Prominent Neurosurgery Books of the Western World: How They Defined the Era of Modern Neurosurgery in the 19th Century.

The aim of this article is to introduce the 19th century neurosurgery books to reveal their contributions to modern neurosurgery. Methods In this study, 29 books were accessed, and reviewed, and the resources from the late 18th century and early 20th century were included. However, neurology or general surgery books that included neurosurgical subjects or chapter were excluded unless there were revolutionary ideas in their relevant chapters. The books of this period observed to have some common differences from the books that were written in the previous century. Parallel to the concept of cerebral localization, which started to develop in this period, neurosurgery evolved from skull surgery to brain surgery. Due to the advancements in patient care, anesthesia and sterile techniques, surgical medical branches showed rapid development in the 1800s. During this period, cerebral localization concept changed the comprehension and approach in neurosurgery and opened the gate of a new era in the field of neurological surgery unlike other branches and helped to establish modern neurosurgery. 19th century surgeons became able to operate on more complex cases with more advanced techniques. Knowledge of published pioneer papers and books help understanding of emergence of neurological surgery as a separate discipline.

Neither saintly nor psychotic: a narrative systematic review of the evolving Western perception of voice hearing.

We present a social-historical perspective on the evolution of the voice-hearing phenomenon in Western society. Based upon a systematic search from a selection of nine databases, we trace the way hearing voices has been understood throughout the ages. Originally, hearing voices was considered a gifted talent for accessing the divine, but the progressive influence of monotheistic religion gradually condemned the practice to social marginalization. Later, the medical and psychiatric professions of secular society were instrumental in attaching stigma to both voice hearers and the phenomenon itself, thereby reinforcing social exclusion. More recently, the re-integration of voice hearers into the community by health authorities in various countries appears to have provided a new, socially acceptable setting for the phenomenon.

Changing Narratives and Persisting Tensions: Conflicts between Chinese and Western Medicine and Professional Profiles in Chinese Films and Literature, 1949-2009.

This paper analyses the shifting images of Chinese medicine and rural doctors in the narratives of literature and film from 1949 to 2009 in order to explore the persisting tensions within rural medicine and health issues in China. Popular anxiety about health services and the government's concern that it be seen to be meeting the medical needs of China's most vulnerable citizens - its rural dwellers - has led to the production of a continuous body of literary and film works discussing these issues, such as Medical Practice Incident, Spring Comes to the Withered Tree, Chunmiao, and Barefoot Doctor Wan Quanhe. The article moves chronologically from the early years of the Chinese Communist Party's new rural health strategies through to the twenty-first century - over these decades, both health politics and arts policy underwent dramatic transformations. It argues that despite the huge political investment on the part of the Chinese Communist Party government in promoting the virtues of Chinese medicine and barefoot doctors, film and literature narratives reveal that this rustic nationalistic vision was a problematic ideological message. The article shows that two main tensions persisted prior to and during the Cultural Revolution, the economic reform era of the 1980s, and the medical marketisation era that began in the late 1990s. First, the tension between Chinese and Western medicine and, second, the tension between formally trained medical practitioners and paraprofessional practitioners like barefoot doctors. Each carried shifting ideological valences during the decades explored, and these shifts complicated their portrayal and shaped their specific styles in the creative works discussed. These reflected the main dilemmas around the solutions to rural medicine and health care, namely the integration of Chinese and Western medicines and blurring of boundaries between the work of medical paraprofessionals and professionals.

Medical knowledge and moral reflections during the Rosas era: Buenos Aires, 1835-1847. / Saberes médicos y reflexiones morales durante el período rosista: Buenos Aires, 1835-1847.

