Did you know that many musicals discuss medicine and medical procedures? Here we list several notable numbers from stage musicals, movie musicals, and even a television series! Musicals not only entertain us but can also provide a lens through which to explore the complexities of health, identity, and the human experience.
“Who’s Crazy / My Psychopharmacologist and I” (Next to Normal)
In Next to Normal, main character Diana struggles with bipolar disorder and delusional episodes. This Act I number takes us through several of Diana’s appointments with her doctor as he prescribes her a host of different medications. A chorus recites the various medicines Diana has tried: “Zoloft and Paxil and Buspar and Xanax / Depakote, Klonopin, Ambien, Prozac / Ativan calms me when I see the bills / These are a few of my favorite pills!”
At the end of the song, now placed on yet another new regimen, Diana tells her doctor: “I don’t feel like myself. I mean, I don’t feel anything.”
“Patient stable,” the doctor concludes.
“Our Disease” (Kimberly Akimbo)
In 2023, when Kimberly Akimbo won the Tony for Best Musical, The Rotation featured a blog post about the fictional disease central to the show’s narrative and its similarities to the actual disease progeria. In the musical, Kim’s disease causes her to age at a hyper-accelerated rate, so that as a high schooler, she appears to be a 72-year-old woman.
In the song “Our Disease,” Kim presents information about her unnamed illness for a biology class project. It’s “an incredibly rare genetic disorder” with symptoms including “wrinkled skin, stiff joints, hip dislocation, atherosclerosis, macular degeneration, hypertension, presbycusis, [and] cardiac issues.” But Kim’s classmates present on scurvy and “fasciolosis” (aka fascioliasis) – diseases that don’t directly affect them. As the song progresses, Kim becomes resentful of her classmates as she realizes that she’s the only one who feels like a scientific curiosity, a specimen.
“La Vaginoplastia” (Emilia Pérez)
Emilia Pérez is a unique movie: a musical about a drug cartel leader’s journey through gender transition. The movie received a staggering 13 Academy Award nominations this year.
The movie is a complex and emotional portrait of main character Emilia, but you wouldn’t know it from this bizarre number in which a surgeon lists the various gender-affirming surgeries available for transgender women, including vaginoplasty, rhinoplasty, laryngoplasty, mammoplasty, and chondrolaryngoplasty. Rita (Zoe Saldaña), who is organizing the surgeries on behalf of Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón), is eager to learn more about these procedures.
This movie has received criticism for its depiction of transgender people (among other issues), and this song is one of the more insensitive moments. The surgeon himself describes his work as changing “a man to [a] woman,” thus misgendering his patient and emphasizing a misconception that surgery is necessary to be transgender. Gender-affirming surgeries are important to some transgender individuals, but they are by no means universal to the transgender experience.
“Miracle” (Matilda the Musical)
The opening number of this musical based on Roald Dahl’s book starts at the very beginning: birth. The song features an obstetrician who absolutely loves his job: “Every life I bring into this world / Restores my faith in humankind,” he sings.
This leads to a hilarious juxtaposition with Matilda Wormwood’s parents, who couldn’t care less about their daughter. When the doctor says, “Your wife has just given birth to a beautiful, healthy, happy little girl. She’s perfect. This is fantastic news,” the parents completely disagree: “Why, when we’ve done nothing wrong / Should this disaster come along?” Though the doctor is not a major character in the rest of the show, his appearance at the beginning is important because it contrasts so strongly with the emotional neglect that will shape Matilda’s childhood.
“Anti-Depressants Are So Not A Big Deal” (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
Our last entry is a song from a musical television series that offers a candid exploration of mental health. When main character Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) is hesitant to start taking antidepressants, her psychiatrist (Michael Hyatt) reminds her that taking such medication is very common and should not carry stigma. A tap-dancing chorus appears to tell Rebecca that all sorts of people get help from antidepressants: “The butcher, the baker, the grocery clerk / They’re all on 20 milligrams or so!” Fluoxetine, paroxetine, and citalopram receive shout-outs.
