Browsing: Health/Medicine

A Brief History On October 17, 2018, the recreational use of Marijuana was legalized in Canada.  Call it Cannabis, Hemp, Pot, Weed or whatever, for decades the “herb” was illegal in most industrialized nations. Digging Deeper Going back to 1378, the Emir of the Joneima in Arabia outlawed Marijuana and its derivatives, and Napoleon did the same for the French in 1800.  Other countries followed, including Mexico in 1920, Canada in 1923, Britain in 1928, and the USA in 1937. Now, almost a century later, the tide has turned, and many States and countries have legalized Weed for medical or…

A Brief History On September 27, 1962, the book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson was published.  The book dealt with environmental science and focused on the widespread use of pesticides and the disinformation provided by the manufacturers of those chemicals. Digging Deeper Carson made a case that the indiscriminate use of these chemicals was poisoning the environment and killing off many beneficial insects along with the pests.  Additionally, many birds suffered ill effects from the pesticides, and Carson projected that one day the birds would be gone, hence the title of the book. You might have thought a cataclysmic environmental…

A Brief History On September 19, 1991, the mummified body of a man that lived around 3350 to 3105 BC was discovered in the Ötztal Alps between Austria and Italy.  The name of the mountains was used to name the mummy “Otzi,” and the long dead “iceman” became a celebrity. Digging Deeper Preserved by the snow and ice on the mountain, this Copper Age man was found to probably have been murdered, an arrowhead found in his shoulder and other wounds implying so. Otzi was found by tourists from Germany at a height of 10,530 feet.  Believing the body to…

A Brief History On September 13, 1987, two thieves took advantage of a guard being absent from an abandoned Brazilian hospital site to help themselves to whatever they could scavenge.  The men made the blunder of taking a 3.3-ounce capsule of caesium chloride, a highly radioactive substance used in radiation therapy. Digging Deeper The same night of the theft, the thieves exhibited signs of radiation poisoning.  Visiting a local clinic, they were diagnosed with radiation sickness.  About three days after the theft, the thieves opened the capsule and picked out some of the glowing blue substance inside. The thieves sold…

A Brief History Hello, everyone, I am Dr. Zar from the YouTube channel History and Headlines!  Today, I would like to bring to your attention a fundraiser on behalf of one of my friends and colleagues, historian Daniel N. Gullotta of Ashland University.  At just five days old, Daniel’s son, Colby Jackson (aka “Jack”) was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Digging Deeper Per the official fundraiser, this disease, which affects one in 11,000 births in the United States, robs people of their physical strength, significantly impacting an individual’s ability to walk, swallow, or breathe.  Given Jack’s type of SMA,…