This Medical Life
Welcome to the This Medical Life podcast. Our mission is to share stories about the triumphs and tragedies of diseases and illnesses from ancient times up until what we know today. It is about those scientific and medical minds who came before us and how, every single day, we stand on the shoulders of giants. This is a podcast about the stories of medicine. Hosted by Dr. Travis Brown and Steve Davis, our target audience is General Practitioners, medical students, and other health professionals. We hope to educate, inspire and celebrate those who choose to care for others in their profession. From experience, we know that our audience extends beyond these fields and would like to welcome anyone to listen. The stories of those who came before us are nothing short of remarkable and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Production by Tim Whiffen Design by Tom Buzz
Episodes
Charles Dicken’s first novel has an adolescent boy named Joe who was overweight and always sleepy. He could fall asleep at any time, even during meals. The novel is known as the Pickwick Papers. Decades later, doctors began to recognise patients with the same symptoms. They called it Pickwickian syndrome.
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a common condition in the general community. Risk factors include being overweight, male, and ...
Willem J Kolff was an intern when he saw a 22 year old man die of kidney failure. He realised that the patient’s life could have been saved if his blood could have been detoxified. Willem set to work and developed the first ever dialysis machine (initially the ‘rotating drum kidney’).
While dialysis is a lifesaving treatment, it is one that we hope to avoid for patients. In this episode, we discuss ...
One in 10 Australians over the age of 18 years are living with signs of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) with the number of patients needing treatment for kidney failure has doubled in the last 20 years. Early detection and intervention can slow the progression of CKD by up to 15 years or longer.
Our understanding of kidney disease can be traced back to Dr Richard Bright, one of the founding fathers of nephrology. He noted that heating...
The statistics of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Domestic Violence prevalence are staggering. 1 in 6 adult women and 1 in 16 adult men have experience physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partner. Approximately 2.5 million Australians (13%) experienced abuse during their childhood. However, IPV is a topic that is rarely discussed. As healthcare professionals, we need to change this.
A recent study by our guests on th...
Oral cancer was a fatal disease even into the twentieth century. Patients required extensive surgery and often had a painful recovery or went into palliative care but the result was the same. Modern medicine has thankfully provided much to our understanding, the treatment and management of patients with oral cancer.
In recent times, patients have been able to be stratified into two general but distinct categories: the first are old...
The first medical description of pernicious anaemia is from 1821. It is written by Dr James Combe and describes a previously well 47 year old corn-merchant who presented with pallor, weakness, and neurological symptoms. It would take over a hundred years before we would know how to treat this condition, and another decade after that to understand why the treatment worked.
Vitamin B12 is an essential component of our diet and only f...
One of the most difficult cancers to detect early has been lung cancer. Patients often present with advanced disease that and can often be fatal.
In April 2025, a new National Lung Cancer Screening program has been rolled out in Australia to detect asymptomatic patients with a significant smoking history (30 Pack-Year). Suitable patients are eligible for a free low-dose CT (computer tomography) scan on their lungs to identify any p...
In 1966, the Chief of Urology asked the Chief of Pathology at the Minneapolis VA Hospital to develop a system to communicate the results of prostate cancer to researchers. The Chief of Pathology was Donald Gleason and he developed a system that would revolutionise our understanding of prostate cancer. Today, every prostate cancer worldwide is classified using the Gleason score, named after Donald Gleason.
Prostate cancer is one of ...
Over the last 100 years, numerous types of implants (i.e. ivory, glass, wool) and injections (i.e. epoxy resin, beeswax, paraffin) have been used in an attempt for breast augmentation but the results were poor. In 1962, the first operation using silicone implants was performed and it revolutionised breast surgery. Breast augmentation surgery (cosmetic and reconstructive) is one of the most common cosmetic surgeries in Australia, Un...
The interplay between genetics and medications is important but complex. Pharmacogenomic testing provides doctors with information about how individual patients may respond to certain medications (ie. fast and slow metabolisers).
The RCPA recently released guidelines for doctors about requesting patient pharmacogenomic testing before prescribing some medications. These guidelines have identified 35 medications into three pharmacoge...
In 1924, a surgeon and a pathologist had a conversation about some patients with multiple bowel polyps. The pathologist, Dr Cuthbert Dukes, and the surgeon, Mr JP Lockhart-Mummery, noted that patients had a family history of bowel cancer and could have hundreds of colonic polyps. They, with the help of HRJ Bussey, set up the Polyposis Registry.
The registry collected information about these patients and the families from 1918 to 19...
We have come a long way in our understanding of epilepsy and seizures.
Historically, epilepsy was associated with possession and demonic forces.
Modern medicine has helped us to understand that epilepsy is an electrical disorder of the brain that can affect an area or the entire brain itself.
Unfortunately, a lot of stigma and misinformation remains about epilepsy and it is an important condition to be aware of.
This is the story o...
It is evident from paintings that Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo suffered some form of underlying hand pathologies. These have been the focus of discussions and journal articles amongst many academics. Our understanding of different disease processes involving the hand have come a long way. There are a lot of options for patients both medical and surgical that we discuss in this episode.
This is the story of hand pathology
Our...
Hyponatraemia, the most common electrolyte disturbance in clinical medicine, is often subtle but can be serious.
In this episode, we trace the surprising history of fluid replacement back to the 1832 cholera riots in Liverpool, where experimental saline saved lives amidst chaos and mistrust.
We then bring the conversation into modern practice, exploring diagnostic steps, common causes, and when GPs should refer patients to hospital...
In 1958, Dr Denis Burkitt was working in Uganda when he saw multiple children with large and aggressive jaw tumours. He had never seen anything like this before and he investigated further. Over the next few years, he discovered that these tumours had a geographical distribution across equatorial Africa and also was related to rainfall.
This led to the discovery of an aggressive form of lymphoma that we now know as Burkitt lymphoma...
Osteoporosis is a disease that takes years and even decades to develop. Up to 40% of post-menopausal women are affected who have a lifetime risk of fracture of ~40%. Men aged 60 have a 25% lifetime risk of an osteoporotic fracture. Evidence also shows that patients health significantly deteriorates following a significant fracture.
The best treatment for osteoporosis is prevention. We discuss this disease, lifestyle, diagnosis, and...
Recent genetics studies have shown that ancient Humans and Neanderthals coexisted around 50,000 years ago for approximately 7,000 years. There is evidence of these different human species mixing and having offspring. Around 2-4% of modern humans can be traced back to Neanderthals.
This is the story of Humans and Neanderthals.
Our special guests:
Our special guest is Associate Professor Bastien Llamas who is affiliated with the...
And we’re back for 2025. We thought we’d ease into this season with some medical stories. From the Manhattan project and the demon core to the inspirational stories of Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, and Dr Emma Constance Stone. We are reaching back into the medical archives.
Our special guests:
Dr Travis Brown, himself!
This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify...
Patients with colorectal cancer often have their diagnosis, treatment, and care discussed at a regular multidisciplinary team meeting. This includes: gastroenterologists, surgeons, oncology, radiation oncology, pathologists, home care nurses, oncology nurses, genetic councillors, care coordinators plus others.
This is the third episode of a three part series on colorectal cancer.
This episode focuses on management.
Many thanks to D...
The lifetime risk for colorectal cancer is 1 in 23 men and 1 in 25 women. Detecting and diagnosing cancer is a critical step in managing a patient’s health as well as the multidisciplinary team where their care is discussed.
This is the second episode of a three part series on colorectal cancer.
This episode focuses on diagnosis.
Many thanks to Dr Tristan Rutland who helped organise this series.
This is the story of colorectal canc...
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