This relentlessly cheery tune encourages Rebecca to accept the help she needs for her mental health without shame, singing “Why should I feel crappy / About something that makes me happy?”
Jackson L. Doctors must challenge ableism in healthcare. BMJ. 2023;383:2968. Published 2023 Dec 20. doi:10.1136/bmj.p2968
Dahm, M. R., Williams, M., & Crock, C. (2022). ‘More than words’ – Interpersonal communication, cognitive bias and diagnostic errors. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(1), 252–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.05.012
The Ulysses Quartet joins guitarist Ben Verdery in a program of American composers, including two by the performers themselves, as well as works by Leonard Bernstein and Jimi Hendrix. Admission is free, registration is required.
Join musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra who will perform works for string quartet by Shostakovich, Pärt, and Mendelssohn. Free, reservations optional. Discover program information and make an optional reservation.
Join Professor Andrew K. Diemer for a lecture based on his book, Vigilance: The Life of Wiliiam Still, Father of the Underground Railroad. Tickets are free and can be obtained here. To livestream the lecture, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6s5__N1agc
This series highlights art and history as told on screen by Black artists, and includes new film restorations, recent documentaries, and experimental short films by Black filmmakers. Check out the schedule and free registration to learn more.
Join bestselling author Tricia Hersey for an immersive reading from her new book, We Will Rest! The Art of Escape. This collection of meditations and poetry is inspired by hymnals, prayerbooks, and abolitionist pamphlets which taps into community care techniques as a radical form of rest. Free tickets are available.
March of the Penguins – 20th Anniversary Screening @ Avalon Theatre
Date: Saturday, February 22, 10:30 a.m.
Watch March of the Penguins again as though it’s the first time! The Avalon Theatre (5612 Connecticut Ave. NW., Washington, DC. 20015) is hosting a 20th-anniversary screening of this beautiful documentary that tracks emperor penguins journeying through extreme weather in Antarctica. Tickets are $10.85 and available for sale on the Avalon’s website.
Alicia Waller and her ensemble will perform selections from her acclaimed EP, Some Hidden Treasure, and material from her highly anticipated debut album, Louder Then. Admission is free with an optional online reservation.
The Arlington Arts Alliance presents a juried show featuring artworks by its members. This event is free and takes place at the Alliance Gallery, 2700 Clarendon Blvd Suite R330, Arlington. (Convenient to Clarendon Metro.)
JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience explores 100 years of Jewish cartoons, comics, and graphic novels. Visitors will discover the Jewish origins of iconic comic book superheroes from the 1930s to the 1960s. The exhibit also includes the development of cartoons in Yiddish and Modern Hebrew and spotlights contemporary graphic novels from around the world with Jewish themes. Admission is free.
January is Thyroid Awareness Month. To observe it, Rotation author and Himmelfarb Librarian Ruth Bueter spoke with Dr. Chelsey Baldwin, MD to learn more about the thyroid. Dr. Baldwin is a board-certified endocrinologist at the GW Medical Faculty Associates (GW Medicine) where she treats patients with thyroid conditions. Dr. Baldwin is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at SMHS and a thyroid expert.
The Rotation: I’d like to start by saying thank you for meeting with me and helping our readers learn about the thyroid during Thyroid Awareness Month!
Dr. Baldwin: You’re welcome! I’m happy someone wants to talk about it!
Can you tell us a little about what inspired you to become an endocrinologist and how you became interested in the thyroid?
I thought I was going to be a primary care doctor. I enjoy the outpatient setting and I enjoy long-term relationships. I found that I really enjoyed having expertise and that I wanted to be an authority on some topic. I think that primary care is incredibly challenging because you’re in charge of so much, and this gave me a way to keep some of those things that I really wanted - those long-term relationships, and an outpatient setting - and I got to develop an expertise.
The physiology of endocrine is my favorite, so that’s what led me to choose endocrine. And then thyroid, interestingly enough, when I was a fellow I thought I was going to do pituitary. I enjoyed it, and it’s the control center of the endocrine system. But I had a mentor who was a thyroidologist and essentially took me under his wing as far as interest in research, and that’s how it developed, meeting the right person at the right time in my career.
