Musica Medicus

…………where music and medicine meet

Music lovers are often fascinated by the medical problems of great musicians.  The idea, that these great individuals who gave life so much beauty could suffer and die from ordinary illnesses like us mortals, particularly diseases that are now easily treatable, is fascinating.   Dr C.Y. Huang 黄震遐, a neurologist, wrote a wonderful book in Chinese, 醫說樂韻 , exploring the medical problems of famous musicians.  With his kind permission, Desiree will translate excerpts from the book.


Dr Huang Chen Ya

Huang Chen Ya, specialist doctor in neurology, was educated at Sydney University, Hong Kong University and Singapore National University.  He is a Fellow in the Colleges of Internal Medicine of Australia and Hong Kong.  He taught at Sydney University and Hong Kong University.  He was a consultant for WHO Neurology, president of the Hong Kong Neurology Society, Hong Kong Society for the study of strokes.  He is the treasurer of the Asia Pacific Society for the study of strokes and president of the Hong Kong Foundation of Neurology.  His current interest is on how the nervous system processes Chinese language input and learning issues.


Desiree

Desiree is a final-year university student in Hong Kong.  Her interest is in the performing arts, particular musical theatre. Her bilingual capabilities began early when she was invited to be the Master of Ceremony in both English and Cantonese for various live events. Subsequently she wrote synopses and reviews, and edited scripts in both languages for a film company.  She currently works as an Ambassador for the NetMission Program in the DotAsia organization, and is currently the editor of their Annual Newsletter and the Youth Internet Governance Report.