Medicine
Medicine studies the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. In Dr Stone, it marks a major turning point: Senku synthesizes the first antibiotics (sulfa drugs) to cure pneumonia, makes clinical diagnoses and rebuilds a basic pharmacology from plants and chemistry.
Entries in this discipline
Activated Charcoal
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao gives activated charcoal in an emergency. Why does it work? How does adsorption trap toxins? Its real limits.
Autopsy and Forensic Medicine
In The Apothecary Diaries, a body is examined. We explain autopsy, post-mortem signs, and the birth of forensic medicine.
Antiseptic Alcohol
In The Apothecary Diaries, a distilled alcohol is called a highly effective disinfectant. We explain why ethanol kills germs, and at what concentration.
Bear Bile
Why did bear bile, a traditional TCM remedy, lead to a modern drug? UDCA dissolves gallstones and treats the liver.
The Bezoar
In The Apothecary Diaries, the bezoar is a prized pharmacopoeia treasure. We explain what this concretion really is and what modern science makes of it.
Breech Presentation
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao diagnoses a breech baby and prescribes moxibustion. We explain the science behind this ancestral technique.
Carbon Monoxide
In The Apothecary Diaries, embers bring guests down at a party. We explain carbon monoxide, why it suffocates without warning, and the right thing to do.
The Caesarean Section
Before antisepsis and anesthesia, caesarean section almost always killed the mother. We explain why, and what changed everything in the 19th century.
Castration and Eunuchs
In The Apothecary Diaries, Jinshi embodies the archetype of the court eunuch. We explain the real effects of castration by age, and the role of testosterone.
Clinical Signs
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao reads Lihaku's body without him saying a word. We explain clinical semiology and the art of diagnosis by observation.
Color Blindness
In The Apothecary Diaries, red-green color blindness unlocks a dynastic mystery. We explain cone cells, the X chromosome, and prevalence.
Cordyceps
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao imagines a fungus that could grow on humans. We explain cordyceps, the real 'zombie' parasite of insects.
Decomposition and Mummification
In The Apothecary Diaries, a body remains intact for a year. We explain autolysis, bacterial putrefaction, and what stops it: cold, dryness, preserving salts.
Diabetes
In The Apothecary Diaries, an all-sugar diet hints at diabetes. We explain blood glucose, insulin, and the historic sign of sweet urine.
Dehydration and Rehydration
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao treats heatstroke with salted, sweetened water. We explain dehydration and why salt is vital.
Drinking Water and Waterborne Diseases
Why does boiling water make it safe to drink? Cholera, dysentery, typhoid: we explain waterborne diseases and the story of John Snow.
Earthworms in Medicine
Maomao thinks of earthworms as a fever remedy. We explain dilong in traditional Chinese medicine and the lumbrokinases studied in modern pharmacology.
Emmenagogue and Abortive Plants
Jasmine, mugwort, rue, chili pepper: were these plants, said to trigger periods or end a pregnancy, really effective? The history and pharmacology behind them.
False Pregnancy
A swollen belly, missing periods, milk without pregnancy: The Apothecary Diaries describes pseudocyesis. The hormonal and psychological mechanism.
Food Allergy
In The Apothecary Diaries, a fish soup nearly kills. We explain IgE, histamine, anaphylaxis, and the risks of desensitization.
Foot Binding
In The Apothecary Diaries, a victim's bound feet prove she couldn't have climbed alone. We explain the real bone deformation and its effects.
Fugu and Tetrodotoxin
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao loves fugu and its poison. We explain tetrodotoxin, how it paralyzes, and why there's no antidote.
Honey and Infant Botulism
In The Apothecary Diaries, honey kills a baby. We explain infant botulism: why honey is forbidden before age one, and safe afterward.
Hypothermia
In The Apothecary Diaries, cold threatens lives. We explain hypothermia, why cold-water immersion is so dangerous, and how to rewarm safely.
Inbreeding
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao brings up dynastic inbreeding. We explain why unions between close relatives raise genetic risk.
Induced Vomiting
Making someone vomit to clear a poison: an old intuition that modern medicine has largely abandoned. Risks, contraindications, the history of ipecac.
Lead White Makeup
In The Apothecary Diaries, white makeup kills courtesans. We explain why this ceruse-based cosmetic caused deadly lead poisoning.
Loss of Taste
In The Apothecary Diaries, Konen could no longer taste salt. We explain ageusia, the decisive role of smell, and the real causes of taste loss.
The Menstrual Cycle and Fertility
Maomao references the empirical knowledge of the fertile window. We explain the phases of the cycle, ovulation, hormones, and what ancient medicine actually knew.
Miasma Theory
In The Apothecary Diaries, incense is burned to ward off illness. We explain miasma theory, its kernel of truth, and how Pasteur overturned it.
Mugwort
In The Apothecary Diaries, mugwort is one of the court's medicinal herbs. We explain its uses and artemisinin, Tu Youyou's antimalarial drug (Nobel 2015).
Nerve Damage and Paralysis
In The Apothecary Diaries, a beating leaves a man paralyzed. We explain how nerve damage cuts off muscle control and why recovery is uncertain.
Night Vision
In The Apothecary Diaries, seeing in the dark is a real biological trait. We explain rods, rhodopsin, and dark adaptation.
Physic Garden
The physic garden is the cradle of plant-based pharmacopoeia. Monasteries, universities, imperial China: the history of a centuries-old place of knowledge.
Prosopagnosia
In The Apothecary Diaries, Lakan cannot recognize faces. We explain prosopagnosia, the brain's fusiform face area, and this real neurological disorder.
Quarantine and Isolation
In The Apothecary Diaries, a contagious patient is isolated. The history of quarantine, fomites, and isolation long before germs were understood.
Sensory Detection of Poison
Maomao inspects the soup by sight and smell. We explain the food-taster method, how silver tarnishes, and why arsenic went undetected.
Sleepwalking
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao identifies sleepwalking where others see a ghost. We explain the real mechanism behind this parasomnia.
Somatization
In The Apothecary Diaries, some ailments come from the mind. We explain somatization, its real mechanisms, and why these pains are genuinely real.
Spider Silk and Hemostasis
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao mentions spider webs to clot blood. We separate the real mechanical effect from the vitamin K myth.
Surgical Sutures
In The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao is recovering from fifteen stitches. The history of suture thread, from Egyptian linen to resorbable catgut and synthetic thread.
Syphilis
In The Apothecary Diaries, syphilis erases a courtesan's memories. We explain Treponema pallidum, the disease's phases, and neurosyphilis.
Acetanilide
Senku makes acetanilide in Dr Stone. We explain this historical painkiller and fever reducer, an ancestor of paracetamol, and why it was abandoned.
Medicinal Plants
Swertia, licorice, Coptis: these medicinal plants contain real, documented active compounds. We break down their uses in Dr Stone.
Sulfa Drugs
Senku aims for a miracle drug in Dr Stone. We explain sulfa drugs, the first synthetic antibacterials of the 1930s, and how they stop bacteria.