Ireneusz Wierzejewski: treatment of amputees of the upper limb in Poznan during the Great War.

INTRODUCTION: The Great War (1914-1918) caused a dramatic increase in the number of limbless invalids. Orthopaedics became the field of medicine that could offer the most effective help for those patients. OBJECTIVE: This review article aims to present how new operations and methods in the field of orthopaedics spread to other countries during the Great War. METHODS: Historical photographs of patients treated by being given hand prostheses are analysed and discussed as a case study of the transfer of orthopaedic techniques in Europe. The pictures were taken in a provincial military hospital, directed by Ireneusz Wierzejewski, the pioneer of orthopaedics in Poland. RESULTS: The methods of preparing stumps for prostheses at Wierzejewski's hospital followed the patterns of the time. In some cases, the prostheses were further modified to better help patients return to their former lives. CONCLUSION: The case of the Fortress Hospital in Poznan demonstrates that kinetic hand prostheses were also available in provincial hospitals. Modern orthopaedic procedures remain an effective treatment and a way to restore amputees to society.

The changing face of hunger: from fasting to the concept of atherogenesis.

The history of hunger is a story about natural disasters and wars, but, on the other hand, also about the investigation of evolutionary defense mechanisms concerning quantitative food shortages. The article presents how fasting and the experimental starving oriented the development of physiology, and it is based on a comparative analysis of monographs and articles on starvation in the medical context from library collections and the PubMed database. Over the centuries, doctors have believed that fasting has a beneficial effect on health, and they recommended a restrictive diet during an illness. In the 19th century, the growth of modern physiology was determined by experimental fasting of human subjects and animals. Furthermore, undernourishment and chronic hunger in large populations were recognized as a threat to public health for the first time. During both world wars, depriving civilians of food became a strategy of combat and a method of genocide. The mass nature of war hunger motivated doctors to research the pathophysiology of starvation and refeeding of emaciated people, even in the ghetto or concentration camps. After the Second World War, the invention of the scanning electron microscope enabled systematic studies on the effects of starvation on the human body. As a result, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and the cellular metabolism of cholesterol at the submolecular level were clarified. At the turn of the 21st century, the research on the metabolic response to starvation shed new light on atherogenesis and the link between lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.

Under the British Roof: The British Contribution to the Development of Hospice and Palliative Care in Poland.

The article focuses on British contribution to the development of palliative and hospice care in Poland in the 1980s and beyond. It is based on archival research in the hospices in Cracow and Poznan and broad-scoped Polish journals' review. The social background of the hospice movement in Poland is described. We explore the role of inspiration and help of Dame Cicely Saunders and other British leaders in the transfer of British hospice philosophy and practice of palliative care to the medical community in Poland. This study demonstrates the importance of institutions for the formal exchange of medical information.

The unwanted heroes: war invalids in Poland after World War I.

This article focuses on the unique and hitherto unknown history of disabled ex-servicemen and civilians in interwar Poland. In 1914, thousands of Poles were conscripted into the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian armies and forced to fight against each other. When the war ended and Poland regained independence after more than one hundred years of partition, the fledgling government was unable to provide support for the more than three hundred thousand disabled war victims, not to mention the many civilians left injured or orphaned by the war. The vast majority of these victims were ex-servicemen of foreign armies, and were deprived of any war compensation. Neither the Polish government nor the impoverished society could meet the disabled ex-servicemen's medical and material needs; therefore, these men had to take responsibility for themselves and started cooperatives and war-invalids-owned enterprises. A social collaboration between Poland and America, rare in Europe at that time, was initiated by the Polish community in the United States to help blind ex-servicemen in Poland.

Wandering spleen: a medical enigma, its natural history and rationalization.

INTRODUCTION: Wandering spleen is a rare condition in which the spleen is not located in the left upper quadrant but is found lower in the abdomen or in the pelvic region because of the laxity of the peritoneal attachments. Many patients with wandering spleen are asymptomatic, hence the condition can be discovered only by abdominal examination or at a hospital emergency department if a patient is admitted to hospital because of severe abdominal pain, vomiting or obstipation. METHODS: This article aims to provide a historical overview of wandering spleen diagnostics and surgical treatment supplemented with an analyses of articles on wandering spleen included in the PubMed database. RESULTS: One of the first clinical descriptions of a wandering spleen was written by Józef Dietl in 1854. The next years of vital importance are 1877 when A. Martin conducted the first splenectomy and in 1895 when Ludwik Rydygier carried out the first splenopexy to immobilize a wandering spleen. Since that time various techniques of splenectomy and splenopexy have been developed. CONCLUSIONS: Introducing medical technologies was a watershed in the development and treatment of wandering spleen, which is confirmed by the PubMed database. Despite the increased number of publications medical literature shows that a wandering spleen still remains a misdiagnosed condition, especially among children.

Infoveillance and Critical Analysis of the Systematically Reviewed Literature on Dimethyltryptamine and the "God Molecule".

