Reviewing the History of Pandemic Influenza: Understanding Patterns of Emergence and Transmission. Pathogens. 2016 Dec; 5(4): 66.
Pappas G et al. Insights into infectious disease in the era of Hippocrates.International Journal of Infectious Diseases Volume 12, Issue 4, July 2008, Pages 347-350.
Flint A, Principles and Practice of Medicine. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/bookviewer?PID=nlm:nlmuid-100894695-bk#page/234/mode/2up/search/influenza
Osler W, Principles and Practice of Medicine. https://archive.org/details/principlespract00osle/page/1002/mode/2up
Taubenberger JK and Morens DM. Influenza: The Once and Future Pandemic. Public Health Rep. 2010; 125(Suppl 3): 16–26.
Shope RE. Influenza: history, epidemiology, and speculation. Public Health Rep. 1958 Feb; 73(2): 165–179.
Ewing ET. Will It Come Here? Using Digital Humanities Tools to Explore Medical Understanding during the Russian Flu Epidemic, 1889–90. Med Hist. 2017 Jul; 61(3): 474–477.

Introducing the Curious Clinicians! Jul 09, 2020

This bonus episode introduces episode four of the Curious Clinicians, about Vincent Van Gogh and digitalis. The Curious Clinicians is a new medical podcast produced by Hannah Abrams, Avi Cooper, and Tony Breu; you can download them all at curiousclinicians.com.

55 - The Fever Tree Jun 08, 2020

Where did cinchona, the first medication to cure malaria, come from? This episode explores the murky history of the bark of the fever tree and its derivative chloroquine with mysterious pre-Columbian Pacific crossings of the plasmodium parasite, Jesuit priests and Inca healers, a Chinese Emperor performing a clinical trial to treat his fever, chemistry leading to the first modern pharmaceuticals, and imperialism on a global scale. This episode is the first of a multi-part series exploring how hydroxychloroquine became the great hope for treating COVID-19.

Sources:

Jaramillo‐Arango, J. A Critical Review of the Basic Facts in the History of Cinchona. J Linn Soc Lond Botany 53, 272–311 (1949).
Smith, N. K. A Cure for Ague. J Roy Soc Med 90, 589–590 (1997).
Potter, C. W. A history of influenza. J Appl Microbiol 91, 572–579 (2001).
Cunha, C. B. & Cunha, B. A. Brief history of the clinical diagnosis of malaria: from Hippocrates to Osler. J Vector Dis 45, 194–9 (2008).
Goss, A. Building the world’s supply of quinine: Dutch colonialism and the origins of a global pharmaceutical industry. Endeavour 38, 8–18 (2014).
Al-Bari, Md. A. A. Chloroquine analogues in drug discovery: new directions of uses, mechanisms of actions and toxic manifestations from malaria to multifarious diseases. J Antimicrob Chemoth 70, 1608–1621 (2015).
Guastalegname, M. & Vallone, A. Could chloroquine /hydroxychloroquine be harmful in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment? Clin Infect Dis (2020) doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa321.
Alia, E. & Grant-Kels, J. M. Does Hydroxychloroquine Combat COVID-19? A Timeline of Evidence. J Am Acad Dermatol (2020) doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2020.04.031.
Seeler, A. O., Graessle, O. & Ott, W. H. Effect of Quinine on Influenza Virus Infections in Mice. J Infect Dis 79, 156–158 (1946).
Savarino, A., Boelaert, J. R., Cassone, A., Majori, G. & Cauda, R. Effects of chloroquine on viral infections: an old drug against today’s diseases. Lancet Infect Dis 3, 722–727 (2003).
Chakrabarti, P. Empire and Alternatives: Swietenia febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes. Med Hist 54, 75–94 (2010).
Lonie, I. M. Fever pathology in the sixteenth century: tradition and innovation. Med Hist 25, 19–44 (1981).
Luke, T. C. et al. Hark back&colon; Passive immunotherapy for influenza and other serious infections. Crit Care Med 38, e66–e73 (2010).
Shanks, G. D. Historical Review: Problematic Malaria Prophylaxis with Quinine. Am J Tropical Medicine Hyg 95, 269–272 (2016).
Harrison, N. In celebration of the Jesuit’s powder: a history of malaria treatment. Lancet Infect Dis 15, 1143 (2015).
Gerszten, E., Allison, M. J. & Maguire, B. Paleopathology in South American Mummies: A Review and New Findings. Pathobiology 79, 247–256 (2012).
Haas, L. F. Pierre Joseph Pelletier (1788-1842) and Jean Bienaime Caventou (1795-1887). J Neurology Neurosurg Psychiatry 57, 1333 (1994).
PROPHYLACTIC QUININE IN INFLUENZA. Lancet 204, 1152 (1924).
Gensini, G. F. & Conti, A. A. The evolution of the concept of ‘fever’ in the history of medicine: from pathological picture per se to clinical epiphenomenon (and vice versa). J Infection 49, 85–87 (2004).
Bergman, G. J. The history and importance of cinchona bark as an anti‐malarial febrifuge. Sci Educ 32, 93–103 (1948).
Thompson, C. & MBE. The History and Lore of Cinchona. (n.d.).
THE HUXLEY MEMORIAL. Lancet 146, 1381 (1895).
Urdang, G. The Legend on Cinchona. (n.d.).
Castro, M. C. de & Singer, B. H. Was malaria present in the Amazon before the European conquest? Available evidence and future research agenda. J Archaeol Sci 32, 337–340 (2005).
Kummu M et al, How Close Do We Live to Water? A Global Analysis of Population Distance to Freshwater Bodies. PLoS One. 2011; 6(6): e20578.
Dawson WT et al, IDIOSYNCRASY TO QUININE, CINCHONIDINE AND ETHYLHYDROCUPREINEv AND OTHER LEVOROTATORY ALKALOIDS OF THE CINCHONA SERIES: PRELIMINARY REPORT. JAMA 8 Mar 1930.
Bynum WF, Cullen and the study of fevers in Bitain, 1760-1820. Medical History, supplement no 1, 1981.
Rodrigues PT et al, Human migration and the spread of malaria parasites to the New World. Nature, 31 January 2018.
Achan J et al, Quinine, an old anti-malarial drug in a modern world: role in the treatment of malaria. Malar J. 2011; 10: 144.
Norn PH, On the history of Cinchona bark in the treatment of Malaria.Dansk Medicinhistorisk Arbog, 31 Dec 2015, 44:9-30.
Cook H (2010). Testing the effects of Jesuit’s bark in the Chinese Emperor’s court. JLL Bulletin: Commentaries on the history of treatment evaluation (https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/testing-the-effects-of-jesuits-bark-in-the-chinese-emperors-court/)

54 - 1918 (guest episode with Hannah Abrams and Gaby Mayer) May 18, 2020

The 1918 influenza pandemic, or the Spanish Flu, is the obvious parallel to the COVID-19 pandemic -- a worldwide plague attacking a scientific and global society much like our own. In this guest episode by Hannah Abrams and Gaby Mayer, we chase these parallels wherever they take us, talking etiology, presentation, treatments, masking, curve-flattening, and mortality measures.

