Medicine and the Movies: Lorenzo's Oil at Century's End
Authors: Anne Hudson Jones
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2000)

Medical Writings3 October 2000Medicine and the Movies: Lorenzo's Oil at Century's EndAnne Hudson Jones, PhDAnne Hudson Jones, PhDUniversity of Texas Medical Branch; Galveston, TX 77555-1311 (Hudson Jones)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-133-7-200010030-00030 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Life has meaning only in the struggle.Triumph or defeat is in thehands of the Gods … So let us celebrate the struggle!—Swahili Warrior Song, Lorenzo's OilWith rapid developments in biomedical sciences and optical technologies, medicine and the movies came of age together in the 20th century (1). The relationship between them has intrigued a number of observers and scholars (2-4). Although the earliest movies about medicine were simple comedies about quacks, such as Dr. Dippy's Sanitarium (1906), serious feature films about physician-researchers and biomedical scientists began to emerge from Hollywood studios in the 1930s and helped usher in the ...References1. Crawford TH. Visual knowledge in medicine and popular film. Lit Med. 1998;17:24-44. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Dans PE. Doctors in the Movies: Boil the Water and Just Say Aah. Bloomington, IL: Medi-Ed Pr; 2000. Google Scholar3. Banks JT, ed. Moving pictures. Lit Med. 1998; 17:1-176. Google Scholar4. Gabbard GO, Gabbard K. Psychiatry and the Cinema. 2d ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pr; 1999. Google Scholar5. Jones AH. Medicine and the physician. In: Inge MT, ed. Handbook of American Popular Culture. 2nd ed. New York: Greenwood Pr; 1989:721-43. Google Scholar6. Rizzo WB, Leshner RT, Odone A, Dammann AL, Craft DA, Jensen ME, et al . 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Odone A. The Myelin Project: progress report. 1997; 29 May. www.myelin.org/052997pr.html. Accessed 16 August 2000. Google Scholar26. Pollack R. Introduction. In: The Missing Moment: How the Unconscious Shapes Modern Science. Boston: Houghton Mifflin; 1999:1-11. Google Scholar27. Edson M. W; t. New York: Faber and Faber; 1999. Google Scholar28. Stolberg SG. Youth's death shakes new field of gene experiments on humans. New York Times. 2000; 27 Jan. www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/012700sci-gene-therapy.html. Accessed 16 August 2000. Google Scholar29. Kolata G. Web research transforms visit to the doctor. New York Times. 2000; 6 Mar. www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/03/biztech/articles/06inte.html. Accessed 16 August 2000. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of Texas Medical Branch; Galveston, TX 77555-1311 (Hudson Jones)Acknowledgments: The author thanks Donna A. Vickers for her research assistance and Robert L. Jones and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on a previous version of this essay.Corresponding Author: Anne Hudson Jones, PhD, Institute for the Medical Humanities, 2.210 Ashbel Smith Building, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-1311; e-mail, [email protected]edu. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byFormulation of Foods with Bioactive and Functional LipidsNutraceutical and Functional Properties of Specialty LipidsLorenzo's Oil as a Vehicle for Teaching Chemistry Content, Processes of Science, and Sociology of Science in a General Education Chemistry ClassroomComplicated lessons: Lorenzo Odone and medical miraclesExperiencia en enfermedades raras: el síndrome de Lesch-NyhanThe Don Quixote Effect: Why Going to the Movies Can Help Develop Empathy and Altruism in Medical Students and Residents.Putting Clinical Pharmacology in Context: The Use of Popular Movies 3 October 2000Volume 133, Issue 7Page: 567-571KeywordsAntibioticsFallsGeneticsNervesOilsPublic policyRenal transplantationResearch fundingScientistsVaccines ePublished: 3 October 2000 Issue Published: 3 October 2000 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2000 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...