The Cadaver's Lessons

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessonsWhat if one tiny pill could change the course of history—but the story behind it was far from a miracle?Before the birth control pill, preventing pregnancy was often unreliable, dangerous, or inaccessible. Then came a groundbreaking scientific discovery, a women’s rights movement, millions of dollars, and a medication that transformed reproductive freedom forever.📚 References Mayo Clinic. Choosing a birth control pill. Reproductive Health Access Project. Contraceptive pearl: Understanding the differences between combined and progestin-only oral contraceptives. The Royal Women's Hospital. Contraceptive pills. StatPearls Publishing. Oral contraceptive pills. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. Rosenberg M. Weight change with oral contraceptive use and during the menstrual cycle: results of daily measurements. Contraception. 1998;58(6):345-349. doi:10.1016/S0010-7824(98)00127-9.Hormonal contraception and mood disorders. Aust Prescr. 2022;45(3):75-79. doi:10.18773/austprescr.2022.025.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. What you should know about breakthrough bleeding with birth control. Article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. National Cancer Institute. Oral contraceptives and cancer risk. UCSF Center for Reproductive Health. The normal menstrual cycle. PBS. The Pill: A timeline. American Experience. Half a century of the oral contraceptive pill: Historical review and view to the future. Gandhi AB, Supe PA. Evolution of oral contraceptive pills. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2024;74(2):109-112. doi:10.1007/s13224-024-01988-4. Full text.EBSCO Research Starters. The first American birth control clinic opens. PBS. Gregory Pincus (1903–1967). American Experience. The Harvard Crimson. The bitter pill. September 28, 2017.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessonsFor thousands of years, cultures across the world have shared some version of a terrifying idea: a person's gaze could cause harm. The evil eye is traditionally associated with envy, jealousy, admiration, resentment, beauty, wealth, fertility, healthy children, livestock, crops, and good fortune.But the evil eye isn't simply an ancient version of a curse.In this episode of The Cadaver's Files, we explore the history of the evil eye and the much bigger question behind it: why have humans been so afraid of being seen?📚 References Allison DC Jr. The eye is the lamp of the body (Matthew 6.22–23=Luke 11.34–36). New Testament Studies. 1987;33(1):61-83. Cambridge University PressGomes FB. Iron Age glass eye beads in southern Portugal (7th–2nd centuries BCE). Trabajos de Prehistoria. 2023;80(2):e17. Trabajos de PrehistoriaBible Gateway. Evil Eye. Encyclopedia of the Bible. Bible Gateway: Evil EyeBible Gateway. Matthew 6:23; Deuteronomy 15:9; Proverbs 23:6. Holy Bible. English Standard Version; New International Version; King James Version. Bible Gateway: Biblical PassagesSefaria. Bava Metzia 84a:11. The William Davidson Talmud. Sefaria: Bava Metzia 84a:11Kohler K, Blau L. Evil Eye. In: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906. Jewish Encyclopedia: Evil EyeElliott JH. Beware the Evil Eye. Volume 3, The Bible and Related Sources: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books; 2016. National Library of Israel catalog recordBlaisdell A, Vindal Ødegaard C. Losing fat, gaining treatments: the use of biomedicine as a cure for folk illnesses in the Andes. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2014;10:52. PubMed Central full textTilford N. Evil Eye. Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Oxford University Press; 2014. Oxford AcademicParker A. The phallus and the evil eye: phallic amulets in the Roman world. Ancient World Magazine. December 7, 2021. Ancient World MagazineIsrael National News. Israel National News articleTurkish Textbook. Nazar: the evil eye in Turkish culture. Turkish Textbook: NazarThe Minds Journal. Egg cleanse ritual to release the evil eye. The Minds Journal

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessonsWhat happens when the treatment for cloudy vision involves stabbing a needle into the eye and pushing the lens out of the way?Cataracts may be common today, but treating them has a wild history. In this episode, we’re tracing cataract surgery from ancient couching—where surgeons displaced the cloudy lens into the back of the eye—to the development of actual lens extraction, artificial intraocular lenses, and modern phacoemulsification.We’ll break down what a cataract actually is, why the lens becomes cloudy, and how the eye turns light into the visual experience we know as “seeing.” Then we’ll get into the medical innovations that transformed cataract surgery.📚 ReferencesMedCrave — The Pathophysiology of Cataract and Major Interventions to Retard Its Progression: A Mini Review Read articleEntoKey — Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Causes, Morphology, and Visual Effects of Cataract Read articleWaterloo Eye Institute — Cataract Surgery Steps Read articleUniversity of Iowa EyeRounds — Cataract for Medical Students Read tutorialPubMed Central — Cataract surgery research Read articlePubMed Central — Jacques Daviel Performed the First Documented Planned Primary Cataract Extraction on Sep. 18, 1750 Read articleNational Eye Institute — NEI Charts a Clearer Future for Cataract Prevention and Treatment Read articleAmerican Academy of Ophthalmology — Choosing the Best Artificial Lens Implant (IOL) for Cataract Surgery Read articlePubMed Central — Cataract research Read articlePubMed Central — Cataract research Read articleNational Institutes of Health — NIH-Led Studies Point to Potential Development of Cataract Drug Read articleInternational Journal of Health and Health Sciences — Cataract research Read articleLondon Cataract Centre — History of Cataract Surgery Read article

