Showing titles in History & Commentary

As scientists confidently look forward to average life expectancies hitting 100+ years in some Western societies, it’s easy to forget how precarious our grasp on good health has been. It is a struggle no better demonstrated than by the myriad and extraordinary measures that humans have gone to – as diverse as animal sacrifice to stem cell transplants – in their quest to stave off death and disease. Acclaimed historian Mark Jackson takes a fresh global view of mankind’s great battle, exploring both Western and Eastern traditions.

The cells were supposed to die. Instead, they changed everything. When Henrietta Lacks walked into Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951 complaining of vaginal bleeding, neither she nor her doctors could have imagined the medical revolution about to unfold. The cervical cancer that would claim her life at age 31 harbored an extraordinary secret: her cells could live forever. Without her knowledge or consent, those cells would reshape modern medicine. Dubbed "HeLa" cells, Henrietta's tissue became the cornerstone of countless medical breakthroughs.

Når det drejer sig om helbredelse af sygdom og skader, hvordan kan det da være, at nogle mennesker gør alt det rigtige, men bliver ved med at være syge, og andre tilsyneladende ikke gør noget særligt, men alligevel bliver helt raske? Lægen og bestsellerforfatteren Lissa Rankin har brugt 10 år på at finde svarene. Resultatet er "Holistisk medicin", der både tager os med på et spirituelt eventyr og er en vigtig guide til de metoder, der er til rådighed for patienter, når hverken ændringer i livsstil eller lægebehandling har hjulpet dem.

In this fascinating new exploration of mental illness, Professor Brendan Kelly examines ‘madness’ in history and how we have responded to it over the centuries. We travel from the psychiatric institutions of modern India to scientific studies of the brain in Victorian England. We discover the beginnings of formal asylum care and witness the experimental therapies of the cavernous psychiatric hospitals of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Ireland, England, Belgium, Italy, Germany and the United States.

“A fascinating look into the strange and sometimes unbelievable history of hypothermic medicine. Jaekl weaves together a story that is part history lesson and part science thriller. This is truly a must-read for any fan of science and science fiction!” —Douglas Talk, MD/MPH, chief medical...

Was haben Lene, die gesunde Sportlehrerin, Thomas, der lebensfrohe und fitte Lektor, Dominik, der wissenschaftlich erfolgreiche Institutsdirektor und die Katzenmutter Karin gemeinsam? Sie sind plötzlich an Krebs erkrankt und wurden mit modernen medizinischen Behandlungsmethoden therapiert. Ob Krebs im Magen, Enddarm, in der Bauchspeicheldrüse oder im lymphatischen System, warum hat nur Karin überlebt? Dieser Frage geht Professor Christoph Wagener auf ungewöhnliche Weise nach und macht mit diesem Buch eine historische, anekdotische und kriminalistische Reise.

The tale of the American volunteer ambulance drivers of the First World War is one of gallantry amid gore, manners amid madness. Until now this stirring example of wartime courage has been recounted only in fragments. Arlen J. Hansen's Gentlemen Volunteers brings to life the entire story of the men - and women - who formed the first ambulance corps, and who went on to redefine American culture.

Early in her career, Katie Pryal learned that being a professor isn’t easy if your brain isn’t quite right. “I was a junior in college when I finally realized that I was different in a way that my medically inclined parents would call ‘clinical.’” In these deeply personal, fiery essays, Pryal tells her story of transformation that began the moment she chose to publicly disclose her own mental illness and leave her career in higher education to begin fighting for a better world for people with psychiatric disabilities.

A doctor begs his colleagues to wash their hands. They laugh at him. Thousands of mothers keep dying. A scientist leaves a petri dish uncovered by accident and discovers the drug that will save more lives than any other in history. A surgeon opens a man’s chest and holds his beating heart. Inside Medical Pioneers, the latest volume in the bestselling Famous in STEM series, you’ll meet the extraordinary doctors, surgeons, and healers who transformed medicine from guesswork into science and the dramatic, often heartbreaking stories behind their breakthroughs. Discover the healers who ...

