Eosinophilia-Myalgia syndrome (EMS),

EMS was first recognized in 1989 in New Mexico. Three women sought medical help for a mysterious, undiagnosable condition presenting with marked peripheral blood eosinophilia and severe myalgia, followed by the development of scleroderma-like chronic skin lesions. It was eventually discovered that all of the women had one thing in common: they had been taking L-tryptophan, a health food supplement sold as a sleep aid.


The tainted product was traced back to Showa Denko Inc, a Japanese company, that had been cutting corners in their purification procedure to reduce their manufacturing costs. Additionally, they were experimenting with genetically engineered bacteria in order to accelerate and increase the efficiency of their production process. As a result, contaminated batches of L-tryptophan were placed on the market. Within three months, 37 people died and over 1500 were permanently disabled from using this product.


About a decade back, a similiar epidemic of a novel syndrome with features suggestive of SSc had occurred in Spain in the 1980s. The outbreak, termed toxic oil syndrome and affecting over 20,000 individuals, was linked to consumption of contaminated rapeseed oils used for cooking

Scrofula - King's Evil

In the Middle Ages it was believed that "royal touch", the touch of the sovereign of England or France, could cure diseases because sovereigns were appointed by the Divine. Scrofula was therefore also known as the King's Evil. The kings were thought to have received this power due to their descent from Edward the Confessor, who, according to some legends, received it from Saint Remigius. From 1633, the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church contained a ceremony for this, and it was traditional for the monarch (king or queen) to present to the touched person a coin —usually an Angel, a gold coin the value of which varied from about 6 shillings to about 10 shillings. King Henry IV of France is reported as often touching and healing as many as 1,500 individuals at a time.

Queen Anne touched the infant (later Doctor) Samuel Johnson in 1712, but King George I put an end to the practice as being "too Catholic". The kings of France continued the custom until Louis XV stopped it in the 1700s, though it was briefly revived to universal derision in 1825

Protein S

In 1979, researchers in Seattle, Washington, first discovered protein S and arbitrarily named it after the city of its discovery.

St Vitus Dance

Dancing mania or choreomania, from the Greek: χορεία (khoreia = 'dance') + μανία (mania = 'madness’) was a social phenomenon that occurred primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 18th centuries; it involved groups of people, sometimes thousands at a time, who danced uncontrollably and bizarrely, seemingly possessed by the devil. During the initial outbreaks of the mania, religious ceremonies were held in an attempt to exorcise the demons thought to be causing the mania. People commonly prayed to St. Vitus for aid, and he soon became the patron saint of the dancers - may be the frenzied movements of religious fanatics during the middle ages journeyed to the healing shrine of St. Vitus.
The phrase "St. Vitus' Dance", however, is in fact a name given to a syndrome known as Sydenham's chorea, characterized by rapid, irregular, and aimless involuntary movements of the arms and legs, trunk, and facial muscles in Rheumatic fever.

In third grade, Andy Warhol had St. Vitus' dance, which is believed to be a complication of ?scarlet fever and causes skin pigmentation blotchiness. He became somewhat of a hypochondriac, developing a fear of hospitals and doctors. Often bed-ridden as a child, he became an outcast among his school-mates and bonded strongly with his mother. When in bed he drew, listened to the radio and collected pictures of movie stars around his bed. Warhol later described this period as very important in the development of his personality, skill-set and preferences.

Nobel Prize 2008 - HIV & HPV

Harald zur Hausen went against current dogma and postulated that oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) caused cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women. He realized that HPV-DNA could exist in a non-productive state in the tumours, and should be detectable by specific searches for viral DNA. He found HPV to be a heterogeneous family of viruses. Only some HPV types cause cancer. His discovery has led to characterization of the natural history of HPV infection, an understanding of mechanisms of HPV-induced carcinogenesis and the development of prophylactic vaccines against HPV acquisition.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier discovered human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Virus production was identified in lymphocytes from patients with enlarged lymph nodes in early stages of acquired immunodeficiency, and in blood from patients with late stage disease. They characterized this retrovirus as the first known human lentivirus based on its morphological, biochemical and immunological properties. HIV impaired the immune system because of massive virus replication and cell damage to lymphocytes. The discovery was one prerequisite for the current understanding of the biology of the disease and its antiretroviral treatment