53 - The Antonine Plague (guest episode with Liam Conway-Pearson) Apr 27, 2020

Plagues have fascinated us since antiquity, but the Antonine Plague stands out because one of the most famous physicians in Western history was present to make detailed observations. In this episode, guest host Liam Conway-Pearson explores what we know -- and what we don't know -- about this plague, which ravaged Rome two millennia ago. Plus a brand new #AdamAnswers about using convalescent plasma to treat the Spanish Flu of 1918!

Sources:

Adrian Muraru, “On Galen of Pergamum: The Greek Physician and Philosopher of Late Antiquity in the Roman Empire,” Agathos 9, no.2 (2018): 7-20.
H. Clifford Lane and Anthony S. Fauci, “Microbial Bioterrorism,” in Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 20e, ed. J. Larry Jameson et al. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2018), S2.
James Greenberg, “Plagued by Doubt: Reconsidering the Impact of a Mortality Crisis in the 2nd C. A.D.,” Journal of Roman Archaeology 16 (2003): 413-425.
Jennifer Manley, “Measles and Ancient Plagues: A Note on New Scientific Evidence,” Classical World 107, no. 3 (Spring 2014): 393-397.
J. F. Gilliam, “The Plague under Marcus Aurelius,” The American Journal of Philology 82, no. 3 (July 1961): 225-251.
John Haldon, Hugh Elton, Sabine R. Huebner, Adam Izdebski, Lee Mordechai, and Timothy P. Newfield, “Plagues, Climate Change, and the End of an Empire. A Response to Kyle Harper’s The Fate of Rome (2): Plagues and a Crisis of Empire,” History Compass 6, no. 12 (November 2018).
Joseph B. Fullerton and Mark E. Silverman, “Claudius Galen of Pergamum: Authority of Medieval Medicine,” Clinical Cardiology 32, no. 11 (January 2008): E82-E84.
Joseph R. McConnell, Andrew I. Wilson, Andreas Stohl, Monica M. Arienzo, Nathan J. Chellman, Sabine Eckhardt, Elisabeth M. Thompson, A. Mark Pollard, and Jørgen Pender Steffensen, “Lead Pollution Recorded in Greenland Ice Indicates European Emissions Tracked Plagues, Wars, and Imperial Expansion during Antiquity,” PNAS 115, no. 22 (May 2018): 5726-5731.
J. Rufus Fears, “The Plague under Marcus Aurelius and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 18 (2004): 65-77.
Kyle Harper, The Fate of Rome (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), 23-118.
Mike Duncan, The History of Rome, Podcast Audio, 2007-2013. https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/archives.html
R. J. Littman and M. L. Littman, “Galen and the Antonine Plague,” The American Journal of Philology 94, no. 3 (Autumn 1973): 243-255.
R. P. Duncan-Jones, “The Impact of the Antonine Plague,” Journal of Roman Archaeology 9 (1996): 108-136.
“Smallpox,” CDC, last modified June 7, 2016, https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/transmission/index.html.
Vivian Nutton, “The Chronology of Galen’s Early Career,” The Classical Quarterly 23, no. 1 (May 1973): 158-171.
Yuki Furuse, Akira Suzuki, and Hitoshi Oshitani, “Origin of Measles Virus: Divergence from Rinderpest Virus between the 11th and 12th Centuries,” Virology Journal 7, no. 52 (March 2010): 1-4.
Catherine Thėves, Eric Crubėzy, and Philippe Biagini, “History of Smallpox and Its Spread in Human Populations,” Microbiology Spectrum 4, no. 4 (April 2015):
Walter Scheidel, “A Model of Demographic and Economic Change in Roman Egypt after the Antonine Plague,” Journal of Roman Archaeology 15 (2002): 97-114.

A short message from Adam Mar 25, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic increasingly spreads across the globe, Bedside Rounds is going on hiatus. This short message explains why and gives some historical context. Stay in touch on Twitter in the upcoming months @AdamRodmanMD.

52 - The Rebuff Mar 02, 2020

Over the past several centuries, the medical field has established a firm graph on the domain of the human body, with one very notable exception -- the teeth. In this episode, we’re going to explore this historic split between medicine and dentistry, and the moment in history where the two fields could have been rejoined but were “rebuffed.” Along the way we’ll talk about barbers and enemas, a fun tool called the dental pelican, 19th century professional drama between doctors and dentists, and the sometimes disastrous consequences this can have for our patients.

Sources:

British Dental Association -- Dental Pelicans, retrieved from: https://bda.org/museum/collections/dental-equipment/pelican

“Dentistry,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology

Gevitz N, Autonomous Profession or Medical Specialty: The Stomatological Movement and American Dentistry. Bulletin of the History of Medicine; Baltimore, Md. Vol. 62, Iss. 3, (Fall 1988): 407.

Loudon I, Why are (male) surgeons still addressed as Mr? BMJ. 2000 Dec 23; 321(7276): 1589–1591.

Otto M, Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America, The New Press, 2017.

Tung T and Organ CH, Ethics in Surgery: Historical Perspective Arch Surg. 2000;135(1):10-13.

Winter Shorts #4 - The Backlog Feb 04, 2020

Did Hippocrates call consults for chest pain? Were there specialists in black bile? Where does our poetic terminology for heart and lung sounds come from? Is there a historical parallel for #MedTwitter? I’ve fallen off the bus with #AdamAnswers, so in this month’s episode I’m playing catch up on many of the amazing questions you guys send me with the first Winter Short (#spoileralert -- not actually short) -- the Backlog!

51 - Hero Worship Dec 16, 2019

At the end of 2019, William Osler’s legacy is stronger than ever; he has been called the “Father of Modern Medicine” and held up as the paragon of the modern physician. In this episode, I’m going to explore the historical Osler -- just who was William Osler in the context of rapidly changing scientific medicine at the dawn of the 20th century, and how did he become so influential? But I’m also going to explore Osler the myth -- what does the 21st century obsession with the man say about us, a century after his death?

Sources:

Bliss M, William Osler: A Life in Medicine.
Bryan CS, Osler goes viral: “The Fixed Period” revisited, Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2018 Oct; 31(4): 550–553.
Cooper B, Osler’s role in defining the third corpuscle, or “blood plates”, Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2005 Oct; 18(4): 376–378.
Davis E, Vaginismus, The medical news, 1884. Retrieved online from: https://archive.org/details/medicalnews45philuoft/page/672
Flint AF, A Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Medicine. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?id=1mvmA1ajwfUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Justin MS, "The Entry of Women into Medicine in America: Education and Obstacles 1847-1910". Retrieved from: https://www.hws.edu/about/blackwell/articles/womenmedicine.aspx
Ludmerer KM, Cultural origins of residency training, OUP Blog, retrieved from https://blog.oup.com/2015/05/cultural-origins-residency-training/.
Ludmerer KM, Learning to Heal: The Development of American Medical Education (New York: Basic, 1985).
National Library of Medicine, The William Osler Papers, retrieved from: https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/gf/feature/biographical-overview
Osler W, Aequanamitas. Retrieved from: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/osler/aequessay.htm
Osler W, An Alabama Student and Other Biographical Essays, retrieved from: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/osler/alabacontents.htm
Periyakoil VS, What Would Osler Do? J Palliat Med. 2013 Feb; 16(2): 118–119.
Rezaie S, From Hippocrates to Osler to FOAM, retrieved from: https://rebelem.com/hippocrates-osler-foam/.
Sokol D, Doctors: use social media with restraint, STAT 2019 Jun 10. Retrieved from: https://www.statnews.com/2019/06/10/doctors-social-media-restraint/
Warner JH, The Therapeutic Perspective: Medical Practice, Knowledge, and Identity in America, 1783-1784.

