“The students began by reading NC Macnamara’s Textbook on Diseases Of Bones And Joints, 3rd edition (1887), and George Ellis’ Demonstrations In Anatomy: Being A Guide To The Knowledge Of The Human Body Through Dissection, 11th edition (1890), by attending lectures in anatomy, and by dissecting and memorizing the parts of the human body in the laboratory. Maugham later recalled that ‘I was once obliged to study anatomy, a very dreary business. One remark made by my teacher when he was helping me in the dissection of a thigh has always remained in my memory. I was looking in vain for a certain nerve and it needed his greater skill to discover it in a place which I had not sought. I was aggrieved because the text book had misled me. He smiled and said: “You see, the normal is the rarest thing in the world”.’” (

)

As the epidemic of obesity continues out of control the search for pharmacological ways to maintain more healthy eating patterns continues. Binge eating disorder is one form of eating disorder that invariably leads to obesity. Evidence is accumulating that the anti-obesity agent sibutramine hydrochloride may be effective in treating binge eating disorder. In a study of 60 obese outpatients, investigators from Rio de …