Was it justified?

It was logical but was it the whole truth?

Calcific aortic stenosis (AS) was initially characterized as a degenerative process (disorder) because of a tendency to describe any disorder that was not well understood and often occurred in the ‘elderly’ as degenerative. In the last ‘15–20’ years, the observation of the presence of risk factors for arterial atherosclerosis in patients with calcific AS, the production of aortic valve calcific...

Active euthanasia: can it be justified?

Marine sediments tell it like it was.

W e live in a constantly changing environment. Although some changes are natural and therefore beyond our control, there is no question that many anthropogenic activities have dramatically altered our planet. The ‘‘human footprint’’ is now discernable around the globe, so much so that Crutzen (1) proposed a new geological epoch (the Anthropocene) to delineate the recent human-dominated era of E...

It wasn't Witchcraft--It was Huntington Disease!

Huntington disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant, incurable, progressive disorder that manifests with chorea and behavioral and cognitive impairment. The disease usually occurs during the fourth or fifth decade of life; however, it may present at any age. Clinical suspicion is confirmed by genetic testing. Death occurs, on average, 15 to 20 years after the onset of symptoms. Here we report abou...

I remember...it was December.

William Osler is quoted as saying, "Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine, as perhaps it may be thought, the true poetry of life-the poetry of the commonplace, of the plain, toil-worn woman, with their loves and their joys, their sorrows and their griefs."(1) A family physician reflects how he continues to derive sustenance from having cared ...