50 - I Know Nothing Oct 28, 2019

What does it mean to know something in medicine? In this episode, we’ll explore this question by developing a historical framework of medical epistemologies in a journey that involves King Nebuchadnezzar, citrus fruit, leeches, water pumps, ICD-10, Socrates, skepticism, and 1970's computer programs designed to replace doctors. This is a version of a Grand Rounds given at BIDMC on October 25, 2019.

Sources:

Bothwell LE et al, “Assessing the Gold Standard -- Lessons from the History of RCTs,” NEJM June 2, 2016.
Khushf G, “A Framework for Understanding Medical Epistemologies,” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 38: 461-486, 2013.
Guyatt G and Tonelli M, Med Roundtable Gen Med Ed.;June 13, 2012 1(1): 75 - 84.
Morabia A, A History of Epidemiologic Methods and Concepts, 2004.
Tonelli MR, “Integrating evidence into clinical practice: an alternative to evidence-based approaches,” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 12(3) 248-256.

Music from https://filmmusic.io

"Tango de Manzana" and “Return of the Mummy” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

49 - The Ether Dome Sep 30, 2019

The world before anesthesia was brutal -- surgeons inflicted torture on largely conscious patients, hoping to finish an operation as quickly as possible. But all of that changed with the introduction of inhaled ether. This episode covers the context behind the discovery of etherization, with myths about screaming medicinal plants, a “missing recipe” of medieval general anesthesia, 19th century recreational drug use, and a controversy carved in granite.

Sources:

Brown, M. The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Surgery. 327–348 (2017). doi:10.1057/978-1-349-95260-1_16
Dorrington, K. & Poole, W. The first intravenous anaesthetic: how well was it managed and its potential realized? Bja Br J Anaesth 110, 7–12 (2013).
Robinson, D. H. & Toledo, A. H. Historical Development of Modern Anesthesia. J Invest Surg 25, 141–149 (2012).
Chidiac, E. J., Kaddoum, R. N. & Fuleihan, S. F. Mandragora. Anesthesia Analgesia 115, 1437–1441 (2012).
Vargas, I. Ether Frolic: The Day Pain Stopped. Bulletin Anesthesia Hist 28, 53–56 (2010).
Whalen, F. X., Bacon, D. R. & Smith, H. M. Inhaled anesthetics: an historical overview. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol 19, 323–330 (2005).
Prioreschi, P. Medieval anesthesia – the spongia somnifera. Med Hypotheses 61, 213–219 (2003).
Stallings, S. & Montagne, M. A chronicle of anesthesia discovery in New England. Pharm Hist 35, 77–80 (1993).
Litoff, J. & Pernick, M. S. A Calculus of Suffering: Pain, Professionalism, and Anesthesia in Nineteenth-Century America. Am Hist Rev 91, 176 (1986).
Leake, C. D. Letheon: The Cadenced Story of Anesthesia. Science 199, 857–860 (1978).
CRAWFORD W. LONG (1815-1878) DISCOVERER OF ETHER FOR ANESTHESIA. Jama 194, 1008–1009 (1965).
Riches, E. Samuel Pepys and His Stones. J Urology 118, 148–151 (1977).
CWRIGHT, F. The early history of ether. Anaesthesia 15, 67–69 (1960).
Insensibility during Surgical Operations Produced by Inhalation. New Engl J Medicine 35, 379–382 (1846).
SURGICAL HUMBUG. Lancet 5, 646–647 (1826).

Locations in Boston:

Ether Monument (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ether-monument)

Ether Dome (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ether-dome?utm_source=atlas-forum&utm_medium=referral)

Warren Anatomic Museum (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/warren-anatomical-museum)

48 - Micrographia (FIXED AUDIO) Aug 29, 2019

Because of dad brain, the original musical tracks for episode 48 were offset by almost 30 seconds (even more embarrassing, because I actually LISTENED to it before uploading). I've fixed the audio for the original episode, but anyone who downloaded it already is stuck with the bad audio version. Because of limitations in the podcasting medium, the only way I can get a new episode to those who have downloaded but haven't listened yet is to release a new episode to the feed. Eventually (maybe after a month or so) I will delete this, so only the fixed original remains.

Sorry for the inconvenience guys!

48 - Micrographia Aug 28, 2019

Germs are regarded today with a combination of fear and disgust. But mankind’s first introduction to the microbial world started off on a very different foot. In this episode, as part of a larger series contextualizing germ theory, we’ll talk about the discovery of animalcules and how they forever changed our conception of the natural world -- and what causes disease. Plus, a new #AdamAnswers about the influence of Bayes Theorem on medicine!

Sources:

Albury WR, Marie-Francois-Xavier Bichat, Encyclopedia of Life Science, 2001.
Ball CS, The Early History of the Compound Microscope, Bios, Vol 37, No2 (May 1966).
Findlen P, Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything.
Feinstein AR, “An Analysis of Diagnostic Reasoning,” Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 1973.
Forsberg L.Nature's Invisibilia: The Victorian Microscope and the Miniature Fairy, Victorian Studies 2015.
Gest H. The discovery of microorganisms by Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Fellows of The Royal Society. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of Lond, 2004.
Hall, GH, The Clinical Application of Bayes Theorem, The Lancet, September 9, 1967.
Howard-Jones N, Fracastoro and Henle: A Re-Appraisal of their Contribution to the Concept of Communicable Diseases,” Medical History, 1977, 21: 61-68.
Lane N, The unseen world: reflections on Leeuwenhoek (1677) ‘Concerning little animals’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 19 April 2015.
Lawson I, Crafting the microworld: how Robert Hooke constructed knowledge about small things, Notes and Records of the Royal Society of Lond, 2015.
McLeMee S, Athanasius Kirchehr, Dude of Wonders, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 28, 2002.
Van Leeuwenhoek A, Observations, communicated to the publisher by Mr. Antony van Leewenhoeck, in a dutch letter of the 9th Octob. 1676. here English'd: concerning little animals by him observed in rain-well-sea- and snow water; as also in water wherein pepper had lain infused (https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstl.1677.0003)
“Little worms which propagate plague,” J R Coll Physicians Edinb, 2008.
Van Zuylen J, “The microscopes of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek,” Journal of Microscopy., 1981.

Music from https://filmmusic.io, "Wholesome," “Pookatori and Friends,” and by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY

Summer Shorts #3 - Insulin Drama Jul 26, 2019

Bedside Rounds is on a summer vacation! In the meantime, I'm joined by journalist Dan Weissmann of the podcast An Arm and a Leg to talk about the tawdry history of the discovery of insulin.

47 - The Criteria Jun 24, 2019

Can we ever know what causes a chronic disease? In this episode, I’m joined again by Dr. Shoshana Herzig to finish a three-part miniseries on Bradford Hill and Doll’s attempts to prove that smoking caused lung cancer. We’ll talk about the first prospective cohort trial in history, 1960s “Fake News” from tobacco companies, public spats with the most famous statistician of the 20th century, and the development of the Bradford Hill Criteria, a guideline, however imperfect, that gives doctors a blueprint to finally figure out what causes diseases.

