With a clear comparative approach, this volume brings together for the first time contributions that cover different periods of the history of ancient pharmacology, from Greek, Byzantine, and Syriac medicine to the Rabbinic-Talmudic medical discourses. This collection opens up new synchronic and diachronic perspectives in the study of the ancient traditions of recipe-books and medical collections. Besides the highly influential Galenic tradition, the contributions will focus on less studied Byzantine and Syriac sources as well as on the Talmudic tradition, which has never been systematically investigated in relation to medicine. This inquiry will highlight the overwhelming mass of information about drugs and remedies, which accumulated over the centuries and was disseminated in a variety of texts belonging to distinct cultural milieus. Through a close analysis of some relevant case studies, this volume will trace some paths of this transmission and transformation of pharmacological knowledge across cultural and linguistic boundaries, by pointing to the variety of disciplines and areas of expertise involved in the process.

This historical reference highlights the people, diseases, and innovations that have impacted the health of soldiers and civilians during wartime, focusing on U.S. conflicts from early colonial skirmishes to the current War on Terror. This intriguing text examines the connections between war and health, addressing both the good and bad aspects of this relationship and tracing the evolution of medical practice under its influence. The work features 12 American military operations-from the Revolutionary War to the American Indian Wars to the Spanish-American War to the current War on Terror-and offers insight into the conflicts' contributions to medical advances as well as the unique health challenges presented during battles of the time. From George Washington's decision to inoculate his troops against smallpox to the development of modern plastic surgery techniques to treat disfigured World War I veterans, this valuable work illustrates the progression of medical practice from trial and error to scientific management. Cross-disciplinary essays profile each of the wars, and alphabetical entries cover such topics as the use of biological weapons, federal responsibility for veterans, and the influence of sickness and disease on military affairs. Features primary source documents, including doctors' reports, eyewitness accounts, patient information, and statistics that help bring history to life Offers a detailed, cross-disciplinary examination covering historical topics of interest in military, medicine, and health and wellness Introduces each conflict through a helpful overview essay Encourages a natural progression of understanding by organizing the text by conflict

William of Saliceto in his time was the premier surgeon of Bologna, who wrote a textbook of medicine before he published his Surgery in 1275. Although he was trained as a cleric, he is not known to have been active as a priest. His skill, wisdom and conservative practices are clearly exposed in his treatises, and made him famous as a teacher. His prime pupil was Lanfranchi of Milan, who carried William's methods into France.

For a century, the neuron doctrine has been the basis for our concepts of nervous organization and brain function. Formulated in 1891 by Wilhelm Waldeyer, it stated that the cell theory applies to the nervous system. Santiago Ramon y Cajal, Spain's greatest scientist, was its main architect; his main tool was a capricious nerve cell stain discovered by Camillo Golgi. This book reviews the original papers on which the neuron doctrine was based, showing that the evidence came from a much wider base of contributions than is generally realized, including such diverse and brilliant personalities as Albrecht Kolliker, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm His, August Forel, Fritdjof Nansen and Gustav Retzius. Furthermore, many questions about terminology of the parts of the neuron and about the organization of neurons into reflex pathways and networks were raised and debated, questions that remain relevant to this day. Electron microscopical studies in the 1950s appeared to confirm the classical doctrine, but subsequent studies have revealed complexities that were not anticipated. This book reviews these new studies against the background of the classical work, and suggests some new directions for revising our concept of the neuron as a basis for the functional organization of the nervous system.

Originally published between 1968 and 1989, the volumes in this set: Present a coherent body of information on the inter-relation between nutrition, health and disease in its social context. Examine various aspects of disease ecology relating socio-geographical contrasts to a dichotomy between infectious and non-infectious diseases. Investigate certain large-scale demographic phenomena in India - among others the experience of bubonic plague, influenza, cholera and famine. Discuss how social and psychological factors influence the treatment process. Explain why so many people suffer behavioural changes in later life; how this affects those around them and the challenges of providing health services for ageing populations. Provide historical perspective on contemporary difficulties and invite debate about the future development of health services. Offer international comparisons, particularly between the UK and US health care systems. Explore how the NHS confronts perennial stresses and problems, in particular the allocation of scarce resources. Investigate policy and legislation in the area of the provision of medicines. Chart the dramatic changes in the US mental health system during the 20th Century.