What brought you to GW?
My husband works for the federal government and we were told that we were moving from New York City to DC. I knew I needed to find an academic institution to continue what I had begun at NYU, which is an academic career. I really enjoy seeing patients, but it really balanced things out for me to also have teaching, and to be around people who are thought leaders and are trying to push the envelope, find something new, and are thinking about how to make medicine better than it was 10 years ago. That’s what you find in academic medicine. I actually stayed behind in New York for a year and a half waiting for the right job to open for me, and that was GW.
We at GW are very glad to have you!
Thank you, Ruth!
Many people outside of medicine might not be familiar with the thyroid. I wasn’t familiar with it until I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a few years ago. Can you tell us a little bit about it, its role in the body, and how healthy thyroid function contributes to overall health?
Sure. So the thyroid is a relatively small gland, it’s about 15 grams, and it sits in the midline at the base of the neck. So this little gland produces thyroid hormone, and thyroid hormone travels via the blood to all cell types of the body. Of course, I’m a little biased, but what I like to say is that by being a thyroidologist, I have my hand in the physiology of almost every tissue type: the heart beating at the right rate, blood pressure maintenance, how fast the gut moves, or when there’s disease - too slow, too fast - weight management, mental health. The list goes on and on. It makes my job challenging, but also, it’s quite intriguing physiology.
So again, for people who may not be as familiar with the thyroid, what are some of the things that can go wrong with the thyroid? What are the most common thyroid problems you see with your patients?
When I’m giving an overview of things that can go wrong with the thyroid, we can think of hormonal problems and we can think about structural problems. For hormonal problems, the thyroid can either not function well enough - the hypothyroidism that you suggested - and again you just think of the metabolism of all of the cell types slowing down, not getting the correct signals. And then the opposite can happen where there’s too much thyroid hormone, and think about being in an overdrive state when it comes to metabolism. And so both [hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism] are one, incredibly common, and as you shared, can happen to young patients. So I see a large diversity of patients, and interestingly enough, a lot of young patients.
When we think about structural problems - nodule development. These nodules can be benign, the majority of nodules will be benign. But sometimes, they can one, overproduce hormone and we’re back into that overactive state. Or two, they’re just large enough that they’re causing symptoms due to the fact that the neck is a small space, and they either need to be removed or shrunk in order to alleviate symptoms.
And then finally, thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer is a passion of mine. I truly am excited about all of the progress we are making in fine-tuning the treatment of thyroid cancer to individualize patient needs. And so that’s kind of a brief overview of what can go wrong with the thyroid.
You talked a little bit about thyroid cancer being a passion of yours. So what are some things that you can do to help patients with thyroid cancer? Are there new treatments, or something that you’re excited about in that area?
Well, interestingly enough, it’s not necessarily new treatments, at least for a majority of patients, it’s learning when treatment isn’t necessary. We’re learning more and more that some of these small cancers and early cancers do not have an aggressive course. And maybe we went a little overboard in the past giving patients treatments that didn’t necessarily change the outcome and took on risk. We’re getting much better at fine-tuning that, making sure that, as one of the famous thyroidologists once said “make sure that the punishment fits the crime.”
That has been a huge change in thyroid cancer culture, and making sure that the expertise disseminates that practitioners are more comfortable not being aggressive. Because that can actually be really hard on the clinician too, you feel like you’re not doing every little thing you can to prevent recurrence and/or progression. But the bottom line is that knowing when to hold back is truly important.
And then, advancements in thyroid cancers that are new: There are some really rare, aggressive thyroid cancers. Being at a tertiary care center like we are, I, unfortunately, get to see those more often than many clinicians will. And it is so exciting to see that based on molecular or genetic therapies, we are able to make huge impacts on patient survival. There’s a cancer called anaplastic thyroid cancer, that had a dismal overall survival of about 6 months. We are drastically changing that outcome by being able to target these molecular targets within the tumor. It’s really exciting! We published a paper on a case just like that last year. So again, I’m just excited to be a part of that shift and see real progress.
Are there things that we can do to help maintain healthy thyroid function as patients?