This article analyzes how medical discourse incorporated a series of reflections on moral behaviors in Buenos Aires in the early nineteenth century. Based on the study of three texts authored by the physicians Diego Alcorta, Guillermo Rawson and Francisco Javier Muñiz, it identifies a series of discursive registers that stress the role of organ functions, the question of heredity and the influence of climate in reflections on the morality of individuals and populations. This phenomenon of knowledge transfer is due to the presence of the French medical tradition, in addition to local factors stemming from the intense process of politicization of society under the second administration of Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Este artículo analiza cómo el discurso médico incorpora una serie de reflexiones sobre las conductas morales en Buenos Aires en la primera parte del siglo XIX. A través del estudio de tres textos, cuyos autores son los médicos Diego Alcorta, Guillermo Rawson y Francisco Javier Muñiz se identifican una serie de registros argumentales que resaltan el funcionamiento de los órganos, la cuestión de la herencia y la gravitación del clima en función de reflexionar sobre la moralidad de los individuos y las poblaciones. Este fenómeno de transferencia de saberes se debe a la presencia de la tradición médica francesa sumándose a factores locales derivados del intenso proceso de politización de la sociedad bajo el segundo gobierno de Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Saberes médicos y reflexiones morales durante el período rosista: Buenos Aires, 1835-1847 / Medical knowledge and moral reflections during the Rosas era: Buenos Aires, 1835-1847

Resumen Este artículo analiza cómo el discurso médico incorpora una serie de reflexiones sobre las conductas morales en Buenos Aires en la primera parte del siglo XIX. A través del estudio de tres textos, cuyos autores son los médicos Diego Alcorta, Guillermo Rawson y Francisco Javier Muñiz se identifican una serie de registros argumentales que resaltan el funcionamiento de los órganos, la cuestión de la herencia y la gravitación del clima en función de reflexionar sobre la moralidad de los individuos y las poblaciones. Este fenómeno de transferencia de saberes se debe a la presencia de la tradición médica francesa sumándose a factores locales derivados del intenso proceso de politización de la sociedad bajo el segundo gobierno de Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Abstract This article analyzes how medical discourse incorporated a series of reflections on moral behaviors in Buenos Aires in the early nineteenth century. Based on the study of three texts authored by the physicians Diego Alcorta, Guillermo Rawson and Francisco Javier Muñiz, it identifies a series of discursive registers that stress the role of organ functions, the question of heredity and the influence of climate in reflections on the morality of individuals and populations. This phenomenon of knowledge transfer is due to the presence of the French medical tradition, in addition to local factors stemming from the intense process of politicization of society under the second administration of Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Breve historia sobre la marihuana en Occidente / A brief history of marijuana in the western world

La marihuana es una sustancia con una extensa y controvertida historia. A lo largo del tiempo, esta planta, y desde hace más de 5.000 años, ha sido utilizada para diferentes fines, que van desde el uso lúdico y recreativo, pasando por un medio de relajación y meditación, hasta su uso en el tratamiento de varias enfermedades o el alivio de procesos vinculados a cierto tipo de malestares. Aunque se supuso que la marihuana tenía su origen en Mesoamérica, ahora se sabe que es sólo una leyenda urbana de poca credibilidad y que sus orígenes los podemos registrar en referencias médicas chinas datadas alrededor del año 2737 a. de C. Si bien esta planta no tiene un origen mesoamericano, sí ha generado interés en el mundo, y sobre todo en México. Es en este país donde el uso del cannabis ha ido desde intereses textiles y medicinales hasta el consumo lúdico, pasando por su venta libre, la prohibición por presiones políticas y sociales, su tolerancia y, recientemente, su despenalización para uso lúdico y medicinal. Desgraciadamente existen pocas referencias de la historia de esta planta en México, por lo que ha sido de nuestro interés presentar algunos datos sobre las generalidades de la marihuana, una breve historia en el mundo, el desarrollo de la despenalización en Norteamérica, sus usos medicinales y su paso por México hasta nuestros días

Marijuana is a substance with a long and controversial history. At different times in its history, which goes back over 5,000 years, this plant has been used for different purposes, ranging from recreational and leisure to its use in the treatment of several diseases or to offer relief in processes that entail a certain type of malaise, and including its consideration as a means of relaxation and meditation. Although it was supposed that the roots of marijuana lay in Central America, it is now known that this is but an urban legend with little credibility and that its origins can be found recorded in Chinese medical references dating back to the year 2737 BC. Although this plant was not originally from Central America, it has aroused interest around the world, and above all in Mexico. It is in this country where the use of cannabis has gone from applications in textiles and medicine to its free sale, the bans on its use due to political and social pressures, its tolerance and, recently, its decriminalisation for recreational and medicinal use. Unfortunately there are few references on the history of this plant in Mexico, and thus we have considered it interesting to present some data about the generalities of marijuana, a brief history in the world, the development of decriminalisation in North America, its medicinal uses and its course through Mexico to the present day

[The publication of the Medicine News and its influence on the spread of modern-western medicines in China and its role in western medicine communication].

