During the battle of Gettysburg, military observers encountered a strange phenomenon. Perched at one vantage, some watchers saw the flash of muzzles and rising smoke but could not perceive the sound of battle. While others, situated miles behind the front lines, were deafened by the thunder of cannons. This phenomenon, which was widely reported at […]
Book Review: The Great Influenza
The Great Influenza, by John M Barry, chronicles the cataclysm that was the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu pandemic. It follows the efforts of a handful of scientists as they raced to understand the disease that was sweeping across the globe and their desperate quest to develop therapies that could save lives. Barry grippingly captures the horror […]
The Language of Addiction
Words matter, and even more so in medicine. There has been a movement in the last several years to adopt a person-first language of disease that emphasizes the humanity of each individual and divests them from any diseases they might have. Thus, someone is not a diabetic or a schizophrenic, they are a person with […]
