Childbed fever was by the far the most common cause of deaths associated with childbirth up to the Second World War, throughout Britain and Europe. Otherwise known as puerperal fever, it was an infection which followed childbirth and caused thousands of miserable and agonizing deaths every year. This book provides the first detailed account of this tragic disease from its recognition in the eighteenth century up to the second half of the twentieth century, examining it within a fully comprehensive history of infective diseases.

The State of Health: Illness in Nazi Germany explores and analyses the experience of illness in German society under National Socialism. As is well known, the Nazis mobilised medicine for purposes of 'racial' cultivation and extermination. What has been much less understood is that the experience of health and illness in the Third Reich also marked a crucial juncture in the history of the modern self and body in Germany and the West. The secular and material bourgeois self was a product of the industrial and commercial society Germany had become before Hitler. The peculiarly rapid pace of social change in Germany, combined with a series of military, political, and economic disasters after 1914, created an environment of heightened sensitivity and anxiety concerning the relationship between individual and community. This historical environment also aggravated concerns about health and illness of the morbid, mortal, and sexual body and mind in which the modern self was lodged. The racialist policies of the Third Reich worsened popular anxiety over illness and health. And while Nazism exploited popular longings for 'national community,' the modern self of material pleasure, appetite, and desire too would be prop as well as problem for the Hitler regime. Drawing from the rich historical literature on modern Germany and the Third Reich, as well as on previously unexamined primary sources from over forty archives, The State of Health documents vital continuities and discontinuities in the history of modern Germany and the West, up to and beyond the Nazi years. In exploring the social, medical, and discursive spaces of health and illness in the Third Reich, Geoffrey Cocks illuminates significant and fateful experiences in peace and war with medicine, doctors, and drugs; work; collaboration; constraint and agency; self and other; persecution, enslavement, and extermination; gender and sexuality; pain, injury, madness, and death; and historical memory and amnesia.

A noted medical historian explores the roles played by various intellectual frameworks and trends in the writing of history A collection of ten essays paired with substantial prefaces, this book chronicles and contextualizes Roger Cooter's contributions to the history of medicine. Through an analysis of his own work, Cooter critically examines the politics of conceptual and methodological shifts in historiography. In particular, he examines the "double bind" of postmodernism and biological or neurological modeling that, together, threaten academic history. To counteract this trend, suggests Cooter, historians must begin actively locating themselves in the problems they consider. The essays and commentaries constitute a kind of contour map of history's recent trends and trajectories-its points of passage to the present-and lead both to a critical account of the discipline's historiography and to an examination of the role of intellectual frameworks and epistemic virtues in the writing of history.

Early medical practices are not just a historical curiosity, but real stories about people and health that may teach us much about the 21st century. This intriguing volume offers a comparative examination of early medicine and health care in regions as varied as ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, China, the Islamic world, and medieval Europe. Health and Wellness in Antiquity through the Middle Ages compares and contrasts health-care practices in seven different cultures from around the world. In considering the range of medical practitioners in each society, and the kinds of health care they provided, it examines the development of a written medical tradition, the methods of medical education, the practice of surgery, and the theories and practices of pharmacy. Other topics include the application of medicine in specific contexts, such as the treatment of women, children, and those with mental illness. Another important theme explored is the impact of religion and state institutions on the development, implementation, and results of medical care as experienced by real people in real life. Throughout, the book offers an international historical perspective, which allows for greater comparative and critical understanding of how different cultural beliefs influenced the development and management of health care. Excerpts from significant original texts to illustrate the concepts discussed Illustrations drawn from many different ancient and medieval cultures portraying health care providers and the treatment of patients Photographs depicting medical instruments and medicinal herbs A bibliography that puts special emphasis on identifying English-language translations of original documents for those who would like to read the primary materials themselves

