Can stress cause disease? Revisiting the tuberculosis research of Thomas Holmes, 1949-1961
Article Abstract:
Disputed research from the past connecting stressful life circumstances with tuberculosis may be proven true by current research on the immune system. Dr. Thomas Holmes, who practiced medicine at a Seattle tuberculosis sanatorium from 1949 to 1961, conducted research linking stressful life circumstances with a predisposition to tuberculosis. He later termed the stressors as life events, and developed a numeric scale that assigned points to various life events. Life events that were more stressful, such as death of a spouse, were linked with a higher likelihood of becoming ill. His research into tuberculosis led to research of other illnesses, and provided a foundation for later mind-body research. Immune system research may prove that stress compromises immunity. How well a person copes with stress may also play a role in disease.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1996
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Fighting the war on breast cancer: debates over early detection, 1945 to the present
Article Abstract:
The history of breast cancer treatment reveals disagreements about the nature of tumors and the value of early detection and radical surgery. Prior to the 1950's, the prevailing view was that breast cancer progressed steadily from small, nonlethal tumors to large, deadly tumors. Radical mastectomy, therefore, was the treatment of choice for complete tumor removal. Biological determinism was proposed in 1951, associating cell type rather than tumor size with prognosis. Doctors have struggled to determine the treatment of breast tumors which confers the best long-term outcome.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1998
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Remembering medicine's past
Article Abstract:
Medical historians heard various papers presented at the 71st annual meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine in May, 1998. Topics included the political activity of medical students in the 1960s and 1970s, the life of African-American physician Virginia Alexander, the experiences of immigrants who were examined at Ellis Island in the early 20th Century and talks about product advertisements, physicians who specialized in AIDS, and the stigmatization of elderly Alzheimer's patients.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1998
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