This question is usually the one that is the most difficult. There isn’t a whole lot to do for preventative measures when it comes to the most common hormonal problems which are autoimmune. Unfortunately, those are genetic predisposition risks, and as I tell my patients, there’s nothing you’re gonna do about that. You were born with that code.
And then that second factor, we’re not totally sure what it is that triggers autoimmune disease. Was it a virus? Was it something environmental? But we don’t know what that is to tell people to avoid it. And maybe can’t even avoid it if it’s something common, like a virus or a cold.
Dietarily, the United States and many developed countries iodinate their salt, so iodine is no longer a concern, which at one point was a nutritional problem with the thyroid. But that is really limited to countries that don’t have a national iodination program and are mountainous. Otherwise, natural iodine from the sea protects populations closer to the ocean.
As far as thyroid cancer risks, those tend to be radiation exposures, are things that we know. Those tend to be things like disasters that are non-intentional. So I’m not sure a patient can do much to avoid that. The tough answer there is that there are not a whole lot of preventative measures. But of course, regular exercise and a good diet are the things that I harp on because those are important for everyone’s health.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of treating patients with thyroid disease? And/or what is your favorite aspect of your work?
I think one that struck me yesterday was when I was seeing a young patient with a recent diagnosis of thyroid cancer, and rightfully so, they were nervous, they were anxious about how is this going to look for them, and what is this going to be. It’s really nice to be that guide for that patient. Essentially setting up expectations, what are we going to do to get the very best outcome? I find that part of my job incredibly rewarding.
And two, while I’m giving this talk to the patient, I’ve got a resident and a fellow with me who are learning how to do the same thing for their patients. So it’s kind of full circle - you serve the patient in front of you, and then you additionally serve patients that benefit from your students.
So you touched a little on some thyroid research you’ve done related to thyroid cancer, but can you tell us about some of the thyroid research you have done?
We did talk about that thyroid cancer paper where we published the first case of using targeted therapies, Dabrafenib and Trametinib, to target a patient with differentiated thyroid cancer that was unresectable harboring a BRAF mutation, using those targeted therapies. The uniqueness of this was that it wasn’t an anaplastic cancer, it was a differentiated thyroid cancer, but we used the prior research to apply there.
Some other projects that I work on, I do a lot with minimally invasive techniques for thyroid structural disease, so that means those big nodules that are bothersome, those nodules that overproduce hormones, and very small thyroid cancers. Within the last 5-10 years, there has been a new modality on the block, minimally invasive techniques like laser therapy, and radio frequency, which is my expertise. Coming down the road even newer things like nanopulsed therapy. I do a lot of work there.
Currently, we’re working on a project looking at thyroid ultrasonography, and predictive factors for whether or not a patient will end up hypothyroid after removing half of the thyroid. Additionally, I’m working with Dr. Khati in radiology and Dr. Joshi, one of our surgeons. We’re looking at the reliability of a system called TI-RADS - it’s a radiology system for grading thyroid nodules, and how do we make that reproducible not only between providers but interdisciplinary providers, because that has been a critique of the system in the past. We’re trying to say that at GW, we figured out how to make this a reliable system. Those are some of the projects that I’ve worked on and that are still ongoing.
In addition to your clinical duties, you teach first and second-year medical students here at GW. You said you also work with fellows and residents. Can you tell us why you enjoy sharing your passion for medicine and endocrinology with medical students?
Sure. When teaching, you get to go back over that physiology for endocrine, which is really fun, and it’s fun to see the students kind of find that same passion again. Beyond that, I enjoy working with students, residents, and fellows because they remind me of how important it is to be a lifelong learner, constantly being curious, and constantly being willing to explore and go outside of your comfort zone, especially the students. They’re so altruistic still, and I hope that they continue that, and it actually reignites altruism in me. There are multiple benefits to teaching.
When you aren’t treating patients or teaching medical students, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I have a dog that takes up as much time as I can give her. And I’m learning French, so that is something that I’ve been trying to do for self-growth. My husband, whenever he’s not traveling for work, we try to make sure we’re out and about exploring the town. And so I keep myself quite busy outside of work as well.