Medicine News, first published in 1880, was the earliest western medicine journal founded in China, playing an important role in the history of Chinese modern journals and the history of western medicine communication. Today, no original copies of this journal survive in China. Quotations, citations and comments of some newspapers and periodicals on it at the time, reveal that the publication aim of this journal was to disseminate knowledge of western medicine to the Chinese people, that its editorial policy was "showing western medicine is superior to traditional Chinese medicine" , and that its communication of western medicine knowledge was also based on this policy. Medicine News reported on an international medical academic conference held in London for the first time, and it is worth mentioning that thousands of people attended the meeting. Medicine News is known to have promoted western medicine communication in China to an advanced and more up-to-date level. At the same time, its editorial policy and strategy had a great influence on the editing and publication of western medicine journals in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

[Study on the first translated obstetrics book Tai chan ju yao (Essentials in Obstetrics)].

In 1893, Wan Tsun-mo translated and published Tai chan ju yao (Essentials in Obstetrics), the first monograph of western obstetrics in modern China, symbolizing the independence of obstetrics from such maternal and child books as Fu ying xin shuo and Fu ke jing yun tu shuo, which occupies an important position in the history of the development of modern Chinese obstetrics. The book introduced anatomy, physiology, pathology, embryology, diagnostics, surgery, pharmacology and other knowledge of obstetrics in a catechismal form, and had a detailed discussion of such advanced obstetrical technologies as antiseptic, anesthesia, forceps and cesarean section for the first time.Judging from the content and translation of Tai chan ju yao, this book has already possessed the basic knowledge system of modern obstetrics, though the translation appeared to be somewhat jerky and not elegant and the terminology needing to be further improved, it was not only used as an important medium for the introduction of obstetrical knowledge, but also of great clinical value.However, its influence was so weak that later researchers seldom mentioned this book.

End-of-life care in the Western world: where are we now and how did we get here?

OBJECTIVES: Recent movements in end-of-life care emphasise community care for the dying; however, integrating community with medical care continues to be a work in progress. Historically tracing brain hemispheric dominance, Ian McGilchrist believes we are overemphasising functionality, domination and categorisation to the detriment of symbolism, empathy and connectedness with others. The aim of this historical review is to bring McGilchrist's sociobiological narrative into dialogue with the history and most recent trends in end-of-life care. METHOD: This review used widely referenced historical accounts of end-of-life care, recent literature reviews on relevant topics and current trends in end-of-life care. RESULTS: While contemporary end-of-life care emphasises community care for the dying, implementation of these new approaches must be considered in its historical context. McGilchrist's arguments call for a critical consideration of what seems a rather simple change in end-of-life care. CONCLUSION: We must question whether it is possible to hand death responsibilities back to the community when medical services have largely assumed this responsibility in countries supporting individualism, secularism and materialism.

Ser profesional sanitario en el siglo XXI: algunos apuntes / Ser profissional sanitário no século XXI: alguns apontes / Being a health professional in the 21st century: some notes

Desde los años 70 del pasado siglo, los teóricos de la historia han señalado el advenimiento de una nueva época, adjetivada como postmodernidad, Modernidad tardía o Modernidad reflexiva. Este nuevo tiempo, el nuestro, vendría marcado por el fin de los grandes relatos que hicieron comprensible el mundo humano occidental desde la Antigüedad, resquebrajando las viejas certidumbres y arrojando al sujeto a la atomización social y la auto-responsabilidad exacerbada de su propia existencia. Estas transformaciones ideológicas y sociales han traído profundas consecuencias en diversas esferas de la vida humana en Occidente tales como el trabajo, las relaciones personales o la política, a las que no escapa, obviamente, la medicina y la praxis médica occidental. Partiendo de este hecho, el propósito de este artículo es intentar analizar, en primer lugar, las significaciones y problemáticas de ese cambio de época. y desde ahí, y en segundo lugar, tratar de comprender las consecuencias y variaciones que esas transformaciones están suponiendo para la medicina y sus profesionales sanitarios (AU)