The definitive compilation of the inspiring and educational stories of women in medicine through the ages and around the world. Women in Medicine: An Encyclopedia tells the hidden history of healing practitioners. Since ancient times, and in every human society, women have played a critical, if unheralded, role in the practice and progress of the medical arts and sciences. From the 11th century German nun Hildegarde of Bingen to early 20th century radiology pioneer Marie Curie to controversial Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, Women in Medicine portrays the struggles, the skills, the science, and the inspiring stories of more than 200 of history's great women physicians and medical researchers. Not just a biographical compendium, Women in Medicine also includes entries on the key universities, institutes, and foundations of this illustrious history. Chock full of unique illustrations and complete with extensive bibliography and index, this one volume encyclopedia is the most comprehensive and accessible reference work on the history of women in medicine. A must buy for any library looking to round out its women's history or history of science reference shelf. More than 250 A-Z entries focusing primarily on women pioneers and mentors in medicine, from Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first black female physician in the United States, to Flossie Wong-Staal, who codiscovered and cloned the HIV virus Additional entries on organizations such as the Medical Women's International Association, the Media Act of 1858 and other legislative acts, and universities and institutions that have shaped the role of women in medicine Over 60 photographs and portraits of key nurses, physicians and scientists, including Louise Bourgeois, Florence Nightingale, and Marie Curie Extensive bibliography with websites listed wherever possible for easy access

This open access edited collection contributes a new dimension to the study of mental health and psychiatry in the twentieth century. It takes the present literature beyond the 'asylum and after' paradigm to explore the multitude of spaces that have been permeated by concerns about mental well-being and illness. The chapters in this volume consciously attempt to break down institutional walls and consider mental health through the lenses of institutions, policy, nomenclature, art, lived experience, and popular culture. The book adopts an international scope covering the historical experiences of Britain, Ireland, and North America. In accordance with this broad approach, contributions to the volume span academic fields such as history, arts, literary studies, sociology, and psychology, mirroring the diversity of the subject matter. This book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

This book provides a unique and succinct account of the history of health and fitness, responding to the growing recognition of physicians, policy makers and the general public that exercise is the most potent form of medicine available to humankind. Individual chapters present information extending from the earliest reaches of human history to the present day, arranged in the form of 30 thematic essays covering topics from the supposed idyll of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and its posited health benefits to the evolution of health professionals and the possible contribution of the Olympic movement to health and fitness in our current society. Learning objectives are set for each topic, and although technical language is avoided as far as possible, a thorough glossary explains any specialized terms that are introduced in each chapter. The critical thinking of the reader is stimulated by a range of questions arising from the text context, and each chapter concludes with a brief discussion of some of the more important implications for public policies on health and fitness today and into the future. The material will be of particular interest to graduate and undergraduate students in public health, health promotion, health policy, kinesiology, physical education, but will be of interest also to many studying medicine, history and sociology.

The fascinating and controversial history of personality disorders. The concept of personality disorders rose to prominence in the early twentieth century and has consistently caused controversy among psychiatrists, psychologists, and social scientists. In Personality Disorders, Allan V. Horwitz traces the evolution of defining these disorders and the historical dilemmas of attempting to mold them into traditional medical conceptions of disorder. Using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, as a guide, Horwitz explores the group of conditions that make up personality disorders and considers when they have been tied to or separated from other types of mental illnesses. He also examines how these disorders have often entailed negative moral and cultural evaluations more focused on perceived social deviance than on actual medical conditions. Deep conflicts exist in a variety of disciplines in determining the nature of these disorders. During the twentieth century, a particularly sharp division arose between researchers who study personality disorders and the clinicians who treat them. Because researchers strive to develop general laws and clinicians attempt to understand individuals' specific problems, their values, methods, and goals often conflict. Synthesizing historical and contemporary scholarship, Horwitz examines controversies over the definitions and diagnoses of personality disorders and how the perception of these illnesses has changed over time.

Discovery in Haste is the first book to survey the English printed medical dictionary, a greatly under-researched area, from Andrew Boorde's Breviary of Helthe of 1547 to Benjamin Lara's surgical dictionary of 1796. The book begins with Andrew Boorde's Breviary of Helthe of 1547, moves on to medical glossaries, which were produced through the whole period, the 'physical dictionaries' of the mid-seventeenth century which first employed 'dictionary' in the title, the translation into English of Steven Blancard's dictionary, Latin medical dictionaries of the late seventeenth century by Thomas Burnet and John Cruso, the influential dictionary by John Quincy which dominated the eighteenth century, surgical dictionaries through to that by Benjamin Lara, Robert James's massive encyclopaedic dictionary and the work derived from it by John Barrow, as well as George Motherby's dictionary of 1775. The characteristics of each are discussed and their inter-relationships explored. Attention is also paid to the printing history and the way the publishers influenced the works and, where appropriate, to the influence each had on succeeding dictionaries. This book is the first to locate medical dictionaries within the history of lexicography.

