Book Description

Music & Medicine, a three-volume series, describes the interplay between inspiration and illness in the lives of the great composers of the 18th and 19th centuries.Volume 1 covers Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert.Volume 2 includes Hummel, Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Bruckner. Volume 3 includes Chopin, Smetana, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A thought-provoking look at the composers' lives and health.
Anyone with an interest in classical music will find this book fascinating, especially if you've heard stories about Beethoven's deafness, and Schubert's syphilis, stories that have been repeated so often they are taken for fact. Dr. Neumayr read copious letters and notes about the 4 composers, and came to his own conclusions about their medical histories, giving us background as to what medical practices were at the time, and what would have been standard treatments and understandings of health. Even if you're horrified by what you read (Beethoven being punctured to relieve his abdominal swelling due to fluid retention) you'll come away with renewed compassion for not just the composers, but all people who lived and died in the 18-19th centuries. You'll love the music of these masters even more when you find out what their lives were really like! ... Read more

Book Description

This book tells the extraordinary story of how the function of the first- and so far almost the only- human organ was replaced by a machine, and the "artificial kidney" entered medical and public folk-lore.A practical articial kidney, or dialyser, came by advances in science followed by the acquisition of new synthetic materials which made the application of these ideas possible.However it was the dedication and persistence of a number of talented pioneers who pressed ahead against professional oppostion to achieve success, first in the treatment of temporary, recoverable kidney failure, and then permanent renal shut-down which made it a success.The apparent high cost and limited availability of this form of treatment immediately raised ethical questiond which had never been questioned before, centering around equity of access to treatment, when and if treatment could be denied, and- worst of all- the agonising decision of when, once established, it should be stopped. Spiralling costs as the true number of people with kidney failure became evident raised major political and financial questions, which were addressed in different countries in different ways which reflected- but also helped change- patterns of how medical care is provided.In developed countries, the problem could be solved by allocating a disproportionate amount of money to the treatment of relatively few kidney patients, but in the developing world the cost of treatment still limits its availability, as it does all forms of modern health care. Nevertheless, today almost one million people world-wide are maintained alive following terminal kidney failure, two thirds of them by various forms of dialysis and the remainder bearing kidney transplants, almost always placed after a period on dialysis.The story is also the sum of the often heroic lives of these hundreds of thousands of patients, a few of whom have today been maintained alive and active for more than 35 years, and many of whom suffered known, but also unexpected complications as a result of their treatment. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

A Classic!
This book is truely a classic work of history. Although I also read it for a class (Medicine and Society in America), I recommend it to anyone with an interest in medicine, public health, religion, and general social history. In three parallel sections, the book relates the details of the 1832, 1849, and 1866 cholera epidemics. This structure results in some repetition but is needed to fully seen the connections/changes over time. It is extensively footnoted (I recommend you read these too - very interesting) and has a large bibliography... without seeming "overly academic." ENJOY.

A great medical history study
Although it was read in conjunction with an urban history class, I found this book to be very engaging and moving. Rosenberg's writing flows easily through a very disturbing subject. He sets up very fluid parallels between the epidemic's appearance at all three major years: 1832, 1849, and 1866. Of special interest is the role of the NYC Metropolitan Board of Health in controlling and defeating the epidemic.. I hope I didn't ruin the ending for any interested readers: NYC is still a healthy city, despite outbreaks like the ones that Rosenberg identifies... ... Read more

Book Description

This giant book - 512 pages, 6" wide and 13" tall - is the most comprehensive and luxurious book on the system and wisdom of Chinese traditional medicine yet published in the Western world.This tall, narrow, 1 1/2" thick volume is bound in exquisite Chinese satin.

With effective treatment that has withstood the test of time, Chinese Natural Cures is a comprehensive and infinitely useful compendium of health care advice.

HMO's acceptance of alternative medicine has greatly increased interest in this book's techniques.

From the common cold to insomnia to hypertension to arthritis, diagnosis sections recommend treatments that can be made in the home.

Readers will learn licorice cures for relief of abdominal pain, how to use pistachios to fight impotence, and grapes to promote longevity and strengthen bones - among hundreds of other age-old remedies.

Whether you're suffering from a serious disease or simply want to achieve optimum health, Chinese Natural Cures will show you easy, proven methods to a healthier, longer life. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

not as good as it looks
This is an incredibly beautiful *looking* book, but its lavish design can be deceptive. Though it *does* have a lot of useful information, the book needed to be proofread again before it was printed on such beautiful glossy stock . . . for one thing, it is hopelessly repetitive--if you look up "garlic" in the index, you will find the exact same paragraphs about garlic in four different places.

Dr. Lu deserves the highest respect for his knowledge of Chinese herbs and food cures, and is to be commended for his willingness to pass this knowledge along. However, the poor organization of this book make it confounding. One section will be about herbs that are named after their smell, another section about herbs that are named after their color, etc. instead of classifying them by what they do. (There are far better books available about Chinese herbs. I would recommend "Chinese Herbal Secrets : The Key to Total Health" by Stefan Chmelik.) If someone had spent more time compiling the index, the book would have been much more useful, but as it is, you often have to thumb through the 500+ pages to find what you're looking for. Dr. Lu's "Chinese System of Food Cures: Prevention & Remedies" has a good index, so I often pick up this instead if I need to look up something about the properties of foods.

