'Two minutes with venus, two years with mercury'--mercury as an antisyphilitic chemotherapeutic agent.
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Europe↗
Biomedical subjects
J G O'Shea
Publications and source records attributed to J G O'Shea.
Rene Laennec: his brilliant life and tragic early death.
1. Laennec's lung disease lasted for at least 20 years. Its stigmata included chronic cough, sputum production and intermittent wheeze. 2. Laennec had long term stigmata commonly associated with chronic bronchiectasis, sinusitis, physical frailty, and short stature (5ft 2in). 3. Chronic diarrhoea of at least 20 years duration is not strongly associated with tuberculosis. 4. During Laennec's last illness his physicians equivocated as to whether he had respiratory disease at all. Bronchial breathing at the apex, if indeed present, could have been caused by compensatory emphysema secondary to middle lobe bronchiectasis rather than to active tuberculosis. 5. Laennec did not have haemoptysis in his final illness. 6. Laennec's last illness, a wasting illness characterised by intermittent fevers, cardiac murmur, and persistent tachycardia followed a dental manipulation. The painful "abdominal abscess" noted by Laennec's colleagues may actually have been splenomegaly. These features suggest endocarditis. The cardiac murmurs associated with pulmonary hypertension secondary to bronchiectasis are not usually audible at a remote distance from the patient. Endocarditis was a disease largely unknown to physicians of the early 19th century before Osler clarified its pathology in the 1880s.
Auscultation↗
[The last illness of Liszt].
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Alcoholism↗
Was Paganini poisoned with mercury?
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Famous Persons↗
A medical history of Franz Liszt.
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Famous Persons↗
Was Frédéric Chopin's illness actually cystic fibrosis?
Since Chopin's death 140 years ago, no one has questioned seriously the theory that he died of tuberculosis, in spite of the knowledge that many of the physicians who treated his illness considered tuberculosis an unlikely cause of his chronic respiratory disease, which was of at least 24 years' duration. Although 170 cm in height, Chopin weighed less than 45 kg throughout his life. He was noticeably emaciated and had a marked tendency to lose weight after respiratory infections and with dietary indiscretion. His exercise tolerance remained far below that of his peers throughout his lifetime. He was affected by a debilitating chronic cough, which was often productive and was worst in the morning. This cough persisted from before 15 years of age until his death of cor pulmonale at 39 years of age. Chopin suffered multiple acute, severe respiratory infections of both the upper and lower respiratory tracts which worsened in winter. He had haemoptysis for 18 years. In later life he grew markedly barrel-chested. He may also have been infertile. Chopin's autopsy revealed gross cardiomegaly and changes in his lungs which were not consistent with cavitating tuberculosis. These features suggest that cystic fibrosis may have been the cause of his ill-health and death. Chopin's sister Emily, died at 14 years of age, possibly also of cystic fibrosis.
Cystic Fibrosis↗