MyMedR

A brief review of fifty years of medical history in Selangor, Federation of Malaya

Milne JJC

Med J Malaya, 1948;2:161-73.

This is an interesting piece of Colonial history, compiled, one presumes, from official reports. It cannot satisfactorily be summarized. The author deals with his subject under various heads: hospitals, health legislation, dangerous infectious diseases, prevailing diseases, beriberi, fever and malaria, dysentery, and diarrhoea, influenza and enteric fever. In a table are given the numbers of cases of smallpox, cholera, plague, beriberi, dysentery, diarfhoea and fevers reported each year from 1890 to 1939. The only one of these to show steady reduction is beriberi, which began to decline from figures over 2,000 per annum before the 1914-18 war to 69-444 per annum from 1930 to 1939. Plague was never common and neither cholera nor smallpox was responsible for large numbers of cases. The author does not give any systematic accounts of the outstanding investigations made during the period, but rather quotes opinions expressed by Government servants, medical or lay, in their reports. Charles Wilcocks.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

A history of psychiatry in peninsular Malaysia, 1830-1975

Woon TH

Med J Malaysia, 1978 Mar;32(3):258-63.

PMID: 355806

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Fulltext A short history of the Medical Journal of Malaysia

Lim VKE

Med J Malaysia, 1995 May;50 Suppl A:S11-3.

PMID: 10968006

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913): the forgotten co-founder of the Neo-Darwinian theory of biological evolution

Kutschera U, Hossfeld U

Theory Biosci, 2013 Dec;132(4):207-14.

PMID: 23982797 DOI: 10.1007/s12064-013-0187-2

The British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), who had to leave school aged 14 and never attended university, did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin (1848-1852) and then in Southeast Asia (1854-1862). Based on this experience, and after reading the corresponding scientific literature, Wallace postulated that species were not created, but are modified descendants of pre-existing varieties (Sarawak Law paper, 1855). Evolution is brought about by a struggle for existence via natural selection, which results in the adaptation of those individuals in variable populations who survive and reproduce (Ternate essay, 1858). In his monograph Darwinism (1889), and in subsequent publications, Wallace extended the contents of Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) into the Neo-Darwinian theory of biological evolution, with reference to the work of August Weismann (1834-1914). Wallace also became the (co)-founder of biogeography, biodiversity research, astrobiology and evolutionary anthropology. Moreover, he envisioned what was later called the anthropocene (i.e., the age of human environmental destructiveness). However, since Wallace believed in atheistic spiritualism and mixed up scientific facts and supernatural speculations in some of his writings, he remains a controversial figure in the history of biology.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Amok

Kon Y

Br J Psychiatry, 1994 Nov;165(5):685-9.

PMID: 7866687

BACKGROUND: Amok is reviewed from a historical standpoint, tracing how it has changed from the Hindu states of India where it was a war tactic to the sudden incomprehensible violence and mass murder by a single individual associated with the syndrome today.

METHOD: A typical amok attack is described and the criteria for amok discussed. Amok in Malaysia, New Guinea, Laos, North America and other countries are presented. The possible motives for such violent killings and a possible psychiatric diagnosis in relation to contemporary diagnostic criteria is discussed.

CONCLUSION: Classification of amok remains unresolved. The reason for its frequency in and around Malaysia remains unknown.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Fulltext Amok--from the writings of Sir Frank Swettenham

Kua EH, Sulaimi MS

Singapore Med J, 1999 Apr;40(4):327-8.

PMID: 10487096

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Bottle feeding and ideology in colonial Malaya: the production of change

Manderson L

Int J Health Serv, 1982;12(4):597-616.