Overall, there is no question in my mind that Paul Pitchford's "Healing wih Whole Foods: Oriental Traditions and Modern Nutrition" is a far superior book, although Pitchford's approach is a blend of Chinese and other influences. Then again, Pitchford's suggestions are always reasonable, while Dr. Lu will sometimes recommend cures that are a little wacky. Example: to cure ulcers, eat (drink?) 1/2 cup of steamed honey three times a day for two to three weeks. Maybe this works, but if I tried it, I'd pass out from a sugar overdose. Dr. Lu is at his wackiest when he discusses weight loss. He lost all credibility with one of my patients when she read his tongue-in-cheek suggestion that Western doctors start doing surgery on obese men to implant them with an additional testicle. "I am amazed that our surgeons, so capable of cutting up the body, have not contemplated the possibility of testes transplantaion, which should cure obesity and impotence at the same time and make the medical profession far more respectable." (pg. 307). For suggestions one will actually use, one has to sift through this book with critical faculties fully awake. Depite Dr. Lu's vast knowledge, I always take what he says with, well, a grain of salt.

I wish I could recommend this book more highly, because it has a beautiful layout and, contains a treasure trove of information. Furthermore, Dr. Lu knows more about traditional Chinese food cures than almost anyone. Perhaps what you should do is buy it, and keep it on your coffee table (or should I say herbal tea table). Your guests will find it interesting, and every once in a while you'll go back to it, for it has material you probably won't find anywhere else.

Good Info, bad format
Although this book has a lot of good information, it will take you awhile to find what you need. It is poorly organized and sometimes wordy. While at first the books unique size and silky appearance are alluring, the book is heavy, does not fit well in my bookshelf and the shiny pages can make it difficult to read.

Plus and Minus - Content and Organization
This book by Henry Lu is, by far, the most comprehensive to date. This book included a discussion on Chinese medical theory. For any practicioner of Chinese Medicine, these are wasted pages. For those unfamiliar with Chinese Medicine, this section may be helpful (though I would recommend other sources for a better discussion). I found Henry Lu's numberical weighting of symptoms to diagnose a condition to be confusing and ultimately not helpful. While I liked the section for specific ailments and their dietary recommendations, they are not organized in alphabetical order so that finding what you are looking for is very frustrating. The section on the stories behind the herbs is great and helps them stick in your mind - a nice resource for those who need to memorize the herbs for classes or practice. Overall, this book has a lot of great information that hasn't been presented before, but the poor organization really cuts into it's usefulness when picking it up off the shelf to quickly gather information. Definitely not a "handbook", but pretty good price for the information - if you are willing to pour through it.

Comprehensive
This book is fairly thorough and comprehensive. It is very well-researched and definitely not a fluffy introductory "For Dummies" read. I especially enjoyed the folk tales about the major herbs. Out of all the books (that are written English) on Chinese herbal medicine out there in print, I would definitely recommend this one. The only flaw that I would like to point out that the index of this book is very poorly organized. Also, please note that this book is not in any way as comprehensive as the ancient Chinese medical text "Ben Cao Gang Mu".

Well organized format and practical approach
This is a comprehensive collection of healing, preventive cures and long-term health regimen using traditional chinese methods such as herbology, food cures, and chinese acupuncture formula. The chinese healing and energy principles are discussed in the beginning chapter and is a mandatory reading before skipping to the details of the proceeding chapters. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1932, the U.S. Public Health

Service recruited 623 African

American men from Macon County, Alabama, for a study of "the effects of untreated syphilis in the Negro male." For the next 40 years—even after the development of penicillin, the cure for syphilis—these men were denied medical care for this potentially fatal disease. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was exposed in 1972, and in 1975 the government settled a lawsuit but stopped short of admitting wrongdoing. In 1997, President Bill Clinton welcomed five of the Study survivors to the White House and, on behalf of the nation, officially apologized for an experiment he described as wrongful and racist. In this book, the attorney for the men describes the background of the Study, the investigation and the lawsuit, the events leading up to the Presidential apology, and the ongoing efforts to see that out of this painful and tragic episode of American history comes lasting good. ... Read more

Book Description

This penetrating study of medicine in our times addresses one of its most baffling paradoxes as it explores the widening gulf between achievement and advancement. For while the medical accomplishments of the postwar years stand at the front ranks of human endeavor, advances in medicine have recently slowed to a near halt. In the three decades after the war, medicine won the wars against polio and diphtheria. It developed treatments to control the progress of Parkinson's, rheumatoid arthritis, and schizophrenia. It made realities of open-heart surgery, organ transplants, test-tube babies. For thirty years clinical science, medical technology, and pharmaceutical innovation thrived. And then, abruptly, optimism faded. Social theories of medicine and the new genetics hobbled research. The apparently unstoppable forward march of modern medicine stopped. This judicious volume compellingly illustrates both the power of the scientific method in pushing forward the boundaries of medical knowledge and the constraints posed on it by human vanities and the mysteries of biology. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

