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Stories

  • Article

Between sickness and health

In early 2020, the subject Will Rees was studying – imaginary illnesses – took on a new relevance as everyone anxiously scanned themselves for Covid symptoms each day. But this kind of self-scrutiny is nothing new, as he reveals.

  • Article

The family food of a kebab van man

Melek Erdal celebrates the physical and mental resilience of her father Yusuf, forged by isolation and dislocation, and reinforced by the distinctive cuisine of his home country, Turkey.

  • Article

What Black women do when the NHS fails them

Sabrina-Maria Anderson explores misogynoir – hatred of Black women – within the NHS, and how women like her are consequently turning to other sources of medical support.

  • Article

A history of twins in science

For thousands of years, twins have been a source of fascination in mythology, religion and the arts. Since the 19th century, they have also been the subject of scientific study and experimentation.

All stories (30)

Images

  • Public health poster - mosquito and tiger
  • Public health reports, volume 55 - part 2
  • Public health reports, volume 55 - part 2
  • A man in a suit smiling with one finger raised, advocating use of condoms for gay men; an advertisement for safe sex by the Authority of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Hamburg and the Office of Public Health - Health Promotion / AIDS. Colour lithograph by Transglobe Black Box and DMB&B.
  • A nurse with one finger raised and the message: 'Wer's im Urlaub ohne treibt, ist im Kopf nicht ganz gescheit' [Whoever goes on holiday unprepared is not clever in the head]; an advertisement for safe sex by the Authority of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Hamburg and the Office of Public Health - Health Promotion / AIDS. Colour lithograph by Transglobe Black Box and DMB&B.
  • A man with a moustache points his finger with the message: 'Ohne gummi auf den Strich, so was tut Mann lieber nicht! [Without rubber/condoms on the streets, so what do men prefer no to!]; an advertisement for safe sex by the Authority of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Hamburg and the Office of Public Health - Health Promotion / AIDS. Colour lithograph by Transglobe Black Box and DMB&B.
  • Iris, an HIV positive woman with two men and the message in Italian: "Iris is HIV positive - we stand by her"; one of a series of posters from a Solidarity 'Stop AIDS' campaign by Aiuto AIDS Svizzero in collaboration with the Federal Office of Public Health. Colour lithograph.
  • Iris, an HIV positive woman with two men and the message in Italian: "Iris is HIV positive - we stand by her"; one of a series of posters from a Solidarity 'Stop AIDS' campaign by Aiuto AIDS Svizzero in collaboration with the Federal Office of Public Health. Colour lithograph.
  • Senna corymbosa (Lam.)H.S.Irwin&Barneby Caesalpinaceae. Argentine Senna. Distribution: Argentine (other species from Europe). This beautiful shrub that flowers from midsummer until the frosts of winter, is the source of one of the best known of all herbal medicines – Senokot (and senna pods and senna tea), introduced to European medicine (as Senna alexandrina from Egypt) by the Arabians. Every part of the plant contains anthraquinones which, if taken internally, act as a powerful laxative to treat constipation by stimulating the nerve cells of the large bowel. Gerard (1633) notes ‘it is a singular purging medicine’ with over a page on its uses. When used regularly the nerves to the large bowel may be destroyed, leaving a permanently dilated large bowel that never functions properly again. This is a plant which causes the condition it treats to become permanent. Additionally, with prolonged use, the lining of the bowel turns black, serum potassium levels may fall, resulting in cardiac irregularities and sometimes death. Coma, neuropathy and hepatitis have also been reported. It is advertised on television (the actor involved is seen to be depressed and bloated until she takes Senokot, after which she is happy - Hippocrates would have attributed this antidepressant effect to the plant's ability to purge her of the black melancholic humour present in her bowel motions). It is available without prescription or health warning against long-term use. What do you think? Lyte (1578) recommends it strongly for depression, but one might claim to be cured rather than take it again. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Senna corymbosa (Lam.)H.S.Irwin&Barneby Caesalpinaceae. Argentine Senna. Distribution: Argentine (other species from Europe). This beautiful shrub that flowers from midsummer until the frosts of winter, is the source of one of the best known of all herbal medicines – Senokot (and senna pods and senna tea), introduced to European medicine (as Senna alexandrina from Egypt) by the Arabians. Every part of the plant contains anthraquinones which, if taken internally, act as a powerful laxative to treat constipation by stimulating the nerve cells of the large bowel. Gerard (1633) notes ‘it is a singular purging medicine’ with over a page on its uses. When used regularly the nerves to the large bowel may be destroyed, leaving a permanently dilated large bowel that never functions properly again. This is a plant which causes the condition it treats to become permanent. Additionally, with prolonged use, the lining of the bowel turns black, serum potassium levels may fall, resulting in cardiac irregularities and sometimes death. Coma, neuropathy and hepatitis have also been reported. It is advertised on television (the actor involved is seen to be depressed and bloated until she takes Senokot, after which she is happy - Hippocrates would have attributed this antidepressant effect to the plant's ability to purge her of the black melancholic humour present in her bowel motions). It is available without prescription or health warning against long-term use. What do you think? Lyte (1578) recommends it strongly for depression, but one might claim to be cured rather than take it again. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
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