Ep 130 Cocoliztli: We do love a salty dish

Ep 130 Cocoliztli: We do love a salty dish

In the 16th century, a series of deadly epidemics swept through much of the region of Mesoamerica known as the Aztec Empire, killing untold millions. By the start of the first of these epidemics, the area had become woefully accustomed to devasting epidemic disease, as the Spanish conquistadors had introduced smallpox, measles, typhus, and influenza, among other infections. But this disease, with its tendency to induce massive hemorrhage, fever, jaundice, and rapid death, seemed different from those now familiar infections, and so was given a new name: cocoliztli. People watched in horror as cocoliztli overtook town after town, village after village, sometimes killing as much as 80% of the population and leaving nothing but desolation in its wake. Hundreds of years after the epidemics ended, debate about the pathogen responsible for cocoliztli remains. In this episode, we’re going deep down the rabbit hole of this medical mystery, linking the spread and nature of these epidemics with the characteristics of the many pathogens that have been proposed over the years. We draw from contemporary accounts, ecological analyses, and even a recent ancient DNA study to make our evaluations, but do we ever get to the bottom of cocoliztli? Tune in to find out.

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Ep 214 Boogers: Digging for treasure

Ep 214 Boogers: Digging for treasure

Hard and crusty. Green and gloopy. Clear and watery. Boogers come in a veritable rainbow of colors and a full spectrum of textures from liquid to solid. They’re really quite impressive if you think ab...

30 Kesä 1h 2min

Special Episode: Dr. Carl Elliott & The Occasional Human Sacrifice

Special Episode: Dr. Carl Elliott & The Occasional Human Sacrifice

Stories of unethical medical experimentation often center around the individuals who spearheaded such atrocities or highlight how patient protection laws were changed in response to the studies. But r...

23 Kesä 57min

Ep 213 Burns Part 2: It’s like sci-fi but real 

Ep 213 Burns Part 2: It’s like sci-fi but real 

At the turn of the 20th century, a severe burn was often a death sentence. Today, that is no longer the case. Over the past eighty years, burn care has undergone a profound transformation thanks to cr...

16 Kesä 58min

Ep 212 Burns Part 1: The first million or so years

Ep 212 Burns Part 1: The first million or so years

Burns have been a part of the human experience since our hominin relatives began controlling fire 1.5 million years ago. Until very recently, we’ve been limited in our ability to manage burn wounds wi...

9 Kesä 55min

Special Episode: Alexandra Sifferlin & The Elusive Body

Special Episode: Alexandra Sifferlin & The Elusive Body

An accurate diagnosis can give us so much. It can give us a path forward. It can give us answers to long-standing questions. And it can give us much-needed hope. Yet many people around the world wait ...

2 Kesä 51min

Ep 211 Motion Sickness: It comes in waves

Ep 211 Motion Sickness: It comes in waves

It comes on sneakily. You become aware of your stomach. You break out in a cold sweat. Your mouth fills with saliva. And before you know it, you’re leaning over the side of the boat (or out of the car...

26 Touko 1h 16min

Ep 210 Histoplasmosis: Bats, birds, and budding yeast

Ep 210 Histoplasmosis: Bats, birds, and budding yeast

Once thought to be a rare, always fatal disease, histoplasmosis is now recognized as one of the most prevalent fungal infections in North America. It infects hundreds of thousands of people every year...

19 Touko 1h 18min

Special Episode: Dr. Olivia Weisser & The Dreaded Pox

Special Episode: Dr. Olivia Weisser & The Dreaded Pox

In a time when smallpox, tuberculosis, measles, and typhus ran rampant through the streets of London, there was another disease that instilled even more fear than these other killers: syphilis. So fea...

12 Touko 51min

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