Sources:

Crofton J, The MRC randomized trial of streptomycin and its legacy: a view from the clinical front line. J R Soc Med. 2006 Oct; 99(10): 531–534.
Daniels M and Bradford Hill A, Chemotherapy of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Young Adults, Br Med J. 1952 May 31; 1(4769): 1162–1168.
Dangers of Cigarette-smoking. Brit Med J 1, 1518 (1957).
Doll, R. & Hill, B. A. Lung Cancer and Other Causes of Death in Relation to Smoking. Brit Med J 2, 1071 (1956).
Doll, R. & Hill, B. A. Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung. Brit Med J 2, 739 (1950).
Hill, A. The Environment and Disease: Association or Causation? J Roy Soc Med 58, 295–300 (1965).
HOFFMAN, F. L. CANCER AND SMOKING HABITS. Ann Surg 93, 50–67 (1931).
Keating C, Smoking Kills: The Revolutionary Life of Richard Doll. 2009.
Morabia, A. Quality, originality, and significance of the 1939 “Tobacco consumption and lung carcinoma” article by Mueller, including translation of a section of the paper. Prev Med 55, 171–177 (2012).
Ochsner, A. & bakey. Primary pulmonary malignancy: treatment by total pneumonectomy; analysis of 79 collected cases and presentation of 7 personal cases. Ochsner J 1, 109–25 (1999).
Ochsner, A. My first recognition of the relationship of smoking and lung cancer. Prev Med 2, 611–614 (1973).
Parascandola, M. Two approaches to etiology: the debate over smoking and lung cancer in the 1950s. Endeavour 28, 81–86 (2004).
Phillips, C. V. & Goodman, K. J. The missed lessons of Sir Austin Bradford Hill. Epidemiologic Perspectives Innovations 1, 1–5 (2004).
Proctor, R. Angel H Roffo: the forgotten father of experimental tobacco carcinogenesis. B World Health Organ 84, 494–495 (2006).
Wynder, E. RE: “WHEN GENIUS ERRS: R. A. FISHER AND THE LUNG CANCER CONTROVERSY”. Am J Epidemiol 134, 1467–9 (1991).

46 - Cause and Effect May 20, 2019

Does smoking cause lung cancer? How could you ever know? The second in a three-part series on causality, I’m joined by Dr. Shoshana Herzig to discuss how Austin Bradford Hill and Richard Doll set out to try and answer this question -- and along the way revolutionized the way we think about what causes disease. In this episode, we’ll talk about the first double-blinded randomized controlled trial, the long shadow of tuberculosis, and why epidemiology is beautiful. Plus, a brand new #AdamAnswers about chest compressions!

Please support Bedside Rounds by filling out the listener demographic survey: https://survey.libsyn.com/bedsiderounds

Sources:

Bost TC. Cardiac arrest during anaesthesia and surgical operations. Am J Surg 1952;83: 135-4
Council, T. Tobacco Smoking and Lung Cancer. Brit Med J 1, 1523 (1957).
Crofton J, The MRC randomized trial of streptomycin and its legacy: a view from the clinical front line. J R Soc Med. 2006 Oct; 99(10): 531–534.
Daniels M and Bradford Hill A, Chemotherapy of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Young Adults, Br Med J. 1952 May 31; 1(4769): 1162–1168.
Dangers of Cigarette-smoking. Brit Med J 1, 1518 (1957).
Doll, R. & Hill, B. A. Lung Cancer and Other Causes of Death in Relation to Smoking. Brit Med J 2, 1071 (1956).
Doll, R. & Hill, B. A. Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung. Brit Med J 2, 739 (1950).
Hill, A. The Environment and Disease: Association or Causation? J Roy Soc Med 58, 295–300 (1965).
HOFFMAN, F. L. CANCER AND SMOKING HABITS. Ann Surg 93, 50–67 (1931).
Hurt R, Modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation—not so new after all. J R Soc Med. 2005 Jul; 98(7): 327–331.
Keating C, Smoking Kills: The Revolutionary Life of Richard Doll. 2009.
Keith A, Three Hunterian Lectures ON THE MECHANISM UNDERLYING THE VARIOUS METHODS OF ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION PRACTISED SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY IN 1774. (1909). The Lancet, 173(4464), 825–828.
Kouwenhoven WB et al, Closed-chest cardiac massage, JAMA, JAMA. 1960;173(10):1064-1067.
Morabia, A. Quality, originality, and significance of the 1939 “Tobacco consumption and lung carcinoma” article by Mueller, including translation of a section of the paper. Prev Med 55, 171–177 (2012).
Ochsner, A. & bakey. Primary pulmonary malignancy: treatment by total pneumonectomy; analysis of 79 collected cases and presentation of 7 personal cases. Ochsner J 1, 109–25 (1999).
Ochsner, A. My first recognition of the relationship of smoking and lung cancer. Prev Med 2, 611–614 (1973).
Parascandola, M. Two approaches to etiology: the debate over smoking and lung cancer in the 1950s. Endeavour 28, 81–86 (2004).
Phillips, C. V. & Goodman, K. J. The missed lessons of Sir Austin Bradford Hill. Epidemiologic Perspectives Innovations 1, 1–5 (2004).
Proctor, R. Angel H Roffo: the forgotten father of experimental tobacco carcinogenesis. B World Health Organ 84, 494–495 (2006).
Wynder, E. RE: “WHEN GENIUS ERRS: R. A. FISHER AND THE LUNG CANCER CONTROVERSY”. Am J Epidemiol 134, 1467–9 (1991).

45 - The French Disease at 500 Apr 22, 2019

In 1495, a mysterious and deadly plague struck the city of Naples. Over the next 500 years, the medical attempts to understand and treat this new disease -- syphilis -- would mold and shape medicine in surprising ways. In this episode, Tony Breu and I will perform an historical and physiological biography of syphilis, covering the development of germ theory, epic poetry, mercury saunas, intentionally infecting patients with malaria, magic bullets, and lots and lots of experiments on poor rabbits. This presentation was performed live at the American College of Physicians’ national meeting in Philadelphia on April 11, 2019.

Sources (WARNING -- LONG LIST):

Swain, K. ‘Extraordinarily arduous and fraught with danger’: syphilis, Salvarsan, and general paresis of the insane. Lancet Psychiatry 5, (2018).

Kępa, M. et al. Analysis of mercury levels in historical bone material from syphilitic subjects – pilot studies (short report). Kępa Małgorzata 69, 367-377(11) (2012).

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Parascandola, J. From mercury to miracle drugs: syphilis therapy over the centuries. Pharm Hist 51, 14–23 (2009).

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Arando M et al, The Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction in syphilis: could molecular typing help to understand it better? Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2018.

Butler T, The Jarisch–Herxheimer Reaction After Antibiotic Treatment of Spirochetal Infections: A Review of Recent Cases and Our Understanding of Pathogenesis. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2016

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Yeter et al, Mercury Promotes Catecholamines Which Potentiate Mercurial Autoimmunity and Vasodilation: Implications for Inositol 1,4,5-Triphosphate 3-Kinase C Susceptibility in Kawasaki Syndrome. Korean Circulation Journal 2013

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Giacani L et al, Identification of the Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum TP0092 (RpoE) Regulon and Its Implications for Pathogen Persistence in the Host and Syphilis Pathogenesis. Journal of Bacteriology 2013.

