Towards the Quest for Modern Medicine

Osteomalacia is a bone mineralization disorder and is most common in pregnant women. In the 1880s, when its cause was unknown, the main symptom of softened pelvis became the key indicator for carrying out caesarean section and oophorectomy. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Peking Union Medical College (Beijing Xiehe Yixueyuan 北京协和医学院) conducted further scientific studies on osteomalacia. Based on medical publications and Western press reports of the 19th and 20th centuries, this paper discusses the background to this research, its development, clinical value and the social contribution of such studies. It points out that through epidemiological surveys and experiments on calcium and phosphorus metabolism, the research team revealed the important role of vitamin D in calcium and phosphorus absorption and metabolism. Then, through radiological and bone histological studies, they proved that osteomalacia was a class of rickets, bringing a complication of obstetrics surgery back to the sphere of internal medicine treatment. This medical research set a precedent for bone metabolism research in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Peking Union Medical College and had a profound impact on the development of modern medicine in China.