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessonsWhat happens when an Indigenous leader is forced to navigate a world that is actively dismantling his people’s land, culture, religion, and way of life?Meet Quanah Parker, one of the most influential Comanche leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Before reservation life, the Comanche were highly mobile horsemen and buffalo hunters whose territory—Comancheria—stretched across much of the Southern Plains. But disease, declining buffalo herds, military campaigns, settlement, and the loss of territory fundamentally disrupted Comanche life.After the Red River War, Quanah and the remaining Quahadi Comanche surrendered in 1875 and were relocated to the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation surrounding Fort Sill.And Quanah made a choice that surprised many: instead of continuing armed resistance, he became an intermediary between the Comanche and the federal government.Quanah Parker's story doesn't fit neatly into a simple narrative of resistance versus assimilation. He operated within a system that was actively attempting to reshape Comanche society, while also using that system to protect his people, maintain economic influence, and preserve elements of Comanche identity.And that makes his relationship with peyote particularly interesting.For Quanah, peyote wasn't simply a drug. It was connected to healing, spirituality, cultural identity, and religious practice at a time when Indigenous traditions were being actively suppressed.📚 References U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Court of Indian Offenses. Indian Affairs.National Park Service. The Dawes Act. National Park Service; 2021.Library of Congress. Reservations and Allotments. Native American Spaces.Wishart DJ, ed. Parker, Quanah (ca. 1852–1911). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska–Lincoln.National Park Service. Comanche. Fort Davis National Historic Site.National Park Service. Quanah Parker. National Park Service.Texas State Historical Association. Parker, Quanah. Handbook of Texas.Comanche Nation. History. Comanche Nation, Oklahoma.History.com Editors. Indian Reservations: Map, US & Definition. HISTORY.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disparities and Resilience Among American Indian and Alaska Native Women Who Are Pregnant or Postpartum. HEAR HER Campaign.March of Dimes. Infant Mortality Rates by Race/Ethnicity: United States, 2021–2023 Average. PeriStats.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessonsA tiny, spineless cactus with a history thousands of years in the making.In this episode of The Cadaver’s Lessons, we’re diving into peyote—a plant that has been used by Indigenous communities as a sacrament, medicine, and part of deeply meaningful spiritual traditions long before Western science ever studied it.We’ll trace peyote from its Indigenous origins through colonization, the rise of the Native American Church, and the moment Western scientists isolated mescaline, the psychedelic compound responsible for many of peyote’s effects.Then we’re getting into the science: How does mescaline actually alter perception? Why can the experience last 10–12 hours? What happens when it interacts with serotonin receptors? And what does mescaline poisoning look like in the ED?We’ll also explore the complicated history of psychedelics in psychiatry, including the early use of mescaline as a model for psychosis and its role in studying consciousness and hallucinations.And finally, we’re asking what happens when an ancient Indigenous sacrament becomes the subject of modern pharmaceutical research.Because peyote isn't simply a drug.It is sacred, culturally significant, and ecologically vulnerable—and its slow growth creates an uncomfortable question:What happens if medical interest in mescaline becomes so successful that it threatens the plant itself?📚 References Doesburg-van Kleffens M, et al. Molecules. 2023;28(24):7942. [PMC10746114]Dinis-Oliveira RJ, et al. Curr Mol Pharmacol. 2019;12(3):184-194. [PMC6864602]J Ethnopharmacol. 2005. [ScienceDirect article]QPS. “From Cultural Rite to Clinical Trial: Examining the Therapeutic Potential of Mescaline.” 2022.Vamvakopoulou IA, et al. Neuropharmacology. 2023;222:109294.US Dept of Justice. Peyote Exemption for Native American Church. 1981.Uthaug MV, et al. J Psychopharmacol. 2022;36(3):309-320.American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994. Pub L No. 103-344. 1994.Jay M. “The Encounter That Introduced Peyote to Western Science.” Chacruna. 2019.Bush L. “Louis Lewin and Peyote.” Jewish Currents. 2016.Der Meskalinrausch. Wikipedia.MindMed. “MindMed Announces the Approval of Mescaline Study.” BioSpace. 2021.Journey Colab. Journey Colab.Biomind Labs. “Biomind Labs to Commence Commercial Clinical Trial on Its Proprietary Mescaline Candidate BMND06.” Business Wire. 2022.XPhyto Therapeutics. “XPhyto Adds Mescaline Production to Psychedelic Medicine Programs.” 2021.