The rise and fall of modern medicine
This is a brilliant book and I am amazed that this is the first review. It is a 'tour de force'. It brings together many threads of the great advances of modern medicine post war and chronicles how the golden age petered out eg the pharmacological revolution slowed rapidly particularly post thalidimide. It explores the fallacies and cheating which gave us the Social Theory ie ill health is all our own fault because of what we eat - we shouldn't eat so many lamb chops or choccie bikkies - and the unfulfilled expectations of genetics and its possible limited application in medicine. It is both scholarly and readable as well as becoming quite compelling. Even if the bloke is a journalist this is stunning stuff. I am still searching for an effective contrary view.

The 12 definitive moments alone are worth the book
This book (written by J. Le Fanu, a medical journalist) attempts to synthetise the history of modern medicine as well as takes a critical look at present-day medical care. Titled "The Rise & Fall...", it appropriately begins with the Rise. Le Fanu has selected twelve discoveries that have allowed significant improvement in medicine in the past 50 years (of course, that leaves other important breakthroughs unaccounted). The description of the people involved in these discoveries - often medical practitioners or others busy with their everyday work, not laboratory-confined geniuses - is excellent. I loved in particular the account of the polio epidemic and the first use of positive-pressure mechanical ventilation on a large scale - using medical students as "pump power"!.

After this self-titled "lenghty prologue", however, my enthusiasm cooled down a little. Le Fanu sets out to answer four paradoxes of modern medical care: Why are so many medical practitioners disappointed with their job? Why are people so worried about their health while the health of the population at large never has been better? Why has alternative medicine become so popular? How can we cope with the rising costs of medical care? In "The Fall", Le Fanu takes aim at two domains of present-day medicine (what we could call "Epidemiology of modifiable risk factors" and "Genetic basis of disease") that are probably over-emphasized currently, but that hold lots of promise for the future. His condemning genetic therapy, in particular, is untimely: this technique is still at its birth.

Nevertheless, this book is worth having for the excellent historical insights it gives about medicine in the last half-century.

Provocative - but read with a grain of salt
This is an original and provocative view of the failings of modern medicine that I would recommend to anyone in the profession. I found parts of the book uneven. Specifically, the historical aspects were outstanding and obviously thoroughly researched. In contrast, the sections devoted to genetics and epidemiology came across as superficial. This book is essentially a long editorial, and as such, should be read with a large grain of salt. Nonetheless, it offers a unique perspective.

Fascinating read, interesting hypothesis
A must read for anyone blinded by medicine's apparent glory and victories over human disease. This book exposes the past in which medicine's landmark discoveries/ events are shown to be mostly a combination of chance, persistance, mindless trial and error or even freak accident. From modern medicines illustrious history '10 definitive moments' have been selected by the author to illustrate the events that have led to the glorified status that medicine holds in our western society. Beginning with Penicillin in 1941 and ending with the discovery of Helicobacter, the cause of peptic ulcers, in 1984. These accounts make any reader wide-eyed at the simplicity of some of the research designs and truck loads of luck involved in the discoveries. This portion of the novel is full of interesting facts concerning the '10 definitive moments' written in rich narrative rather than a more conventional dry historical account to keep any reader glued to his lazy chair.

The next portion of the book is an elaborate argument for his hypothesis; that medicine has long ago reached it epiphany and is currently in the decent phase, "The Fall". He gives convincing arguments for his opinion which makes a reader think about it even if one isn't totally convinced.

The Title, "The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine" caught my attention and once I opened the book the words trapped me until the last page was turned. Even after closing the book I considered his hypothesis and reflected on it, which has spawned me to follow up on some of his references and read some of them. In my opinion any book that causes such a fury of reading, thought, and reference checking and further reading is worth a look by any casually interested reader.

Provocative and infuriating survey
The Telegraph's medical columnist claims that medicine's golden age was from 1945 to 1980, due to the chance discovery of drugs, advances in clinical science and innovative technology. He believes that it is now exhausted, and laments that the vacuum is being filled by what he thinks are the dead ends of New Genetics, epidemiology and social medicine. It is untimely to write off genetics when the Human Genome Project offers such exciting possibilities.

He calls for more research into the causes of disease, and rightly rejects idealist explanations. Doctors used to think that peptic ulcers were due to 'stress' or 'personality', but in 1984, Barry Marshall, a young Australian doctor, identified a type of bacterium that triggered them. A seven-day course of antibiotics was the cure. The same organism caused two-thirds of stomach cancer cases. In 1986, Thomas Grayston discovered that the bacterium chlamydia caused heart disease. Perhaps as yet undiscovered bacteria cause arthritis, schizophrenia, leukaemia, MS, diabetes and ME.

