True Medical Detective Stories: A Great Little Book
I just finished reading True Medical Detective Stories, Dr. Clifton Meador’s personal collection of medical mysteries. Dr. Meador is a prolific writer and the former dean of the University of Alabama School of Medicine and professor at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. His 50+ years in the academic arena have exposed him to some delightfully rare and bizarre medical cases, and he shares his top 18 in this pithy little book.
Dr. Meador was inspired by Berton Roueché, a staff writer at The New Yorker, who helped to popularize the medical detective story genre in the 1940’s and beyond. Each vignette is between 3-5 pages in length, making for a very quick and entertaining read. In choosing to review this book I was very tempted to give away details of some of the cases in order to entice you to read it, but I have resisted the urge so as not to spoil the fun.
Broadly speaking, the stories include a rare case of intractable hiccups, a bizarre infection caused by sexually deviant behavior, and several examples of the power of the mind to inflict bodily harm on oneself and others. In each situation, the underlying cause of the symptoms or disease is uncovered through careful listening and analysis. Often, human shame and fear must be managed before the truth can bubble to the surface.
I highly recommend this book to healthcare professionals, skeptics, and anyone interested in a fascinating look at some of the most unusual medical cases described in one book. Perhaps we can all learn to become better listeners, or true “medical detectives,” from Dr. Meador’s stories. You can find his book here at Amazon.com. Enjoy!
