A dangerous method? Psychedelic therapy at Modum Bad, Norway, 1961-76.

After many years of disregard, the use of psychedelic drugs in psychiatric treatment has re-emerged in recent years. The prospect that psychedelics may again be integrated into mainstream psychiatry has aroused interest in long-forgotten research and experience from the previous phase of psychedelic therapy, which lasted from the late 1940s to the 1970s. This article will discuss one large-scale psychedelic therapy programme at Modum Bad Nervesanatorium, a psychiatric clinic which treated 379 inpatients with psychedelic drugs during the years 1961-76. The psychiatrists there initially regarded the psychedelic treatment as efficacious and without serious negative reactions, but reports of long-term harm have since surfaced. This article discusses how insights from Modum Bad might benefit the new generation of psychedelic treatment efforts.

Neurasthenia, psy sciences and the 'great leap forward' in Maoist China.

The present study looks into the much-neglected history of neurasthenia in Maoist China in relation to the development of psy sciences. It begins with an examination of the various factors that transformed neurasthenia into a major health issue from the late 1950s to mid-1960s. It then investigates a distinctive culture of therapeutic experiment of neurasthenia during this period, with emphasis on the ways in which psy scientists and medical practitioners manoeuvred in a highly politicized environment. The study concludes with a discussion of the legacy of these neurasthenia studies - in particular, the experiment with the famous 'speedy and synthetic therapy' - and of the implications the present study may have for future historical study of psychiatry and science.

[The I.G. Farben laboratory at the Günzburg mental hospital. Epilepsy research during the NS-regime and the postwar period]. / Das Laboratorium der I.G. Farben an der Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Günzburg. Epilepsieforschung in der NS-Zeit und den Nachkriegsjahren.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the activities of the I.G. Farben laboratory at the former "Heil- und Pflegeanstalt" Günzburg. This laboratory was established to test the newly developed epilepsy drug "Citrullamon" and its derivatives. Specifically, the type and manner of the various experiments were examined to determine whether the suspicions of unethical human experimentation could be identified. The commercial and medical activities between I.G. Farben and the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt, including the specific roles of the senior physician Wilhelm Leinisch and the I.G. Farben chemist Arno Grosse, are reviewed.

Clinical research before informed consent.

Clinical research with patient-subjects was routinely conducted without informed consent for research participation prior to 1966. The aim of this article is to illuminate the moral climate of clinical research at this time, with particular attention to placebo-controlled trials in which patient-subjects often were not informed that they were participating in research or that they might receive a placebo intervention rather than standard medical treatment or an experimental treatment for their condition. An especially valuable window into the thinking of clinical investigators about their relationship with patient-subjects in the era before informed consent is afforded by reflection on two articles published by psychiatric researchers in 1966 and 1967, at the point of transition between clinical research conducted under the guise of medical care and clinical research based on consent following an invitation to participate and disclosure of material information about the study. Historical inquiry relating to the practice of clinical research without informed consent helps to put into perspective the moral progress associated with soliciting consent following disclosure of pertinent information; it also helps to shed light on an important issue in contemporary research ethics: the conditions under which it is ethical to conduct clinical research without informed consent.

An overview of research ethics and learning from the past.

This article has introduced the reader to research ethics. In order to to show the development of the codes of ethics and guidelines in use today, it has briefly reviewed the most infamous unethical research studies. Learning from these traumatic and often cruel moments i history gave impetus to the development of international ethical guidelines, driving research conduct and protecting the rights and safety of those participating in studies today. Research within the NHS would not exist without the hundreds of thousands of patients who volunteer their time and indeed their 'selves' to research . Researchers have a duty to those patients, to treat them with the dignity, respect and care they would afford any patient. In addition to serving as researchers, they must also act as patient advocates to ensure that every stage of the research process embraces all elements of ethical codes and frameworks and patients should expect nothing less.

Advancing the management and control of typhoid fever: a review of the historical role of human challenge studies.

Typhoid infection causes considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in settings where lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation facilitate disease spread through faecal-oral transmission. Improved understanding of the pathogenesis, immune control and microbiology of Salmonella Typhi infection can help accelerate the development of improved vaccines and diagnostic tests necessary for disease control. S. Typhi is a human-restricted pathogen; therefore animal models are limited in their relevance to human infection. During the latter half of the 20th century, induced human infection ("challenge") studies with S. Typhi were used effectively to assess quantitatively the human host response to challenge and to measure directly the efficacy of typhoid vaccines in preventing clinical illness. Here, the findings of these historic challenge studies are reviewed, highlighting the pivotal role that challenge studies have had in improving our understanding of the host-pathogen interaction, and illustrating issues relevant to modern typhoid challenge model design.

The first systematic experimentation in music therapy: the genius of James Leonard Corning.

BACKGROUND: The development of music therapy in the United States prior to 1950 has a fascinating but not well known history. The present study illuminates the music therapy research of James Leonard Corning (1855-1923), a prominent neurologist practicing during the late nineteenth-century in New York City. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to provide biographical information and description of a series of music therapy experiments conducted by Corning. His 1899 article appearing in the Medical Record: A Weekly Journal of Medicine and Surgery summarized a series of inventive experiments using music to affect emotional states in people with mild behavioral-emotional and sleep disorders. METHODS: Information was analyzed using a set of primary and secondary sources from contemporaneous books, newspapers and journals. These sources provided biographical information and insight into his experimental methods. Recent sources provided a framework to help understand his conclusions from the viewpoint of late nineteenth-century physicians and for current practitioners of music therapy. RESULTS: Findings indicate that Corning's rationale for using music, visual figures and, occasional medication in the treatment of behavioral-emotional disorders was successful in influencing feelings and emotions in a positive way. He believed that during pre-sleep and sleep, cognitive processes became dormant, allowing the penetration of "musical vibrations" into the subconscious eliminating morbid thoughts that plagued his patients. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding Corning's contributions to music therapy will assist contemporary educators and therapists to better understand the impact of early contributions to music therapy by late nineteenth-century practitioners such as Corning.

