– David McCullough
Abstracts of Talks 2011-2012*
Obstetrical Forceps: History, Mystery, and Morality
Date: Sept. 7, 2011
Speaker: Ronald L. Young M.D., Director, Division of Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine
Abstract: The history of obstetrical forceps has almost always been one cloaked in controversy after a long history of being shrouded in mystery. Forceps have a long history and have evolved from facilitating the delivery of dead fetuses to aiding in the delivery and survival of live babies. In the middle of all of this arises the story of the Chamberlain family whose contribution was enormous but whose behaviors pushed at the envelope of (at least) our present-day concepts of medical ethics. This lecture traces an interesting story that spans a millennium.
- Download transcript of Obstetrical Forceps: History, Mystery, and Morality presentation.
Aztec Medicine
Date: Oct. 5, 2011
Speaker: Liliana Rodriguez, DrPH UTHSC Program in Gene-Environment Interaction
Abstract: The destruction of Tenochtitlan and the collapse of the Aztec Empire in 1521 brought to an end one of the most remarkable civilizations in Mesoamerica. The Aztecs lived in a well-organized society of astronomers, mathematicians, spectacular craftsmen, architects, painters, sculptors, and musicians and poets.
In such an advanced civilization, it was only natural for the science of medicine to develop to a high level of sophistication. Similarly to Hippocrates and Galen, the Aztecs believed that illness was the result of the loss of internal equilibrium, and the causes of this imbalance were many. Their practice of medicine, like every other aspect of their life, was inseparable from their concept of the cosmos and their religious beliefs. Treatments were often holistic and involved the use of medicinal plants, minerals, and animal products. In addition, Aztecs physicians, who could be male or female, were skilled to perform surgical incisions and sutures, administer anesthetics, treat bone fractures and wounds, and provide elaborated dental work.
The Road to the Development of Curative Therapy for Systemic (Metastatic) Malignancy
Date: Nov. 2, 2011
Speaker: Emil Freireich, M.D., Director, Adult Leukemia Research Program, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Hospital
Abstract: Prior to 1943 effective cancer therapy was directed at local control of tumors with surgery and radiation therapy. If a cancer spread beyond possible local control, it was deemed hopeless. On Dec. 2, 1943, Allied troops were accidentally exposed to "Mustard Gas." Studies of these individuals revealed profound suppression of all lymphatic tissue. This led investigators to develop "Nitrogen Mustard" for palliative therapy of systemic lymphoid tumors. The description of antimetabolites in 1948-1953, added additional palliative therapies. In 1955, the first studies of combinations of two drugs demonstrated improved results. In 1956, the cure of metastatic Choriocarcinoma with chemotherapy was reported, but this is an allogeneic tumor derived from the placenta. Syngeneic systemic cancers remained universally fatal. The organization of cooperative groups, utilizing prospective comparative studies initiated quantitative results. Studies in children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia demonstrated the effectiveness of "Adjuvant Therapy" in prolonging remissions, and the development of multi-agent (4 drug) combination chemotherapy led to the first "cures" of a systemic Syngeneic cancer in 1965. Today, approximately 10 percent of patients with metastatic cancer can be cured. Additionally, palliative therapy, such as "Gleevec" for treating Chronic Granulocytic Leukemia result in long-term control of disease equivalent to cure. Moreover, virtually all patients with metastatic cancers benefit from palliative therapies which relieve suffering and prolong life.
Jean-Martin Charcot – Neurologist by Avocation, Nephrologist by Yearning
Date: Dec. 7, 2011
Speaker: Gary Eknoyan, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine
Abstract: In an age of medical advances and specialization, Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) helped found the discipline of neurology and in 1882 was appointed the first professor of Diseases of the Nervous System in France. As an investigator with broad interests and vast knowledge Charcot contributed to several other disciplines. An early mentor and dominant figure in Charcot's formative years was Pierre Rayer (1793-1867), famous for his seminal contributions to the study of the kidney, who gifted Charcot with his passion for clinical pathological correlations and likely a yearning for the study of kidney diseases. Famous for the clarity and incisiveness of his formal teaching presentations, Charcot lectured on the kidney at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris in 1877. Translated into English and published as a book titled Lectures on Bright's Disease, they became widely accessible and quoted in the literature through the present. In addition, at a time that he was already concentrating on the study of neurological disorders, Charcot maintained his life-long interest in the kidney and published original studies on the pathological changes of the kidney in gout and experimental lead poisoning, as well as supporting a study of hysterical ischuria by his students.
- View Dr. Eknoyan's slide presentation (PPS - 37 MB). Please be patient...this is a very large file and may take several minutes to download.
- Download transcript of Jean-Martin Charcot – Neurologist by Avocation, Nephrologist by Yearning presentation.
The Rise and Fall of the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Date: Jan. 4, 2012
Speaker: Thomas R. Cole, Ph.D., Director, McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
Abstract: This talk will outline the history of the doctor-patient relationship in the West. It will touch briefly on medicine in Greek and Roman antiquity, using key texts from Hippocrates and Galen. It will also sketch the changing balance of the religious and the secular in medieval medicine. Finally, it will outline the rise of the modern personal doctor-patient relationship in the 18th century and analyze the chronic dissatisfaction that settled over relations between doctors and patients in the last quarter of the 20th century.