What advice do you have for students just starting in medicine?
Be curious! Ask any question. There aren’t dumb questions. I remember looking back and being so scared to ask something. Like maybe that wasn’t a good enough question. You wonder what stones you left unturned. And this is that time in your life when you get to ask anything and be curious, and you never know what you might find that sparks your interest, and your passion, and leads you down the path that could be the most rewarding career in medicine.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I think I’ve said it all!
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today! Happy Thyroid Awareness Month!
Finals season getting to you? Feeling anxious about exams? Are you considering locking yourself in the library until you memorize your textbooks? Before you go to drastic measures, consider trying out some of the following tips and tricks to make studying for finals go smoothly.
Try making some practice exams: Reviewing class notes is a great way to study but after a second or third pass, it can feel like you’re just skimming through the information, rather than taking it in. If you want your studying method to be more active, consider making a practice exam to see if your notes are actually sticking in your memory. If you take questions from old exams, study guides, and assignments, you can make a practice exam that not only covers important concepts but forces you to review your notes as you make it more in-depth. Want to take this tip to the next level? Rope in a friend to make their own practice test and swap with one another.
Flip through some flashcards: Flashcards are a tried and tested method for a reason. If you don’t want to make your own flashcards, Access Medicine provides plenty of flashcards for all sorts of medical topics.
Review pre-printed textbooks and guides: Himmelfarb has plenty of study material in our collection, including guides on various medical topics. Materials are available both digitally and physically, so make sure to pick one that suits your preferred studying style.
Find the right environment: Need a quiet place to study? Have trouble staying on task at home? Try the library! Study better as a group? Our first floor has plenty of space for folks to gather to discuss in teams. Need a quieter environment? If you’re one of our Graduate students, try Himmelfarb’s second floor is for silent study, and our third floor is for quiet study. If you want to go even quieter, feel free to take some of the complementary earplugs at the front desk.
Finals can be stressful but hopefully, with these study tips, you’ll be ready for exams with as little stress as possible!
Henbane, belladonna, hemlock, mandrake, yew – ingredients for a witch’s potion? Or plot devices in a Shakespeare play?
Why not both?
Just like modern crime writers study ballistics and crime scene procedure, Shakespeare studied botany at a near-expert level (or at least we can assume he did, based on the knowledge displayed in his portfolio). Shakespeare scholar Edward Tabor even speculates that the bard not only read the herbals of the time but possibly knew John Gerarde, a leading Elizabethan botanist who lived across the street during Shakespeare’s time in London (pg. 82).
As Tabor documents, many of Shakespeare’s plots culminate around plant poisons: Romeo and Juliet’s dual suicide, the death of Hamlet’s father, the witch’s potion in Macbeth, and so on.
Many of these plants had both positive and negative applications in the renaissance world: as anesthetic, aphrodisiacs, psychedelic, and poison. But have these classic botanicals passed out of modern use? Or do they continue in some form, quacky or otherwise?
In this article, we’ll be looking at the role of plants in Shakespeare and whether they – or their derivatives – have found any home in modern medicine.
Henbane [Hyoscyamus niger]
Hamlet's Ghost: With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous distillment
- Hamlet, Act I, Scene 5,59-73
One night out on the parapet, Hamlet – literature’s first mopey grad student and the son of the recently deceased king – is visited by his father’s ghost and learns of his fratricidal uncle Claudius, who supposedly poured henbane/hebenon in the dead king’s ear. And while Hamlet never questions how his dad attained this knowledge while sound asleep, he questions most everything else as he investigates literature’s most famous poisoning.
H.C. Selous, 1870. As Tabor reports, Shakespeare’s contemporaries considered the ears a gateway to the rest of the body (pg. 88).
In antiquity, henbane was used as a sedative, containing the narcotic alkaloids scopolamine and hyoscyamine (USDA, The Powerful Solanaceae: Henbane). Shakespeare’s contemporaries understood henbane’s analgesic properties but also its lethality; botanist John Gerarde reports henbane delivering a “sleep deadlie (sic) to the party” (Tabor, 1970, pg. 88). Used also as a hallucinogen, henbane has long been associated with witches because it can induce sense of flight (USDA) and visions of “insane marvels” (Tabor, pg. 88).