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44 - The Great Smog Mar 25, 2019

What was behind the mysterious increase in lung cancer deaths at the turn of the 20th century? The first of a three-parter investigating the cigarette-smoking link and causality, this episode looks at that early debate, which largely focused on environmental pollution. Along the way, we’re going to talk about toxic vapors -- and not Miasma theory, but the actual literal Great Smog of London in 1952 that killed over 10,000 people -- as well as the birth of the case-control study, Nazi attempts at tobacco control programs, and the rather prosaic beginnings of a debate that rages to this day. Plus a new #AdamAnswers about the medical cause of Game of Thrones greyscale featuring Dr. Jules Lipoff!

Sources:

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Des Voeux HC, Smoke and Fog, The Lancet, 1679-1680 (1904).
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43 - The Cursed Feb 18, 2019

What killed Charles II of Spain, the inbred monarch whose autopsy famously showed a heart the size of a peppercorn, a head full of water, and a bloodless body? This episode addresses that medical mystery by not only delving deep into Charles’ unfortunate past, but by exploring some of the fundamental assumptions physicians have made about the nature of disease. Along the way we’ll walk about inbreeding coefficients, postmodern philosophy, and two thousand years of anatomy and autopsy. Plus a new #AdamAnswers about whether Vincent van Gogh’s love of the color yellow was caused by digitalis poisoning!

Sources:

Alvarez G, Ceballos FC, Quinteiro C (2009) The Role of Inbreeding in the Extinction of a European Royal Dynasty. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5174. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005174
Burchell HB, Digitalis poisoning: historical and forensic aspects. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1983 Feb;1(2 Pt 1):506-16.
Burton JL, A Bite Into the History of the Autopsy: From Ancient Roots to Modern Decay. Forensic Sci. Med. Pathol. 1:4:277.
Cerda JL. Charles II of Spain, «the bewitched». Rev. méd. Chile [Internet]. 2008 Feb [cited 2019 Feb 11] ; 136( 2 ): 267-270.Cullen W, Nosology. Retrieved online at: https://books.google.com/books?id=3IgUAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Gargantilla Madera P. Enfermedades de los reyes de España, los Austrias : de la locura de Juana a la impotencia de Carlos II el Hechizado. Madrid 2005.Ghosh SK, “Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771): father of pathologic anatomy and pioneer of Modern Medicine, Anat Sci Int, 6 Sep 2016.
Gruener A. Vincent van Gogh's yellow vision. Br J Gen Pract. 2013;63(612):370-1.Hodge GP. A Medical History of the Spanish Habsburgs: As Traced in Portraits. JAMA. 1977;238(11):1169–1174.
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Lee TC. Van Gogh's Vision: Digitalis Intoxication? JAMA. 1981;245(7):727–729. Lesney MS, Flowers for the heart, ACS, March 2002, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp 46, 48
López AG et al, Charles II: From Spell to Genitourinary Pathology. Arch. Esp. Urol. 2009; 62 (3): 179-185.
Somberg J et al, Digitalis: Historical Development in Clinical Medicine, The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Volume 25, Issue 7
Starkstein, S., & Berrios, G. (2015). The “Preliminary Discourse” to Methodical Nosology, by François Boissier de Sauvages (1772). History of Psychiatry, 26(4), 477–491. Viale G, The rete mirabile of the cranial base: a millenary legend. Neurosurgery. 2006 Jun;58(6):1198-208.

42 - The Lady with the Lamp Jan 14, 2019

Florence Nightingale stands as one of the most important reformers of 19th century medicine -- a woman whose belief in the power of reason and statistical thinking would critically shape the both the fields of epidemiology and nursing. This episode discusses the fascinating story of Nightingale’s legacy -- how modern nursing was born out of the horrors of war, medical theories about poisonous air, the outsize influence of the average man, the first graph in history, and how a woman who died over a century ago presciently foresaw some of the most important scientific and social issues in medicine that are still with us today. Plus, a new #AdamAnswers about the doctor-nurse relationship.

Sources:

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Fagin CM, Collaboration between nurses and physicians: no longer a choice. Academic Medicine. 67(5):295–303, May 1992.
Fee E and Garofalo ME, Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War, Am J Public Health. 2010 September; 100(9): 1591.
Garofalo ME and Fee E, Florence Nightingale (1820–1910): Feminism and Hospital Reform. Am J Public Health. 2010 September; 100(9): 1588.
Halliday Stephen, Death and miasma in Victorian London: an obstinate belief. BMJ. 2001 Dec 22; 323(7327): 1469–1471.
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41 - Animal Magnetism Dec 17, 2018

Mesmerism has had an outsize influence on medicine, despite the rapid rise and fall of its inventor Dr. Franz Mesmer and hostility from the medical establishment. This curious story covers the healing powers of magnets, secret societies in pre-Revolutionary France, fundamental questions about what makes someone alive, and one of the most fascinating medical investigations in history led by a dream team of Benjamin Franklin, Lavoisier, and Guillotine on behalf of King Louis XVI. Plus, a #AdamAnswers about the origin of the phrase “Code Blue.”

Sources:

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Lanska JT and Lanska DJ, Mesmer, Franz. Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences, 2014, pp 1106-1107.
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Youtube videos of the Armonica:

Adagio for Glass Armonica, Mozart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkTUL7DjTow
Rutgers video on history of Armonica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdtLK9pAh5k

40 - Phage Nov 12, 2018

Bacteriophages -- viruses that target and kill bacteria -- were one of the most promising medical treatments of the early 20th century, and were used to treat all sorts of infections, from cholera to staph, and everything in between. But by the 1950s, they had all but died out in the West. This episode tells the story of the humble phage, from its discovery in the waters of the Ganges, love trysts ending in a KGB execution, and to a resurgence of this once forgotten therapy in the 21st century as an answer to antibiotic resistance.

Sources:

Abedon ST, Bacteriophage prehistory: Is or is not Hankin, 1896, a phage reference? Bacteriophage. 2011 May-Jun; 1(3): 174–178.
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Himmelweit F. Combined action of penicillin and bacteriophage on Staphylococci. Lancet. 1945;ii:104.
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Hargreaves KR and Clokie MRJ, Clostridium difficile phages: still difficult? Front Microbiol. 2014 Apr 28;5:184.
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Ventola CL, “The Antibiotic Resistance Crisis: Part 1: Causes and Threats,” P T. 2015 Apr; 40(4): 277–283.

39 - The White Plague Oct 08, 2018

Tuberculosis has been humanity’s oldest and greatest killer. Starting at the turn of the nineteenth century, the White Plague was decimating entire generations in the crowded and unclean cities of Europe, North America, and across the globe. But as medical science learned more about the disease, doctors and reformers developed new ways to combat it, most notably specialized tuberculosis hospitals that sought to heal their patients with fresh air, rest, and a nutritious diet. This episode discusses the sanatorium movement and the gradual conquest of tuberculosis, long before effective antibiotic therapy existed. Along the way we’re going to talk about the King’s Evil, the dangers of rebreathed air, the healing powers of mountains, and the social determinants of health. Plus, a brand new #AdamAnswers about maternal placentophagy. All this and more on Episode 39 of Bedside Rounds, monthly podcast on the weird, wonderful, and intensely human stories that have shaped modern medicine, brought to you in partnership with the American College of Physicians. To claim CME and MOC credit, please go to www.acponline.org/BedsideRounds.