From 1970's theorists in History have noted the arrival of a new era known as Postmodernity, late-Modernity or reflexive Modernity. This new era, our current time, comes marked by the end of the ‘great stories’ that made western world comprehensible since ancient times, and cracking old certainties and putting the Subject in terms of social atomization and an accused self-responsibility. These ideological and social changes have brought profound consequences in many spheres (fields, scopes) in western human life, such as work, social (personal) relationships or politics, from where medicine and western practices don’t (seem to) escape. On this basis, this article tries to analyze, firstly, the meanings and difficulties of this new era; from there, and secondly, it tries to understand the consequences that these changes and variations are assuming for professionals in the fields of medicine and health (AU)

Desde os anos 70 do passado século, os teóricos da história têm assinalado a chegada de uma nova época, adjetivada como postmodernidad, Modernidad tardia ou Modernidad reflexiva. Este novo tempo, o nosso, viria marcado pelo fim dos grandes relatos que fizeram compreensível o mundo humano ocidental desde a Antiguidade, resquebrajando as velhas certezas e arrojando ao sujeito à atomización social e a auto responsabilidade exacerbada de sua própria existência. Estas transformações ideológicas e sociais têm trazido profundas consequências em diversas esferas da vida humana em Occidente tais como o trabalho, as relações pessoais ou a política, às que não escapa, obviamente, a medicina e a praxis médica ocidental. Partindo deste facto, o propósito deste artigo é tentar analisar, em primeiro lugar, as significações e problemáticas dessa mudança de época. e desde aí, e em segundo lugar, tratar de compreender as consequências e variações que essas transformações estão a supor para a medicina e seus profissionais sanitários (AU)

History of Western Artistic Anatomy in the 19th Century: Prehistory of Artistic Anatomy in Japan.

The study of artistic anatomy was established in the 17th century, and its education techniques were developed in the 19th century and brought to Japan in the Meiji era. Books of artistic anatomy published in the 19th century have been collected and classified into three periods. In the early period before 1828, education of artistic anatomy proper was preliminarily tried, and in the middle period before 1869, new educational methods were invented to adapt the education in the curriculum of the artistic academy. In the late period, various educational methods of artistic anatomy were combined and systematized to provide modem educational materials which are still in use. Medical illustration was developed in the 20th century, and is clearly distinguished from artistic anatomy. The present study reveals the genealogy of Western artistic anatomy as well as the historical background of artistic anatomy in Japan.

Hybridising Medicine: Illness, Healing and the Dynamics of Reciprocal Exchange on the Upper Guinea Coast (West Africa).

The present article seeks to fill a number of lacunae with regard to the study of the circulation and assimilation of different bodies of medical knowledge in an important cultural contact zone, that is the Upper Guinea Coast. Building upon ongoing research on trade and cultural brokerage in the area, it focuses upon shifting attitudes and practices with regard to health and healing as a result of cultural interaction and hybridisation against the background of growing intra-African and Afro-Atlantic interaction from the fifteenth to the late seventeenth century. Largely based upon travel accounts, missionary reports and documents produced by the Portuguese Inquisition, it shows how forms of medical knowledge shifted and circulated between littoral areas and their hinterland, as well as between the coast, the Atlantic and beyond. It shows that the changing patterns of trade, migration and settlement associated with Mandé influence and Afro-Atlantic exchange had a decisive impact on changing notions of illness and therapeutic trajectories. Over the centuries, cross-cultural, reciprocal borrowing contributed to the development of healing kits employed by Africans and non-African outsiders alike, which were used and brokered by local communities in different locations in the region.

[Short history of cranial trauma in western country (part 1)]. / Bref historique du traitement des traumatismes crâniens en Occident (partie 1).

The treatment of cranial traumatism has been the subject of numerous publications since the " corpus hippocraticum ". Following this period, the school of Alexandria will only be known thanks to Celsus. After him, Galen will determine the therapeutic attitude in accordance with the hippocratic theory. This theory will have an influence for more than 1.500 years. A better knowledge of anatomy will shake the galenic system for the first time at the Renaissance. The decisive progress will arise in the XIX century, with the emergence of experimental medicine, Pasteur's discoveries, and the greater knowledge of nervous system function.