Before the German purity laws (Reinheitsgebot) that limited beer to barley, hops, and water, beer was frequently spiked with henbane (USDA). We can only assume that game night was a much wilder time.
Did Henbane Make It?
Yes! The alkaloid hyoscyamine is an antispasmodic isolated from henbane and used to treat cramps, IBS, and other abdominal issues as a GI tract relaxant. And while inconclusive, some researchers have looked into henbane’s potential as an anti-parkinsonian drug. Hyoscyamine is branded as Anaspaz, Ed-Spaz, Levbid, Levsin, Levsin SL, NuLev, Oscimin, Symax Duotab,and Symax SL.
The Garden Poppy [Papaver Somniferum]
Lady Macbeth: I have drugged their possets,
That death and nature do contend about them
Whether they live or die.
-Macbeth, Act II, Scene II, 6-8
Powder of white Poppie seede (sic) given to children in milke or possite drinke (sic), or an alebrew, or rather with a Caudell of Almonds and hempe seeds, causeth them to sleep.
-Langham (pg. 507)
In order to scheme the murder of king Duncan, Lady Macbeth spikes his servants ale, possibly (as some scholars speculate) with the humble poppy seed (Tabor, pg. 86). Known as a soporific, Langham (a contemporary botanist of Shakespeare) reports a recipe for crushing poppy seeds into a drowsy syrup (ibid): seeds that contain morphine and codeine, two powerful opiates, which “remain in the liquid when the seeds are removed” (Mayo Clinic). Such a poppy-derived "drowsy syrup" is referenced by Iago in Othello (Act III, Scene 3, 330). Elizabethans it seems, like the modern rapper, could claim to have “codeine in their cups.”
Still Life with Nautilus Goblet, Willem Claesz Heda, 1642
Opium has played such an outsized role in history that prolonged comment is not needed. From the romantic poets and their Xanadus of earthly delight to Sherlock Holmes slumming in the opium dens, poppy has been used (and frequently abused) to relieve pain and achieve altered states of consciousness throughout recorded history.
Oberon: Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell.
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before, milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it “love-in-idleness.”
Fetch me that flower, the herb I showed thee once.
The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid,
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.
-A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Scene 1, 165-172
An essential ingredient to the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the wild pansy (which supposedly, when applied topically could induce a libidinous frenzy) is used by Oberon, king of the Fairies, to mess with his estranged wife Titania. But of course, hijinks ensue.
While the pansy's many names reflect its folk-aphrodisiac status – names such as heartsease, love in idleness, or johnny jump up (MedicineNet, Heart's Ease) – the Elizabethan herbals do not report any lust-inducing associations with the plant, only its anti-syphilitic properties (Tabor, pg. 84), which, at least by the next century would have been much appreciated.
Shakespeare, therefore, was working within 16th century folk traditions rather than medical knowledge, but this is understandable, considering that Gerarde and Langham's herbals are filled with aphrodisiacs. Consider the innocent sweet potato, which was known to "procure bodily lust with greedinesse (sic) (Tabor, pg. 83). Candied fruits, like dates, were especially potent when "prepared by cunning confectioners" (ibid). The cotton seed was thought to "increase naturall seede (sic)" and, according to Gerarde, were much in use (ibid).
Love potions have been the staple of fairy tales, and while not a poison in the strictest sense, a classic of witch's brews as well. While the tragedies use poisons in their advance towards death, the comedies use herbs in their march towards love. Both show a sustained human interest in wielding substances towards our desired end state.
Did the Pansy Make It?
Well, not exactly. Science may not indicate the pansy's amorous powers, but it continues to be used alternatively to treat skin disorders like eczema (MedicineNet). Moreover, some have researched its potential as an immunosuppressant. Due to the presence of flavonoids and catechins, heartsease probably has anti-inflammatory effects as well (MedicineNet).