He has a brilliant chapter on how the use of new drugs refuted Freudianism, as chlorpromazine effectively relieved schizophrenia's symptoms, lithium mania's, prozac depression's and valium anxiety's.

Le Fanu shows that the influential historian of medicine Thomas McKeown wrongly denied doctors the credit for tuberculosis's decline. Doctors' seclusion of TB patients in sanatoria dramatically reduced the infection's incidence.

He argues against social medicine, rejecting all social and economic explanations of illness. But lifestyle changes - losing weight, improving diet and exercising more - do prevent diabetes and promote health and well-being (British Medical Journal, 14 July 2001, page 63.)

He claims that medicine has run its course. We have seen the misanthropic idea of the end of history, of politics, of industry and of class. Now Le Fanu pronounces the end of medicine. This is a provocative and infuriating book, full of ideas and prejudices. We need the tests of practice to see what he has got right. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A well rounded view of Civil War medicine!
Gangrene and Glory is a great book covering just about every aspect of medical related issues in the Civil War. It covers key players in the development of medical affairs while bringing forth quite a bit of information to many subject matters. For example, some of the subject matters consist of Confederate/Union healthcare,development,training,medicine,supply,diseases and surgical procedures on and off of the battlefield. Interesting stories are added to certain areas which enhance the book, plus there is mathematical data to back up the chapters. This book is a must read for those interested in medicine and medical operations during the Civil War. It is a somewhat fast read, though gets to the point and has many pictures and is thoughtfully easy to read.

reads like a novel
This exciting work reads like a novel. It is full of pictures and graphs, but if you read the book from the first page you find that your are engrossed in a story full of vivid descriptions and action.

bloody guts
This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject of Civil War medicine.

author's response
I am stimulated to write a review by the previous reviewer. He, perhaps, was looking for an explanatory work with chapters on doctors, nurse, hospitals, etc. The present work tells a story, one might say it reads like a novel. The book describes what happens but only with information available to contemporaries. The doctor-reader can try to use his medical knowledge to make a diagnosis. But the work is not just for doctors: it tells the importance of medical care to the war efforts of North and South and tries to argue that the superior medical care of the North was partially responsible for the Union victory. The miserable diseases and horrible wounds (gangrene) show how horrible the war was for participants and balances the rosy picture of the war given by other works (glory). I hope I can be pardoned for giving my own work 5 stars.

Not what I was looking for.
The information in this book was helpful to me up to a point. But my research required much more detail. But a overall good book. ... Read more

Book Description

AIDS. Ebola. Outbreak. "Killer microbes." The Hot Zone and The Coming Plague. All around us the alarms are going off, warning of the danger of new, deadly diseases. And yet, as Nancy Tomes reminds us in her absorbing book, this is really nothing new. A remarkable work of medical and cultural history, The Gospel of Germs takes us back to the first great "germ panic" in American history, which peaked in the early 1900s, to explore the origins of our modern disease consciousness. ... Read more

Book Description

A successor to his popular book A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, this new collection of essays by Jan Bondeson illustrates various anomalies of human development, the lives of the remarkable individuals concerned, and social reactions to their extraordinary bodies.

Bondeson examines historical cases of dwarfism, extreme corpulence, giantism, conjoined twins, dicephaly, and extreme hairiness; his broader theme, however, is the infinite range of human experience.The dicephalous Tocci brothers and Lazarus Colloredo (from whose belly grew his malformed conjoined twin), the Swedish giant, and the king of Poland's dwarf--Bondeson considers these individuals not as "freaks" but as human beings born with sometimes appalling congenital deformities. He makes full use of original French, German, Dutch, Polish, and Scandinavian sources and explores elements of ethnology, literature, and cultural history in his diagnoses.

Heavily illustrated with woodcuts, engravings, oil paintings, and photographs, The Two-Headed Boy and Other Medical Marvels combines a scientist's scrutiny with a humanist's wonder at the endurance of the human spirit.

Contents The Two Inseparable Brothers, and a Preface The Hairy Maid at the Harpsichord The Stone-child The Woman Who Laid an Egg The Strangest Miracle in the World Some Words about Hog-faced Gentlewomen Horned Humans The Biddenden Maids The Tocci Brothers, and Other Dicephali The King of Poland’s Court Dwarf

Daniel Cajanus, the Swedish Giant Daniel Lambert, the Human Colossus Cat-eating Englishmen and French Frog-swallowers ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Fascinating Book
Author/physician Jan Bondeson's work, THE TWO-HEADED BOY & OTHER MEDICAL MARVELS is itself a marvel -- it is a sensitive, humane discourse on cases in teratology (the study of congenital malformations). The word teratology derives from the Greek root 'terato' which is often translated as "monstrous" or "freak", however it also means "wondrous" and "marvelous". Dr. Bondeson never loses sight of his subjects' humanity and focuses on the wondrous aspect of teratology.

