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Understanding The Motion of the Heart: From Knowledge to Practice

Guest Post by Catherine Osborn, BA/BS Graduate Student, Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University Matters of the heart are often confusing. Early scientists wondered if “the motion of the heart was only to be comprehended by God” . The heart and blood were the subjects of much medical debate in the 17th century when an English physician questioned classic anatomical texts. Although previous anatomists like Vesalius had questioned traditional views, William Harvey was the first to accurately describe the circulation of blood throughout the body. Once scientists understood the regular functions of the cardiovascular system, medical pioneers explored how to...

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Affairs of the Heart: A Valentine's Day Post

Given that it is Valentine's Day, we are taking a short break from our series on forensics and poisoning. (Granted, a number of those poisonings were, themselves, "affairs of the heart!") Today, we celebrate the history of cardiac care, and of Cleveland, where so many of those innovations began. In the 1930s, Western Reserve surgeon Claude Beck perfected operations to improve heart circulation. That might not seem like a feat, but when you understand the circumstances, it becomes a matter of life and death. When Beck performed cardiac surgery, the heart sometimes went into ventricular fibrillation--in other words, heart muscles twitched...

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