Mandrake [Solanaceae]
Cleopatra: Give me to drink mandragora.
-Anthony and Cleopatra, Act I, Scene 5, 4
While less plot-important than the other list-items, mandrake played a central role in medieval and ancient herbology and appears frequently in Shakespeare. A narcotic and soporific, Cleopatra requests mandragora to let her sleep through her lovesickness. Iago also mentions the soporific quality of the mandrake root in the same breath as opium (Othello, Act III, Scene 3, 330). And Juliet demonstrates Shakespeare's awareness of the common mythology, comparing her distress to the mandrake, which could only be uprooted in moonlight, lest its shrieks drive insanity (USDA, Mandrake).
A medieval depiction of mandragora
Like henbane, mandrake had many uses, including as a hallucinogen.
Did Mandrake Make It?
Yes! Mandrake root contains the alkaloid scopolamine, which is FDA approved to treat motion sickness and nausea derived from opiate analgesia (NIH, Scopolamine). Scopolamine is sold as Transderm Scop, Scopace, Maldemar, as well as generically.
Wolfsbane [Aconitum variegatum]
Laertes: And for that purpose I'll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank So mortal that but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing from death That is but scratched withal. I'll touch my point With this contagion, that if I gall him slightly, It may be death.
-Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 7, 141-149
After investigating king Hamlet's poisoning, well, lots of stuff happens, and everyone dies. In this case, Hamlet duels his rival Laertes, who happens to have poisoned his sword. A poison begins the plot, and a poison ends it.
While Laertes does not specify the poison, the leading contender is wolfsbane or aconite (derived from wolfsbane). Elizabethans knew of aconite's poisonous potential, specifically as an arrow poison; Gerarde records swelling, madness, and death within the half hour from introduction (Tabor, pg. 89). Presumably, the plant garners its folk-appellation from its ability to ward off wolves and werewolves (National Poison Control Center, Aconitum napellus (Monkshood): A Purple Poison). The National Poison Control Center reports modern cases of aconite poisoning, some worthy of a true-crime drama.
Autumn weather is here and we’re starting to see hints of fall foliage! In the coming weeks, spend some time outdoors to enjoy the weather and colors, and to capture those amazing photos.
Enter your best photo with a chance to win a PRIZE. All digital photos submitted will be showcased in the online 2024 Himmelfarb Fall Colors Photo Gallery, and prints will be displayed in Himmelfarb Library.
Photo submission dates: Monday, October 14, 2024 – Friday, November 8, 2024.
Who may enter: GW students, faculty and staff affiliated with the School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health, and School of Nursing.
Contest photo must be original and taken by the submitter in 2024.
Submitted photos will be displayed in online and print galleries with the photographer's name and photo title.
By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest.
Judging:
Photo entries will be judged based on creativity, originality, and overall artistic impact. One winner will be chosen by a prior contest winner and members of the Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb Committee.
*Himmelfarb Library reserves the right to cancel the contest or modify rules at its discretion. Himmelfarb Library reserves the right to reject any entrant whose entry appears off-topic or violates the rules.
The PA program, ranked in the top five in the US, lasts 24 months, the PA/MPH program is 36 months. The Washington, DC location of the program makes the PA program an excellent place for PAs in training to take part in an annual leadership and advocacy summit sponsored by the AAPA, and to avail themselves of other opportunities to visit Capitol Hill to advocate on health policy.
When asked about three things that people might not know about the PA profession, Bart Gillum shared the following thoughts:
"We are now "Physician Associates." In 2021 the American Academy of PAs voted to change the name from physician assistant to physician associate. While some states and institutions have already adopted the name, the new title is still in progress. Adopting the new name has been slow due to the requirement of state laws and healthcare institutions to be updated. In the meantime, you might continue to hear physician assistant and physician associate or even just PA interchangeably."
"Unlike physicians who undergo residency training for a specific specialty, PAs have the unique ability to move between medical specialties without additional formal training. A PA can work in areas such as cardiology, emergency medicine, or dermatology and switch to another field. This provides more flexibility for those who want to work in a variety of settings throughout their career."