Le traitement des traumatismes crâniens a fait l'objet de nombreuses publications depuis les travaux d'Hippocrate. L'école d'Alexandrie, qui y fit suite, est connue grâce à Celsus. Galien, après lui, devait fixer une attitude thérapeutique voisine de celle d'Hippocrate. Celle-ci va garder une influence sur le monde médical pour plus de 1.500 ans. C'est la meilleure connaissance de l'anatomie qui, à la Renaissance, va ébranler les conceptions galéniques. Les progrès thérapeutiques déterminants se situent cependant au XIXe siècle par l'apparition de la médecine expérimentale, les découvertes de Pasteur ainsi que la meilleure compréhension du fonctionnement du système nerveux central.

Neoliberal science, Chinese style: Making and managing the 'obesity epidemic'.

Science and Technology Studies has seen a growing interest in the commercialization of science. In this article, I track the role of corporations in the construction of the obesity epidemic, deemed one of the major public health threats of the century. Focusing on China, a rising superpower in the midst of rampant, state-directed neoliberalization, I unravel the process, mechanisms, and broad effects of the corporate invention of an obesity epidemic. Largely hidden from view, Western firms were central actors at every stage in the creation, definition, and governmental management of obesity as a Chinese disease. Two industry-funded global health entities and the exploitation of personal ties enabled actors to nudge the development of obesity science and policy along lines beneficial to large firms, while obscuring the nudging. From Big Pharma to Big Food and Big Soda, transnational companies have been profiting from the 'epidemic of Chinese obesity', while doing little to effectively treat or prevent it. The China case suggests how obesity might have been constituted an 'epidemic threat' in other parts of the world and underscores the need for global frameworks to guide the study of neoliberal science and policymaking.

[Embalming: ritual and symbol of power in the West]. / L'embaumement: rituel et symbole de pouvoir en Occident.

Western embalming follows two main goals: a practical function of post-mortem body conservation at least the long time necessary for the organization of a funeral ceremony. But also a theological function with the transformation of the dead body into a good smelling corpse that will be received in Paradise during the "apotheosis". Several forensic anthropological and osteo-archaeological recent studies have enlightened the complexity of such practices. We present here the main results of such studies carried out by our research team.

Socioeconomic background of hysteria's metamorphosis from the 18th Century to World War I.

The many changes in the etiopathogenic theories of hysteria, developed from the end of the 18th century to the end of World War I, can only be understood by studying the social, political, economic, and cultural transformations of the Western world during the same period. These transformations, presented below along with concurrent medical discoveries, make it possible to explain the ongoing metamorphosis of both hysteria and the image of the hysteric patient.

Advancing further the history of Soviet psychology: moving forward from dominant representations in Western and Soviet psychology.

This article discusses the works of some Soviet scholars of psychology, their theoretical positions, and the times within which their works were developed. Dominant representations of Soviet psychology and some of the main Soviet authors are revisited in the light of a blending of facts actively associated with their emergence in both Soviet and Western psychology. From the beginning, Soviet psychology was founded upon Marxism. However, the ways by which that psychology pretended to become Marxist in its philosophical basis were diverse and often contradictory. Other philosophical and theoretical positions also influenced Soviet psychologists. Different moments of that contradictory process are discussed in this article, and through this, I bring to light their interrelations and the consequences for the development of Soviet psychology. This article reinterprets several myths found within Soviet psychology, in which different theoretical representations have become institutionalized for long periods in both Soviet and Western psychology. Particular attention is given to identifying the conditions that presented Vygotsky, Luria, and Leontiev as part of the same paradigm, and which paved the way for a perception of Leontiev and his group as paralleling Vygotsky's importance among American psychologists. Many of the sources that are used in this article were published in Soviet psychology only after the 1970s. Unlike the different and interesting works that began to appear on diverse trends in Soviet psychology, this article details in depth the articulation of topics and questions that still now are presented as different chapters in the analysis of Soviet psychology.