Aboriginals of Latin America have used DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) in ritualistic ceremonies for centuries. Nevertheless, there are limited data on web users' interest concerning DMT. We aim to review the literature and explore the spatial-temporal mapping of online search behavior concerning DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, and the Colorado River toad via Google Trends over the past 10 years (2012-2022) while using 5 search terms: "N,N-dimethyltryptamine", "5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine", "5-MeO-DMT", "Colorado River toad", and "Sonoran Desert toad". Literature analysis conveyed novel information concerning DMT's past shamanic and present-day illicit uses, showcased experimental trials on DMT uses for neurotic disorders, and highlighted potential uses in modern medicine. DMT's geographic mapping signals originated mainly from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Far East Asia. In contrast, 5-MeO-DMT signals prevailed in Western Europe, Indo-China, and Australasia. Signals concerning the toad originated from the Americas, Australia, India, the Philippines, and Europe. Web users searched the most for "N,N-dimethyltryptamine" and "5-MeO-DMT". Three terms exhibited significant upgoing linear temporal trends: "5-MeO-DMT" (ß = 0.37, p < 0.001), "Sonoran Desert toad" (ß = 0.23, p < 0.001), and "Colorado River toad" (ß = 0.17, p < 0.001). The literature and Infoedemiology data provided crucial information concerning DMT's legal status, risks and benefits, and potential for abuse. Nonetheless, we opine that in the upcoming decades, physicians might use DMT to manage neurotic disorders pending a change in its legal status.

Surgery, fame, and misfortune: the life of Bronislaw Kader.

Bronislaw Kader (1863-1937) introduced one of the traditional methods of gastrostomy. He was a Polish doctor who had been trained by such eminent surgeons as Ernst von Bergmann, Otto E. Küstner, Jan Mikulicz, and Eduard von Wahl. The Kader method implies blunt division of the left rectus muscle and opening of the stomach by a very small incision. A drainage tube is then inserted and fastened to the stomach wall by a stitch. Next, the stomach wall is sutured to the abdominal wall in a manner that places the tube in a tunnel surrounded by serosa. In comparison to others, Kader's method of gastrostomy was considered simpler, cheaper (fewer stitches), speedy, and safe. Although recommendations to perform gastric fistula were limited at the time, the value of gastrostomy remains undisputable. This is a method of choice for securing alimentation in cases of intractable stenosis of the pharynx or esophagus, which are usually due to cancer, chemical burns, trauma, or congenital defects. Nowadays, it is performed endoscopically or laparoscopically. This article presents the life history of Bronislaw Kader, the eponymous of this method and a gifted surgeon who lost his eyesight at the height of his fame.

A doctor facing turbulent times: Antoni Tomasz Jurasz, citizen of the world.

The eponymous of the Jurasz procedure is Antoni Tomasz Jurasz (1882-1961). The procedure is a standard approach to treating mature pancreatic pseudocysts that are in contact with the stomach, although recent advances in instrumentation have empowered surgeons to perform pseudocystogastrostomy laparoscopically for this problem. Dr. Jurasz was born in Germany but felt himself as Polish as his ancestors. He graduated from Heidelberg with a degree in medicine. Over the following years, he developed a German surgery school, especially helping with the achievements of Erich Lexer and Erwin Payr. During the period between World Wars I and II, Jurasz chaired and led the Surgery Clinic of Poznan University in Poland; and he gave lectures and performed public operations abroad. These activities, together with articles published in German-, French-, and English-language medical journals, made him a world-renowned figure in the field of abdominal and thyroid surgery. During World War II, he revealed exceptional traits, taking part in the September Campaign in Poland as a surgeon. He then organized the Polish School of Medicine and the Paderewski Hospital in Edinburgh. Despite his outstanding mind, generosity, and merits, A. T. Jurasz became persona non grata in Communist Poland, which ultimately persuaded him to emigrate to the United States.

The natural history of the concept of antidote.

Over the centuries, the development of knowledge about poisons and antidotes depended on their conceptualization, however, a range of poisons and the concept of antidote evolved. With the passing of time, different substances of plant, animal, and mineral origin, moreover, man-made ones, were used deliberatively, accidentally, or unintentionally as poisons. The concept of antidote was changing in line with the progress of medicine and understanding of the mechanism of how poison works. From this perspective, the history of antidotes may be considered as the quintessence of changes within toxicology. Among the theories of antidote, the most interesting is the concept of a universal one, because it has never become obsolete. This review article focuses on the changing conceptualization of antidotes. It contains an analysis of historical toxicological treatises on antidotes and PubMed articles on the same topic.

Correction to: Jean Baptiste Octave Landry (1826-1865).

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. Title was incorrect. The corrected title is given below.

[Lviv traditions of Polish orthopedics]. / Lwowskie tradycje polskiej ortopedii.

The paper presents how orthopedics as a new surgical specialty has emerged in Lviv at the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. A medical activity of professors who were in charge of the Surgery Clinic of the Lviv University (Ludwik Rydygier and Hilary Schramm) was described and the eminent orthopedists, Antoni Grabiszewski, who as a first Polish doctor habilitated in surgery and orthopedist, and Tadeusz Ostrowski, who was executed by Gestapo in 1941, as well. Adam Gruca, Józef Kowalski, Marian Garlicki and Marian A. Weiss continued to develop Lviv orthopedics in Warsaw, Wroclaw and Silesia after the Second World War.

The UNESCO concept of heritage and teaching of the history of medicine and pharmacy in the Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences in Poznan.

This article points to the possibility of the creative use of the UNESCO concept of heritage in the teaching of the history of medicine and pharmacy. This enriching teaching concept is of great importance, with 2002 being proclaimed the UNESCO Year for Cultural Heritage. The article discusses long-term experiences gathered at the Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences in Poland.