Drugs that changed the world : how therapeutic agents shaped our lives / Irwin W. Sherman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sherman, Irwin W., author.

Contributor:

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pharmacology--History.

Pharmacology.

History.

Pharmaceutical Preparations--history.

Drug Therapy--history.

Drug Discovery--history.

Social Change--history.

Medical Subjects:

Pharmaceutical Preparations--history.

Drug Therapy--history.

Drug Discovery--history.

Social Change--history.

Physical Description:

xi, 197 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Boca Raton : CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, [2017]

Summary:

Drugs are used in the diagnosis, alleviation, treatment, prevention, or cure of disease. This is a book about drugs, how they came to be, and how they exert their "magic." Today, we have drugs to protect against infectious diseases, to alleviate aches and pains, to allow new organs to replace the old, and for brain function to be modified. Yet for the most part, the manner in which drugs are developed and by whom remains a mystery. Drugs are more than just a pill or liquid and some have a markedly altered history. The author has selected a few drugs-highlights representing milestones affecting our well-being and influences of social change. The stories told are dramatic and include spectacular successes and dismal failures. And the people about whom these stories are told are both saints and sinners-selfless and conniving-bold and mercurial and shy and retiring loners. The drugs themselves mirror the diversity of their origin stories and the author assembles all sides of these fascinating accounts. Key Features, Chronicles the development of a few of the most significant drugs affecting human health, Offers easy-to-follow and understandable explanations of how drugs work, Explains the science underlying the processes of drug discovery, Helps readers appreciate the complex personalities involved in drug discovery, and development, Serves as essential reading for anyone interested in human health and public policy Book jacket.

Contents:

Malaria and antimalarials

The painkiller, aspirin

Ether, chloroform, cocaine, morphine, heroin and anesthesia

The pill

Diabetes and insulin

Smallpox and vaccination

Vaccines to combat infectious diseases

The great pox syphilis and salvarsan

Prontosil, pyrimethamine, and penicillin

AIDS, HIV and antiretrovirals

Organ transplantation and cyclosporine

Malaria, madness and chlorpromazine.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781498796491

1498796494

OCLC:

949987175

Publisher Number:

99970299857