A hospital pushed to the breaking point. A virus no one understands. Two clinicians trapped in a war zone wearing masks instead of armor. Pandemic! is the most realistic COVID novel written by a doctor who lived it. Pandemic! is a gripping work of medical fiction rooted in truth, written by Dr. Donald Elton, a pulmonary and critical care physician who served on the front lines of COVID-19 in Central Florida. Drawing from firsthand experience during the chaotic early months of 2020, this novel brings unmatched realism, emotional depth, and ethical tension to the story of two healthcare ...

In this panoramic account, we learn how great epidemics have not only led to enormous suffering and mass death but also changed the course of history. Humanity has struck back at the microbes: antibiotics and new vaccines have saved millions of lives. But the battle is far from won. We face increasing threats from new and unavoidable pandemics, antibiotic resistance, and even potential extraterrestrial microbes. Duel Without End is a fascinating journey through the long history of infection, from the dawn of life to humanity's future exploration of deep space. 

Quando Jennifer Doudna ainda cursava a sexta série, encontrou em sua cama um exemplar de A dupla hélice, de James Watson, deixado por seu pai. Avançando pelas páginas, Doudna ficou fascinada com os bastidores da competição científica pela descoberta dos tijolinhos que constroem a vida. Motivada pela paixão de entender o funcionamento da natureza e por transformar descobertas em invenções práticas, Doudna ajudaria a realizar aquilo que o próprio James Watson, um dos descobridores da estrutura do DNA, classificara como o próximo avanço científico mais importante da biologia.

Before the most recent pandemic was the Great Plague -- the Black Death -- of the mid-17th century which claimed the lives of 200 million people in Europe and Asia, making it the most devasting such pandemic in human history. This account of that earlier pandemic by the classic author Daniel Defore (author of "Robinson Crusoe" and "Moll Flanders") was used for hundreds of years as a textbook account of the course of such a disease through a population. But that plague was not the first, as will be demonstrated by accounts of other pandemics, plagues, and pestilences, that have struck human ...

For centuries, opium has been a source of both profit and peril, its legacy entangled with addiction, imperialism, and the complex interplay of global trade and national development. While the illicit opium trade is infamous, the history of licit opium has remained largely untold. Markets of...

Sara Ahmed, a seasoned healthcare provider and administrator, delves into the pressing issue of burnout among healthcare professionals. Drawing from her extensive experience in internal medicine, Ahmed sheds light on the detrimental effects of stress on healthcare providers, which can lead to severe consequences such as collapse and even suicide.

Plagues, pandemics, and infectious diseases have shaped the history of the Jewish people. Of course, there were the ten biblical plagues that famously smote the Egyptians—from the rain of frogs to the deaths of the firstborn—but that is just the start of the story. In The Eleventh Plague, Brown investigates the relation between Judaism and infectious diseases throughout the ages, from premodern and early-modern plagues, to rabbinic responses to smallpox and cholera, and to the curious practice of "Black Weddings" in which two orphans are married in a cemetery.

Notre rapport à la santé a changé. Les traitements se sont diversifiés. Face à un problème de mal-être ou de santé, nous ne savons pas toujours vers qui nous tourner ou qui consulter. Se donner toutes les chances, c'est découvrir les bienfaits des médecines conventionnelles et complémentaires, mais aussi mesurer à quel point notre propre rôle est essentiel. Natacha Calestrémé donne la parole à des médecins et des chercheurs reconnus pour leur expertise scientifique et leur connaissance des pratiques thérapeutiques, et ouvre de nouveaux horizons pour nous aider à aller mieux.

Published to commemorate Cleveland Clinic’s centennial, To Act as a Unit tells the epic story of the hospital system’s conception and rise to prominence. You’ll meet pioneering researchers and clinicians whose innovations are the basis for today’s advanced medical care - from Dr. F. Mason Sones, whose fortuitous accident with a cigarette proved that coronary angiography was possible, to the surgical team that performs groundbreaking, life-changing face transplants.

"Raj Panjabi is one of the smartest people around on health issues... and one of the best-placed people to guide us through this terrain and keep us safe." —Nicholas Kristof The only playbook you will ever need for planning and dealing with emergency situations, from floods to illness, from...

In this first history of the military ambulance, historian John S. Haller Jr. documents the development of medical technologies for treating and transporting wounded soldiers on the battlefield. More than a history of medical evacuation systems and vehicles, this exhaustively researched and richly illustrated volume tells a fascinating story, giving listeners a unique perspective of the changing nature of warfare in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.