This is a history of how twentieth-century Britons came to view themselves and their world in psychological terms, and how this changed over time. It examines the extent to which psychological thought and practice could mediate, not just understanding of the self, but also a wide range of social and economic, political, and ethical issues that rested on assumptions about human nature. In doing so, it brings together high and low psychological cultures; it focuses not just on health, but also on education, economic life, and politics; and it reaches from the start of the century right up to the 1970s. Mathew Thomson highlights the intense excitement surrounding psychology at the start of the century, and its often highly unorthodox expression in thought and practice. He argues that the appeal of psychological thinking has been underestimated in the British context, partly because its character has been misconstrued. Psychology found a role because, rather than shattering values, it offered them new life. The book considers the extent to which such an ethical and social psychological subjectivity survived the challenges of an industrial civilization, a crisis in confidence regarding human nature wrought by war and political extremism, and finally the emergence of a permissive society. It concludes that many of our own assumptions about the route to psychological modernity - centred on the rise of individualism and interiority, and focusing on the liberation of emotion, and on talk, relationships, and sex - need substantial revision, or at least setting alongside a rather different path when it comes to the Britain of 1900-70.

This volume analyses the transition of Chinese medicine during the modern era, and the development of product and service niches in selected countries: China, Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines. By investigating the major actors behind the transition, it explores in what way and to what extent these actors affect the transition. It argues that the transnational transition of Chinese medicine is caused not only by spontaneous cultural and social factors, i.e. population growth, technological innovation and acculturation, but also by hegemonic political and economic factors such as Western influence, adoption of the philosophy of modern state, and global commodification of indigenous medical specialties.

During World War II, polio epidemics in the United States were viewed as the country's "other war at home": they could be neither predicted nor contained, and paralyzed patients faced disability in a world unfriendly to the disabled. These realities were exacerbated by the medical community's enforced orthodoxy in treating the disease, treatments that generally consisted of ineffective therapies. Polio Wars is the story of Sister Elizabeth Kenny - "Sister" being a reference to her status as a senior nurse, not a religious designation - who arrived in the US from Australia in 1940 espousing an unorthodox approach to the treatment of polio. Kenny approached the disease as a non-neurological affliction, championing such novel therapies as hot packs and muscle exercises in place of splinting, surgery, and immobilization. Her care embodied a different style of clinical practice, one of optimistic, patient-centered treatments that gave hope to desperate patients and families. The Kenny method, initially dismissed by the US medical establishment, gained overwhelming support over the ensuing decade, including the endorsement of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (today's March of Dimes), America's largest disease philanthropy. By 1952, a Gallup Poll identified Sister Kenny as most admired woman in America, and she went on to serve as an expert witness at Congressional hearings on scientific research, a foundation director, and the subject of a Hollywood film. Kenny breached professional and social mores, crafting a public persona that blended Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie. By the 1980s, following the discovery of the Salk and Sabin vaccines and the March of Dimes' withdrawal from polio research, most Americans had forgotten polio, its therapies, and Sister Kenny. In examining this historical arc and the public's process of forgetting, Naomi Rogers presents Kenny as someone worth remembering. Sister Kenny recalls both the passion and the practices of clinical care and explores them in their own terms.

This book comprises a series of lectures given by celebrated Soviet neurophysiologist Nikolai Alexandrovich Bernstein in Moscow in 1925 and first published in Russian in 1926. Bernstein's groundbreaking work, which has had a significant influence on the development of neuroscience, movement studies, and other fields of study in Russia, Eastern Europe, and the West, was suppressed during Stalin's regime. At the time of its publication, Biomechanics for Instructors was a significant resource for teachers, with its descriptions of the movement of joints and degrees of freedom, illustrations of how to calculate the work capacity of muscles with bones acting as levers, the role of the central nervous system in movement, and more. Though the terminologies and methods have changed and been updated as research and technologies have progressed, the book remains a valuable introduction for those interested in Bernstein's work more generally, and to those involved in the study of biomechanics. This book is also of interest to historians and philosophers of neuroscience, as well as those involved in movement studies in both the scientific and artistic domains, and to physiotherapists and those involved in sports research and practice.