PMID: 6754637 DOI: 10.2190/0A5U-GCC6-V4BU-28T5

Considerable attention has been paid to the correlation between high infant morbidity and mortality rates and the increased incidence of bottle feeding. The shift from prolonged breast feeding to a mixed regime or the exclusive use of sweetened condensed milk or infant formula has been related to the promotional activities of milk companies, and typically has been presented as a relatively recent development in Third World countries. However, the marketing of tinned and powdered milk only partially explains the increased use of these products. In colonial Malaya, condensed milk was marketed from the late 19th century. Infant formula was available from the turn of the century and was widely advertised, first in the English-language press and later also in the vernacular presses. At the same time, other social and cultural factors served to discourage breast feeding. There were changes in ideas regarding ideal body weight for both women and infants, and regarding infant care and diet; these ideas were presented in the mass media. In addition, maternal and child health clinics, established in the 1920s to reduce the high infant mortality rate, both propagated popular beliefs about infant weight and supplied milk and educated women to artificially feed their infants. Industry, the media, and health services all promoted, if not always intentionally, bottle feeding rather than breast feeding. Bottle feeding as an ideal, if not a reality, was thus well established before the intensive promotion of milk products by multinational corporations that followed the political independence of the colony.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Brief histories of medical physics in Asia-Oceania

Round WH, Jafari S, Kron T, Azhari HA, Chhom S, Hu Y, et al.

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med, 2015 Sep;38(3):381-98.

PMID: 25894289 DOI: 10.1007/s13246-015-0342-9

The history of medical physics in Asia-Oceania goes back to the late nineteenth century when X-ray imaging was introduced, although medical physicists were not appointed until much later. Medical physics developed very quickly in some countries, but in others the socio-economic situation as such prevented it being established for many years. In others, the political situation and war has impeded its development. In many countries their medical physics history has not been well recorded and there is a danger that it will be lost to future generations. In this paper, brief histories of the development of medical physics in most countries in Asia-Oceania are presented by a large number of authors to serve as a record. The histories are necessarily brief; otherwise the paper would quickly turn into a book of hundreds of pages. The emphasis in each history as recorded here varies as the focus and culture of the countries as well as the length of their histories varies considerably.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Fulltext Changing patterns in the treatment of early breast cancer: a historical perspective and a review of changing local trends

Sim E, Lim TC, Tan WT, Rauff A

Med J Malaysia, 1993 Jun;48(2):211-6.

PMID: 8350798

Over the past 50 years, a variety of surgical procedures have been advocated for the treatment of operable breast cancer, ranging from local excision to supraradical mastectomy. Today, the surgical treatment of breast cancer remains highly contentious. We review the historical development of breast cancer surgery and analyse the available evidence supporting conservative procedures. We also express our opinions on the treatment of early breast cancer and illustrate the changing patterns of surgery with our experience at National University Hospital.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Charles Wilberforce Daniels, FRCP (1862-1927): underrated pioneer of tropical medicine

Cook GC

Acta Trop, 2002 Mar;81(3):237-50.

PMID: 11835901

Charles Wilberforce Daniels was a major pioneer in the early days of the newly-formed medical specialism--tropical medicine. At the London School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) of which he was a leading stalwart, he took an active part in research, teaching and administration. But like others in the new discipline he spent a great deal of time at various tropical locations: Fiji, British Guiana--where he made important observations on various forms of filariasis-- east Africa, and Malaya. However, his most important research contribution was arguably confirmation of Ronald Ross' 1898 discovery of the complete life-cycle of avian malaria, in Calcutta.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Fulltext Child health in Malaysia: 1870-1985

Chen PCY

Med J Malaysia, 1985 Sep;40(3):165-76.

PMID: 3916210

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Fulltext Cholera in Sarawak: a historical perspective (1873-1989)

Yadav H, Chee CM

Med J Malaysia, 1990 Sep;45(3):194-201.

PMID: 2152080

Cholera has been in existence in Sarawak for many years and since 1873 many major epidemics have occurred. The epidemics usually occur during the dry months of May, June and July and the population affected are those in coastal areas. As in other outbreaks the areas affected were those which had poor environmental sanitation, poor water supply, poor refuse disposal and indiscriminate disposal of faeces. Malays are more affected as in Peninsular Malaysia outbreaks. The classical biotype was common prior to 1961. In later years the El Tor (biotype) has been responsible for most outbreaks.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Dentistry in Britain--a lesson for the future?

Chong BS, Lian CB

Dent J Malays, 1985 Jan;8(1):5-8.

