Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is thought to be a 'recent' disease in that descriptions of it were only noted in the 17th century. However, a study of paintings would suggest that RA could have been present as early as the 15th century, when artists started to paint the human body accurately rather than figuratively. Thus, it was possible to deduce from their paintings the occurrence of various medical conditions. If present, RA with its typical finger deformities should be apparent. This review discusses the known occurrences of RA-type deformities in paintings and places this in the context of the origins of the disease.
Throughout human history, doctors and healers have gathered and refined the knowledge inherited from the previous generations. Different methods of effective therapy have been designed during various historical periods; when each was developed, it was considered "modern scientific medicine" for their time. Mankind has gone through natural and social disasters and survived; hence, history has proved there was no time when medical knowledge was erroneous or ineffective. Classic medicine has grown to be divided into narrow, specialized branches, causing it to lose its holistic approach and general view on health, sickness and therapeutic methods. Many of traditional medicine's effective methods have been forgotten and removed from the mainstream medicine. It would be good for modern medical education to incorporate the general knowledge of historically effective therapeutic modalities and study practical cases. Medical students should be taught how to choose a "good method" or "good medicine" independent of when that method or remedy was discovered. However, he has to keep in mind the primary goal of medicine: "I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment…"(from Hippocratic Oath).
In this review, we describe some of the central philosophical issues facing origins-of-life research and provide a targeted history of the developments that have led to the multidisciplinary field of origins-of-life studies. We outline these issues and developments to guide researchers and students from all fields. With respect to philosophy, we provide brief summaries of debates with respect to (1) definitions (or theories) of life, what life is and how research should be conducted in the absence of an accepted theory of life, (2) the distinctions between synthetic, historical, and universal projects in origins-of-life studies, issues with strategies for inferring the origins of life, such as (3) the nature of the first living entities (the "bottom up" approach) and (4) how to infer the nature of the last universal common ancestor (the "top down" approach), and (5) the status of origins of life as a science. Each of these debates influences the others. Although there are clusters of researchers that agree on some answers to these issues, each of these debates is still open. With respect to history, we outline several independent paths that have led to some of the approaches now prevalent in origins-of-life studies. These include one path from early views of life through the scientific revolutions brought about by Linnaeus (von Linn.), Wöhler, Miller, and others. In this approach, new theories, tools, and evidence guide new thoughts about the nature of life and its origin. We also describe another family of paths motivated by a" circularity" approach to life, which is guided by such thinkers as Maturana & Varela, Gánti, Rosen, and others. These views echo ideas developed by Kant and Aristotle, though they do so using modern science in ways that produce exciting avenues of investigation. By exploring the history of these ideas, we can see how many of the issues that currently interest us have been guided by the contexts in which the ideas were developed. The disciplinary backgrounds of each of these scholars has influenced the questions they sought to answer, the experiments they envisioned, and the kinds of data they collected. We conclude by encouraging scientists and scholars in the humanities and social sciences to explore ways in which they can interact to provide a deeper understanding of the conceptual assumptions, structure, and history of origins-of-life research. This may be useful to help frame future research agendas and bring awareness to the multifaceted issues facing this challenging scientific question.
There is limited data regarding the epidemiology, pathology, and management of distal radius fractures from centers in Asia. The advanced economies in Asia include Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, whereas the prominent emerging economies are China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand. This article examines the available epidemiological data from Asia, compares the management of distal radius fractures in the advanced and emerging Asian economies and how they compare with the current management in the west. It concludes by offering solutions for improving outcomes of distal radius fractures in Asia.
Over the past 50 years, a variety of surgical procedures have been advocated for the treatment of operable breast cancer, ranging from local excision to supraradical mastectomy. Today, the surgical treatment of breast cancer remains highly contentious. We review the historical development of breast cancer surgery and analyse the available evidence supporting conservative procedures. We also express our opinions on the treatment of early breast cancer and illustrate the changing patterns of surgery with our experience at National University Hospital.
The reconstruction of fire history is essential to understand the palaeoclimate and human history. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been extensively used as a fire marker. In this work, the distribution of PAHs in Borneo peat archives was investigated to understand how PAHs reflect the palaeo-fire activity. In total, 52 peat samples were analysed from a Borneo peat core for the PAH analysis. Pyrogenic PAHs consist of 2-7 aromatic rings, some of which have methyl and ethyl groups. The results reveal that the concentration of pyrogenic PAHs fluctuated with the core depth. Compared to low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs, the high-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs had a more similar depth variation to the charcoal abundance. This finding also suggests that the HMW PAHs were mainly formed at a local fire near the study area, while the LMW PAHs could be transported from remote locations.
Western-style medicine was introduced to Malaya by the Portuguese, Dutch and British between the 1500s and 1800s. Although the earliest pathology laboratories were developed within hospitals towards the end of the 19th Century, histopathology emerged much later than the biochemistry and bacteriology services. The University Departments of Pathology were the pioneers of the renal histopathology diagnostic services. The Department of Pathology, University of Malaya (UM) received its first renal biopsy on 19 May 1968. Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) and Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) started their services in 1979 and 1987 respectively. It is notable that the early services in these University centres caterred for both the university hospitals and the Ministry of Health (MOH) until the mid-1990s when MOH began to develop its own services, pivoted on renal pathologists trained through Fellowship programmes. Currently, key centres in the MOH are Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Sultanah Aminah Hospital Johor Bahru and Malacca Hospital. With the inclusion of renal biopsy interpretation in the Master of Pathology programmes, basic renal histopathology services became widely available throughout the country from 2000. This subsequently filtered out to the private sector as more histopathologists embraced private practice. There is now active continuing professional development in renal histopathology through clinicopathological dicussions, seminars and workshops. Renal research on amyloid nephropathy, minimal change disease, IgA nephropathy, fibrillary glomerulonephritis, lupus nephritis and microwave technology have provided an insight into the patterns of renal pathology and changing criteria for biopsy. More recently, there has been increasing involvement of renal teams in clinical trials, particularly for lupus nephritis and renal transplant modulation.