This volume views the study of disease as essential to understanding the key historical developments underpinning the foundation of contemporary Indian Ocean World (IOW) societies. The interplay between disease and climatic conditions, natural and manmade crises and disasters, human migration and trade in the IOW reveals a wide range of perceptions about disease etiologies and epidemiologies, and debates over the origin, dispersion and impact of disease form a central focus in these essays. Incorporating a wide scope of academic and scientific angles including history, social and medical anthropology, archaeology, epidemiology and paleopathology, this collection focuses on diseases that spread across time, space and cultures. It scrutinizes disease as an object, and engages with the subjectivities of afflicted inhabitants of, and travellers to, the IOW.

In Middle Eastern and Islamic societies, the politics of sexual knowledge is a delicate and often controversial subject. Sherry Sayed Gadelrab focuses on nineteenth and early-twentieth century Egypt, claiming that during this period there was a perceptible shift in the medical discourse surrounding conceptualisations of sex differences and the construction of sexuality. Medical authorities began to promote theories that suggested men's innate 'active' sexuality as opposed to women's more 'passive' characteristics, interpreting the differences in female and male bodies to correspond to this hierarchy. Through examining the interconnection of medical, legal, religious and moral discourses on sexual behaviour, Gadelrab highlights the association between sex, sexuality and the creation and recreation of the concept of gender at this crucial moment in the development of Egyptian society. By analysing the debates at the time surrounding science, medicine, morality, modernity and sexuality, she paints a nuanced picture of the Egyptian understanding and manipulation of the concepts of sex and gender.

Although the history of epilepsy, one of the most common serious neurological disorders, can easily be traced back to ancient times, the modern understanding of the disease only began in the middle of the 19th century. This history of the first fifty years of modern epileptology reflects the thinking, accomplishments, and failures of physicians between 1865 and 1914. This epoch presented a very bleak clinical picture: diagnosis was difficult and often arbitrary; treatment was poor and, at times, worse than the disease; and patients, who were usually viewed as having a progressive dementing condition, were shunned by society.

Tradition, physicians' immaculate perceptions, their thinking in analogies, and the difficulty a doctor has in separating himself from his society are some of the important factors which led to a lack of clinical advancement during this time. Nevertheless, taking a longer view, a foundation was being established for understanding the physiology of the brain and how that might be related to epilepsy. This book should be of interest to any professional person concerned with or involved in exploring the neurophysiology of brain functions and its deviations, the care and treatment of patience with epilepsy, and the historical and social aspects of medicine.

This book examines how the medical profession engaged with print and literary culture to shape its identities between the 1830s and 1910s in Britain and its empire. Moving away from a focus on medical education and professional appointments, the book reorients attention to how medical self-fashioning interacted with other axes of identity, including age, gender, race, and the spaces of practice. Drawing on medical journals and fiction, as well as professional advice guides and popular periodicals, this volume considers how images of medical practice and professionalism were formed in the cultural and medical imagination. Alison Moulds uncovers how medical professionals were involved in textual production and consumption as editors, contributors, correspondents, readers, authors, and reviewers. Ultimately, this book opens up new perspectives on the relationship between literature and medicine, revealing how the profession engaged with a range of textual practices to build communities, air grievances, and augment its cultural authority and status in public life.

This critical reevaluation of the causes of many of Beethoven's illnesses offers detailed accounts of the treatments applied by his physicians and a comprehensive rendering of the composer's final illness, death, and burial. Separate chapters discuss the causes of many of Beethoven's illnesses, his autopsy and the exhumations. Following the rediscovery of the original Latin autopsy report in 1970, the author has discovered two faulty translations, which he argues contributed to errors in earlier medical assumptions. New evidence disputes earlier assertions that Beethoven's deafness resulted from syphilis. This fascinating account of Beethoven's ailments should appeal to Beethoven enthusiasts and to both the medical and music communities.