Dr. Bondeson's work is well-written and meticulously-researched. He discusses teratology cases from the Middle Ages through the Victorian Era, often providing contemporaneous illustrations and an occasional photograph. The book focuses records of multiple-headed individuals (conjoined twins), dog people (hirsuitism), and stone children (lithopedia), among other things. Dr. Bondeson examines and analyzes archives and reports of medical marvels which sound like legends, myths, fairy tales and ingeniously-contrived hoaxes. The book reads like a good mystery novel with Dr. Bondeson as the detective. He offers plausible medical explanations for accounts which, otherwise, would seem questionable, if not outright fanciful.

another great book from Jan Bondeson
although we are taught that our interests in "freaks" is wrong and twisted, Jan Bondeson challenges this idea and takes us back to a time when such curiosity was normal and accepted, and some freaks were like rock stars. This book is intelligent, well written, insightful and very interesting. With excellent research Mr. Bondeson shows us how these people lived, some of their joys and many of their sorrows. He deconstructs some of the mythology that surronds these people and their stories. He shows us formost that they are simply people. I highly recomment it. ... Read more

Book Description

The human brain may be the single most complex object in the universe, and one of the most difficult to access. But in the nineteenth century, ever-curious men of science set out to penetrate the dark mysteries of the mind, searching for answers to the question: What makes one man a genius and another a criminal? In short time, their search became a magnificent obsession.

In Postcards from the Brain Museum, author Brian Burrell traces the history of this fascination as he tells the incredible true story of science’s attempt to locate the anatomical signs of brilliance, madness, and cruelty. In elegant prose, Burrell focuses on the posthumous sagas of brains belonging to notorious criminals and to such luminary leaders and thinkers as Albert Einstein, Walt Whitman, and Vladimir Lenin, revealing the peculiar mania of the scientists who dissected the specimens and the sometimes cruel fates of the brains themselves.

As Burrell follows this quixotic trail of geniuses and madmen, traveling around the globe to visit the collections of brains now gathering dust in their jars, he struggles to locate the point at which science begins and obsession leaves off. In the process, he unearths a forgotten byway in the history of science—a mesmerizing tale of colorful eccentrics bent on laying bare the secrets of the human mind. The final result is an enlightening account that is sometimes ghoulish, often bizarre, and thoroughly compelling.

Reviews (2)

INtegrative medicine- isn't about time?
Dr. Eisenberg is one of the poineers of the Integartive medicine in US ( which is a fussion between the conventional and alternative therapies). Western medicine has achieved things that seemed imposible 1-2 centuries ago, but it seems to be stuck with its overly rationalistic approach toward disease...is the body functioning depending from the mind? Can attitude affect one's well- being? Could ther e be somthing that we still do not know about human physiology? Western science is just entering the realm of mind/body medicine( neuroscience), while some nations (like Chinese) have millenia long history of practicing and perfecting those methods of treatment....so why not learn to use those methods? Why not integrate them into conventional western medicine? Partly because the public and the medical proffessionals are not aware of all those options, and also because there is still some stigma in medical society about the alternative practices. Dr. Eisengberg's book disspels part of that stigma in a very easy to read, livelly and plesant style...

A pilgrimage for new solutions for Western medicine
David Eisenberg, MD, embarked upon a pilgrimage under the auspices of Harvard to China to see if ancient medical alternatives hold new promise for Western medicine. His entrepreneurial approach is admirable and opens new possibilities for the West that have been already embraced by hundreds of millions of Chinese in some cases for many centuries. The shift in interest to Oriental medicine in the quest for new alternatives commands attention. The most critical asset for Western minds viewing Oriental medicine would seem to be an open mind. Yes, the West has made great medical strides but we don't have all the answers. Why should Western bias pre-empt potentially viable solutions that have attained credence through the tests of time and strength of following elsewhere? The Afterword in this edition suggests that Americans by the tens of millions are searching for new options, especially when patients face chronic pain thwarted by Western approaches. I congratulate Dr. Eisenberg for his creative approach and imagination and hope that appropriate testing protocol will help validate those remedies that have the greatest potential in the U.S. and elsewhere. The potential upside benefit for the quality of life of millions should drive progress on this frontier emerging in the West. ... Read more

Book Description

The Body in the Library is a unique tour of the history of medicine and its practitioners. It provides a nuanced and realistic picture of how medicine and society have abetted and thwarted each other ever since the lawyers behind the French Revolution banished the clergy and replaced them with doctors, priests of the body.

Ranging from Charles Dickens to Oliver Sacks, Anton Chekhov to Raymond Queneau, Fanny Burney to Virginia Woolf, Miguel Torga to Guido Ceronetti, The Body in the Library is an anthology of poems, stories, journal entries, Socratic dialogue, table-talk, clinical vignettes, aphorisms, and excerpts written by doctor-writers themselves.

Engaging and provocative, philosophical and instructive, intermittently funny and sometimes appalling, this anthology sets out to stimulate and entertain. With an acerbic introduction and witty contextual preface to each account, it will educate both patients and doctors curious to know more about the historical dimensions of medical practice.