PMID: 3917210

Modern dentistry is a relatively young profession in Malaysia. The development of dentistry in Britain has a major influence on dentistry in Malaysia. Not only does it offer a historical perspective, it serves as a crystal ball to provide an insight into what dentistry will be like in the future. A brief review of dentistry in Britain follows.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Disease, race, and empire

Anderson W

Bull Hist Med, 1996;70(1):62-7.

PMID: 8850070

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Fulltext Dr Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925): medical doctor and China's founding president

Lee KH, Wong DT, Ng KH

Singapore Med J, 2013 Jun;54(6):356-8.

PMID: 23820548

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Drug rehabilitation in west Malaysia: an overview of its history and development

Arokiasamy CM, Taricone PF

Int J Addict, 1992 Nov;27(11):1301-11.

PMID: 1332927

West Malaysia has had a long history of drug use, beginning as early as the 1800s. While early use was primarily restricted to Chinese coolies and Indian immigrant laborers, the 1970s saw drug use become the domain of the youth of Malaysia and achieve the proportions of a national crisis. This paper traces the early origins of drug use and misuse in Malaysia, its development and expansion during the 1970s and the current efforts at eradication and rehabilitation. This examination of Malaysian efforts in response to the spread of drug use or misuse may provide researchers and practitioners in other countries some historical and cross cultural perspectives on current international efforts at eradicating similar problems.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Engaging with Lyell: Alfred Russel Wallace's Sarawak Law and Ternate papers as reactions to Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology

Costa JT

Theory Biosci, 2013 Dec;132(4):225-37.

PMID: 24014172 DOI: 10.1007/s12064-013-0188-1

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) and Charles Darwin (1809-1882) are honored as the founders of modern evolutionary biology. Accordingly, much attention has focused on their relationship, from their independent development of the principle of natural selection to the receipt by Darwin of Wallace's essay from Ternate in the spring of 1858, and the subsequent reading of the Wallace and Darwin papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858. In the events of 1858 Wallace and Darwin are typically seen as central players, with Darwin's friends Charles Lyell (1797-1875) and Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) playing supporting roles. This narrative has resulted in an under-appreciation of a more central role for Charles Lyell as both Wallace's inspiration and foil. The extensive anti-transmutation arguments in Lyell's landmark Principles of Geology were taken as the definitive statement on the subject. Wallace, in his quest to solve the mystery of species origins, engaged with Lyell's arguments in his private field notebooks in a way that is concordant with his engagement with Lyell in the 1855 and 1858 papers. I show that Lyell was the object of Wallace's Sarawak Law and Ternate papers through a consideration of the circumstances that led Wallace to send his Ternate paper to Darwin, together with an analysis of the material that Wallace drew upon from the Principles. In this view Darwin was, ironically, intended for a supporting role in mediating Wallace's attempted dialog with Lyell.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Evolution of civil aeromedical helicopter aviation

Meier DR, Samper ER

South. Med. J., 1989 Jul;82(7):885-91.

PMID: 2665130

The rapid increase in the use of helicopters for hospital transport during the 1980s is the culmination of several hundred years of military medical innovation. Mass battefield casualties spurred both technologic and medical changes necessary for today's sophisticated helicopter systems in use worldwide, particularly in the United States. The Napoleonic Era and the American Civil War provided the framework for the evolution of today's state-of-the-art emergency medical techniques. The use of airplanes to evacuate the wounded eventually led to using helicopters for rescue missions in World War II. The combat experiences of the United States in Korea, the British in Malaya, and the French in Indochina proved that rotary-wing aircraft were invaluable in reducing battlefield death rates. Any skepticism about the efficacy of helicopter medical evacuation was erased during the Vietnam conflict. As an integral part of the modern battlefield, these specialized aircraft became a necessity. The observations and experience of American servicemen and medical personnel in Vietnam established the foundation for the acceptance of helicopter transport in modern hospital systems.

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Fulltext First female graduates in Malaya

Sayampanathan EE

Med J Malaysia, 2011 Oct;66(4):385.

PMID: 22299570

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century

Gadolinium: named after Finland's most famous chemist

Wastie ML, Latief KH

Br J Radiol, 2004 Feb;77(914):146-7.

PMID: 15010388

Matched MeSH terms: History, 19th Century