A progressive Arabian doctor is punished, flagellate whip themselves, and suicides are disgraced in the annals of psychiatric absurdity.
FROM THE ANNALS OF PSYCHIATRIC ABSURDITY
Rhazes the Arabian Doctor
From A.D. 865 to 925, Rhazes was an Arabian doctor who was considered to be and outstanding scholar of the times. He wrote over 200 different volumes on medicine, religion, philosophy, and astronomy. As he rose to prominence, he became physician-in-chief to the Baghdad Hospital, which was a remarkble institution of its time, because it had a ward exclusively for the mentally ill. Rhazes saw the body/mind connection with mental illness and even used a primitive form of psychotherapy. However, the Arabian doctor ran afoul of the other influential doctors who believed that all illness was the result of demon activity. Since Rhazes disagreed with the medical establishment he was sentenced “to be hit over the head with his own book, until the book or the head broke.” This early psychiatrist was rendered blind after this punishment. ( Taken from The History of Psychiatry by Franz. G. Alexander and Sheldon T. Sel;esnick) Read the entire post…
Canadian radiologist presents findings to the Radiological Society of North America
“The radiologist wants a follow-up mammogram in six months,” your doctor tells you.
You’ve heard and seen all the TV and Radio ads about 1 in 8 women getting breast cancer. So, you’ve been good–you got screened. Now you have to do it all over again? Read the entire post…
The Budding Romance
During the initial stages of a romance, e-mail becomes both a blessing and a curse. E-mail flirtations increase in frequency, and the infatuated recipient can mull incessantly over every abbreviation and bit of punctuation. Phraseology can prompt tortured late-night conversations with empathetic friends, analyzing the minutiae of flirtatious e-mail etiquette. When he opened his note with the line “Hey there cutie” did it mean anything special—or is he just a player? Read the entire post…
hey cutiepie, whats up? it was nice meeting you at the SAE party last night. wanna grab lunch ‘bout 12:30 or so? =) see you later. -chris
The art of the letter may be dead, but any college student will assure you that the art of the e-mail is alive and well. For college students, the importance of e-mail extends beyond its ability to request eleventh-hour paper extensions from professors or send quick notes to friends. E-mail has changed the way we look at romantic relationships. Read the entire post…
While no one enjoys it, we all get older. As we get older, most of us gain some weight, tire more easily, and feel aches and pains we never had before. However, by doing beneficial things such as exercising and eating healthier, we can lessen some of the adverse effects of aging. Looking older and hair loss is one of the worst parts about aging. Hair loss is more common in men, and can affect a man’s self esteem. There are quite a few products available today, some prescription and some non prescription, which claim to reverse hair loss. One prescription medication that has shown some results is finasteride.
As stated on Wikipedia, Finasteride is a synthetic antiandrogen (it blocks the biological reactions of sex hormones of the male). Finasteride, sold under the name of Proscar, Fincar, and Finara, was originally meant as a treatment for men with benign prostate hyperplasia, as a 5 mg dose alleviates urinary symptoms. Finasteride has also been proven to help with hair loss in men. By taking a 1 milligram dose, finasteride (or Propecia) might reverse male pattern baldness.
When taken orally, a 1 mg dose of finasteride blocks production of the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, a hormone that causes shrinkage of hair follicles (Wellness Letter, University CA Berkeley). In clinical trials, it has been demonstrated that finasteride encourages hair to enter its active growth phase, reverses shrinkage of hair follicles, and slows hair loss. Propecia works best in men who are just starting to lose their hair and are not entirely bald. It also works better on hair loss that occurs around the crown rather than with receding hairlines. A visible difference will appear in about six months, so patience is needed, and by two years most of the hair growth has taken place. If you want to continue to keep your new hair, you will have to take this drug indefinitely. As well, this drug is effective only if your baldness is caused by androgenic alopecia (male pattern hair depletion). Read the entire post…