"While PAs are most prevalent in the US. PAs or PA-like professionals are present in about 15-20 other countries, including Canada, the UK, Australia, The Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, and New Zealand. Other countries are currently exploring incorporating PAs in their healthcare systems."
Don't forget to thank a physician assistant this week -- their important work expands patient access to healthcare. Tune in to both Good Morning America and the TODAY show on Friday morning, October 11, for a chance to see PAs representing their profession!
With October upon us, comes celebration of spooky season. The classic signs of Halloween approaching are here: theaters show scary movie marathons for those who want thrills and frights, skeleton and ghost decor begins to grace front yards and debate over what to wear for the event itself reaches a fever pitch. But witches, ghosts, and ghouls weren’t always reserved for just Halloween. In fact, some legends were born out of explanations for very real phenomena that used to strike terror across villages.
One particular example comes to mind. The year is 1788. Your friend has fallen ill recently. She’s lost a lot of weight, she has a fever, and her skin is growing paler by the day. She has even started coughing up blood. Even worse, these symptoms mimic that of her late brother, who died a few months previously. Thankfully, a neighbor has identified the culprit and knows the solution: dig up her brother’s corpse, cut out his heart, and burn it.
Wait, what? As strange as it sounds, this was a real series of events that happened in New England. Before the Germ Theory of disease, people needed explanations for the spread of disease. While bad air (Miasma Theory) or the four humors were potential explanations, when it came to the disease known as tuberculosis, vampires were offered as a potential explanation (1).
The original legend was brought over by immigrants from European countries (2). While the exact way vampires worked depended on the region, the general idea was that those who died came back to drain life from the living, often their family members. Given how tuberculosis spreads, family members did become ill, especially given members of one family might share the same bed. Digging up the corpse of the deceased family member was seen as a way to stop the illness and put it to bed at last. Given the cold winters in the region, sometimes bodies would be well preserved when they were dug up, further playing into the idea that the dead were feasting on the living. While the burning of organs didn’t actually do anything, in the face of an invisible illness, it provided those afraid with a feeling of some agency.
The vampire legend doesn’t arise solely from tuberculosis, but some hallmarks of the blood suckers can be traced to the pathogen: the pallor vampires are known for, along with sleeping in coffins. Other aspects of the mythical monster are hypothesized to come from other illnesses. Vampire’s aversion to light (photophobia), running water and biting others may all originate from rabies cases. Those afflicted with rabies can showcase these symptoms, and those who wrote early vampire stories may have drawn inspiration from the deadly disease (3). Symptoms of the genetic disease porphyria have also been attributed to perhaps inspiring the myth as it also causes issues with being in the sun (4).
Thankfully, we eventually figured out the real culprit behind tuberculosis wasn’t the walking dead, but a bacterium, and that we could defeat it with antibiotics, not wooden stakes. But it’s important not to judge those who believed in the vampire theory too harshly. They had figured out the contagious part of the disease. They only misattributed the vector.
So this October, remember where part of the fear of vampirism comes from. It’s not fangs, or gothic mansions, or poor book adaptations. Instead, think of those who latched onto the legend as an explanation, who knew something deadly was spreading, but didn’t know where to look or where it would strike next.
1. Blanding M. Vampire panic gripped New England in the 1800s. the real evil was in the air. Boston Globe (Online). Oct 27 2023. Available from: https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/vampire-panic-gripped-new-england-1800s-real-evil/docview/2882529806/se-2.
2. Groom N. UNEARTHING THE DEAD: Medicine and Detection, Body and Mind. In: The Vampire. A New History. Yale University Press; 2018:23-40. doi:10.2307/j.ctv6gqxp2.9
3. Gómez-Alonso J. Rabies: a possible explanation for the vampire legend. Neurology. 1998;51(3):856-859. doi:10.1212/wnl.51.3.856
4. McGrath J. Are vampires real? scientists have linked diseases and decomposition to all the historical tropes of nosferatu. Business Insider. Oct 21, 2023. Available from: https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/are-vampires-real-scientists-have-linked-diseases/docview/2879550637/se-2.
