Leprosy
Leprosy, now more commonly referred to as Hansen’s disease, is one of the world’s oldest and most feared maladies. Over the course of thousands of years, it has managed to afflict millions of people in every region of the world. In addition to physical suffering, leprosy patients also faced tremendous psychological distress, due to the fact that, until as recently as last century, the disease was seen as a punishment from God and thought to be highly contagious. As a result, leprosy sufferers faced many indignities and, in some instances, were removed from their communities and relocated to so-called “Leper Colonies.” However, in recent times, the conditions for people with leprosy have vastly improved in terms of both the treatment of the disease and removal of the stigma attached to it.
The origins of leprosy cannot be definitively traced to any particular place or time. The earliest evidence of the disease is provided by the Hindu Vedas, which mention a disease that most believe to have been leprosy, suggesting its existence in India since at least 1400 BCE (Skillicorn). There is more concrete evidence from members of the medical community that the disease existed in China by the fifth-century BCE and in Egypt as early as the second-century BCE. The disease is believed to have spread to Europe in the first-century BCE by Roman soldiers returning from war in Egypt. Its existence in Europe was first documented by Aractus and Galen in approximately 150 CE (Skillicorn). It is believed to have been spread from Europe to the Americas and South Pacific islands by European colonists. The disease became universally known as Hansen’s disease in 1873 after a Norwegian scientist, Dr. Armauer Hansen, discovered the bacterium that causes the disease, which eventually served to end the myth that the disease was a curse of God (Skillicorn).
The disease is caused by a slowly multiplying bacillus, called Mycobacterium leprae, which primarily affects the nerves, skin, and mucous membranes (Hansen’s Disease). Scientists are still unable to cultivate the organism in any bacteriological media, although it has been successfully grown on the foot pads of mice.
In 1932 the United States Public Health Services was responsible for monitoring, identifying, ways to treat sexually transmitted diseases in all US citizens. Public health service was sponsored by Rosenwald Fund; identified Macon County, Alabama had the highest rate of male population infected with the Syphilis. So the Tuskegee Institute was approached to study the effects of untreated syphilis on a black male population for duration of six to nine months and then follow-up with a treatment plan. The research was led by Dr. Taliafero Clark, six hundred Macon County men, 399 with syphilis and 201 who weren’t infected, were enrolled to be part of the study.
The Louisiana Purchase came as a surprise that neither Thomas Jefferson nor anyone else had ever dreamed of. It began with Thomas Jefferson sending two men, James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, to Paris to negotiate the acquisition of New Orleans with the government of the feared Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had roused fears once France acquired Louisiana from the Spanish. Concerned with French intentions, Thomas Jefferson took immediate action and sent his two men to negotiate. The negotiation didn’t go as intended at all. We asked to buy New Orleans, but Napoleon offered the entire Louisiana Territory. Apparently, Napoleon had little use for Louisiana. He also couldn’t spare any troops to defend the enormous amount of territory. Napoleon needed funds more than anything, so he could support his military ventures in Europe. This led to the exhilarating time of April, 1803 when Napoleon offered to sell Louisiana to the United States.
This book helped me with finding information about the Louisiana Purchase. It also helped me with all people and things involved in the Louisiana Purchase.
There is no definitive history or discovery date, but it is assumed that Yellow Fever originated in Africa and was brought to the Americas by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes “hitchhiking” on trade and slave ships. The first believed outbreak happened in 1648 in the Yucatán. It is “believed” because early documentation of disease and illness was not thoroughly investigated or described, they could have been caused by one thing or another. There is ...
He requested these funds from congress in 1803, but was denied numerous times. Jefferson then decided to appoint James Monroe as a special ambassador to France. Due to his new authority, Monroe was then sent to try and buy land east of the Mississippi or the land in New Orleans itself. His goal was to at least secure the U.S. with the ability to access the river. Jefferson then authorized Monroe to offer up $10 million dollars for the purchase of New Orleans and part of the Floridas. If France were to refuse, they would then in return offer to only buy New Orleans. After Monroe and the Minister to France, Robert Livingston, learned that Napoleon had relinquished his desire to create an empire in North America. It then allowed them the daring opportunity to purchase the entire Louisiana territory all the way from Louisiana to the Rockies. This being the arrangement of a lifetime, Monroe and Livingston went beyond their mandate and seized the opportunity. Before the announcement of the purchase on July 4, 1803, they had already negotiated the entire treaty with
James Parkinson. It’s not certain how long the disease has existed but its probably been around
In the 1940’s two doctors in different countries observed children displaying similar behaviors and deficits. One of the doctors was Viennese pediatrician Dr. Hans Asperger and the other was a child psychiatrist named Leo Kanner. Dr. Kanner was the first of the two doctors to report his observations. What he described were behaviors similar to those seen in children with what we call Autistic disorder. The behaviors affected the children’s communication, social interaction and interests. Dr. Asperger later published an article discussing what he dubbed “Autistische Psychpathen im Kindesalter” which translates to “Autistic Psychopathy”. Although some behaviors overlapped, there were differences leading to the belief that these doctors were documenting two different disorders. The two most prevalent were the differences in motor and language abilities (Miller, Ozonoff). Another was Asperger’s belief that his patients were of normal or above average intelligence. It was not until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was entered into the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM IV), finally becoming an official diagnosis. At the time, Asperger Syndrome (AS) was labeled as a subcategory of autism along with autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive development disorder. Since then, the community of people with Asperger Syndrome has grown to love and better understand the disorder that they live with every day. Some of them have even affectionately named themselves “Aspies”.
