Bedside Rounds

For a special holiday treat, we’re going to explore two tales of salmonella disease detectives -- the first about Mary Mallon (“Typhoid Mary”) and the birth of the genre; and the second about a mysterious salmonella outbreak at Massachusetts General Hospital solved with the assistance of a very jolly patient. Along the way, we’ll talk about clinical epidemiology, the long-lasting influence of Berton Roueché, and the joys of being an internist!

You can sign up for the Digital Education conference at cmeregistration.hms.harvard.edu/digitaleducation.

Sources:

• Buckle GC, Fischer Walker CL, and Black RE, Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever: Systematic review to estimate global morbidity and mortality for 2010.J Glob Health. 2012 Jun; 2(1): 010401.
• Marineli F et al, Mary Mallon (1869-1938) and the history of typhoid fever.Ann Gastroenterol. 2013; 26(2): 132–134.
• Soper GA, The Curious Career of Typhoid Mary, read on May 10, 1939 before the Section of Historical and Cultural Medicine. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1911442/pdf/bullnyacadmed00595-0063.pdf
• Norrington B, Cochineal: A Little Insect Goes a Long Way, UCSB Geography.
• Roueche B, The Santa Claus Culture, The New Yorker, Aug 27, 1971.
• Lang DJ et al, Carmine as a Source of Nosocomial Salmonellosis, NEJM. Apr 13, 1967.

You can buy Medical Detectives here: https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Detectives-Collection-Award-Winning-Investigative/dp/0452265886

In Episode 8 of Bedside Rounds, we explore the mysterious world of the nocebo effect, where words can literally hurt -- or kill. It's all in the mind, right?

Plagues have fascinated us since antiquity, but the Antonine Plague stands out because one of the most famous physicians in Western history was present to make detailed observations. In this episode, guest host Liam Conway-Pearson explores what we know -- and what we don't know -- about this plague, which ravaged Rome two millennia ago. Plus a brand new #AdamAnswers about using convalescent plasma to treat the Spanish Flu of 1918!

Sources:

• Adrian Muraru, “On Galen of Pergamum: The Greek Physician and Philosopher of Late Antiquity in the Roman Empire,” Agathos 9, no.2 (2018): 7-20.
• H. Clifford Lane and Anthony S. Fauci, “Microbial Bioterrorism,” in Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 20e, ed. J. Larry Jameson et al. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2018), S2.
• James Greenberg, “Plagued by Doubt: Reconsidering the Impact of a Mortality Crisis in the 2nd C. A.D.,” Journal of Roman Archaeology 16 (2003): 413-425.
• Jennifer Manley, “Measles and Ancient Plagues: A Note on New Scientific Evidence,” Classical World 107, no. 3 (Spring 2014): 393-397.
• J. F. Gilliam, “The Plague under Marcus Aurelius,” The American Journal of Philology 82, no. 3 (July 1961): 225-251.
• John Haldon, Hugh Elton, Sabine R. Huebner, Adam Izdebski, Lee Mordechai, and Timothy P. Newfield, “Plagues, Climate Change, and the End of an Empire. A Response to Kyle Harper’s The Fate of Rome (2): Plagues and a Crisis of Empire,” History Compass 6, no. 12 (November 2018).
• Joseph B. Fullerton and Mark E. Silverman, “Claudius Galen of Pergamum: Authority of Medieval Medicine,” Clinical Cardiology 32, no. 11 (January 2008): E82-E84.
• Joseph R. McConnell, Andrew I. Wilson, Andreas Stohl, Monica M. Arienzo, Nathan J. Chellman, Sabine Eckhardt, Elisabeth M. Thompson, A. Mark Pollard, and Jørgen Pender Steffensen, “Lead Pollution Recorded in Greenland Ice Indicates European Emissions Tracked Plagues, Wars, and Imperial Expansion during Antiquity,” PNAS 115, no. 22 (May 2018): 5726-5731.
• J. Rufus Fears, “The Plague under Marcus Aurelius and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 18 (2004): 65-77.
• Kyle Harper, The Fate of Rome (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), 23-118.
• Mike Duncan, The History of Rome, Podcast Audio, 2007-2013. https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/archives.html
• R. J. Littman and M. L. Littman, “Galen and the Antonine Plague,” The American Journal of Philology 94, no. 3 (Autumn 1973): 243-255.
• R. P. Duncan-Jones, “The Impact of the Antonine Plague,” Journal of Roman Archaeology 9 (1996): 108-136.
• “Smallpox,” CDC, last modified June 7, 2016, https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/transmission/index.html.
• Vivian Nutton, “The Chronology of Galen’s Early Career,” The Classical Quarterly 23, no. 1 (May 1973): 158-171.
• Yuki Furuse, Akira Suzuki, and Hitoshi Oshitani, “Origin of Measles Virus: Divergence from Rinderpest Virus between the 11th and 12th Centuries,” Virology Journal 7, no. 52 (March 2010): 1-4.
• Catherine Thėves, Eric Crubėzy, and Philippe Biagini, “History of Smallpox and Its Spread in Human Populations,” Microbiology Spectrum 4, no. 4 (April 2015):
• Walter Scheidel, “A Model of Demographic and Economic Change in Roman Egypt after the Antonine Plague,” Journal of Roman Archaeology 15 (2002): 97-114.

