Epilepsy by Chris Buzelli

Epilepsy by Chris Buzelli for the cover of The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association:

The word epilepsy originates from the Greek word epilambanein, meaning someting that jumps upon you from the outside or a sudden attack. The sudden violent siezures historically has led to explanations of magic or religion. Some cultures saw epilepsy as a sacred illness (a gift or a punishment from the gods). Only 2,000 years after Aritotle understood that epilepsy was a brain disease, it is no longer surrounded by superstition. People living with epilepsy are still living with the unpredictable.

Chris has various prints and originals on sale here.

*Previously: Headache by Byron Eggenschwiler.

Keep me in your mind's eye

Druggist's logo.

Link roundup

1. Devastating review of Puzzle Agent 2:

But sadly there’s not a glimmer of interest or wit in the telling, so you’re in fact drumming your fingers as people slowly jabber about nothing, waiting until it ends. I chose to play good puzzle games on my iPhone during these times.

2. Grotesque corruption in medicine.

3. The sale items for July at Things from Another World have been posted.

Headache

Byron Eggenschwiler posted a few new illustrations including this one for an article by Carl Zimmer for Discover Magazine about chronic pain and the pain networks of the brain.

Link roundup

1. 7 Tools to Help You Conquer Your Allergies, including a recommendation of the SinuSense Water Pulsator Sinus Rinse, available at Amazon.

2. And speaking of Amazon, Richard Dawkins's science book for kids, illustrated by Dave McKean, is available for preorder (34% off). Via.

3. And speaking of gadget lists, "This Super Sherpa Climbed Everest 21 Times. Here's His Eco Gadget Bag."

Link roundup

1. From Drew Magary's latest NSFW and funny, but probably offensive column:

I gotta go to church more often then. I think churches operate as the epicenter of most American daydreams. I can't sit in a church for more than five minutes without imagining a flock of vampires crashing through the stained glass window, and I have to stab them all in the heart with a steel crucifix. I'm pretty sure my visions are exactly like that new Paul Bettany movie.

I've been at ceremonies where they do the whole "Do you reject Satan?" thing, and it's impossible to not think of The Godfather at that moment. I also wish they had an effigy of Satan right at the altar that you could stab or shoot with a crossbow. Why not add a bit flourish to the ceremony?

2. Robin Hanson:

What if the airline industry lobbied to end the practice of routinely investigating the cause of each airline crash? After all, if there is no investigation, it will be hard to show an airline was at fault. You might imagine there’d be a public outcry. But in 1970 the US medical profession did essentially the same thing, and few complained:

Today, hospitals perform autopsies on only about 5 percent of patients who die, down from roughly 50 percent in the 1960s. … Autopsies play a critical role in helping to advance understanding of the progress of a disease and the effectiveness of various treatments. At the same time, they may identify medical conditions that clinicians and high-tech imaging miss or misdiagnose. …

In 1998 the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that autopsy results showed that clinicians misdiagnosed the cause of death up to 40 percent of the time.

3. The Batman by Aragones statue I posted yesterday is available for preorder at the BBTS for $80.

Link roundup

1. Jason Chalker's looking for commissions, starting at $30.

2. Supposedly John C. Reilly is the front runner for to play Haymitch in The Hunger Games. Too bad, I thought Russel Crowe would have been perfect. (Like an informal sequel to Gladiator.)

3. The University of Maryland's medical school is teaching homeopathy?