Berlin This week I am in Berlin about to attend the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis meeting (ISTH 2017). It is a meeting where doctors and scientists present their latest research. The importance of ethics in research has been brought into sharp focus for me this week as Angela and I visited some of the historic sites in Berlin. Sachsenhausen Berlin is a … [Read more...]
Clotting: the Swiss connection
Swiss precision This week I am on my way to the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostatsis meeting in Berlin. This is a great opportunity to catch up with all the latest developments and research in the field of blood clotting. As a stopover, Angela and I spent a couple of days in Zurich in Switzerland; what a beautiful city. I thought there must be some link … [Read more...]
Clot detectives
I attended the Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand regional meeting in Auckland last week. Professor Barbara Bain, a highly regarded International expert from London was one of the invited speakers. She gave a really interesting talk on "Haematologists as Detectives". She highlighted some of the cases of poisoning and accidental drug errors that were picked up by … [Read more...]
The Story of Christmas Disease
Once upon a time in a land far away, in fact England in 1947, a boy called Stephen was born. While he was still a baby, his family took him to live in Canada where he soon started having problems with severe bleeding. At the age of 2 years he was diagnosed with haemophilia. On a visit back to England in 1952 at the age of 5yrs, Stephen unfortunately ended up back in hospital … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving – 5 events in coagulation history
Even though we live in New Zealand, we like to celebrate the American tradition of Thanksgiving. We have a big family meal and give thanks for the birth parents of our three adopted children (I got this idea from Mia Farrow). Afterwards we get out our Christmas tree and lights to start the long process of decorating inside and outside. Paul is quite interested in the history … [Read more...]
History of the blood-red remembrance poppy
On Armistice day, we use poppies as a memorial. Blood-red poppies were some of the only plants to grow on the battle fields of the Napoleonic and First World War. They grow best in fertilised (in war by human blood) and turned over ground (in war by horses, artillary or explosions). They came to represent the sacrifice of the fallen soldiers and were first adopted as a … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 5 – suicide and the president
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]
Virchows triad – NOT an acrobatic troupe!
I remember sitting in pathology lectures as a medical student, trying to learn the name of yet another famous Victorian physician and wishing that they had been involved in something other than the study of what causes disease. I would have liked it if Virchow’s triad referred to an acrobat troupe, but instead, as was drummed into us, it stands for three classic risk factors … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 4 – rat poison
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 3 – six years to find the cause
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]