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0 - Introduction Sep 10, 2018

Many podcasts start with an “Episode 0”, basically a mission statement for the podcast. Well, better late than never! This episode explores why I make Bedside Rounds, my philosophy about medical history, and a little bit about who I am and my research methods. Hopefully listeners new and old alike will find it interesting!

38 - Blood on the Tracks (PopMed #2) Sep 10, 2018

The first population study in history was born out of a dramatic debate involving leeches, “medical vampires,” professional rivalries, murder accusations, and, of course, bloodletting, all in the backdrop of the French Revolution. The second of a multipart series on the development of population medicine, this episode contextualizes Pierre Louis’ “numerical method,” his famous trial on bloodletting, and the birth of a new way for doctors to “know”. Plus a brand new #AdamAnswers about Occam’s razor and Hickam’s Dictum. All this and more on Episode 38 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine! To claim CME and MOC credit, please go to www.acponline.org/BedsideRounds.

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Louis PCA. Researches On The Effects Of Bloodletting In Some Inflammatory Diseases. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, 1836.
Morabia A. PCA Louis and the birth of clinical epidemiology. J Clin Epidemiol 1996;49: 1327-33
Morabia A, Pierre-Charles-Alexandre Louis and the evaluation of bloodletting. J R Soc Med. 2006 Mar; 99(3): 158–160.
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37 - Let It Bleed (PopMed #1) Aug 06, 2018

For thousands of years, bloodletting was the standard of care for any number of medical conditions, but at the turn of the nineteenth century, often acrimonious debates about the practice would lead to a new method of medical knowledge. The first of a multi-part series on the birth of population medicine, this episode visits the controversies surrounding the death of George Washington and Benjamin Rush’s bleeding of Philadelphia during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic and asks the big question -- how do doctors truly “know” what actually helps their patients? Plus, a brand new #AdamAnswers about military metaphors in medicine. All this and more on Episode 37 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

Sources:

Brickell J, Observations on the Medical Treatment of General Washington in His Illness, retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=YXA3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=craik+dick+washington+medical+repository&source=bl&ots=IZB72sSdaS&sig=kUY0JZHft1HbRrarR9RE4r-2w_A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwju3PT439TcAhVOxVkKHZPHBVQQ6AEwA3oECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
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36 - Filth Parties Jul 05, 2018

The southern United States was hit by a dramatic epidemic of a mysterious disease called pellagra in the early twentieth century. This episode discusses the cultural and scientific sources of the outbreak -- from the cotton fields of the south, to the cow pastures of rural Germany, to the river basins of Uganda -- and the incredible lengths a young doctor named Joseph Goldberger went through to try and put an end to this plague. Plus, a new #AdamAnswers about the source of the name “internal medicine.” All this and more on episode 36 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

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Brim CJ. Job's Illness: Pellagra. Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology. 1942;45:371-6.
Carpenter KJ, The relationship of pellagra to corn and the low availability of niacin in cereals, Experientia Suppl. 1983;44:197-222.
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Middleton J, Pellagra and the blues song ‘Cornbread, meat and black molasses’. J R Soc Med. 2008 Nov 1; 101(11): 569–570.
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The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Jun 04, 2018

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle considered The Adventure of the Speckled Band to be his best Holmes story, and Adam does too. Meant to be a companion to Episode 35 (Sherlock), this is the story in its entirety. THIS IS NOT AN EPISODE! It's Adam reading for almost 50 minutes. Consider yourself forewarned!

35 - Sherlock Jun 04, 2018

Why do doctors love Sherlock Holmes so much? In this episode, we’ll explore this endearing, nerdy obsession with the good detective, from Holmes’ medical origins and influences, the parallels with medical reasoning, and how the Holmes stories still influence medicine to this day. Plus a new #AdamAnswers about the origin of the white coat. All this and more in Episode 35 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

Sources:

Blumhagen DW, “The Doctor’s White Coat,” Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol 91, No. 1, July 1979.
Conan Doyle A, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” retrieved from https://sherlock-holm.es/stories/pdf/a4/1-sided/spec.pdf
Hochberg MS, “The Doctor’s White Coat -- an Historical Perspective,” Virtual Mentor. April 2007, Volume 9, Number 4: 310-314.
Levine D, Revalidating Sherlock Holmes for a role in medical education.Clin Med April 1, 2012 vol. 12
McDaniels, AK, “In change in tradition, Johns Hopkins interns will no longer wear short white coats,” Baltimore Sun, retrieved from http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-short-white-coat-20180328-story.html
Oderwald AK, Sebus JH. The physician and Sherlock Holmes. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 1991;84:151–2.
Perry S, “It takes a medical Sherlock Holmes to solve complex neurological mysteries,” MinnPost, retrieved from https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2013/09/it-takes-medical-sherlock-holmes-solve-complex-neurological-mysteries
Peschel RE, Peschel E. What physicians have in common with Sherlock Holmes: discussion paper. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 1989;82:33–6.
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Whitaker P, “Had Sherlock Holmes gone into medicine, he’d have been a dermatologist,” New Statesman, retrieved from https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2018/03/had-sherlock-holmes-gone-medicine-he-d-have-been-dermatologist

34 - The Physical May 04, 2018

The physical exam has become a ritual of the modern doctor’s appointment, with pokes, prods, and strange tools. How did this become a normal thing to do? In this episode, I’ll discuss how the physical exam went from the medieval examination of a flask of urine to basically what we have today in just a few decades in early 19th century France, and how the exam is still developing in the 21st century. Plus, a brand new #AdamAnswers about why Americans insist on using the Hermes’ Staff as a symbol for medicine. All this and more in episode 34 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

Sources:

Antic T, DeMay RM. “The fascinating history of urine examination,” Journal of the American Society of Cytopathology (2014) 3, 103e107
Ghasemzadeh N and Zafari AM, “A Journey into the History of the Arterial Pulse,” Cardiology Research and Practice Volume 2011 (2011).
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Nicolson M, Commentary: Nicholas Jewson and the disappearance of the sick man from medical cosmology, 1770–1870. Int J Epidemiol 2009;38:622–33)
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Robertson WE. Physical diagnosis from the time of Rontgen. Ann Med Hist. 1934;6:255–63
Rodgers MM, “Piorry on Pleximetry and Auscultation,” Boston Med Surg J 1852; 46:151-152
Tan SY and Hu M, “Josef Leopold Auenbrugger (1722 - 1809): father of percussion. Singapore Med J 2004 Vol 45(3):103
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Wilcox RA et al, “The Symbol of Modern Medicine: Why One Snake Is More Than Two,” Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:673-677.
Verghese et al, A History of Physical Examination Texts and the Conception of Bedside Diagnosis.
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33 - Alexis and William Apr 04, 2018

Alexis St. Martin and William Beaumont have one of the strangest relationships in the history of medicine -- a young French-Canadian fur trapper with a hole in his stomach from an errant shotgun blast and the American army physician who cared for him, and then made his own career by turning Alexis into a human guinea pig. Through the decades of their complicated relationship, they’d revolutionize our understanding of the physiology of the stomach, put American medicine on the map, and start a conversation about the ethics of human experimentation that goes on to this day. Plus there’s a new #AdamAnswers about whether or not your body temperature and fevers can “run low”. All this and more on the latest episode of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine.

