Plagues & Pathogens
The Great Smog of London, 1952 – How Air Pollution Changed Public Health Policy
In December 1952 a five-day pea-souper killed thousands in London and forced Britain to confront air pollution as a public health emergency.
Archive
Articles
Stories from the Past Medical History archive — diseases, discoveries and the people who shaped modern medicine.
Surgery & The Knife
William Halsted - Cocaine, Morphine, and Surgical Residency
There are few figures in medical history as troubled as William Halsted, a man who has been referred to as “the most innovative and influential surgeon the United States has produced” and also the “father of modern…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The Immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks
Discover the remarkable story of Henrietta Lacks, whose immortal HeLa cells revolutionised medical research, leading to breakthroughs in vaccines, cancer studies, and bioethics debates.
Plagues & Pathogens
Togo and the Diphtheria Serum Run
Thanks to modern childhood vaccination programmes, diphtheria is now a rare illness in Western Europe and the United States. It is still common, however, in developing countries where vaccination rates are low. It is a…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
Pregnancy Tests and Frogs
What on earth do pregnancy tests have to do with frogs, you might be asking? Nowadays, it is a very straightforward task to do a home pregnancy test. Anyone can simply walk into a chemist and buy one over the counter…
Surgery & The Knife
Louisa Aldrich-Blake – Pioneering Female Surgeon
In 1540, Henry VIII declared that “No carpenter, smith, weaver, or woman shall practice surgery.” Fortunately, things have changed quite considerably in the past 480 years, and there are now countless incredible women…
Surgery & The Knife
Robert Liston – The Fastest Knife in the West End
Before the discovery of general anaesthesia in the mid 19 th century, surgery was a horrific prospect with the patient fully conscious and suffering unspeakable agony and a significant risk of death. In this era, the…
Medical Pioneers
Ogino Ginko – Japan’s First Female Doctor
In 2018, a Japanese Medical School made headline news because of its discrimination against female applicants. One cannot help but wonder what the remarkable Ogino Ginko would have thought of this if she were alive…
Medical Pioneers
Edward Jenner and the Smallpox Vaccine
Every year, approximately 85% of the world’s children receive vaccines protecting them against deadly diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus and tuberculosis. It has been estimated that vaccines save 9 million…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
L'Inconnue de la Seine - The Face of Resusci Annie
In the 14 years or so that I worked as a doctor, I placed my lips on hers many thousands of times during resus training and teaching days. Resusci Annie has been called the most-kissed face in history, and it has been…
Medical Pioneers
Avicenna – Philosopher and Physician
In the centre of the city of Hamadan in Iran stands a monument to the Iranian national hero called Avicenna. The Mausoleum of Avicenna houses a library, a museum, and tower and pays tribute to arguably the most…
Medical Pioneers
Rosalind Franklin – Forgotten Pioneer of DNA
Rosalind Franklin is one of the most controversial female figures in the field of science. Her X-ray diffraction work played a vital role in the discovery of the DNA double helix, yet she did not receive the…
Medical Pioneers
William Osler – The Father of Modern Medicine
“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” - Sir William Osler The name Osler is very familiar to most medical students and doctors. Osler is widely regarded as…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
Facts and Figures: A History of Medicines
Medicine wasn’t always as we know it now in its current refined form. There weren’t always processed pills and syrups, and there weren’t any complicated procedures to help the injured heal and recover. But one thing…
Surgery & The Knife
Joseph Lister – ‘The Father of Antiseptic Surgery’
Before the 1800s surgery was a risky business. In some London hospitals, the post-operative mortality rates were as high as 80%, and a mortality rate of 50% was considered acceptable. Operations were horrendous ordeals…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
Wilhelm Röntgen and the First X-Ray
In the 14 years or so that I worked in the Emergency Department, I ordered literally thousands of X-rays. X-rays have a wide range of applications varying from the diagnosis of simple bone fractures, through to the…
Medical Pioneers
Hippocrates II – The Father of Medicine
After qualifying as a doctor from Imperial College in 2001, my year group organised a special graduation celebration ceremony where we all had the opportunity to recite a modernised version of the famous Hippocratic…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The Frontal Lobe of Phineas Gage
I first heard the story of Phineas Gage in 1998, during my second year at Medical School. Neuroanatomy was not my strongest suit, and I spent most of the lectures scribbling notes in a frantic haze of confusion…
Medical Pioneers
The Legend of Bian Que
The legendary Bian Que is considered to be the first true physician in China. He is credited as having developed traditional Chinese medicine and with several other notable achievements. The stories of his life have an…
Surgery & The Knife
The History of Surgical Gloves
In modern medicine, the thought of performing surgery without wearing gloves is utterly unthinkable. It is common knowledge that their use helps to prevent the transmission of infection in operating theatres, as well as…
Surgery & The Knife
The Nervous System of Harriet Cole
This story, set in 1880s post Civil War America, particularly appealed to me due to my love of anatomy. The two main players in this unusual tale are very different individuals indeed. The first, Harriet Cole, was an…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The Discovery of Insulin
Nearly all of us know at least one person that has diabetes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 382 million people worldwide currently have diabetes. Diabetes prevents the body from effectively…
Plagues & Pathogens
The Terrible Tale of Typhoid Mary
Typhoid fever is a particularly nasty infection caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi . The infection causes malaise, abdominal pain, a rash, diarrhoea or constipation, and in severe cases can result in intestinal…
Plagues & Pathogens
What Killed George Washington?
