Episode 29: Dupuytrens Contracture | Curse of the Vikings

In the 16th century, a curse was foretold about the Scottish MacCrimmon clan that they would cease to be the official (bag) pipers of the chiefs of the Clan MacLeod and would be forced to leave the Isle of Skye forever. The curse came true. The fingers of the men from the MacCrimmons clan became tw…

Episode 28: War and Medicine | With Dr Dan Pronk ‘The Combat Doctor’

While I amputated one man’s thigh, there lay at one time thirteen, all beseeching to be taken next… It was a strange thing to feel my clothes stiff with blood, and my arms powerless with the exertion of using the knife.” – Charles Bell, Surgeon at the Battle of Waterloo, 1815. Hippocrates said tha…

Episode 27: Podcast Awards And Talkback Radio | Taking This Medical Life To The People

This Medical Life is a podcast for GPs, specialists, allied health professionals, and medical students but in this episode we share content related to the Australian Podcast Awards and talkback radio. Dr Travis Brown and Steve Davis are taking a short break so this episode is a little different. Y…

Episode 26: Crohn’s Disease & Ulcerative Colitis | The Complete Guide to IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease)

Intestinal problems are as ancient as human’s themselves. However, the first case was only documented in the 18th century by a great Italian anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni, of a 20 year old man who had died with fever, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhoea. The autopsy findings by Morgagni are…

Episode 25: Vitamin D | The Skeleton in the Closet

The sun has always been special to us. Most cultures, particularly in ancient times, worshipped it as a God to be feared. In modern society, we recognise both the potential life-affirming and life-dangers that the sun poses. In this episode, we focus on the beneficial side the sun provides to us v…

Episode 24: Rheumatoid Arthritis | From Gout to RA

In the 19th century, a French doctor recognised a subset of patients with joint disease that didn’t fit the traditional diagnoses of gout or osteoarthritis. These patients were predominately female with affected hands and fingers, joint stiffness, and often had a low socioeconomic background (gout …

Episode 23: Hypertension | Too much of a good thing(?)

The first ever recorded blood pressure was done by Stephen Hales in 1733 with a glass tube inserted into the artery of a horse. It would be well over a century for us to develop a non-invasive technique to measure blood pressure and another century to understand its significance. Today, hypertensi…

Episode 22: Group A Streptococcus / Streptococcus Pyogenes | A Classical Killer

Streptococcus pyogenes is a critical micro-organism for every doctor to know about. It is a gram positive coccus that grows in chains and has the potential to cause significant morbidity and even mortality. It has taken us centuries to learn the significance of this infection and is a testament to…

Episode 21: Marfan Syndrome | Big Problems

Marfan syndrome is a disease of connective tissue. Patients who have this condition often have a tall stature, long slender arms, legs and fingers but it is the connective tissue in and around organs that is the greatest risk. This is a genetic disease that was first recognised at the end of the 1…

Episode 20: Transmissible Cancers | Plight of the Tasmanian Devils

There are three known transmissible cancers in the mammalian world. Surprisingly, two of the three are found in Tasmanian Devils. They are called the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) and one Devil can pass this tumour to another Devil via direct contact. These DFTD’s have had a devastating impac…