Robots might be the future of surgery, but it wasn’t always this way. Surgery was once very primitive and extensive.  Anyone interested in the not only the history of surgery but also it’s future should watch this fascinating TED talk by surgeon and inventor Catherine Mohr.
Warning: Not for the squemish. Catherine takes us on a tour of the history of surgery in all it’s pre-painkiller, pre-antiseptic glory and then head to the present and future with demos of some of the newest tools for surgery, nimble robot hands able to work through the smallest of surgical incisions.

Most people head to Sydney, Australia for the sun, the food, and the opera house. Now you can also take in a visit to the Museum of Human Diseases, a Pandora’s box of plague, pestilence and disease in graphic detail.
Used for years as a  resource for medical students, this museum at the University of New South Wales has more than 2,000 cadaver parts on display.
It’s not for the weak of stomach. There’s a blackened smoker’s lung on one side and a  nectrotic ulcer the size of a cricket ball n the other. The two disembodied white thumbs, macabrely sit in …read more

How far would you go to find the answers to a medical mystery?
Would you go as far as Stubbins Ffirth, a 19th century doctor who smeared himself with vomit and other bodily fluids from yellow-fever suffers to prove it wasn’t a contagious disease?
Or tape a sample of radium salts to your arm for 10 hours as Pierre Cuire did in his desire to find out how radiation might help in the treatment of cancer?
Probably not.
Read more about these and other extraordinary scientists who put their lives on the line for the sake of knowledge at New Scientist’s fascinating (and somewhat …read more

Everyone seems to have their own ideas on ‘what’s the secret to a long life’.
For example, 105 year old Clare says ‘No Sex is secret to longevity’. That might have worked for her, but most people would be thinking ‘what’s the fun in that’. Long life, no sex – no thanks.
Meanwhile, a 113 Japanese man suggests that the ‘the key to long life is abstaining from alcohol’.
But for those of us who aren’t so keen on these ways of ensuring a long, long life, meet Li Ching-Yun. Not only did he believe in sex (he had 23 …read more

Ready for some more interesting, fascinating, unusual, strange, and even bizarre news…
Pay patients to go to the doctor? – in England, Health Service Managers are looking at ways to get people in unhealthy people in the lower social economic rankings to visit the doctor. The thinking is that if you can get people to the doctor earlier, before chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease set in, the government health system would save money. It makes sort of makes sense. But the idea is getting flack from politicans and medical experts alike who say that the government shouldn’t be …read more

Most of us know the importance of being familiar with our family’s health history. In fact, there is nary a doctor’s office visit where we’re not grilled on the diseases/afflictions that run through our gene pool.
But sometimes it’s hard to remember it all, and sometimes we just don’t know all there is to know about Gram and Gramps, right?
Well now there may be a viable solution: MyFamilyHealth.com.
From the company, here are some of the benefits:

MyFamilyHealth.com is the most advanced online family health history tracking tool and compliant with the latest recommendations from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The …read more

From stomach sized hairballs to a giant hamster wheel for energetic patients, medical museums offer a chance to explore medicines colorful history and discover the bizarre, the offbeat, and the extreme treatments of days gone by.
So if you’re on the road this summer and don’t mind a little ’shock and gore’, stop by a medical museum or two. You’ll be amazed (and relieved) by how far the practice of medicine has come.
Here’s four medical museums definitely worth visiting:
The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia was orginally established as a place for trainee doctors to go and learn about anatomy and human anomalies. …read more

In this vast virtual world of ours, more and more clinicians are inviting patients to email them, rather than calling them on the telly. But is this a good plan?
This article on New York Times.com shares the experience of a doc dabbling in the world of patient email. What’s described are instances of near-misses, frustrated patients, and an equally frustrated doctor. Mind you, he is a mental health professional, but I wonder if the same could be true across the board.
His deduction? For simple things like changing appointment times, refilling scripts and the like, email is a magical thing. But …read more

Wait. I’m Not Dead!
This guy in France has created renewed debate about when is a person really dead. Seems that his heart stopped for an hour and a half, giving doctors cause to believe he was dead. But just before they started the prep to remove his organs for transplants, his breathing and heartbeat resumed and he began regaining consciousness.
Going Bald for Charity Can Cause Loss of Job
A kind hearted waitress recently discovered that doing a good deed doesn’t always pay. Wanting to raise money for a cancer research charity, Stacey Fearnall donated her hair. But her boss isn’t keen …read more

If you think drugs are scary now, take a look at what was on offer in the 1800’s and 1900’s…

Source: Dr. Bonkers presents
The Nearly Genuine and Truly Marvelous
Psychoneuropharmacological Mental Medicine Show