The hottest Medical History Substack posts right now

Before antibiotics, diseases like tuberculosis spawned an expensive wellness industry that sold hope, routines, and costly treatments instead of cures.
Nostalgia-driven and consumerist health movements promote distrust of medical science and steer money toward private wellness businesses rather than public health solutions.
Protecting population health needs strong public health systems, vaccines, and affordable medicines—prioritizing profit over science risks renewed epidemics and worse access to care.

Walter Kempner was a doctor who developed a strict rice diet that helped seriously ill patients, particularly those with kidney problems, see improvements in their health. The diet was simple but very restrictive.
Kempner's approach was controversial, and he often faced criticism from other doctors. However, he backed his claims with detailed data and had notable success in treating patients.
Despite his initial success and fame, Kempner's methods aren't widely recognized today, and the rice diet hasn't been successfully replicated outside of his clinic.

Retinoblastoma is a rare eye cancer that mainly affects young children, leading to impaired vision and emotional challenges.
Historical findings from the 16th century and genetic research in the 20th century helped understand retinoblastoma as a genetic disease with the RB1 gene linked to its development.
RB1 gene acts as a tumor suppressor, regulating cell division through interactions with E2F proteins, and its mutations are responsible for most cases of retinoblastoma.

An amateur anatomist got into trouble for detaining an amputated finger after a bizarre accident involving a meat hook in 1824.
Surgeon William Lawrence faced controversy in his career, including having one of his books ruled blasphemous, but he continued his medical practice successfully.
The amusing legal battle between Selwood and Barnard over the ownership of the amputated finger reveals the humorous yet serious nature of the historical incident.

Historically, women's reproductive organs were viewed as uncontrollable and tied to their mental stability.
The concept of 'hysteria' stems from the Greek word for uterus, implying lack of control over women.
There is a need for women to be vocal, protest, and fight for their reproductive rights despite being dismissed as hysterical.

Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

In the 18th century, a man underwent extreme and bizarre methods to rid himself of tapeworm infestation, showing the dangerous lengths people may go to in desperation for a cure.
The man endured multiple ineffective treatments prescribed by physicians before resorting to self-experimentation and ingesting home-made hooks to extract tapeworms, showcasing the challenges and risks of old-time medical practices.
Ultimately, after a year of experimenting with various remedies, the man found a solution that successfully expelled a significant amount of tapeworms from his body, demonstrating the perseverance and determination of individuals in seeking relief from illness.

Bile is described as irritability and prickliness, associated with making choices and rejecting alternatives.
In American business culture, showing bile or criticism is often viewed negatively, seen as a flaw in character.
The theory of temperament based on humours, like black bile and yellow bile, influences personality traits and physical symptoms.

Perkins' Metallic Tractors were an 18th-century medical device believed to relieve pain by attracting fluid away from the body using metal prongs, based on the concept of 'Perkinean Electricity'.
Dr. John Haygarth conducted an early clinical trial on Perkins' Tractors, revealing placebo responses that influenced disease perception through imagination, showcasing the importance of evidence in medical treatments.
Haygarth's experiments demonstrated the significance of comparing new treatments against controls, emphasizing the ongoing process of making clinical research as objective as possible.

Business should be cautious with new scientific discoveries to prevent exploitation.
Advertising has a significant influence on public perception and can promote harmful products.
The historical misuse of radioactive materials for health products serves as a cautionary tale for the dangers of unregulated marketing.

In 1885, patients with contagious diseases like smallpox were isolated on North Brother Island to prevent the spread of illness in an overcrowded New York City. Life was tough, with food shortages and high mortality rates.
Tragic events like shipwrecks, fires, and disease outbreaks shaped the history of North Brother Island, including the infamous case of Typhoid Mary who unintentionally spread typhoid fever.
After serving various purposes over the years, North Brother Island was left abandoned in the 1960s. Its decayed buildings and haunting stories make it off-limits to the public, now a bird sanctuary.