This book explains the origins and early developments of Japanese medical insurance systems from the 1920s to the 1950s. It closely examines the changes in the systems and the symbiotic relationship between Japan's status in international relations and the development of domestic medical insurance systems. While previous studies have regarded the origins and development of Japanese medical insurance systems as merely a domestic issue and pay little attention to the role or effects of international affairs, this book closely examines the changes in these systems by looking at the enactment of the Health Insurance Law in 1922, the establishment of the National Health Insurance in 1938, the epoch-making reforms of 1942, numerous plans in the early Allied occupation period, and Japan's social security plan in 1950. In doing so, it shows that there was indeed a symbiotic relationship between Japan's status in international relations and the changing nature of domestic medical insurance systems. It also reveals that Japan's status in international relations set the framework within which interested groups, primarily the government, made rational choices. This book is a valuable resource for academics, researchers and students who have an interest in the Japanese medical insurance systems.

This book on the history of palliative care, 1500-1970 traces the historical roots of modern palliative care in Europe to the rise of the hospice movement in the 1960s. The author discusses largely forgotten premodern concepts like cura palliativa and euthanasia medica and describes, how patients and physicians experienced and dealt with terminal illness. He traces the origins of hospitals for incurable and dying patients and follows the long history of ethical debates on issues like truth-telling and the intentional shortening of the dying patients' lives and the controversies they sparked between physicians and patients. An eye opener for anyone interested in the history of ethical decision making regarding terminal care of critically ill patients.

Dr. Robert Sadoff's The Evolution of Forensic Psychiatry is extraordinarily unique in that it is not intended to be a textbook or a guide to forensic psychiatry. Instead, this book is a fascinating mix of historical beginnings, current developments, representative subspecialties of psychiatry, and several allied disciplines and their impact on forensic psychiatry. Furthermore, it also includes neuroscientific research and how it translates to civic and criminal case work. Judges, attorneys, law professors and a police scientist all weigh in on the influence of the interdisciplinary research these forensic scientists have had on the justice system. Featuring case examples and research conducted by the professionals who have had the greatest influence on the growth of the field of forensic psychiatry, they lead the discussion on the various aspects and issues of the discipline's impact on the criminal justice system.

Captures the essence of pivotal events and individuals in nursing historyReplete with concise and easy-to-read information, this resource captures the essence of pivotal events and individuals in nursing history who have driven the evolution of the nursing role from that of a ""handmaiden"" to a key health professional. It distills important historical information--often neglected in today's nursing programs--that fosters an understanding and appreciation of the issues that inform nursing practice today. Content is presented in an easy-access format consisting of short summaries and Fast Facts in a Nutshell that identify key points throughout each chapter. An introductory chapter featuring an interview with a prominent nursing historian adds breadth and color to this review of nursing through the ages. Incorporating a global perspective, each chapter highlights significant events during a particular era as they affected the status of the nursing profession and the nursing role. Beginning with the pre-Nightingale period, the book addresses the role of the nurse before the advent of formal training programs. It continues with the contributions of Florence Nightingale, the early 1900s, and new developments in nursing, including public health nursing and the impact of both world wars. The bulk of the book comprises an in-depth account of the tremendous growth and professional development in nursing during the past 100 years, addressing nursing theories and leaders, education, research, professional organizations, and the future of nursing. Key Features: Provides important historical content often neglected in today's nursing programs Delivers concise, easy-to-read information about important events and influential nursing luminaries Describes how nurses have influenced health and wellness across the life span Highlights key points with Fast Facts in a Nutshell boxes Includes an interview with the president of the American Association for the History of Nursing, a chapter on the relevance of nursing history by a noted nurse historian, and a chapter on influential nurses in our history by a noted nursing leader and educator