- Download transcript of The Rise and Fall of the Doctor-Patient Relationship presentation.
Puerperal Fever from Hippocrates to Pasteur
Date: Feb. 1, 2012
Speaker: Hunter A. Hammill, M.D., Women's Hospital of Texas, Member of the Semmelweis Society of Houston
Abstract: The death of a mother in childbirth leaving a newborn deserted is a sort of a desecration. This was a frequent event for early physicians. It was felt to be caused by miasmas or punishment from the gods. DaVinci felt the cause was milk stasis, Hippocrates - lochia, Virchow - weather. Then came Semmelweis, Pasteur and Lister. They started a battle with ignorance, hospital administration, budget and academic politics. Ending with the murder of Semmelweis!
Microbe Hunters Revisited – Paul de Kruif and the Beginning of Popular Science Writing
Date: March 7, 2012
Speaker: Stephen Greenberg, M.D., Dean of Medical Education, Baylor College of Medicine
Abstract: Paul de Kruif is credited with being one of the first popular science writers for the general public. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1916 and worked at the Rockefeller Institute under Simon Flexner. After being fired in 1922 for publishing a scathing article on medical research, de Kruif caught the attention of Sinclair Lewis, who used his scientific background to write his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Arrowsmith. In 1926, de Kruif published Microbe Hunters which recounted the exploits and discoveries of 14 renowned microbiologists from von Leeuwenhoek to Pasteur, Ross, Paul Ehrlich and Walter Reed. Microbe Hunters became a best seller, was translated into 18 languages, and formed the basis of two Hollywood movies, "Yellow Jack" and "The Magic Bullet." Generations of young readers were captivated by the vivid protrayal of these men and their discoveries.
March 13 — Annual John P. McGovern Lecture and Banquet
Baylor College of Medicine and the Military
Date: March 13, 2012
Time: TBA
Place: La Colombe d'Or Restaurant
Speaker: William Butler, M.D., Chancellor Emeritus, Baylor College of Medicine on the early history of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Copies of the first volume of his new book on the History of Baylor will be available.
Abstract: The College's relationship to the military began in 1910 with Dean Walter Moursund's commission in the Medical Reserve Corps. In the 1920s when the War Department asked civilian hospitals to prepare medical professionals for military service, Baylor established General Hospital #136, of which Moursund was Commanding Officer. In 1940, the War Department requested Baylor organize the 56th Evacuation Hospital, located in Italy during World War II. After the War, and well into the 1950s, Baylor's involvement centered on units such as the ROTC and Medical Education for National Defense [MEND], a program authorized by the AAMC and AMA to prepare physicians for national emergencies. Dean Stanley Olson became the National Coordinator of MEND and at Baylor supervised the faculty's response to nuclear bomb and industrial explosion mock disasters. Although many of these activities are long forgotten, they were an integral and important component of the College of Medicine for over 50 years.
Charlatan: John Brinkley, the Age of Flim-Flam, and the Emergence of Rational Medicine
Date: April 4, 2012
Speaker: William E. Fann, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine
Abstract: John Brinkley (1885-1942) was likely our country's arch (but by no means its only) Charlatan. The brazenness of his claims, the mortality rate and ghastliness of his "treatments", his charisma, and the vigor and unhesitating tenacity with which he pursued his disreputable practices made him egregious even for his day. Some of his advertising and publicity methods are in use even today. All this can be better understood in the context of his times. His was the age of flim-flam and of empirical medicine. Many of his fellow physicians were trained in proprietary schools or one-on-one preceptorials, with little science (or skill) to substantiate their evaluations, diagnoses, and treatments. Treatment was unscientific and often idiosyncratic. The Pharmacopeia was rudimentary, medicines were largely compounded in local pharmacies, and physicians created their own medicaments ("pill rolling"). Patent medicines flourished. Pharmacology was in its infancy. Unfounded practices were to be located even in academic institutions.
Brinkley prolonged his career, eluded authorities, and thwarted justice through multiple moves. His murderous career was ended through court action resulting from the dogged pursuit by Dr. Morris Fishbein and colleagues. Fishbein would become a leading figure in the American Medical Association. Through that organization and his prolific pen, he continued to debunk quackery, promulgate scientific bases for medical education, and championed the emerging practice of rational medicine. Brinkley, broken by multiple lawsuits, died impoverished.
Up in Smoke: How the Health Community Fiddled While Parliaments Burned
Date: May 2, 2012
Speaker: Alan Blum, M.D., The University of Alabama School of Medicine,
Tuscaloosa, AL
Abstract: It has been nearly half a century since President John F. Kennedy commisisoned Surgeon General Luther Terry and 10 scientists to evaluate the scientific evidence on smoking and health. The committee's landmark report was a scathing indictment of cigarettes and launched the modern anti-smoking movement. Although we have now learned through internal tobacco industry documents that cigarette companies conspired for decades to dismiss the dangers of smoking, troubling questions linger: What did the public health community know about the impact of smoking on health? When did they know it? And what did they do about it?
Surgeon General's Warning: This talk may be hazardous to your preconceptions.
* Audio clips and transcripts courtesy of Adept Word Management, Inc.