The Management of Women's Health Care by Internists With a Focus on the Utility of Ultrasound.

Adult women require routine care for the acute and chronic health problems found in both sexes, and they require specialized care for women's health problems, including disease prevention, disease screening, and disease management. Internists should direct primary care and participate in specialized care and to the extent possible follow guidelines published by various professional organizations. They should understand the use of ultrasound in breast cancer screening, the management of pregnancy, and other gynecologic problems, including vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, and investigation for pelvic malignancy. Finally, all management decisions need discussions on the potential benefit or harm in each step of a woman's care with an emphasis on personal preferences.

The Dust Bowl in the US: An Analysis Based on Current Environmental and Clinical Studies.

The Dust Bowl occurred in the Central Plains states in the United States between 1930 and 1940. Prolonged drought, intense recurrent dust storms and economic depression had profound effects on human welfare. The causes included increased farming on marginal land, poor land management, and prolonged drought. There was a significant increase in the number of cases of measles, increased hospitalization for respiratory disorders and increased infant and overall mortality in Kansas during the Dust Bowl. Recent scientific studies have demonstrated that dust transmits measles virus, influenza virus and Coccidioides immitis, and that mortality in the United States increases following dust storms with 2-3-day lag periods. Advances in technology have provided information about the composition of dust and the transfer of microbial pathogens in dust and provided the framework for reducing the economic and health consequences of the next prolonged drought in the United States.

The undead in culture and science.

The undead have a significant role in mythology, religion, folklore, and literature. In the 1800s, the word zombie was used to describe reanimated corpses in the Caribbean who often worked on plantations doing long, arduous field work. The movie White Zombie was released in 1932 and exploited this folklore, but it ignored the fact that zombies represent one outcome in Vodou religious beliefs regarding death and the migration of spirits following death. The interest in zombies eventually led to sociological and medical investigations into zombification. Wade Davis reported that powders used by malevolent priests (bokors) contained tetrodotoxin, which could cause the neurologic changes underlying the zombie phenotype. Recent clinical studies have indicated that synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones can cause bizarre zombie-like behavior. According to Haitian folklore, zombies can develop when bokors reanimate someone who suddenly died from an acute illness or who was purposely poisoned. Recent studies in molecular biology suggest that the sequence of programmed cell death can be reversed when the stressor is removed and that cells, tissues, and bodies (at least in Drosophila flies) can recover. These scientific studies would support the remote possibility that the near dead might recover under certain circumstances but have residual neuropsychological dysfunction. Alternatively, the bokors could maintain control of their victims using drugs with properties similar to those of synthetic cannabinoids. The concept of zombification needs to be considered in the context of culture, religion, and science.

Islamic Medicine in the Middle Ages.

The Islamic culture flourished between the 9th and 13th centuries. Scholars from this era made significant contributions in mathematics, science and medicine. Caliphs and physicians built hospitals that provided universal care and the foundation for medical education. Physician-scientists made significant advances in medical care, surgery and pharmacology. Notable authorities include al-Razi (865-925 CE) who wrote the Kitab al-Hawi fi al-tibb (The Comprehensive Book on Medicine), a 23-volume textbook that provided the main medical curriculum for European schools into the 14th century. Ibn Sina (980-1037 CE), an extraordinary Persian polymath, wrote al Qanun fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine), an encyclopedic treatment of medicine that combined his own observations with medical information from Galen and philosophy from Aristotle. Mansur (1380-1422 CE) wrote the first color illustrated book on anatomy. Other important physicians compiled information on the use of medication from plants, advanced surgical techniques, including cataract extraction and studied physiology, including the pulmonary circulation. These books and ideas provided the basis for medical care in Europe during its recovery from the Dark Ages.