The History of Medicine

This week, we talk about the highlights of neurological understanding, spanning from Ancient Egypt to the Romans to Medieval Islamic surgeons. Check out our website at https://thehistoryofmedicine.buzzsprout.com/! E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheHistoryOfMedicine!Transcripts and Sources here at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19hHEgjSdLvSjsd6K3frEFSD1p_fnFKpM?usp=sharing!

Good evening everyone. As you can tell, I've been gone for a bit longer that expected, for which I apologize. But I bear good news, I am all done getting married, and life has mostly settled down to normalcy again, so I've had time to do some research. I did previously settle on the history of physical rehabilitation as my next topic, but it's been tough to turn up reliable sources, so I'm likely to switch topics. If you've got an idea for a season topic, let me know in the next week or two! My current plan is to ease my way back into making episodes, probably with one a month for a few months, and then meander my way back to biweekly or weekly episodes. I'm excited to bring new episodes back, and I hope you are too. Thank you for listening, and I hope the wait will be worth it. Check out our website at https://thehistoryofmedicine.buzzsprout.com/!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheHistoryOfMedicine!Transcripts and Sources here at:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19hHEgjSdLvSjsd6K3frEFSD1p_fnFKpM?usp=sharing

Good evening everyone. As you can tell, I've been gone for even longer than expected, and I am sorry for that. I love doing this podcast, but it is a hobby for me. Between my research being very busy, wedding planning absolutely kicking my butt, and also throwing out my back for a week, it just hasn't been possible to get this season going yet. I'm still receiving mail from some of y'all, which as always makes me very happy. I hope to be back soon, as my back is all better now, and wedding planning should calm down in the next month or so as we get all of our vendors lined up. Thank you for your patience, and I hope the wait will be worth it. 

Good evening everyone. As you can tell, I've been gone for a bit longer that expected, for which I apologize. I unfortunately also will need to extend my hiatus even longer. I did settle on the history of physical rehabilitation as my next topic, and have begun some research, but that was all de-railed by my fiance getting sick for a bit although she's fine now, and speaking of, I also got engaged. Turns out wedding planning is a lot of work, especially as supply chains are all messed up from Covid, but we're getting some help with that soon and so I hope to be back to our regular weekly schedule in several weeks. Thank you for listening, and I hope that the wait will be worth it. 

This week, we talk about the potential future of pain management. We talk about how opioids might be improved upon, and about how interdisciplinary approaches might become more accessible for all. If you've got topic ideas for the next season, send them my way!Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

In our 2nd to last episode this season, let's talk about the development of functional restoration, and the tiny rise and fall of specialty pain clinics, all of which happened alongside the opioid crisis. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

Good evening everyone. As happens here and there, some extra responsibilities and some holidays have snuck up on me. This past week, I've been swamped with work, and this upcoming week I've got numerous Passover activities, and so this week's episode will be unfortunately delayed. If you're wondering why I'm celebrating Passover despite my last name being Asian, the answer is that my girlfriend's family is Jewish, and so I'm participating with them. Thank you for your patience, and next week, we'll be back with a new episode. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

Thanks for waiting. This week, we talk about the origins of the current opioid crisis. It began with a drug called OxyContin, a reformulation of the existing opioid oxycodone, and many, many mistakes from physicians, researchers, regulators, and companies. The consequences were to be disastrous, and we are still dealing with them today.Purdue Pharma OxyContin CommercialCheck out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

Good evening everyone, Kirby here. I apologize, but I'm going to put off this week's episode in order to release a bigger, better episode for next week to make up for it. This episode will cover the origins of the modern opioid epidemic, which gets quite complex, and I haven't found a place I think would be a good place to stop writing the episode. So, I decided I won't. Thank you for your patience!Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

This episode, we catch up on some developments in the world of opioids while we've been away from it. Oxycodone gets developed, and plays a role in World War II. Methadone is discovered, and ironically becomes a treatment for opioid addiction, and finally, fentanyl is created and abused. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about John Bonica, a world-famous wrestler, and then a world-famous doctor and pain researcher, and all around an extraordinary individual. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about Wilbert Fordyce, a pioneer in applying psychological research to preventing pain. You may have heard of operant conditioning before, but have you heard of using it for chronic pain reduction?Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

Hello everyone, Kirby here. Sorry but I cannot get an episode up this week. Between a some personal matters and my internet being down for an entire day, my week has been very chaotic, and this week's episode is unfinished. I'm hoping to resume like usual next week. Bear with me, and thank you for your patience. Be back soon! Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about Stewart Adams, who helped discover ibuprofen, one of the most important painkilling medications today. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about the very long journey of acetaminophen/paracetamol, from its discovery in the late 1800s to its eventual widespread use in modern times. This journey is filled with mistakes and mishaps, but eventually the drug does make it out. Part 1 of my interview on the NoiseFilter podcastCheck out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