George Washington is, without doubt, one of the world’s most famous historical figures. He served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence, presided over the 1787…
Plagues & Pathogens
Smallpox and the Conquest of Mexico
In 1517 the Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, arrived in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. The ruler of the Aztecs, Motecuhzoma II, made the Spanish welcome and things were friendly between the…
Plagues & Pathogens
John Snow and the 1854 Cholera Outbreak
In August 1854, Soho in London was struck with a severe cholera outbreak. Cholera is a gastrointestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae . It is still prevalent in areas with inadequate sanitation and…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The Story of Penicillin
I sometimes take antibiotics for granted. As a doctor, I have prescribed thousands of courses of antibiotics throughout my career. I have taken many courses myself also, and they almost certainly saved my life when I…
Plagues & Pathogens
Germ Warfare and the Siege of Fort Pitt
Germ warfare is defined as “the use of biological toxins or infectious agents with the intent to kill or incapacitate as an act of war.” These biological agents are quite literally used as deadly living weapons. Germ…
Surgery & The Knife
Medical Lessons From the Battlefield
War’s only silver lining is to advance medical understanding . During World War 2, eye injuries sustained by pilots led to the subsequent transformation of cataract surgery, ophthalmologist Sir Harold Ridley being so…
Medical Pioneers
Thomas Linacre and the Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians is a U.K. based, internationally recognised, professional body that is dedicated to the improvement of medical practice and patient care. It is also the oldest royal medical college in…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The Story of the Tendon Hammer
The tendon hammer is one of the most historically resilient medical instruments still in use today. It is a simple yet invaluable device that can be used to diagnose a wide variety of nervous system and muscular…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
Going Round in Circles: The Discovery of the Body’s Circulatory System by William Harvey
Do you ever feel like you are going round in circles? Well, your blood is continuously going round in circles, in the pulmonary and systemic circulations. Less than 400 years ago, however, these life-giving…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
Willem Einthoven and the Electrocardiogram
ECG interpretation has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. One of the first books I purchased as a medical student was the ‘ECG Made Easy’. After reading that book for the first time ECG interpretation seemed far from…
Medical Pioneers
Dr Joseph Bell: The Real Life Sherlock Holmes
I have been fascinated with the detective Sherlock Holmes since childhood. His almost supernatural powers of observation and deduction in stories such as ‘The Sign of the Four’, ‘The Speckled Band’, and ‘A Study in…
Plagues & Pathogens
The Russian Plague of 1770-1772
In the summer of 2016, a 10-year-old Russian boy cut himself skinning a marmot whilst hunting with his grandfather in the remote Kosh-Agach region in the Atlai Mountains. A few days later he developed a fever and a…
Medical Pioneers
Claudius Galen
The Greek physician, Claudius Galen, is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of Medicine. Galen was the greatest physician of his era and was also a skilled surgeon and renowned philosopher…
Plagues & Pathogens
The Dancing Plague of 1518
In the summer of 1518 in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace, a woman by the name of Frau Troffea took to the streets and started to dance. She continued to dance day and night without stopping. No one knows why she started…
Discoveries & Breakthroughs
The Story of Rene Laennec and the First Stethoscope
No single piece of equipment is more synonymous with the medical profession than the stethoscope. I can vividly remember wearing my brand new Littmann stethoscope with pride on ward rounds as a medical student…
Plagues & Pathogens
The Mysterious Sweating Sickness
The Middle Ages are renowned for being a turbulent and difficult period of history. War, famine and disease occurred throughout the period and one of the most devastating pandemics in history, the Black Death, occurred…
Plagues & Pathogens
Plagues, Comets and Volcanoes
The sixth century AD was a tumultuous period of human history. It marked the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Empires fell and new ones rose up to take their place. It was during this…
Medical Pioneers
Imhotep – The First Physician
The ancient Egyptian civilisation was the first of the recorded great world civilisations. Little is known about the prehistoric societies that came before Egypt but it is assumed that they were steeped in superstition…
Plagues & Pathogens
Spanish Flu: The Deadliest Pandemic in History
In the Spring of 2009, a new strain of influenza began to infect people in Mexico. Reports suggested that the outbreak had started in February due to farming practices at a pig farm and it was henceforth given the name…
Medical Pioneers
Ignaz Semmelweis - ‘The Saviour of Mothers’
I can vividly remember being taught how to ‘scrub up’ as a third-year medical student. The careful scrutiny of the theatre sister filled me with fear. Had I touched the wrong part of the scrub pack? Were my hands…
Plagues & Pathogens
The Coldest Case - Lessons from the Iceman
I am an unashamed fan of history and spend much of my time away from Medicine reading about history and listening to podcasts such as the excellent 'Hardcore History' by Dan Carlin. This particular article was inspired…
Medical Pioneers
Aneurin Bevan and the Birth of the NHS
The NHS has been in the news a lot lately, and not for the right reasons. Winter bed emergencies, the junior doctor's contract dispute, student nurses bursaries, and the widespread funding crisis are constantly making…