Armed with a first-hand experience of liberal medicine and knowledge of several languages, Iain Bamforth has scoured the literatures of Europe to provide a well-rounded and cross-cultural sense of what it means to be a doctor entering the twenty-first century. A book for every bedside. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a history of the training and work of East African doctors since modern medicine began in the region during the 1870s. It discussesrecruitment and education of doctors, their understanding and practice of modern medicine, the struggle to secure professional status and to preserve it amid recent political and economic decline. Proposing a new understanding of professionalization in the Third World, it ends with an account of their important contributionto the study and control of AIDS. ... Read more

Book Description

A photographic tribute to the man who changed the practice of medicine.

A little over a hundred years ago, becoming a doctor was dangerously easy. Admission requirements for training were low and the M.D. was automatically given after the second term, regardless of the student's academic performance. Teaching was by lecture alone, and a student could graduate without ever seeing a patient.

Within the space of his lifetime William Osler (1849-1919) worked tirelessly to change medical schools from trade schools into intellectually demanding academic institutions. Osler founded the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and later became a professor emeritus of medicine at Oxford University.

Doctors' Work shows how one remarkable man revolutionized medical schools and redefined the physician-patient relationship.

A biographical profile of Osler is followed by photographs of physicians, nurses, and medical technicians at work. Photographed by Ted Grant using extremely high-speed film and virtually silent cameras, these images capture the compassion and dedication of front-line healthcare professionals. Each photograph is accompanied with an insightful quotation by Osler, Pasteur, Curie, Einstein, Nightingale, and many others.

Through words and photographs, Doctors' Work is a celebration of MDs, RNs and health care professionals everywhere. ... Read more

Book Description

From reflexology and rolfing to shiatsu and dream work, we are confronted today by a welter of alternative medical therapies. But as James Whorton shows in Nature Cures, the recent explosion in alternative medicine actually reflects two centuries of competition and conflict between mainstream medicine and numerous unorthodox systems.This is the first comprehensive history of alternative medicine in America, examining the major systems that have emerged from 1800 to the present. Writing with wit and with fairness to all sides, Whorton offers a fascinating look at alternative health systems such ashomeopathy, water cures, Mesmerism, Christian Science, osteopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy, and acupuncture. He highlights the birth and growth of each system (including European roots where appropriate) and vividly describes both the theories and the therapies developed within each system, including such dubious practices as hour-long walks barefoot in snow or Samuel Thompson's "puking and steaming" regimen. In particular, Whorton illuminates the philosophy of "natural healing" that has been espoused by alternative practitioners throughout history and the distinctive interpretations of "nature cure" developed by the different systems. Though he doesn't hesitate to point out the failings of these systems, he also shows that some "cult medicines" have eventually won recognition from practitioners of mainstream medicine. Throughout, Whorton writes with a light touch and quotes from contemporaryhumorists such as Mark Twain. His book is an engaging yet authoritative history that highlights the course of alternative medicine in the U.S., providing valuable background to the wide range of therapies available today. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Presents the history of alternative medicine in America
Nature Cures presents the history of alternative medicine in America, showing that the recent rise of alternative medicine actually reflects two centuries of competition between mainstream medicine and unorthodox systems. In providing a running history of alternative medicine, author James Whorton enables readers to analyze the progress, successes and failures of both traditional and alternative treatments. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the book which elevated the spleen and stomach to pivotal importance in the theory and practice of tcm. However, it also introduced the concept of yin fire, perhaps the most important concept in understanding complicated internal diseases and their systemic ramifications. Li’s formulas are treasure troves for those dealing with autoimmune and immune deficiency diseases. This book will help clinicians solve many thorny problems in practice ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Notes by the master of supplementing-earth
The Pi Wei Lun, or Spleen-Stomach Treatise, is the magnum opus of Li Gao, styled Li Dong-yuan, one of the four great masters of Chinese medicine during the Jin and Yuan dynasties. Li was the founder of the bu tu pai, or supplementing-earth school of medical thought, which continues to exert a profound influence on modern Chinese herbal medicine; many standard herbal prescriptions used in teaching and in practice were first recorded or devised by Li Gao. In the Pi Wei Lun, Li outlines both the classical and practical foundations of this school.

One of the most fascinating portions of the Pi Wei Lun is Li's commentaries on earlier classic works, including the Nei Jing, Nan Jing, and the works of Zhang Ji (Zhang Zhong-jing). Indeed, by revealing his thoughts on these sources, he makes it clear that the importance of spleen-stomach theory had been realized well in advance of the Jin and Yuan. It was, however, the Chinese medical "renaissance" of that period that recapitulated so much of what had earlier been said on the subject and advanced it as an integrated basis for the practice of internal medicine.

