Cancer: The Problem of Early Diagnosis (NCI and American Cancer Society, 1949)

This film is an overview of the five most deadly forms of cancer and emphasizes the need for early detection. It shows the symptoms, maturation, examination, and effective treatment including the surgery for breast, cervix, stomach, rectum, and lung cancers. It gives statistics and mortality rates for each type. It also includes a dramatization of the 1881 first stomach cancer operation performed by Dr. Billroth in Vienna, Austria. Film says simple mastectomies have no place in cancer operations. Produced by the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute.

First Aid for Non-Battle Injuries (US Army, 1943)

In this film, the elementary principles of first aid for soldiers in the field are presented. The emphasis is on what the soldier should do before medical help arrives. He is shown how to put everyday objects and personal items to good use in emergency situations. The film is narrated over footage of soldiers in the field.

Emphysema (University of Washington School of Medicine, 1959)

This film begins by introducing a man named Mr. Mack. The camera follows Mr. Mack, a patient with severe emphysema, as he struggles to walk up the stairs to his doctor's office due to shortness of breath. The narrator gives a very bleak description of Mr. Mack, explaining that he has experienced many different respiratory diseases in his lifetime which have made him feel useless and embarrassed. He cannot do most simple everyday tasks, and therefore suffers depression.

The Nurse Combats Disease (Communicable Disease Center, 1962)

This program reviews with the aid of drawings the nurse's role in the prevention of disease. Emphasis is placed on factors which influence the transmission of disease. Techniques which can be used for preventing the transmission of disease are reviewed. Factors which affect the natural history of disease are also discussed. These factors include the characteristics of the organisms which cause disease and host resistance. Environmental factors such as climate which have an effect on disease and the organism's ability to resist it are identified.

Research in the US Public Health Service Hospitals (U.S. Public Health Service, 1961)

The work and patient population of the USPHS hospitals is outlined. Dr. John J. Walsh, director of research at the Seamen's Memorial Laboratory in New Orleans gives a report of the research activities carried out at the Laboratory. These include research in parasitic infections, in regional perfusion in the treatment of malignancies, in the dilated heart, in endoplasmic cellular membranes, in drug action at the basic macromolecular level, and in the effect of drugs on the force of the contraction of the heart muscle.

Triplet Pregnancy: One Intrauterine, Two Extrauterine (John Irwin and Billy Burke Productions, 1961)

This film shows an operation performed on a woman pregnant with triplets at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles, California. One of the fetuses has died prior to birth. Doctors are shown scrubbing in preparation for surgery, then performing a laparotomy for delivery. Afterwards, the procedure for restoring the patient’s abdomen is shown. The stillborn fetus is examined, and a diagnosis is made of an interstitio-isthmal pregnancy.

The Battle to Breathe (Independent Life & Accident Insurance Co., 1968)

This film features three elderly men, Bill, a former soldier, Frank, a former construction worker, and Harry, a former farmer, all of whom now have emphysema. An interviewer visits each man to ask about his experiences with and thoughts about the disease, starting with Bill. Bill's wife laments that he has grown very weak and can now do nothing recreational except read and weave. He is a schoolteacher, but he spends almost all of his free time in bed. Bill admits that he feels judged by people in public and is embarrassed about his condition.

Tobacco and the Human Body (Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Inc., 1954)

This film starts with a look at the cultivation of tobacco and its role in the economy, and moves on to an examination of the many substances found in cigarettes, how those substances are transformed by burning, and the harmful effect of smoking on the body. Effects on the nervous, cardiac, and respiratory systems are described and shown with animated sequences. Animal experiments that illustrate the physiological impact of nicotine, tar, and other substances are shown.

Decompression Sickness Project (Edmund Newton Harvery, 1944)

This film shows experiments conducted during World War II on behalf of the National Research Council to better understand decompression sickness. Dr. Edmund Newton Harvey was best known for his research on bioluminescence, but he also conducted applied research in areas such as wound ballistics and aviation physiology. In these experiments, Harvey explores the phenomenon of bubble formation in blood and tissue.

Cancer Among Veterans: Early Diagnosis (U.S. Veterans Administration, 1946)

This film describes cancers of the mouth, lip, throat, neck, eye, nose, and skin in both early and advanced, severe stages. It discusses the need for early diagnosis and treatment, probable causes of such cancers, the need for research, and the modern facilities available at the Veterans Hospital in Hines, Illinois. Produced by the U.S. Veterans Administration.

One of Sixteen Million (Arthritis Foundation, 1968)

This cartoon features a main character named George who finds himself feeling old, achy, and exhausted. He falls down, drops things often, and is unable to keep up with his family. George's wife suggests that he see a doctor, and he reluctantly goes. He is diagnosed with arthritis. The doctor uses scientific terminology that George cannot understand, and he feels defeated by the situation. His friends suggest a number of possible remedies for his arthritis, none of which sound promising to George. His condition worsens, and he again grudgingly visits the doctor.

Smoking and You (British Information Services, 1963)

In this film, a narrator discusses with multiple visual aids the dangers of smoking. He first compares smoking cigarettes to chimneys, explaining the natural processes of the lungs and how cigarettes alter them, using a simplified lung diagram. The film shows several clips of men who have been handicapped as a result of smoking. The narrator then explains a smoking machine, which emulates human smoking and collects cigarette tar in glass bottles. Jars of tar in increasing sizes are shown to represent tar intake over time by smokers.

Malignant Tumors of the Lungs (Assn of American Medical Colleges, 1953)

This film shows, by means of cinefluorography, the normal lungs, bronchiogenic carcinoma, carcinoma with abscess formation, metastases of seminoma, and metastases of sarcoma with bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/8700985A(link is external). Learn more about the National Library of Medicine's historical audiovisuals program at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films(link is external)

Surgical Correction of Dissecting Aneurysm of Ascending Aorta... (Baylor College of Medicine, 1963)

This program presents a case of a thirty year old man with Marfan's syndrome to illustrate the surgical procedure for correcting a dissecting aneurysm of the ascending aorta with aortic valvular insufficiency. The patient's preoperative physical findings and aortograms which indicate the need for this surgery are presented. In this instance the entire ascending portion of the aorta is involved. The transverse and descending aorta are not considered unusual.