/oss/taxonomy/term/1227/all en /oss/article/medical-history/jungle-operating-room <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-from-the-jungle-to-the-operating-room">Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>The history of surgery is often divided into an era described as “before Griffith” and one as “after Griffith” based on Dr. Harold Griffith’s introduction of curare in 1942 as a muscle relaxant in surgery. This solved a problem that had plagued surgeons since the discovery of anesthesia 100 years earlier.</p> Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:28:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9830 at /oss /oss/article/medical-history/not-laughing-matter <p>When I was growing up, “looning” meant one thing. You would fill a balloon with water and throw it at a target that usually did not welcome such activity. Today, “looning” has taken on another meaning. At music festivals and at raves, those eardrum-blasting, strobe-lighted parties frequented by the under-thirty crowd, it is not unusual to see dancers raise a balloon to their lips. But they are not blowing into it. They are inhaling the gas it contains. It makes them all giddy, justifying the name by which the gas is known. Laughing gas!</p> Wed, 25 Oct 2023 16:03:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9700 at /oss /oss/article/health-general-science/knocked-out-put-under-anesthetized-and-sedated-different-types-anesthesia <p>If you’ve read <a href="/oss/article/health-general-science/why-am-i-allowed-drink-clear-fluids-surgery-not-eat">the article I wrote</a> about why patients are allowed to drink clear fluids but not eat before surgery you’ll know that I recently had surgery to repair the ACL and meniscus in my left knee. I was given instructions to stop eating at midnight the evening before surgery so that my stomach would be empty come the morning. This was to reduce the risk that I would regurgitate food from my stomach into my trachea and choke once I was “put to sleep”.</p> Tue, 21 Apr 2020 20:42:05 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 8223 at /oss /oss/article/health-general-science/why-am-i-allowed-drink-clear-fluids-surgery-not-eat <p>While preparing for my recent knee surgery I was given a lot of instructions. Where to park, how to dress, when to arrive, what to bring and even what (not) to eat and drink. Like many surgical patients, I was given a time after which I was no longer allowed to eat and a different time after which I was not allowed to drink clear fluids.</p> Fri, 24 Apr 2020 16:00:00 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 8222 at /oss /oss/article/history/living-half-brain-phineas-gage <p>The Warren Medical Museum in Boston is a fascinating place, named after Dr. John Collins Warren who performed the first surgery under ether anesthesia in 1846. On view is the actual flask that housed the ether used during the surgery. Also on display is the famous meter long rod that  passed completely through the skull of railroad company worker Phineas Gage in 1848 without killing him. It did, however, dramatically alter his personality.  </p> Wed, 25 Jul 2018 17:42:42 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7186 at /oss /oss/article/health-history-science-science-everywhere/joe-schwarcz-james-simpson-chloroform-pioneer-took-pain-away <p>The experiment, James Simpson decided, would go ahead even though the rabbits had died. And that decision was destined to have such a huge impact on medicine that more than 100,000 grateful Scots lined the streets of Edinburgh in 1870 to pay their respects as Simpson’s funeral cortège passed by. Many had undergone surgery or had given birth to children painlessly thanks to Simpson’s great discovery: chloroform.</p> Sat, 05 Oct 2013 16:17:51 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2018 at /oss