Li's writing is not straightforward or systematic. Rather, the Pi Wei Lun is a collection of notes and essays on spleen-stomach theory. Although many example prescriptions are listed, relatively little is offered by way of explanation. As in many historical works on the subject of Chinese medicine, it is assumed that the reader is both astute and very learned. The translators thoughtfully included many footnotes and glosses for the benefit of modern readers, but even these assume a level of proficiency at least commensurate with professional practice. It is a book to be lived with, as opposed to merely read. Nevertheless, for its information on composing prescriptions, the variations of treatment through the seasons, comments on classical references to spleen-stomach issues, food damage, "yin fire," and clinical applications, the Pi Wei Lun is essential reading. ... Read more

Book Description

A sleepwalking, homicidal nursemaid; a "morally vacant" juvenile poisoner; a man driven to arson by a "lesion of the will"; an articulate and poised man on trial for assault who, while conducting his own defense, undergoes a profound personality change and becomes a wild and delusional "alter." These people are not characters from a mystery novelist's vivid imagination, but rather defendants who were tried at the Old Bailey, London's central criminal court, in the mid-nineteenth century. In Unconscious Crime, Joel Peter Eigen explores these and other cases in which defendants did not conform to any of the Victorian legal system's existing definitions of insanity yet displayed convincing evidence of mental aberration. Instead, they were—or claimed to be—"missing," "absent," or "unconscious": lucid, though unaware of their actions.

Based on extensive research in the Old Bailey Sessions Papers (verbatim courtroom narratives taken down in shorthand during the trial and sold on the street the following day), Eigen's book reveals a growing estrangement between law and medicine over the legal concept of the Person as a rational and purposeful actor with a clear understanding of consequences. The McNaughtan Rules of l843 had formalized the Victorian insanity plea, guiding the courts in cases of alleged delusion and derangement. But as Eigen makes clear in the cases he discovered, even though defense attorneys attempted to broaden the definition of insanity to include mental absence, the courts and physicians who testified as experts were wary of these novel challenges to the idea of human agency and responsibility. Combining the colorful intrigue of courtroom drama and the keen insights of social history, Unconscious Crime depicts Victorian England's legal and medical cultures confronting a new understanding of human behavior, and provocatively suggests these trials represent the earliest incarnation of double consciousness and multiple personality disorder. ... Read more

Book Description

In American society, the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is considered dangerous, irresponsible, and in some cases illegal. Pregnant women who have even a single drink routinely face openly voiced reproach. Yet fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in infants and children is notoriously difficult to diagnose, and the relationship between alcohol and adverse birth outcomes is riddled with puzzles and paradoxes.

Sociologist Elizabeth M. Armstrong uses fetal alcohol syndrome and the problem of drinking during pregnancy to examine the assumed relationship between somatic and social disorder, the ways in which social problems are individualized, and the intertwining of health and morality that characterizes American society. She traces the evolution of medical knowledge about the effects of alcohol on fetal development, from nineteenth-century debates about drinking and heredity to the modern diagnosis of FAS and its kindred syndromes. She argues that issues of race, class, and gender have influenced medical findings about alcohol and reproduction and that these findings have always reflected broader social and moral preoccupations and, in particular, concerns about women's roles and place in society, as well as the fitness of future generations. Medical beliefs about drinking during pregnancy have often ignored the poverty, chaos, and insufficiency of some women's lives—factors that may be more responsible than alcohol for adverse outcomes in babies and children.

Using primary sources and interviews to explore relationships between doctors and patients and women and their unborn children, Armstrong offers a provocative and detailed analysis ofhow drinking during pregnancy came to be considered a pervasive social problem, despite the uncertainties surrounding the epidemiology and etiology of fetal alcohol syndrome. ... Read more

Book Description

Skin, Steven Connor argues, has never been more visible. The Book of Skin explores the multiple functions of the skin in the cultures of the West. In this vividly illustrated book, Connor draws on evidence from a variety of sources including literary and other forms of public and private writing, especially medical texts, as well as painting, photography, and film, folklore and popular song.

Because of its newfound visibility, skin has never been at once so manifest and so in jeopardy as it is today. This dilemma becomes evident, in Connor’s view, if we examine how skin is displayed and manipulated as a site of inscription. In order to trace our culture’s anxious concerns with the materiality and mortality of skin, Connor’s analysis ranges from the human body itself to photography, from Medieval leprosy, Renaissance flaying, and eternal syphilis to cosmetics, plastic surgery, and skin cancers.

Connor examines the chromatics of skin color and pigmentation, blushing, suntanning, paleness, darkening, tattooing, cutting, the Turin shroud, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man. He also offers engaging explanations for why particular colors are ascribed to feelings and conditions such as green for envy, purple for rage, and yellow for cowardice. Connor’s insights into the obvious and yet unfamiliar terrain of the skin and its place in Western culture ameliorates the intensities and attenuations of touch in cultural history. The Book of Skin bears out James Joyce’s claim that "modern man has an epidermis rather than a soul." ... Read more