Sources:

Beaumont W. Experiments and Observations of the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion. Plattsburgh, NY: FP Allen; 1833.
Mackowiak PA et al, “A critical appraisal of 98.6 degrees F, the upper limit of the normal body temperature, and other legacies of Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich.” JAMA. 1992 Sep 23-30;268(12):1578-80.
Mackowiak PA, “Feel the heat: a short history of body temperature,” BMJ. 2017;359:j5697
Markel H, “How William Beaumont and Alexis St. Martin Seized the Moment of Scientific Progress,” JAMA, August 19, 2009—Vol 302, No. 7.
Myers NA and Durham Smith E, “A Debt to Alexis: The Beaumont-St Martin Story,” Aust NZ J Surg (1991) 67, 534-539.
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Obermeyer Z et al, Individual differences in normal body temperature: longitudinal big data analysis of patient records. BMJ. 2017; 359: j5468.
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32 - The Humors Mar 03, 2018

The Four Humors are probably the longest-lasting idea in the history of medicine, even though they’ve been more or less completely abandoned for the past century or so. In this episode, we’ll explore how the ancient Greek idea of disease coming from imbalances in body fluids touched every aspect of medicine for two millennia, well into the modern era. And we’ll discuss how humoral explanations likely hampered adoption of the first clinical trial in history, James Lind’s famous scurvy study. Plus we have a brand new #AdamAnswers about germ theory. Listen to all this and more in Episode 32 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

Sources:

Arikha N, Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humors. 2007.
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31 - Malariotherapy Feb 02, 2018

Malariotherapy -- infecting comatose syphilis patients with malaria to cure them of the disease -- was once the cutting edge of medicine, and earned its inventor Julius Wagner-Jauregg the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1927. In this episode, we’re going to talk about the fascinating story behind this remarkable treatment, from the murky beginnings of syphilis through its sordid sexual connotations, to the birth of modern psychiatry and Nazi experiments. Plus, there’s a brand new #AdamAnswers about whether or not ancient doctors thought hair served to store semen (seriously). Listen to all this and more in Episode 31 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine.

Sources:

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Frith J, “Syphilis – Its early history and Treatment until Penicillin and the Debate on its Origins,” Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, 20(4), retrieved online at: http://jmvh.org/article/syphilis-its-early-history-and-treatment-until-penicillin-and-the-debate-on-its-origins/
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Karamanou M et al, “Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940): Introducing fever therapy in the treatment of neurosyphilis.” Psychiatriki. 2013 Jul-Sep;24(3):208-12.
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Rothschild, BM, “History of Syphilis Clinical Infectious Diseases.” 2005; 40:1454–63
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30 - The Orphan Vaccine Jan 05, 2018

Two hundred years ago, a few doctors, a matron, and 22 orphans set sail in a gutsy attempt to spread the new invention of vaccination across three continents in the world’s first attempt to eliminate smallpox. Learn about their epic journey, the Balmis-Salvany Expedition, as well as the medical context surrounding the invention of vaccination in “The Orphan Vaccine”. Plus, a new #AdamAnswers about why you always get sick when you first go on vacation. You can find all this and more in the latest episode of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

Sources:

Domingo P, “Smallpox: The triumph over the most terrible of the ministers of death,” Annals of Internal Medicine, November 1997.
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Franco-Paredes C, et al. “The Spanish Royal Philanthropic Expedition to Bring Smallpox Vaccination to the New World and Asia in the 19th Century”, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 41, Issue 9, 1 November 2005, Pages 1285–1289
Hammarsten JF et al, “Who discovered smallpox vaccination? Edward Jenner or Benjamin Jesty?” Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 1979;90:44-55.
Lipton RB et al, “Reduction in perceived stress as a migraine trigger: testing the ‘let-down headache’ hypothesis,” Neurology. 2014 Apr 22; 82(16): 1395–1401.
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29 - Curse of the Ninth Dec 13, 2017

Did the famous composer Gustav Mahler work his fatal heart murmur into his final ninth symphony? To try and answer this question, I’m joined by Dr. Kevin Nordstrom of the Great Composers Podcast. We’ll delve into Mahler’s diseases, a history of heart sounds, musical theory, his obsession with mortality, and the unfortunate circumstances of his own death. Classical music and medicine, in one podcast! What more could you want? And included (at no extra charge!) is a new #AdamAnswers about the origins of respiratory therapy.

You can listen to Dr. Nordstrom’s Great Composers Podcast on iTunes or on his website.

Sources:

Amenta C, “The Opening of Mahler's Ninth Symphony and the Bernstein "Heart-beat" Hypothesis by Charles Amenta,” Naturlaut 4(1): 17-18, 2005.
Cardoso F and Leese AJ. “Did Gustav Mahler have Syndenham’s chorea?” Mov Disord. 2006 Mar;21(3):289-92.
Christy NP et al, “Gustav Mahler and his illnesses,” Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 1971; 82: 200–217.
Ferretti J et al, “History of Streptococcal Research.” Streptococcus pyogenes : Basic Biology to Clinical Manifestations.
Hannah IR and Silverman ME, “A history of cardiac auscultation and some of its contributors,” Am J Cardiol. 2002 Aug 1;90(3):259-67.
Levy D, “Gustav Mahler and Emanuel Libman: bacterial endocarditis in 1911,” Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1986 Dec 20-27;293(6562):1628-31.
Mangione S, “Mahler at 100: a medical history,” Hektoen International. http://hekint.org/2017/01/30/mahler-at-100-a-medical-history/

28 - Smallpox Blankets Nov 09, 2017

The story of smallpox blankets offered as gifts to indigenous peoples as a weapon of war is ubiquitous -- but is it based in truth? And did our increased medical understanding of smallpox lead to its use as a biological weapon? In this episode, we confront these questions and explore the history of biological warfare, smallpox, and medicine. Listen to all this, a new #AdamAnswers, and more in this episode of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine.

