Plague Doctor

rheumatism

Many people who do not understand rheumatology often think that rheumatism is a traditional Chinese medicine concept and is just a disease such as cold legs and rheumatic bone pain.

But Wang Ruoxiang knew that was not the case. "Rheumatism" was actually a translated word, borrowing the traditional Chinese medicine term "rheumatism" and adding a Chinese medical explanation.

"Rheumatism" originated from "rheuma" in the ancient Greek medical system, which means "humor harmful to the body." In the 4th century BC, "The Complete Works of Hippocrates" stated in an article about human anatomy that the human body's body fluids poured into the limbs and internal organs due to dampness and coldness, and penetrated into the joints, causing diseases, which was called rheumatism.

In the 17th century, Guillome de Bayou, the "father of modern rheumatism", introduced the concept of rheumatism into clinical practice and defined it as a disease of the motor system.

Today, rheumatism generally refers to a group of diseases that affect bones, joints and surrounding soft tissues, such as muscles, bursae, tendons, ligaments, fascia, nerves, etc.

Like diffuse connective tissue disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, etc., the pathogenesis of these rheumatic diseases is mostly related to the autoimmune system. Modern medicine still has limited means for this, and most of the time it can only treat the symptoms with analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Therefore, traditional herbal medicines are recommended in various countries for combined treatment of rheumatism.

Among the medical teams from various countries participating in today's meeting, there are top rheumatology experts like Professor Lu Qiqing.

This is a conference about abnormal things, but also a medical conference on this strange disease.

"We conducted clinical interviews with some patients, especially how they felt," Dr. Jonah Glasser from fbm said seriously. The epidemic in Citigroup is currently the most severe, whether in the top ten disaster-stricken cities New York, Or in places like Los Angeles, where there are patients everywhere, "I got some answers that were like a classical interpretation of rheumatism."

Classical, Dr. Glasser used this adjective, which made Professor Lu, Wang Ruoxiang and others puzzled.

Images of clinical consultations were played on the conference screen. The first one was a teenage patient, 16 years old, named Kevin Greer. He was the first patient diagnosed in Los Angeles, Citi. His right upper limb was the most serious, and his whole body was All are accompanied by symptoms of ossification.

"At the beginning, the patient said that there was just a weird soreness in the body, which turned into severe pain after ossification." Dr. Glaser said, "We think this is the first stage after the onset, but in the second stage, it is The patient’s current state is that he feels an abnormal flow of water in his body.”

Abnormal water flow? The frontline staff in the Qing'an conference room were even more confused. Even Professor Lu Qingqi and medical experts from many countries learned about this situation for the first time. It seems that only patients from Citi countries have developed to the second stage for the time being.

In the screen image, Kevin Greer is in a small ward with pale walls. In order to allow patients to come into contact with as few things as possible to eliminate pathogens, the layout of the ward is very simple, even like a prison cell. The boy's complexion was very poor, his right hand turned black, and he was in pain and hesitation with a hint of fear.

There was no bandage on him, which was of no use, no surgery, and no other medicine except painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

"What's the bodily fluid you're talking about? Can you tell me in detail?" Dr. Glasser, who came in for consultation at that time, asked.

"There is a stream of water... flowing inside my body..." Kevin Grier replied blankly, "It's, how should I put it... Damn, my God... That's definitely not blood in my veins, or what I'm drinking. The water in my stomach... My whole body is turning into stone, but in the gaps that haven't changed yet, between the stones, something is flowing. It feels like water. I can even hear it making a sound, like The sound of the river, the current is very fast..."

"Can you give us more description of this water, or bodily fluid, about its color? Shape? Smell? These aspects?"

"I don't know... I don't know... I just feel that they are flowing very fast, like a flood. I feel like I will be washed away, so my body is turning into stone, and I only feel like a stone. , like a huge stone in the pyramid, it will not be washed away..."

Wang Ruoxiang frowned when she heard this and noticed what the patient said was "a huge stone in the pyramid".

These strange feelings of patients are usually not without reason, and often point to the truth of the matter.

Petrification, the huge stones of the pyramids, the Pyramid of Khufu, 2.3 million huge stones...

Is this ritual going to use the human bones of these patients to build a huge, "real" corpse pyramid?

At the same time, Tong Ye, Xiao Xu, Lou Xiaoning and others all had their own thoughts. They all noticed the stone, but Chang Qianhang noticed something else...

"Flood...flood!" Chang Qianhang exclaimed in a low voice, his haggard face became even weirder, thinking about something, and said to the people who were looking at him: "Ancient civilizations have legends about great floods, almost all of them are Consider floods a catastrophe, a world-destroying catastrophe. This is because most ancient civilizations originated near rivers. Once a flood occurs, their homes are often destroyed. However, there is an exception for the civilization of one place. In Egyptian mythology There are no accounts of flood disasters.”

This is the so-called specialization in surgery, and many doctors were surprised. This was beyond their common sense.

The Egyptian civilization is one of the oldest civilizations of mankind. Why was there no flood disaster? Because the land is in a desert? No flooding? What about the Nile?

"Ancient Egypt and ancient Kush were both Nile River civilizations." Chang Qianhang continued, "People in the Nile River civilization were not afraid of floods, they were afraid of no floods. It was precisely because the Nile River flooded regularly every year that it brought them water sources. , bring soil

The fertility of the land brings good harvests. If the Nile stopped flooding some year, they would die of hunger and thirst. Therefore, the Nile River civilization regarded floods as a gift from God, which was different from ancient civilizations in other parts of the world. Flood and the sun are the two sources of life that constitute the Nile River civilization. "

Wang Ruoxiang's brows furrowed even higher, and an inexplicable chill flashed through her heart.

After the locust epidemic, Tong Ye had such expectations for her, hoping that she would come up with some medical speculation based on clues to solve the mystery.

Now she has an idea, "I'm wondering if the enemy is creating a 'big flood', and these patients will gather into a river and form a big flood. For us, it will be the end of the world, but for them, it will be the coming of God. They will come out of the pyramids to meet their gods and the new world.”

For a moment, the conference room fell silent, and everyone shuddered.

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