Browsing: Health/Medicine

A Brief History As of August 20, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported a total of 2,615 suspected cases and 1,427 deaths (1,528 cases and 844 deaths being laboratory confirmed) in an epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) that is ongoing in West Africa.  The outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013, after which it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. Digging Deeper Ebola is a rare but deadly virus that causes bleeding inside and outside the body. As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs. Ultimately, it causes levels of blood-clotting cells to drop, which leads to severe, uncontrollable bleeding.…

 A Brief History On August 4th, 1761, the first veterinary school of medicine was founded by Claude Bourgelat in Lyon, France. Digging Deeper Claude Bourgelat did not study veterinary medicine himself; he had studied law but later directed an academy for horseback riding. He soon became an authority figure on horse management, and he wrote books on the morphology and anatomy of horses. His reputation brought him to the king’s attention, and the royal horse breeding program in the French province of Lyonnais was put under his supervision. In addition to founding the first veterinary school of medicine in Lyon,…

A Brief History On July 12, 100 B.C., Julius Caesar was born by what many believe to have been the first Caesarian section. Digging Deeper Today it is generally assumed that Caesar was not born by Caesarian section, as C-sections were only performed on dead women in Roman times, and there are many accounts of Caesar’s mother, Aurelia, being alive well into Caesar’s adulthood. So, how did this surgical procedure come to be associated with one of the greatest generals in recorded time? This belief has certainly been around a long time; and many Western names for the procedure include…

A Brief History On July 7, 1550, chocolate is thought to have been introduced to Europe from the Americas.  In the following article, the author will list the foods native to either the North or South American continents that had the most significance on a culinary scale when finally exported to Europe, Asia and Africa. These will be in no particular order of ranking but merely alphabetical. Honorable mentions go to the grains/seeds: Quinoa and Amaranth. This is because these two foods are gaining in popularity due to growing health-food trends that involve going gluten-free and vegan, however, they have…

A Brief History On June 13, 1893, President Grover Cleveland was only a few months into his second term when he went to his doctor to complain of soreness and a rough patch in his mouth.  The doctor determined the President had a tumor in his mouth and removal of the tumor would be the appropriate medical action. Digging Deeper Removal of the tumor would entail removing a large piece of Cleveland’s upper jaw, but secrecy was the word of the day and the surgery took place on a yacht sailing off Long Island to keep it from the public. …