Book Description

This absorbing book is the first to describe the most significant medical discoveries throughout history, bringing to life the scientific pioneers responsible for them and the excitement and frustrations that surrounded the final achievements. Two distinguished physicians have selected these breakthroughs from thousands of candidates, and their descriptions and the new information they provide make fascinating reading. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Modern medicine told through its ten greatest discoveries
As we approach the end of the second millenium there will undoubtedly be many books, magazine articles and editorials on the greatest discoveries, people and events that have shaped the world. "Medicine's 10 Greatest Discoveries" is the place to start for someone interested in understanding the evolution of modern medicine. Drs. Friedman and Friedland have written an understandable history of medicine similar to Richard Rhodes' Pulitzer Prize winning effort "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" in which the author teaches physics as we see it through the lives of the principal practioners of the art. Discovery of vaccinations, surgical anesthesia, diagnostic x-rays, antibiotics, and genetic engineering have changed the face of the world, both improving our lives, and creating new questions. Reading about these legends of medicine gives us insight into the personal and intellectual qualities required to make such discoveries. The authors have done a great service if their book stimulates a young person to pursue answers to the questions of the next millenium. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, finishing it in two evenings. My favorite chapter was on Maurice Wilkens and DNA, where ambition, pride, greed and awesome intellect combine to elucidate the structure and function of the gene, the "most significant discovery of the twentieth century". Christopher H. Joy

Review of my textbook.
In the interest of full disclosure:
I am an undergrad at Stanford enrolled in a seminar co-taught by Dr. Friedland.

The text offers a glimpse of the personalities, missed opportunities, and scientific mistakes that normally go unmentioned in classes or textbooks. It is written in an easy, galloping style that draws on the staggering historical insight Dr. Friedman had as a collector of rare medical texts. Chapter I contains several amazing plates taken from Vesalius's Fabrica (Dr. Friedman apparently owned a copy). It also does a good job of getting rid of any naive conceptions of Science as a constant, selfless, and deliberate stampede of progress. And you can read four centuries of edifying gossip without feeling guilty like you're turning your brain to mush.

Some of the chapters suffer from minor organizational problems. They aren't serious enough to obscure the major points, but may force you to re-read some meandering passages. Better editing by the Yale University Press would have avoided this problem. Absent of organizational issues, this book would deserve 5 stars (whatever that means).

I would recommend the book to anyone interested in the history of science/medicine.

Ethnocentric
Though it is an interesting book, I found it to be quite ethnocentric. How can a book that discusses medicine in its totality not mention Avicenna as one of the top 10 discovers. His treatise, Canon of Medicine, was one of the foundations that stimulated the evolution of western medicine. It was one of the standard textbooks of medicine for 7 centerius, including western schools of medicine, and was used till the 1700s. It inlcuded such infomation as:

"Ibn Sina's Qanun contains many of his anatomical findings which are accepted even today. Ibn Sina was the first scientist to describe the minute and graphic description of different parts of the eye, such as conjuctive sclera, cornea, choroid, iris, retina, layer lens, aqueous humour, optic nerve and optic chiasma."

"Ibn Sina condemned conjectures and presumptions in anatomy and called upon physicians and surgeons to base their knowledge on a close study of human body. He observed that Aorta at its origin contains three valves which open when the blood rushes into it from the heart during contraction and closes during relaxation of the heart so that the blood may not be poured back into the heart. He asserts that muscular movements are possible because of the nerves supplied to them, and the perception of pain in the muscles is also due to the nerves."

Or how about this physician:
"Ibn Al-Nafis made major contributions in medicine. His greatest original contribution was the discovery of the blood's circulatory system, which was rediscovered three centuries later. Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to correctly describe the constitution of lungs and gave a description of the Bronchi and the interaction between the human body's vessels for air and blood. Also, he elaborated the function of the coronary arteries as feeding the cardiac muscle. "

Creativity and Innovation
The authors describe details related to the background of what they view as the 10 greatest medical "discoveries", one per chapter. The final chapter explores possible overlapping triggers for innovation among the discoveries:

1. individual or team effort 2. likeability of innovator (most you'd not invite for dinner)
3. funding (individual or government)
4. innovation: planned or sheer luck
5. the role of perseverence, determination and honesty
5... many more

Interesting conclusions emerge that will surprise many. This non-technical book is an easy read for all. It's a delight to discover it's full of useful gems of information, many of which many M.D.'s are not aware of (including 2 or more of the 10 greatest medical discoveries).

Thinking "Outside the box".
An old puzzle requires connecting a square of dots by drawing three connected straight lines. The simple solution, which most people do not consider, depends on extending one line outside the boundary of the dots. The scientists and physicians described in Medicine's 10 Greatest Discoveries frequently had the ability to think "outside the box". They looked at the same data as others, but they saw new and important relationships. What impresses the reader is, not the brilliance of many of the discovers, but their ability to recognize the importance of data that most would consider trivial. These great discoverers were often not likable or engaging personalities; their commitment to their field was frequently obsessive; their social relationships stunted and their great discoveries depended, not so much on brilliance, but more on their enduring curiosity. The book makes compelling reading, because it is not only a history of discovery but also of the querky personalities of a number of the discoverers. The authors skillfully draw conclusions from limited historical data.This book has charm. The reader partakes of the naïve thought that just, maybe, if he had been there, he could have made the same discovery but that he probably would not have wanted to socially "pay the price". This book is like a delicious low calorie meal. How often can one learn a great deal about interesting personalities and events and thoroughly enjoy the experience? ... Read more