Sorry for the delay, I took a week off for Lunar New Year! This episode, we talk about some of the applications of Melzack and Wall's Gate Theory of Pain. A whole bunch of doctors, scientists, and engineers got interested in zapping away our pain again, and the implantable nerve stimulator for pain was born.Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, let's learn about Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall, two very different successors to Livingston who together published the very influential gate control theory of pain. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

Today, we talk about some ways that pain was thought about before the 20th century, and then William K Livingston, who combined a lot of that thinking and set up our modern understanding of pain.Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

We're back! Sorry, the last few weeks were crazy, between a Covid exposure and the holidays. This week, let's talk about some of the pain treatments that replaced opioid drugs in the late 1800s and early 1900s; electrotherapy, and neurosurgery. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook!Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about Silas Weir Mitchell, who was a doctor and researcher who first studied causalgia, or pain caused by nerve damage. He had a lot of accomplishments in his life, and a lot of tragedy too, and deserves to be remembered. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we return to talking about opioid drugs, this time discussing heroin, which is to replace morphine in many ways, good and bad. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about the discovery of aspirin, going from willows to modern pills, with some drama in between. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

We continue the story of morphine, and detail its terrible effects on Americans after the Civil War, and how it fell out of favor. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about morphine, and the one who first isolated it, Friedrich Serturner. It takes a while for folks to figure out how important it is, but this is just the beginning.Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we advance to the Renaissance era with two stories: Willem ten Rhijne, who brought Eastern medicine to Europe, and William Sydenham who pioneered proprietary laudanum. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week we move onto the Medieval era, and look at the writings of some guy named some version of Nicolai, and Arabic surgeon Ibn al Quff to learn about what they were up to. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

We're back! And this season, we're exploring the history of treating pain, or pain management. As per usual, we start this off with an exploration of ancient techniques for dealing with pain, which honestly I'm pretty impressed by. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, let's talk about what the future may hold when it comes to treating mental illness. As always, I'm now taking a month-long hiatus to prepare for the next season. Be back soon! Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

It turns out, complaining on the internet can be good for something. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we return to the DSM, the big book used by psychiatrists for diagnoses, which comes under fire, but now in the age of the internet, which we know can always make things interesting. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about the influence of genes on mental illnesses. Check out our website!E-mail me at thehistoryofmedicinepodcast@gmail.com! Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about the development of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the work of Aaron Beck, and finally get a lot better at talking to patients with mental illness. Send Aaron Beck a birthday greeting for his 100th birthday!Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about Eric Kandel, who kickstarted researching brains to try to tackle mental illness. His weapon of choice: sea slugs.Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we figure out how to look at brains. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about Nathan Kline, who illustrates the new generation of psychiatrists that rose to prominence along with the new psychiatric drugs we've been talking about.Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about yet another psychiatric medication discovered by accident, this time by John Cade. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here! 

This week, we'll learn about compound G22355, the first antidepressant, and how it was discovered through the weird stubbornness of one Roland Kuhn. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about the first antipsychotic drug, chlorpromazine. It's another accidental discovery, that revolutionizes psychiatry. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about the replacements for meprobamate, the first benzodiazepines, which got sold as Librium and Valium. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here! 

This week, we learn about the first medications applied to psychiatric patients. It started off pretty rough with morphine, but eventually, in the 1950s we got the first tranquilizer drugs, which were a big deal. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about convulsive therapy, or using seizures to treat mental illness, and then upgrade it using electricity. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we pick some people's brains... literally. Leucotomies AKA lobotomies were first tried in Portugal, but quickly spread. Probably a little too quickly, we can say with hindsight. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we finally start trying to treat severe mental illness. The earliest progress dates back to around the 1920s, which is when we started giving patients fevers on purpose, and dropping their blood sugar to induce comas. Not a great start. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

Sorry this is a little late, was a bit under the weather last week.This episode, we talk about the creation of the Feigner criteria, which Spitzer used to radically change the DSM-III, and finally, the DSM-III gets released for real.Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we learn about Robert Spitzer, who would someday lead the effort to create the third edition of the DSM. But first, we learn about his interesting path to involvement with the DSM at all, and his role in de-classifying homosexuality as a mental illness. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, we talk about some of the weaknesses of the early DSM, namely that diagnosis was still pretty inconsistent, which leads to another credibility crisis for psychiatry. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, the lack of standards for diagnosis cause problems for the US military, and finally the psychiatrists themselves, leading to the creation of the first edition of the DSM. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week we'll talk about the origins of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM for short. It starts with the United States census very unscientifically trying to study mental illness,  and Emil Kraepelin fixing things up over in Europe. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

Sorry, no episode this week! My editor Jojo is sick, and I don't want to give her a big backlog of episodes to review until she's better. Stay safe everyone, and hopefully you'll hear from me next week. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! 

This week, we talk about how psychoanalysts take over the practice of psychiatry in the United States, successfully infiltrating the American Psychiatric Association, Hollywood, and even a little bit of the government.Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!

This week, Freud visits the United States... and very little changes, until the rise of the Nazis and World War II. Check out our website!E-mail me!Say hi on Facebook! Transcripts and Sources here!