Providing a historical overview of healthcare in Italy from its unification in 1861 to the present COVID-19 pandemic, this book analyses the political, social and cultural impact of Italian healthcare policy and medicine. The author examines the development of public health, hospitals, and primary care, and the building of healthcare systems across three political regimes in Italy: the liberal period (1861-1914), Fascism (1922-43), and the Italian Republic (1948 to the present day). By emphasising the embeddedness of health-related legislation in Italy's political and social background, this book offers a comparative account of Italian health policy, and contrasts this with developments in neighbouring European countries, Canada and the United States. The book focuses on the Italian government's reaction to the social and political impact of several diseases: pellagra; cholera; malaria; and tuberculosis, and explores the present-day response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. A timely and comprehensive read, this book will appeal to those teaching and researching Italian history and the history of medicine and healthcare more widely.

This book demystifies the cultural work of syphilis from the late nineteenth century to the present. By interrogating the motivations that engender habits of belief, thought, and conduct regarding the disease and notions of the self, this interdisciplinary volume investigates constructions of syphilis that had a significant role in shaping modern subjectivity. Chapters draw from a variety of scholarly methods, such as cultural and literary studies, sociology, and anthropology. Authors unravel the representations and influence of syphilis in various cultural forms: cartography, medical writings, literature, historical periodicals, and contemporary popular discourses such as internet forums and electronic news media. Exploring the ways syphilitic rhetoric responds to, generates, or threatens social systems and cultural capital offers a method by which we can better understand the geographies of blame that are central to the conceptual heritage of the disease. This unique volume will appeal to students and scholars in the medical humanities, medical sociology, the history of medicine, and Victorian and modernist studies.

This book provides a comprehensive description of what being sick and receiving "medical care" was like in 19th-century America, allowing modern readers to truly appreciate the scale of the improvements in healthcare theory and practice. Health and Wellness in 19th-Century America covers a period of dramatic change in the United States by examining our changing understanding of the nature of the disease burden, the increasing size of the nation, and our conceptions of sickness and health. With topics ranging from the unsanitary tenements of New York's Five Points, the field hospitals of the Civil War, and to the laboratories of Johns Hopkins Medical School, author John C. Waller reveals a complex picture of tradition, discovery, innovation, and occasional spectacular success. This book draws upon an extensive literature to document sickness and wellness in environments like rural homesteads, urban East-coast slums, and the hastily built cities of the West. It provides a fascinating historical examination of a century in which Americans made giant strides in understanding disease yet also clung to traditional methods and ideas, charting how U.S. medical science gradually transformed from being a backwater to a world leader in the field.

In responding to the perceived threat posed by venereal diseases in Germany's colonies, doctors took a biopolitical approach that employed medical and bourgeois discourses of modernization, health, productivity, and morality. Their goal was to change the behavior of targeted groups, or at least to isolate infected individuals from the healthy population. However, the Africans, Pacific Islanders, and Asians they administered to were not passive recipients of these strategies. Rather, their behavior strongly influenced the efficacy and nature of these public health measures. While an apparent degree of compliance was achieved, over time physicians increasingly relied on disciplinary measures beyond what was possible in Germany in order to enforce their policies. Ultimately, through their discourses and actions they contributed to the justification for and the maintenance of German colonialism.

This transnational, interdisciplinary study of traumatic neurosis moves beyond the existing histories of medical theory, welfare, and symptomatology. The essays explore the personal traumas of soldiers and civilians in the wake of the First World War; they also discuss how memory and representations of trauma are transmitted between patients, doctors and families across generations. The book argues that so far the traumatic effects of the war have been substantially underestimated. Trauma was shaped by gender, politics, and personality. To uncover the varied forms of trauma ignored by medical and political authorities, this volume draws on diverse sources, such as family archives and narratives by children of traumatized men, documents from film and photography, memoirs by soldiers and civilians. This innovative study challenges us to re-examine our approach to the complex psychological effects of the First World War.