The rise and fall of modern medicine / James Le Fanu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Le Fanu, James.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medicine--History--20th century.

Medicine.

Medical sciences--History--20th century.

Medical sciences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (609 p.)

Edition:

Rev. ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Basic Books, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the years following World War II, medicine won major battles against smallpox, diphtheria, and polio. In the same period it also produced treatments to control the progress of Parkinson's, rheumatoid arthritis, and schizophrenia. It made realities of open-heart surgery, organ transplants, test-tube babies. Unquestionably, the medical accomplishments of the postwar years stand at the forefront of human endeavor, yet progress in recent decades has slowed nearly to a halt. In this judicious examination of medicine in our times, which has won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, medical doctor and columnist James Le Fanu both surveys the glories of medicine in the postwar years and analyzes the factors that for the past twenty-five years have increasingly widened the gulf between achievement and advancement: the social theories of medicine, ethical issues, and political debates over health care that have hobbled the development of vaccines and discovery of new -miracle- cures. While fully demonstrating the extraordinary progress effected by medical research in the latter half of the twentieth century, Le Fanu also identifies the perils that confront medicine in the twenty-first. 16 pages of black-and-white photographs add to what the Los Angeles Times cited as -a sobering, contrarian challenge- to the -nostrum of medicine as a never-ending font of 'miracle cures'.- - From] a respected science writer ... important information that ... has been overlooked or ignored by many physicians.---New Republic -Provocative and engrossing and informative.---Houston Chronicle -Marvelously written, meticulously researched ... one of the most thought-provoking and important works to appear in recent years.---Choice

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Contents""; ""Acknowledgements""; ""Acknowledgements""; ""Preface to the Revised Edition""; ""Preface to the Revised Edition""; ""Introduction""; ""Introduction""; ""A Lengthy Prologue: Twelve Definitive Moments""; ""A Lengthy Prologue: Twelve Definitive Moments""; ""1. 1941: Penicillin""; ""1. 1941: Penicillin""; ""2. 1949: Cortisone""; ""2. 1949: Cortisone""; ""3. 1950: Streptomycin, Smoking and Sir Austin Bradford Hill""; ""3. 1950: Streptomycin, Smoking and Sir Austin Bradford Hill""; ""4. 1952: Chlorpromazine and the Revolution in Psychiatry""

""4. 1952: Chlorpromazine and the Revolution in Psychiatry""""5. 1952: The Copenhagen Polio Epidemic and the Birth of Intensive Care""; ""5. 1952: The Copenhagen Polio Epidemic and the Birth of Intensive Care""; ""6. 1555: Open-Heart Surgery � The Last Frontier""; ""6. 1555: Open-Heart Surgery ? The Last Frontier""; ""7. 1961: New Hips for Old""; ""7. 1961: New Hips for Old""; ""8. 1963: Transplanting Kidneys""; ""8. 1963: Transplanting Kidneys""; ""9. 1964: The Triumph of Prevention � The Case of Strokes""; ""9. 1964: The Triumph of Prevention ? The Case of Strokes""

""10. 1971: Curing Childhood Cancer""""10. 1971: Curing Childhood Cancer""; ""11. 1978: The First 'Test-Tube' Baby""; ""11. 1978: The First 'Test-Tube' Baby""; ""12. 1984: Helicobacter � The Cause of Peptic Ulcer""; ""12. 1984: Helicobacter ? The Cause of Peptic Ulcer""; ""Part I: The Rise""; ""Part I: The Rise""; ""1. Medicine's Big Bang""; ""1. Medicine's Big Bang""; ""2. Clinical Science: A New Ideology for Medicine""; ""2. Clinical Science: A New Ideology for Medicine""; ""3. A Cornucopia of New Drugs""; ""3. A Cornucopia of New Drugs""; ""4. Technology's Triumphs""

""4. Technology's Triumphs""""5. The Mysteries of Biology""; ""5. The Mysteries of Biology""; ""Part II: The End of the Age of Optimism""; ""Part II: The End of the Age of Optimism""; ""1. The Revolution Falters""; ""1. The Revolution Falters""; ""2. The Dearth of New Drugs""; ""2. The Dearth of New Drugs""; ""3. Technology's Failings""; ""3. Technology's Failings""; ""4. The Clinical Scientist as an Endangered Species""; ""4. The Clinical Scientist as an Endangered Species""; ""Part III: The Fall""; ""Part III: The Fall""; ""1. The Brave New World of The New Genetics""

""1. The Brave New World of The New Genetics""""(i) The Beginning""; ""(i) The Beginning""; ""(ii) Genetic Engineering""; ""(ii) Genetic Engineering""; ""(iii) The New Eugenics""; ""(iii) The New Eugenics""; ""(iv) Gene Therapy""; ""(iv) Gene Therapy""; ""(v) The End""; ""(v) The End""; ""2. Seduced by The Social Theory""; ""2. Seduced by The Social Theory""; ""(i) The Beginning""; ""(i) The Beginning""; ""(ii) The Rise and Fall of Heart Disease""; ""(ii) The Rise and Fall of Heart Disease""; ""(iii) Beyond Tobacco: Sir Richard Doll and the 'Causes' of Cancer""

""(iii) Beyond Tobacco: Sir Richard Doll and the 'Causes' of Cancer""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [515]-575) and index.

ISBN:

0-465-05889-2