January 26, 2019 Saturday
Bedtime Story
Semmelweis Gets the Connection
Tonight we shall continue with the writing
of Semmelweis that is found in the Lancet issue of 1855 where he is befittingly
giving a clinical and forensic description of the death of his friend and the
professor of forensic medicine.
“Then [...] he died of bilateral pleurisy,
pericarditis, peritonitis and meningitis [inflammation of the membranes of the
lungs and thoracic cavity, of the fibroserous sac surrounding the heart, of the
membranes of the abdomen and pelvic cavity, and of the membranes surrounding
the brain, respectively.]
A few days before he died, a metastasis
also formed in one eye.
I was still animated by the art treasures
of Venice, but the news of Kolletschka’s death agitated me still more.
In this excited condition I could see
clearly that the disease from which Kolletschka died was identical to that from
which so many hundred maternity patients had also died.
The maternity patients also had
lymphangitis, peritonitis, pericarditis, pleurisy, and meningitis, and
metastasis also formed in many of them.
Day and night I was haunted by the image of
Kolletschka’s death and was forced to recognize, ever more decisively, that the
disease from which Kolletschka died was identical to that from which so many
maternity patients died.”
For the first time in the life of
Semmelweis as a doctor there shone a light across the tunnel that had been
pitch dark and depressing.
Semmelweis now had a cause or if not the
true case a sort of causal connection for the maternal deaths that had been
gnawing at his deepest level of mind.
It became clear to him that there was some
sort of connection between cadaveric examination and bedside fever.
Mind you, the very idea of infection the
way we understand it today was unknown then since the germ theory of disease had
still not found universal acceptance.
At least at the Vienna General Hospital the
germ theory of disease was neither known nor accepted.
Here again I wish to emphasize the essence
of scientific theory which is deeply misunderstood by most apes.
“It is only a theory” is a common refrain
of the unversed associating the word “theory” with some vague dreamy hypothesis
or an idea that has no practical bearing.
That is completely inaccurate and must be
done away with immediately for it is the one thing that this bedtime story must
achieve if nothing else.
Since microbes were just at the threshold
of discovery and microbiology still to be born the association of germs with
diseases was still at infancy.
For lack of anything better Semmelweis formulated
his idea of bedside fever being spread by medical students from cadavers to
women in labor through transmission of “cadaverous particles” through their
hand.
Rather an interesting choice of words I
must say though nothing neoteric about them.
Stay tuned to the voice of an
average story storytelling chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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