What's that big thing on your head? Diagnosis of a large frontoparietal lesion on an Eastern Zhou skull from Henan, China.

We carried out a differential diagnosis of a large frontoparietal lesion on a human skull from a Late Bronze Age archaeological site located on the Central Plain of China, dating to between 771 and 476 BC. The head of this individual was covered in cinnabar, a mercury-based pigment that later was used for medicinal purposes in China. The lesion was well-circumscribed and involved the outer and inner tables of the skull, slight diploë thickening, and coarsening of bone trabeculae with expansion of intertrabecular spaces. We show that the observed changes are most consistent with cavernous hemangioma of the skull, a benign vascular malformation that preferentially affects older adults. Hemangiomas are often neglected in the paleopathological literature because of their benign nature - they tend to be asymptomatic and do not affect quality of life to a significant degree. Nevertheless, they produce characteristic lesions that can be confused with several other conditions with unrelated etiologies, including congenital hemoglabinopathies, traumas, malignant or benign neoplasms, and Paget's disease. We outline the diagnostic criteria that distinguish cavernous hemangioma from other conditions affecting the skull.

Red pigments and Boraginaceae leaves in mortuary ritual of late Neolithic China: A case study of Shengedaliang site.

Investigation of mortuary ritual is an important method to reconstruct many aspects of past societies. Due to the lack of relevant analytical work, little evidence related to organic materials in a burial can be found in China. Here we report materials collected from a burial during the excavation of the Shengedaliang site. The recovered materials were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy and plant analysis: flotation, pollen and phytolith analysis. The red pigments found scattered over the human remains were identified as cinnabar. Extracted phytoliths associated with the burial are mainly leaves from the Boraginaceae family. This is the first time that a covering of leaves have been identified with a burial in Neolithic China. The presence of "special" leaves fossil may indicate a type of "plant worship" and the identification of an important plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. The finding of the two materials allows us to better identify indicators of funerary ritual and its relationship to social inequality.

Medical, demographical and social aspects of syphilis: the case of infected sex workers in Greece during Interwar.

The aim of this research is to present syphilis among women described as "indecent" according to the records of the Venereal Diseases Hospital "Andreas Syggros", which is located in Athens, during the period 1931-1935. In impoverished Greece of the Interwar period, factors such as criminal ignorance, or lack of information on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) along with inadequate health controls of sex workers, resulted in a dramatic spread of syphilis, whereas "Andreas Syggros" hospital accommodated thousands of patients. The inflow of 1.300.000 Greek refugees from Asia Minor, after the Greek defeat by the Turkish army in the war of 1922, resulted in a notable change in the demographics of the country, while the combination of miserable living conditions, unemployment, economic crisis of the Interwar period, political instability and dysfunction of the State led to an increased number of illegal sex workers and syphilis outbreaks. Despite the introduction of an ad hoc Act to control STDs since 1923, the State was unable to limit the transmissibility of syphilis and to control prostitution. Unfortunately, the value of this historical paradigm is borne out by a contemporary example, i.e. the scandal of HIV seropositive sex workers in -beset by economic crisis- Greece in May 2012. It turns out that ignorance, failure to comply with the law, change in the mentality of the citizens in an economically ruined society, and most notably dysfunction of public services during periods of crisis, are all risk factors for the spread of serious infectious diseases.

[An introduction of Zuotai in Tibetan patent medicine].

Zuotai is an essential part in Tibetan patent medicine, which plays an important role in treating diseases. This paper introduced the invention, preparing process, use, effectiveness, and safety of Zuotai, aimed to provide an insight for traditional Chinese medicine when using heavy mental within Chinese patent medicine.

Medical controversies and dilemmas in discussions about the illness and death of Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889) Romania's national poet.

Mihai Eminescu, the first great Romanian poet and a defining figure in Romanian culture, may be situated among the most important romantic bards of his times--Byron, Novalis, Holderlin, Hugo, Lamartine, and Leopardi. He was born to a family affected by tuberculosis and predisposed to mental disorders. Although Eminescu may have suffered from bipolar disorder and may have been killed by iatrogenic mercury poisoning, erysipelas, head trauma, or endocarditis, his final illness and death continue to be associated with the most stigmatized disease of those times, syphilis. This historical review addresses the pros and cons of arguments about the diseases from which Eminescu may have suffered, as well as their causes and consequences. The key question is whether syphilis was the disease that led to Eminescu's death. After reviewing medical hypotheses, we conclude that he suffered from bipolar disorder and died from mercury poisoning, an inadequate treatment administered as the result of an inaccurate diagnosis (syphilis). Hospitalized in inappropriate places and treated by incompetent physicians, he suffered not only physical, but moral, distress and died prematurely. According to a letter he sent to a friend, he rightly considered himself a sacrificed man.

