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Books > Medicine > General issues
Consumption was the deadliest, most common disease that mankind has
faced up till now. Three billion people in Europe and North America
died between the fourteenth and the end of the eighteenth century.
It was a death sentence with no known cause which led to the
development of unusual empirical therapies. Lucky Consumptive
patients reached a Sanatorium. Sanatoria were developed to house
sick patients in an environment where they stood the best chance of
recovery from their illness. There was no organised healthcare
system and funding for a Sanatorium depended upon provision
provided by wealthy individuals, or societies. Charles Dunnell Rudd
was a Cape Merchant who had made a fortune in South Africa
successfully prospecting for Gold and Diamonds. His mother had died
from Consumption and he wished to invest some of his money in
building a Sanatorium. It had been shown that Consumptive patients
survived longer if they took vigorous exercise, slept out of doors,
and were nursed on higher land near to forests. Rudd anonymously
purchased raised land at Northwood for this purpose. Helena (later
Princess Christian) was Queen Victoria's third daughter, and had a
marked social awareness, arranging charitable meals for the less
fortunate. She was very hard working and became the Principal
Patron for Mount Vernon Hospital, donating money and attending
annual fundraising Festival Dinners. Contemporary photographs from
this period show female patients walking around the grounds and
occupying designated rest shelters. The male patients had a more
vigorous lifestyle, working in the gardens and sleeping in their
beds out of doors. Those surviving often acquired new skills which
might enhance their future employment prospects. These measures
greatly improved the prognosis for consumptive patients. After Koch
discovered the Tubercle Bacillus effective curative
anti-tuberculous therapy evolved.
For more than twenty-five years, David Nott has taken unpaid leave from his job as a general and vascular surgeon with the NHS to volunteer in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones. From Sarajevo under siege in 1993, to clandestine hospitals in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, he has carried out life-saving operations and field surgery in the most challenging conditions, and with none of the resources of a major London teaching hospital.
The conflicts he has worked in form a chronology of twenty-first-century combat: Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur, Congo, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Gaza and Syria. But he has also volunteered in areas blighted by natural disasters, such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal.
Driven both by compassion and passion, the desire to help others and the thrill of extreme personal danger, he is now widely acknowledged to be the most experienced trauma surgeon in the world. But as time has gone on, David Nott began to realize that flying into to a catastrophe - whether war or natural disaster – was not enough. Doctors on the ground needed to learn how to treat the appalling injuries that war inflicts upon its victims. Since 2015, the Foundation he set up with his wife, Elly, has disseminated the knowledge he has gained, training other doctors in the art of saving lives threatened by bombs and bullets.
War Doctor is his extraordinary story.
Utilizing extensive research in economics, psychology, political
science, neuroscience and evolutionary theory, Ananish Chaudhuri
provides a critical perspective on the role of cognitive biases in
decision-making during the Covid-19 pandemic. The extensive use of,
and support for, stringent social distancing measures in particular
is explored in depth. Nudged into Lockdown? provides clear
explanations of complex scientific information regarding Covid-19,
vaccines, and policy responses, to highlight issues at the center
of policy-making during the pandemic. With a comprehensive overview
of the policy debates around Covid-19, the book offers an
alternative thought-provoking perspective on the topic, as well as
suggestions for policy-making during future pandemics and other
crises. It further highlights applications of a range of concepts
from heuristics and biases literature, including priming, framing,
anchoring, Prospect Theory, and loss aversion. Providing directions
for future research in the area, this book will be an invigorating
read for established academics, as well as postgraduate students
looking to undertake research in Covid-19 related decision-making.
It will also be a critical read for economics, political science,
and public policy scholars seeking a deeper understanding of the
topic.
This remarkable third edition offers a unique contribution to
mental health literature. It covers the full spectrum of issues
related to mental health and illness in Canada, incorporating
insights from a diversity of physical and social science
perspectives, to expand the way readers think about mental health.
Interdisciplinary and reader-friendly, this engaging volume
introduces students to a wide range of topics, including substance
use, children and youth, trauma, culture, gender and sexuality,
diagnosis and treatment, and population approaches. Updates to this
edition comprise new insights on topics such as the opioid crisis,
legalization of cannabis, changes to provincial mental health acts,
and an expansion on previously included Indigenous mental health
content. As an introductory text, A Concise Introduction to Mental
Health in Canada provides a superb foundation for students of
medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, and public health.
CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, offers an accessible, data-packed answer to our biggest questions about Covid-19: What have we learned about this pandemic and how can we prepare for—or prevent—the next one?
As America’s favorite frontline Covid-19 health journalist, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has barely left his primetime seat in his makeshift studio basement since the pandemic began (other than to perform brain surgery). He’s had the insider of insider access to the drama’s unfolding, including exclusive conversations with the world’s top public health experts and behind-the-scenes scientists racing to find treatments and cures. And now he’s sharing what he’s learned in a book that will answer not only all our questions about what happened, but also about how our world will change in the years ahead, even once we’re back to “normal.”
Gupta argues that we need to prepare for a new era where pandemics will be more frequent, and possibly even more deadly. As the doctor who’s been holding America’s hand through the crisis with compassion, clarity, and well-earned wisdom, he gives you the unvarnished story behind the pandemic, including insights about the novel virus’s behavior, and offers practical tools to ready ourselves for what lies ahead. He answers critical questions: Can we stamp out the virus for good (and if not, how do we live with it)? Should we put our parents in a nursing home? Where should we live? What should we stockpile? What should we know before taking a trip? Does it make sense to spend more on health insurance to deal with any long-term effects? How do you decide when it’s safe to go to a public pool or schedule elective surgery? What should Covid survivors know about protecting their future health? What if you become a long-hauler with chronic health challenges stemming?
World War C will give you hope for the future along with real information that leaves you more resilient and secure.
This unique examination of medieval medicine as detailed in
physician's manuals of the period reveals a more sophisticated
approach to the medical arts than expected for the time. Far from
the primitive and barbaric practices the Middle Ages may conjure up
in our minds, doctors during that time combined knowledge,
tradition, innovation, and intuition to create a humane, holistic
approach to understanding and treating every known disease. In
fact, a singularly authoritative medical source of the period, Lily
of Medicine, continued to provide crucial study for students and
practitioners of medicine almost four centuries after its
completion in 1305. This unprecedented book investigates the
extensive capabilities of physicians who relied on practice,
observation, and imagination before the supremacy of mechanistic
views and technological aids. Medieval Medicine: The Art of
Healing, from Head to Toe is a comprehensive look at diseases as
they were described, classified, explained, assessed, and treated
by doctors of the age. The author methodically compares a dozen
encyclopedic manuals in which both the fundamental understanding of
healthy functions and the specific response to diseases were
summarized, viewing the information through a medieval perspective
rather than based upon modern criteria. Includes translations,
available for the first time in English, of original comments and
illustrations by physicians of the day Contains a plethora of
additional resources for learning, including 20 black-and-white
plates with full references, 5 tables, a glossary of unusual words,
a chronology and list of the consulted sources, and an extensive
bibliography Reveals how medieval medical manuals influenced
literary, historical, and medical study
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