Hardin News

The public is invited to a University of Iowa History of Medicine talk on “The Transformation of Hypochondriasis: 1680 to 1880″ at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 22, in Room 401 of the UI Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

The speaker will be Russell Noyes, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa

Light refreshments will be served. The lecture is part of a series of presentations sponsored by the UI History of Medicine Society.

Hypochondriasis, which today is a mental disturbance characterized by unfounded fear of serious illness, was once a common physical disease. Indeed, Sydenham (1681) said that it along with hysteria accounted for half of the chronic diseases he saw. But over the next 200 years hypochondriasis was transformed from a major physical to a minor mental disorder. What had been an affliction of the abdominal organs (hypochonders) became a disorder of the brain and finally the mind.

Noyes will trace this transformation and talk about factors that brought it about. These included advances in medical science that resulted in the removal of gastrointestinal diseases from hypochondriasis. They also involved social factors that contributed to fear of disease and to making hypochondriasis a mark of class distinction. A review of its history provides some perspective on the controversies that surround the disorder today.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Ed Holtum at 319-335-9154 or edwin-holtum@uiowa.edu.

For directions to Hardin Library and information on parking, visit http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/getting.html.

For more information about the UI History of Medicine Society lecture series, visit http://hosted.lib.uiowa.edu/histmed/

Angel of Harlem - Brown Bag Book Discussion

As part of the Changing the Face of Medicine exhibition, Hardin Library will host two brown bag book discussions. The first will be Friday, November 9th at 12 p.m. in 401 Hardin Library Conference Room. 

Angel of Harlem by Kuwana Haulsey won the 2005 Blackboard Medal of Courage Award. Inspired by the extraordinary events of Dr. May Chinn’s life, Angel of Harlem is a deeply affecting story of love and transcendence. Weaving seamlessly scenes from the battlefields of the Civil War, during which her father escaped from slavery, to the Harlem living rooms and kitchen tables where May is sometimes forced to operate on her patients, this fascinating novel lays bare the heart of a woman who changed the face of medicine.

Bring your lunch, we’ll provide the cookies and drinks, and we’ll talk about this remarkable story.

Based on feedback from this summer’s trial, Natural Standard is now available. Natural Standard provides evidence-based information about complementary and alternative therapies. It contains three sub-databases: Herbs & supplements, condition center, and alternative modalities. Information is presented in the form of mongraphs designed to facilitate clinical decision making. All monographs undergo blinded editorial and peer review prior to inclusion in Natural Standard databases.

September 2007 | Issue 3.07

Complete issue now available.

Table of Contents:

Campaign against Open Access and Public Access to Federally Funded Research
Scholarly Publishers Issue Position Paper on Author/Publisher Rights
Scholarly Publishing Out of Step with the Academy
A Medical Publisher’s Unusual Prescription: Online Ads
Faculty Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Scholarly Communication
BioMed Central Announces Open Access Publishing Agreement with Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Flattening of the U.S. Output of Scientific Articles: 1988–2003
Do Open Access Articles Have Greater Citation Impact?
The Irony of a Web Without Science - Financial Times article
Canadian Inst. of Health Research Introduces New Open Access Policy
Yale Libraries Pull Out of BioMed Central Over Cost of Publication
L.A. Times Editorial: Accessing NIH research