Read at Smithsonian: Phineas Gage: Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient...

According to their recent paper, the researchers measured the amount of radiation emanating from the vessel with a Geiger counter, the radon concentration in the air and water from a jar that had been sealed for one week, and the levels of toxic elements that may have dissolved into water sealed in the jars for one day and one week using a mass spectrometer, a highly sensitive instrument for detecting chemicals and elements.

The team found that radon concentrations in the air and water sampled from jars sealed for one week significantly exceeded the EPA-recommended maximum contaminant levels (MCL). Nevertheless, the team noted that the concentration of radon in the air, given the drafty conditions of an early 20th century home, would not have posed a significant health risk. Moreover, although the levels of radon in the water were high—between 50,000 and 200,000 picoCuries per liter—the study found that, compared to the myriad other disease-related causes of mortality at the time, the chances of dying as a result of drinking radon-infused water were relatively low.

Instead, they found the greatest risks associated with drinking the recommended six to eight daily glasses of “revigated” water was from toxic elements—arsenic, lead, vanadium and uranium—dissolved in the water. Although the concentrations varied with the containers and whether the samples were taken from the top of the containers or from the leaden spout, most of the containers exhibited levels of toxic elements in excess of EPA or OSHA recommendations. Especially striking were the samples of exposed water mixed with a mild acid to mimic wine or fruit juice. Ordinary water kept sealed in one of the jars contained two to twenty times the EPA MCL for arsenic, and some samples showed almost twice as much lead and uranium. The acidified water contained 300 times more arsenic and three times more uranium than the EPA MCL.

NIST press release: What Were They Drinking? Researchers Investigate Radioactive Crock Pots...

Link at Applied Spectroscopy....

British blood transfusion service operations during WWII (1941):

Radical amputation (mastectomy) of the left breast (1930):

Link: Wellcome Film on Youtube...

(hat tip: ScienceRoll)

MedPage Today reports on the mummies studied:

They dated from 1981 BC to 334 AD. Of the 16 for which social status could be determined, all were from a high social class. They were either members of the pharaoh's court or priests and priestesses.

Evidence of vascular tissue was found in only 16; four had an intact heart.

Definite atherosclerosis -- defined as calcification in the wall of a clearly identifiable artery -- was present in five of the mummies. Probable atherosclerosis -- defined as calcification along the expected course of an artery -- was found in another four.

Atherosclerosis was significantly more common in the mummies estimated to be at least 45 when they died (87% versus 25%, P=0.029), but it was equally likely in men and women.

More details from MedPage Today: AHA: Mummies Show Evidence of Vascular Disease...

Abstract in JAMA: Computed Tomographic Assessment of Atherosclerosis in Ancient Egyptian Mummies

Flashbacks: CT Suggests King Tutankhamen Died from an Infected Leg Wound ; One of The Oldest Medical Mysteries May Have Been Solved

A snippet:

One touching Medica memory is of doctors standing amazed in a small room filled with huge computers, when the Medica Media Street was launched in 1987. They never imagined how their own lives would be transformed. Although IT systems only arrived in hospitals in the late '80s, today clinical and administrative processes are managed via a hospital information system (HIS), for which the clinical workstation is continuously evolving.

Read on at European Hospital: 40 years of MEDICA

Using two different methods — a high-resolution CT scanner already in clinical use, and a more powerful research scanner that achieves even better resolution — Fahrig [Rebecca Fahrig, PhD, associate professor of radiology at Stanford --ed.] obtained some 100 billion “voxels,” the three-dimensional cubic equivalents of pixels, each measuring 0.2 micron on a side. “We went for as much CT data as we could get,” she said. “We knew we were only going to get one shot at it.”

The resulting copious data set can be accessed on demand to produce exquisitely detailed visualizations of, say, a hand or foot or head should somebody ask for it. This has applications beyond Egyptology for use in anatomical training: It’s difficult to obtain this kind of high-resolution image from a live person’s body, because the radiation would damage living tissue.

Link: Very Postmortem: Mummies and Medicine

Stanford press statement: Stanford scans of mummy to be featured in San Francisco museum exhibition ...

Flashbacks: Siemens CT Scanner Reveals Contents of Bust of Nefertiti; CT Suggests King Tutankhamen Died from an Infected Leg Wound ; One of The Oldest Medical Mysteries May Have Been Solved ; Computed Tomography Images Ancient Egyptian Mummy; Welcome to the 21st Century!

There's many more antique pieces profiled at his site, called Radio Guy. But while we're on the topic of dentistry and radio guys, we had to ask: is it true that people can pick up transmissions in their dental fillings? Cecil of Straight Dope explains, in this classic column.

Link: Radio Guy...

(hat tip: MAKE Blog)

From the article abstract in Proceedings of the Royal Society B:

‘Dr Granville's mummy’ was described to the Royal Society of London in 1825 and was the first ancient Egyptian mummy to be subjected to a scientific autopsy. The remains are those of a woman, Irtyersenu, aged about 50, from the necropolis of Thebes and dated to about 600 BC. Augustus Bozzi Granville (1783–1872), an eminent physician and obstetrician, described many organs still in situ and attributed the cause of death to a tumour of the ovary. However, subsequent histological investigations indicate that the tumour is a benign cystadenoma. Histology of the lungs demonstrated a potentially fatal pulmonary exudate and earlier studies attempted to associate this with particular disease conditions. Palaeopathology and ancient DNA analyses show that tuberculosis was widespread in ancient Egypt, so a systematic search for tuberculosis was made, using specific DNA and lipid biomarker analyses. Clear evidence for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA was obtained in lung tissue and gall bladder samples, based on nested PCR of the IS6110 locus. Lung and femurs were positive for specific M. tuberculosis complex cell-wall mycolic acids, demonstrated by high-performance liquid chromatography of pyrenebutyric acid–pentafluorobenzyl mycolates. Therefore, tuberculosis is likely to have been the major cause of death of Irtyersenu.

Full open access article in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Tuberculosis in Dr Granville's mummy: a molecular re-examination of the earliest known Egyptian mummy to be scientifically examined and given a medical diagnosis

More from University College London: Mystery of 'Dr Granville's Mummy' finally resolved...

Image: The original appearance of the Granville mummy. (a) Inner coffin lid; (b) unwrapped mummy (Granville 1825).

Removing a 25 pound ovarian tumor, circa 1933:

Link @ Wired: Videos of 1930s Surgeries on the Brain, Belly and Tonsils...

More: Wellcome YouTube Channel...

Skull Saw (1830s-60s)

This hand-cranked saw's blades were used to cut through sections of the skull, allowing for access by other instruments.

Tobacco Smoke Enema (1750s-1810s)
The tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient's rectum for various medical purposes, primarily the resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke towards the rectum. The warmth of the smoke was thought to promote respiration, but doubts about the credibility of tobacco enemas led to the popular phrase "blow smoke up one's ass."

Link: 20 Scary Old School Surgical Tools...

(hat tip: Babochkov)