Sources:

Barras V and Groub G, “History of biological warfare and bioterrorism,” Clin Microbiol Infect 2014.
Carus W, “The history of biological weapons use: what we know and what we don’t,” Health Security, Vol 13, No4, 2015.
Fenner F et al, “Smallpox and its Eradication,” World Health Organization, 1988, Chapters 5 and 6.
Mayor A, “The Nessus Shirt in the New World: Smallpox Blankets in History and Legend,” J Am Folklore, Vol. 108, No. 427 (Winter, 1995), 54-77.
Mear C, “The origin of the smallpox outbreak in Sydney in 1789,” Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, June, 2008.
Skwarecki B, “What is the scariest disease?” PLoS Blogs, retrieved at https://gizmodo.com/what-is-the-scariest-disease-1653943826
Theves C, et al, “The rediscovery of smallpox,” Clin Microbiol Infect 2014; 20: 210-218.
Ranlet P, “The British, the Indians, and Smallpox: What actually happened at Fort Pitt in 1763?”, Pennsylvania history: 427-442.
Warren C, “Smallpox at Sydney Cove -- who, when, why?” J Aust Studies, 30 Oct 2013

27 - The First Opiate Epidemic Oct 06, 2017

The United States is in the midst of an epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths due to opiate painkillers. Its causes are varied, but there’s no question that physicians share a large part of the blame. Little discussed is that this is actually the second time this has happened. Almost a century ago, a remarkably similar epidemic struck the country. In this episode, called “The First Opiate Epidemic,” I discuss what happened, the parallels to today, and the lessons we can learn from our forebearers. Learn about all this and a new #AdamAnswers in this month’s Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

Sources:

Courtwright DT. Dark Paradise: A History of Opiate Addiction in America. Harvard University Press, 2001.
Meldrum ML, “The ongoing opiod prescription epidemic: historical context,” Am J Public Health. 2016 August; 106(8): 1365–1366.
Courtwright DT, “Preventing and treating narcotic addiction -- a century of federal drug control,” N Engl J Med 2015; 373:2095-2097.
Adams JFA, “Substitutes for opium in chronic diseases,” Boston Med Surg J 1889; 121:351-356.
Macht DI, “The history of opium and some of its preparations and alkaloids,” JAMA. 1915;LXIV(6):477-481.
Hamilton GR and Baskett TF, “In the arms of Morpheus: the development of morphine for postoperative pain relief,” Can J Anesth. 2000;47:4, 367-374.
Weiner JP, “A shortage of physicians or a surplus of assumptions?” Health Aff January 2002 vol. 21 no. 1 160-162.
Gudbranson BA et al, Reassessing the Data on Whether a Physician Shortage Exists. JAMA. 2017;317(19):1945-1946.
Kirch DG and Petelle K, Addressing the Physician Shortage: The Peril of Ignoring Demography. JAMA. 2017;317(19):1947-1948.

Summer Shorts #2 - Corrupted Blood Sep 09, 2017

In 2005, a mysterious plague called Corrupted Blood hit the online denizens of World of Warcraft, ripping through cities and decimating player characters. After the smoke cleared, it became clear that this virtual plague shared many characteristics with real-world diseases and almost immediately attracted the attention of researchers. In this Summer Short, I go over the details of the in-game Corrupted Blood incident, and the very real-world epidemiological research that followed. Learn about all this and more on the latest short of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine.

Sources:

Bohannon J. Slaying monsters for science. Science 20 Jun 2008.
Messner S. How Blizzard coped with World of Warcraft's blood plague and other early disasters. PC Gamer.
Henderson M. Analysis: Absence of risk limits parallels with real life. Times Online. October 28, 2008
Oultram S. Virtual plagues and real-world pandemics: reflecting on the potential for online computer role-playing games to inform real world epidemic research. BMJ.
Lofgren E, Fefferman N. The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics. Lancet Infect Dis 2007;9:625–9.

26 - The God Squad Aug 31, 2017

The invention of dialysis -- essentially artificial kidneys for people with kidney failure -- revolutionized medicine. It also started a debate about medical rationing and ethics that rages to this day. Producer Cam Steele brings us a story about the God Squad, the group of lay people and doctors tasked with deciding who lived and who died in the early days of dialysis, and how it has informed every debate about medical rationing since. Learn about all this and more, plus a new #AdamAnswers in the latest episode of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine.

Sources:

Blagg CR, Development of ethical concepts in dialysis: Seattle in the 1960s. Nephrology, 1998.4, 235-238
Scheunemann L and White D, The Ethics and Reality of Rationing in Medicine, Chest, 140; 6. December 2011
White DB et al, Who should receive life support during a public health emergency? Using ethical principles to improve allocation decisions. Ann Intern Med. 2009 January 20; 150(2): 132–138.
Jonson AR, The God Squad and the Origins of Transplantation Ethics and Policy, Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics.
Levine C, The Seattle “God Committee”: A Cautionary Tale; Nov 30 2009.
Blagg, CR. The Early Years of Chronic Dialysis: The Seattle Contribution. Am J Nephrol 1999;19:350–354
Persad, et al. Principles for allocation of scarce medical interventions, Lancet 2009; 373: 423–31.
Bryson, et al. Addiction and Substance Abuse in Anesthesiology. Anesthesiology. 2008 Nov; 109(5): 905–917.
Hughes, et al. Resident Physician Substance Use, By Specialty. Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149: 1348-1354.

Summer Shorts #1 - The Eclipse Aug 18, 2017

The eclipse is coming! Get out your eclipse glasses (or your camera obscura, if you didn't prepare like me), and enjoy a review of the medical literature on eclipses with our guest Dr. Avi O'Glasser in our first summer short. Beyond solar retinopathy (a very good reason to not look into the sun), are there health effects on humans? Is there anything to the widespread belief of an eclipse being a bad omen? Find out all this and more in our first Bedside Rounds Summer Short. And thanks so much to Dr. O'Glasser!

References:

http://www.asrs.org/patients/retinal-diseases/special-safety-edition-2017-great-american-eclipse
A New Way to Look Up. Solar Retinopathy Risks and Methods of Prevention Prior to the 2015 Solar Eclipse
Public health warnings of solar retinopathy risk in European newspapers prior to the 2006 solar eclipse. (http://www.oftalmo.com/seo/archivos/maquetas/C/1C6CE602-7C96-3DE8-336A-00001A483D3C/articulo.pdf)
EFFECT OF ECLIPSE OF THE SUN IN 1999 ON THE PSYCHIC STATE OF PEOPLE http://www.prolekare.cz/en/general-practitioner-article/effect-of-eclipse-of-the-sun-in-1999-on-the-psychic-state-of-people-25088

25 - Salt Water Aug 01, 2017

Intravenous or IV fluids are a ubiquitous treatment in medicine, and one of the most cost-effective treatments that we have, costing less than a cup of coffee in the developing world. But it wasn’t always this way. In this episode, called Salt Water, we go back to the second great cholera epidemic, where a young doctor developed IV fluids to help fight this mysterious disease, only to see his invention abandoned for over half a century. We also have a new #AdamAnswers about bloodletting. So join us for another rollicking adventure of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!

Sources:

Foex B. How the cholera epidemic of 1831 resulted in a newtechnique for fluid resuscitation. Emerg Med J 2003;20:316–318.
Gill G. William O’Shaughnessy and the forgotten cure for cholerain the 1832 British epidemic.
Letter from Lord Cavendish: Online at: http://mssweb.nottingham.ac.uk/elearning/view-text.asp?resource=HealthHousing&ref=pwh287&theme=3&view=text&page=1
O'Shaughnessy, W.B. (1838–40). "Case of Tetanus, Cured by a Preparation of Hemp (the Cannabis indica.)". Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Bengal. 8: 462–469.
Chan C, et al. Historical Epidemiology of the Second Cholera Pandemic: Relevance to Present Day Disease Dynamics. PLOS One: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0072498
BB4: Diary of an Epidemic. Online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/longview/longview_20030415.shtml
Kresta R. The Origin of IV Fluids. Discover Magazine. Online at: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/2016/05/31/intravenous-fluids-cholera/#.WX9z4JdtmUl
Prasad V and Cifu A, Medical Reversal: Why We Must Raise the Bar Before Adopting New Technologies. Yale J Biol Med. 2011 Dec; 84(4): 471–478.

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