February 18th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Book Reviews
Tags: Cardiology, Caring, Internal Medicine, Norman Markous, Primary Care, Science, Time To Care
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In 1925, Francis Peabody famously said “The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.” A new book by Norman Makous, MD, a cardiologist who has practiced for 60 years, is a cogent reminder of that principle.
In Time to Care: Personal Medicine in the Age of Technology, Dr. Makous tackles a big subject. He attempts to show how modern medicine got to where it is today, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it. For me, the best part of the book is the abundance of anecdotes showing how medicine has changed since Dr. Makous graduated from medical school in 1947. He gives many examples of what it was like to treat patients before technology and effective medications were introduced. He describes a patient who died of ventricular fibrillation before defibrillators were invented, the first patient ever to survive endocarditis at his hospital (a survival made possible by penicillin), a polio epidemic before polio had been identified as an infectious disease, the rows of beds in the tuberculosis sanitariums that no longer exist because we have effective treatments for TB. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
January 25th, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Book Reviews, Research
Tags: #Scio10, African American Culture, Cervical Cancer, Public Health, Rebecca Skloot, ScienceOnline, stem cells, The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks
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This past weekend’s international science communication conference, ScienceOnline2010, also saw the first, final hardback copies of Rebecca Skloot’s long-awaited book make it into the hands of the science and journalism consuming public. Moreover, an excerpt of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has just appeared in the new issue of Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine. And already, those online science communicators who left the conference with Skloot’s book are registering their praise via this Twitter feed that was so active it was a trending topic at the science aggregator, SciencePond.
The story of the rural, Virginia woman who descended from slaves and developed cervical cancer in the early 1950s is notable most obviously for her tumors giving rise to HeLa, the first immortalized human cell line continuously maintained in culture. I have noted previously my enthusiasm for this story as both a long-time admirer of Skloot’s writing and the fact that HeLa played a central role in my PhD thesis work and first papers from my independent laboratory. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
January 12th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Book Reviews, Health Tips
Tags: Bernard Ackerman, Dermatology, Dermatopathology, Eric Fettmann, FDR's Deadly Secret, Franklin D. Roosevelt, melanoma, Metastases, Oncology, Plastic Surgery, Skin Cancer, Steven Lomazow
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Earlier today I wrote a short article which resulted in correspondence with one of the authors of the new book, ‘FDR’s Deadly Secret’ by Steven Lomazow and Eric Fettmann.
Dr. Steven Lomazow sent me a copy of his Archives of Dermatology article with Dr. Bernard Ackerman, this photo, and a pdf of his book which I have spent the afternoon reading.
The article goes through a series of photos of FDR from his younger days to his older ones, showing the progression and changes. From the article: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
December 8th, 2009 by DrCharles in Better Health Network, Book Reviews
Tags: A Pediatric Surgeon In Iraq, Coppola, Iraq, Medic, Pediatric Surgery, Surgery, War
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War can paradoxically bring out the best in people. Despite the violence, tragedy, and pain, there are moments of kindness, compassion, and brave camaraderie. Soldiers band together as brothers and sisters under terrible
circumstances to offer their lives in support of a nation they deem just and vulnerable. Often they are terribly wounded. Families on both sides of the conflict suffer and grieve sickening losses. The reasons for war seldom justify the human misery it causes, but perhaps one type of soldier has the luxury of always being on the right side. Consider the medic, nurse, or military doctor. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles*
November 11th, 2009 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Book Reviews, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Alternative Medicine, CAM, Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Family Medicine, Pharmaceuticals
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That’s the title of a new book by Melvin H. Kirschner, M.D. When I first saw the title, I expected a polemic against conventional medicine. The first line of the Preface reassured me: “Everything we do has a risk-benefit ratio.” Dr. Kirschner took the title from his first pharmacology lecture in medical school. The professor said “I am here to teach you how to poison people.” After a pause, he added, “without killing them, of course.”
He meant that any medicine that has effects has side effects, that the poison is in the dose, and that we must weigh the benefits of any treatment against the risks. Dr. Kirschner has no beef with scientific medicine. He does have a lot of other beefs, mainly with the health insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and alternative medicine. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