The science of the natural disaster has baffled many, but from studying the San Francisco earthquake, scientists have made a number of important discoveries and they have a better understanding of earthquakes. At 5:12 on a fateful April morning in 1906, the mammoth Pacific and North American plates sheared at an incredible twenty-one feet along the San Andreas fault, surpassing the annual average of two inches (“San Francisco Earthquake of 1906”)(“The Great 1906 Earthquake and Fires”). The shearing caused a loud rumble in the Californian city of San Francisco. A few seconds later, the destructive earthquake occurred. The ground shifted at almost five feet per second, and the shaking could be felt all the way from southern Oregon to southern Los Angeles to central Nevada (“Quick”)(“The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake”). Moreover, the earthquake could be recorded on a seismograph in Capetown, South Africa, an astounding 10,236 miles away from San Francisco (“San Francisco ea...
The ad opens with “America the Beautiful” being sung in English while every few seconds after that the song changes to a different language. It depicts children, teenagers, and adults of all cultures enjoying the adventures and combined principles of America, while essentially being brought together by Coca Cola. “The song was sung in English, Tagalog, Spanish, Hebrew, Hindi, Keres and Senegalese-French. The commercial also featured a gay family” (Hillburn). Since this ad was released, Coca Cola has received extensive feedback (negative and positive) through social websites. The negative feedback provides proof that prejudice and discrimination are still a valid concern within America’s borders and beyond. There is an article released by “Voice of America” that goes in depth with the reactions of Americans towards this commercial.
benchmark for the future, and integrated investigation into the effects of earthquakes in the U.S.
What started as a problem with a horrific disease, lead to isolation of leprosy patients. It was hard for these patients to settle and make homes; communities feared the spreading of illness. The government took an old plantation to create a hospital for the leprosy patients. The old plantation was called hospital #66 or better known as Carville. “Over a long time period, the disease can be disfiguring, and societies have stigmatized victims of the disease. This attribute is deeply discrediting since the stigmatized individual is disqualified from full social acceptance. Leprosy was thus dreaded, not because it killed, but because it left one alive with no hope”. (P1. And 2, Sato, H., & Frantz, J. (2005). Termination of the leprosy isolation policy in the US and japan: Science, policy changes, and the garbage can model.) People deemed with this Disease were brought to Carville mandatory to be quarantined; some patients were brought in shackles against there will. Patients were forced to leave everything they knew and loved behind, including friends, family and children.
The disease was viewed as a black man’s disease due to its vast spread in the black race community. In this chapter, it is clear that the medical fraternity had formed opinion of the disease even before the start of the experiment. The theme of racial prejudice is brought out clearly in this chapter. The blacks are discriminated from the whites even after learning that syphilis can affect both races alike. The slaves received treatment like their masters just because of economic concerns and not because they were human like their masters. In chapter 3 “Disease Germs Are the Most Democratic Creatures in the World”, the writer points out that the germ theory changed the way syphilis is viewed in the society. It was clear that other emphasis such as sanitation, education and preventative medicine was necessary to combat the disease. The areas inhabited by the blacks were behind in healthcare facilities and service. In this chapter, the theme of unequal distribution of resources is seen. Whereas areas inhabited by the whites had better hospitals and qualified professionals to deal with the
Nelson, D., G. Higginson, and J. Grant-Worley. "Physical Child Abuse Effects." Child Abuse: Effects, Statistics, Types and Stories of Abuse. Nov. 1995
Woodbury-Smith, M. R., and Volkmar, F.R. (2009). "Asperger syndrome". Eur Child Adolescent Psychiatry 18 (1): 2–11.
There are four letters, that when put together can spell out a lifetime of agony, despair, prejudice and constant indignation; AIDS. Over the years the disease has been called GRID, Gay Cancer and finally came the name that is commonly accepted today, AIDS. Multiple theories are present as to the origin of this deadly virus, all of them are unique but no matter what the origin or name, AIDS is a terrible epidemic that needs to come to an end. People have suffered long enough, and too many people have been discriminated against something that’s not entirely their fault. The medicine for AIDS only prolongs the inevitable, and suffering of the poor people cursed with the disease. AIDS as of now is a death sentence and it currently has no cure; it targets people of every race, age, and gender from all walks of life but despite AIDS only being been around for less than a century, it has managed to leave an immense impact on American history, individuals, society and culture.