Four centuries of suicide in opera.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the depiction of completed suicide, non-fatal suicidal acts and suicidal thought in Western opera over the past four centuries. DESIGN AND SETTING: Examination of synopses all of the operas listed in a recent monograph covering a selection of operas written in the period 1607-2006. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of completed suicides, non-fatal suicidal acts and suicidal thoughts over the entire 400-year period and in separate 100-year periods (1607-1706, 1707-1806, 1807-1906 and 1907-2006); circumstances of suicides; sex of the suicidal characters; and, for completed suicide, the method. RESULTS: There were 337 operas in total. In 112 (33%), there was completed suicide alone, non-fatal suicidal acts or suicidal thoughts alone, or both. There was at least one suicide in 74 operas (22%); female characters accounted for 56% of these. Non-fatal suicidal acts or suicidal thoughts were found in 48 operas (14%); male characters accounted for 57% of these. Suicide, non-fatal acts and suicidal thoughts always followed an undesirable event or situation. Cutting or stabbing was the most common method of suicide (26 cases). Other methods included poisoning (15 cases), drowning (10 cases), hanging (four cases), asphyxiation (four cases), "supernatural" methods (four cases), immolation (three cases), jumping from a height (two cases), shooting (one) and blunt trauma (one). Mass suicide occurred on two occasions. CONCLUSIONS: Over several centuries in opera, suicide has been frequently represented as an option when characters have been faced with a distressing event or situation. Historical fluctuations in the frequency of suicidal behaviour in opera may be explained by changes in attitudes towards suicide and its conceptualisation.

Proles sine matre creata: el anhelo prometeico en la historia del cuerpo humano en Occidente / Proles sine matre creata: The promethean urge in the history of the human body in the west

Since the beginning of modernity there has been an observable tendency in Western thought to consider the human body as susceptible of technical manipulation, to the extreme of conceiving the possibility of manufacturing it. The figures of the homunculus and the automaton, the heirs of the Golem, represent the clearest embodiment of this aspiration. This paper explores the psychology underlying this plan, based on the psychological theory of C.G. Jung, and developed more recently by J. Hillman, on the hypothesis that the plan involves the denial of the feminine and, therefore, of the more truly psychological aspects of humanity, in the name of a unilaterally rationalistic and materialistic worldview. From the viewpoint of the authors mentioned, the mythical psychological reference capable of providing the fundamental key to this project would be Prometheus (AU)

Desde los inicios de la modernidad puede detectarse en el pensamiento occidental una tendencia a pensar el cuerpo humano como susceptible de manipulación técnica, hasta el extremo de concebir la posibilidad de fabricarlo. Las figuras del homúnculo y el autómata, herederas de la del gólem, representan las cristalizaciones más evidentes de esta pretensión. El presente trabajo pretende explorar la psicología que está en la base de este designio a partir de la teoría psicológica de C.G. Jung desarrollada más recientemente por J. Hillman, sobre la hipótesis de que dicho proyecto implica la negación de lo femenino y, con ello, de los aspectos más propiamente psíquicos de lo humano, al servicio de una cosmovisión unilateralmente racionalista y materialista. El referente mítico –psicológico, en la perspectiva de los autores mencionados- capaz de suministrar las claves profundas de ese proyecto sería Prometeo (AU)

Countercurrents from the West: "blue-eyed" Zen masters, Vipassana meditation, and Buddhist psychotherapy in contemporary Korea.

One surprising and yet relatively unknown aspect of contemporary Korean Buddhism is the significant influence of American and European Buddhism. Between 1989 and 2009, South Koreans witnessed well-educated "blue-eyed" monastic residents via the Korean media, and the emergence of new bestsellers by authors like Thich Nhat Hahn and Jack Kornfield, written initially for Western audiences but since translated into Korean. The new teachings from the West have inspired a sudden growth of interest in vipassana meditation as an "alternative" to Kanhwa Son practice, and the emergence of a new academic field: Buddhist psychotherapy. This new wave of transnational influence from the West has changed not only the way Koreans practice Buddhism but also how they perceive Buddhist history and their own identities. In addition, the perceived "prestige" of Buddhism in the West has provided a new rhetorical strategy to defend Buddhism against other religions, particularly Korean evangelical Christianity.