[The history of the clinical research settlement in French hospitals]. / L'implantation de la recherche clinique à l'hôpital en France : histoire de la création des centres d'investigation clinique.

Since 1992, French clinical research centers (CRC) allow physicians and researchers to develop clinical and therapeutic research on humans in public hospitals. Created by the National institute for health and medical research (Inserm) in collaboration with public hospitals, their history give us the opportunity to describe the complex interactions in France between fundamental and clinical research. Why does therapeutic research need CRC? What can be done in these structures that cannot be done in hospital wards? Medical research is an hybrid practice torn between fundamental and clinical methodologies and objectives. To solve this tension, CRC are << trading zones >> (Galison, 1997): intermediate areas where physicians and researchers can develop -common languages and methodologies to coordinate their practices and objectives. CRC also become essential to support the ethical, legal and administrative constraints of therapeutic research. double dagger.

Working ethics: William Beaumont, Alexis St. Martin, and medical research in antebellum America.

Analyzing William Beaumont's relationship with his experimental subject, Alexis St. Martin, this article demonstrates how the "research ethics" of antebellum America were predicated on models of employment, servitude, and labor. The association between Beaumont and St. Martin drew from and was understood in terms of the ideas and practices of contract labor, informal domestic servitude, indentures, and military service. Beaumont and St. Martin lived through an important period of transition in which personal master-servant relations existed alongside the "free" contract labor of market capitalism. Their relationship reflected and helped constitute important developments in nineteenth-century American labor history.

Método história oral de vida: contribuições para a pesquisa qualitativa em terapia ocupacional / Oral method life history: contributions for the qualitative research in occupational therapy

A história oral de vida é uma dos métodos que compõem o campo da pesquisa qualitativa, a qual se preocupa com significados e sentidos das ações e relações entre pessoas ou grupos. Este artigo trata de descrever e analisar os aportes que este método, sistematizado no Brasil principalmente pelo historiador José Carlos Sebe Bom Meihy e seus colaboradores, pode fornecer às pesquisas em Terapia Ocupacional e aos campos afins. Para tanto, realiza-se uma discussão sobre memória para, então, descrever o referido método e, finalmente, discutir a história oral de vida no âmbito da pesquisa em Terapia Ocupacional.

Oral history of life is one of the methods that constitute the qualitative research field, witch is concerned with the meanings and the senses of actions and relationships between people or groups. This article describes and analyses the contributions that this method - systematized in Brazil manly by the historian Jose Carlos Sebe Bom Meihy and colleagues - can provide to the research in occupational therapy and related fields. Thus, this study presents a discussion about memory, a description of that method, to finally discuss links between the research in Occupational Therapy and the oral history of life.

O papel da homeopatia na Alemanha Nazista: uma avaliação histórica / Role of homeopathy in Nazi Germany: a historical assessment

Uma das questões ainda polêmicas diz respeito da relação entre homeopatia e os homeopatas e o nazismo. O presente artigo representa resultados parciais de uma pesquisa em andamento, abordando vários dos tópicos em debate. Além da menção dos casos específicos de homeopatas perseguidos pelo sistema e aspectos controversos sobre a experimentação de medicamentos, particularmente em humanos, discorre-se sobre o contexto histórico: inicialmente a conjuntura político-social favoreceu as medicinas ditas alternativas, marginalizadas até essa época pela medicina oficial. Destaca-se que a palavra “homeopatia” não aparece nem uma única vez nos registros dos processos médicos de Nuremberg. (AU)

A still polemical issue concerns the relationship between homeopathy and homeopaths and Nazism. This article represents partial results of an ongoing research and addresses some of the topics under debate. Besides a discussion the specific instance of homeopaths pursued by the regime and controversial aspects on experimentation of remedies, particularly on human beings, it elaborates on the historical context: initially, the political and social conjuncture favored so-called alternative medicines, which had been marginalized until that moment by conventional medicine. It is highlighted that there is not one only mention to the word “homeopathy” in the records of Nurnberg´s medical trials.

Running an ethical trial 60 years after the Nuremberg Code.

The Nuremberg Code has served as a foundation for ethical clinical research since its publication 60 years ago. This landmark document, developed in response to the horrors of human experimentation done by Nazi physicians and investigators, focused crucial attention on the fundamental rights of research participants and on the responsibilities of investigators. Although the Nuremberg Code has provided an important framework for discussions on the requirements of ethical clinical research, and has resulted in the development of other initiatives-eg, the Declaration of Helsinki and the Belmont Report-designed to ensure the rights and safety of human beings taking part in medical research, knowledge of both past events and the current complexity of research suggests further improvements are necessary in the existing approaches to human clinical research.

Privates on parade: soldiers, medicine and the treatment of inguinal hernias in Georgian England.

Hernias were prevalent among servicemen, typically recruited from amongst the malnourished. Civilian medical practice deemed the rupture incurable, taking a palliative approach. For the military this was unacceptable: wastage rates due to ruptures were high, servicemen were valuable commodities. Examples here are used to illustrate that experimentation was a contentious activity, reliant on the whims of patronage and war-time budgets. Although military hospitals provided a good venue to engage in experimentation it was contested.