[General situation of the study on the toxicity of Cinnabaris].

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) experienced a gradual course in recognition of the toxicity of Cinnabaris from "nontoxic" to "toxic". The ancient doctors of TCM understood both the toxic property and the regularity of increasing toxicity of Cinnabaris. In long-term clinical practice they developed the methods of detoxification guiding the safe use of Cinnabaris. The toxicity of Cinnabaris is produced by mercury existed in it. Improper administration leading to an acute absorption or chronic accumulation was the main cause of clinical adverse effects. Kidney was the main poisoning target organ. On the other hand, improperly combinative application of Cinnabaris with other drugs of TCM or western medicine could increase the toxicity. Therefore, the crucial approach to avoid the poisoning is to use Cinnabaris properly.

Abraham Lincoln's blue pills. Did our 16th president suffer from mercury poisoning?

It is well known that Abraham Lincoln took a medicine called "blue mass" or "blue pill," commonly prescribed in the 19th century. What is now hardly known is that the main ingredient of blue mass was finely dispersed elemental mercury. As his friends understood, mercury was often prescribed for melancholy or "hypochondriasis," a condition Lincoln famously endured. Mercury in the form of the blue pill is a potential neurotoxin, which we have demonstrated by recreating and testing the recipe. We present the testimony of many of Lincoln's contemporaries to suggest that Lincoln suffered the neurobehavioural consequences of mercury intoxication but, perhaps crucial to history, before the main years of his presidency; he was astute enough to recognize the effects and stop the medication soon after his inauguration.

[C.P. Thunberg and his voyage to Japan (4). Mercury water therapy for syphilis introduced into Japan by Thunberg].

During his 16-month stay in Japan from August 1775 to December 1776, Thunberg taught mercury water therapy to Japanese medical doctors and interpreters in order to help them treat syphilis, which was prevalent in Japan at that time. Kohgyu Yoshio, a Japanese-Dutch interpreter who was taught this therapy by Thunberg, recorded Thunberg's teaching in his "Kohmoh Hijiki." According to this book, the mercury water therapy that Thunberg introduced to Japan had been tested successfully by van Swieten, a Dutch doctor, about 20 years previously in Europe and used corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride), the active ingredient, dissolved in distilled water with honey. The formula is described, in measurement units used in Europe at that time, in a letter addressed by van Swieten to a doctor in Rotterdam in 1755. The formula recorded in "Kohmoh Hijiki" in measurement units used in Japan at that time gives a content of the active ingredient equivalent to that mentioned in van Swieten's letter. This fact indicates that van Swieten's formula introduced by Thunberg was correctly accepted by Japanese doctors and interpreters, who had acquired basic medical knowledge since the publication of "Kaitai Shinsho" in 1774.

[C.P. Thunberg and his voyage to Japan (5). Mercury water therapy fpr syphilis (continued)].

The formula for the mercury water therapy introduced into Japan by Thunberg for the treatment of syphilis was received in 1742 by van Swieten, a Dutch medical doctor who studied under Boerhaave and who later became a professor at Vienna Univ., from Sanchez, a Russian medical doctor. After trying it personally for the treatment of the sexual disease for 12 years, van Swieten tested it in 128 patients at St. Marx's Hospital in 1754. It spread throughout Europe when it was published by van Swieten after confirming its safety in these patients. The formula was listed in Pharmacopoeia of different countries from the 1830's to the 1930's under name "van Swieten Liquid." In Japan, it spread widely through Kohgyu Yoshio, a Japanese-Dutch interpreter who was taught it by Thunberg, and his pupils. The first (1886) through 5th (1932) edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia listed corrosive sublimate as an oral drug for syphilis. The indicated dosage is within the range of van Swieten's original formula.

[The effervescent baths and mercurial fumigations of Guietand, a Paris pharmacist]. / Les bains gazeux et les fumigations mercurielles de Guietand, pharmacien parisien.

Presentation of the effervescent baths and mercurial fumigations sold by Georges Guietand in about 1801-1802, followed by a list of specialties which he offered for sale.