Did the famous composer Gustav Mahler work his fatal heart murmur into his final ninth symphony? To try and answer this question, I’m joined by Dr. Kevin Nordstrom of the Great Composers Podcast. We’ll delve into Mahler’s diseases, a history of heart sounds, musical theory, his obsession with mortality, and the unfortunate circumstances of his own death. Classical music and medicine, in one podcast! What more could you want? And included (at no extra charge!) is a new #AdamAnswers about the origins of respiratory therapy.

You can listen to Dr. Nordstrom’s Great Composers Podcast on iTunes or on his website.

Sources:

• Amenta C, “The Opening of Mahler's Ninth Symphony and the Bernstein "Heart-beat" Hypothesis by Charles Amenta,” Naturlaut 4(1): 17-18, 2005.
• Cardoso F and Leese AJ. “Did Gustav Mahler have Syndenham’s chorea?” Mov Disord. 2006 Mar;21(3):289-92.
• Christy NP et al, “Gustav Mahler and his illnesses,” Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 1971; 82: 200–217.
• Ferretti J et al, “History of Streptococcal Research.” Streptococcus pyogenes : Basic Biology to Clinical Manifestations.
• Hannah IR and Silverman ME, “A history of cardiac auscultation and some of its contributors,” Am J Cardiol. 2002 Aug 1;90(3):259-67.
• Levy D, “Gustav Mahler and Emanuel Libman: bacterial endocarditis in 1911,” Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1986 Dec 20-27;293(6562):1628-31.
• Mangione S, “Mahler at 100: a medical history,” Hektoen International. http://hekint.org/2017/01/30/mahler-at-100-a-medical-history/

Does smoking cause lung cancer? How could you ever know? The second in a three-part series on causality, I’m joined by Dr. Shoshana Herzig to discuss how Austin Bradford Hill and Richard Doll set out to try and answer this question -- and along the way revolutionized the way we think about what causes disease. In this episode, we’ll talk about the first double-blinded randomized controlled trial, the long shadow of tuberculosis, and why epidemiology is beautiful. Plus, a brand new #AdamAnswers about chest compressions!

Please support Bedside Rounds by filling out the listener demographic survey: https://survey.libsyn.com/bedsiderounds

Sources:

• Bost TC. Cardiac arrest during anaesthesia and surgical operations. Am J Surg 1952;83: 135-4
• Council, T. Tobacco Smoking and Lung Cancer. Brit Med J 1, 1523 (1957).
• Crofton J, The MRC randomized trial of streptomycin and its legacy: a view from the clinical front line. J R Soc Med. 2006 Oct; 99(10): 531–534.
• Daniels M and Bradford Hill A, Chemotherapy of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Young Adults, Br Med J. 1952 May 31; 1(4769): 1162–1168.
• Dangers of Cigarette-smoking. Brit Med J 1, 1518 (1957).
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• HOFFMAN, F. L. CANCER AND SMOKING HABITS. Ann Surg 93, 50–67 (1931).
• Hurt R, Modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation—not so new after all. J R Soc Med. 2005 Jul; 98(7): 327–331.
• Keating C, Smoking Kills: The Revolutionary Life of Richard Doll. 2009.
• Keith A, Three Hunterian Lectures ON THE MECHANISM UNDERLYING THE VARIOUS METHODS OF ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION PRACTISED SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY IN 1774. (1909). The Lancet, 173(4464), 825–828.
• Kouwenhoven WB et al, Closed-chest cardiac massage, JAMA, JAMA. 1960;173(10):1064-1067.
• Morabia, A. Quality, originality, and significance of the 1939 “Tobacco consumption and lung carcinoma” article by Mueller, including translation of a section of the paper. Prev Med 55, 171–177 (2012).
• Ochsner, A. & bakey. Primary pulmonary malignancy: treatment by total pneumonectomy; analysis of 79 collected cases and presentation of 7 personal cases. Ochsner J 1, 109–25 (1999).
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• Parascandola, M. Two approaches to etiology: the debate over smoking and lung cancer in the 1950s. Endeavour 28, 81–86 (2004).
• Phillips, C. V. & Goodman, K. J. The missed lessons of Sir Austin Bradford Hill. Epidemiologic Perspectives Innovations 1, 1–5 (2004).
• Proctor, R. Angel H Roffo: the forgotten father of experimental tobacco carcinogenesis. B World Health Organ 84, 494–495 (2006).
• Wynder, E. RE: “WHEN GENIUS ERRS: R. A. FISHER AND THE LUNG CANCER CONTROVERSY”. Am J Epidemiol 134, 1467–9 (1991).