Diseases of the past and present: part 1
In the June 2012 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the content of the first edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Science, published 200 years ago in 1812, was highlighted.
The June 2012 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) highlighted the content of the first edition of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Science, published 200 years ago. - in 1812
An interesting fact is that many of the topics covered are familiar to us: an article on angina pectoris, summaries on diarrhea in newborns and burns. However, the apparent resemblance to current editions of the magazine hides behind important differences. Diseases have changed since 1812. People suffer from other illnesses, doctors have new perspectives on seemingly well-known illnesses, and society's attitude toward them is changing.
In addition to angina, diarrhea, and burns, early NEJM problems include gunshot wounds, non-closing of the vertebral arches, tetralogy of Fallot, diabetes mellitus, hernia, epilepsy , osteomyelitis, syphilis, cancer, rump, bronchial asthma, rabies and urolithiasis. In a number of clinical cases, patients are described and can be found in hospitals today, but according to the descriptions of some cases, it is almost impossible to recognize the disease.
A century later, the importance of the infections described in the NEJM was revised according to the increase in the number of specific pathogens. In 1912, the NEJM published articles on tuberculosis, gonorrhea and syphilis. The authors also drew attention to tropical infections, including helminthiasis among immigrants, outbreaks of plague, yellow fever and malaria among the population of the new tropical empire.
One article described a new problem - the "knee of a motorist", while condemning the wide distribution of "idle people" who only "walk a few steps from the apartment to the elevator , from the elevator to the dining room, then to the car ”.
Long-standing interest in epilepsy, alcoholism and dementia has acquired new relevance to society due to growing concern about the extinction of the nation and the possible prospects offered by eugenics. Doctors diligently fought cancer, eclampsia, impotence, heart disease (the main interests were infectious diseases, valve damage and, to a lesser extent, diseases associated with atherosclerosis) and arthritis.
In the 20th century, heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases took more prominent positions, although epidemics of infectious diseases ranged from eastern equine encephalitis (1938) and kuru (1957) to disease legionaries (1977), AIDS (1981) and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (1993). - made necessary a long-term control of the propagation of microorganisms. The attention of the medical community has been focused on the new problems associated with the frightening consequences of nuclear war (1962), the cumulative but destructive consequences of environmental pollution (1966) and climate change (1989). There was optimism about the prospects for public health in the future, but a similar state of mind was overshadowed by concerns about the diseases of civilization. The obesity epidemic, feared in 1912, has now appeared. The steady increase in life expectancy seen previously has slowed and perhaps even stopped.
It is interesting that not only do the authors analyze the diseases of the past and the present, but also an attempt to understand the essence of the very concept of "disease"...