A new work on the history of vitamins and the brilliant men and women who discovered the existence and nature of these small molecules so vital to our health. Vitamin Discoveries and Disasters: History, Science, and Controversies describes the emergence of nutritional science and its contributions to our understanding of how the body functions. It is an absorbing look at the men and women, many little known in their lifetimes, whose medical detective work helped us conquer a number of devastating health conditions, including some forms of mental illness. Each chapter of Vitamin Discoveries and Disasters focuses on a specific vitamin, describing the researchers, the research, and the historic and scientific contexts for its discovery. Together, these chapters chart the ongoing conflict between physicians who saw illness as caused by organisms and those who saw illness as a result of dietary deficiency. A concluding chapter shows how our stronger grasp of the effects of vitamin deficiencies on large populations can be used to the utmost benefit of society.

A psychiatrist examines how the world's four most important mind-altering substances- alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates-have played a significant role throughout human history, and explains how these powerful drugs affect the brain and cause addiction. Alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates have spurred some of the greatest human pleasure and pain across time. Providing information that ranges as widely as from ancient Egypt to modern times, this book comprehensively addresses the good, the bad, and the very ugliest aspects of these substances, examining their history, their effects on the brain and body, and on civilization itself. Frances R. Frankenburg, MD, employs accessible, everyday language to explain the neurology of addiction and describe how these "brain-robbing" substances work to hijack the brain's pleasure systems to create powerful addictions. The author also provides perspective into the intertwined, inescapable, and often uneasy relationship between these substances and human culture, economics, and politics-for example, how individuals become physically or psychologically addicted to alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates, while governments become financially "addicted" to the revenue, such as taxes, that can be collected from the sale and use of these substances. Presents a historical review of four plant-derived drugs-alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, and opiates-and their effects throughout human civilization, as well as a fascinating exploration of the mystery and misery of addiction Provides comprehensive explanations of medical and psychiatric effects of these drugs Supplies stories of people who made discoveries about these drugs or who had their lives altered by them Describes the discovery of the way in which the brain works Includes illustrations of brain pathways and of the four plants of origin for these drugs, and maps showing drug trade triangles

Intended for students and general readers alike, this encyclopedia covers the history of human medical experimentation, for better and worse, from the time of Hippocrates to the present. Thanks to medical experiments performed on human subjects, we now have vaccines against smallpox, rabies, and polio. Yet the advances that saved lives too often involved the exploitation of vulnerable populations. Covering the history of human medical experimentation from the time of Hippocrates to today, this work will introduce readers to the topic through a mixture of essays and ready-reference materials. The book covers the experiments themselves; the people, companies, and government agencies that carried them out; the relevant medical and sociopolitical background; and the legislation and other protective measures that arose as a result. The encyclopedia is divided chronologically into six periods: pre-19th century, the 19th century, the pre-World War II 20th century, the World War II era, the Cold War era, and the post-Cold War period to today. Each period begins with an introductory essay and ends with a bibliography. Alphabetically arranged entries in each section cover pertinent people, experiments, and topics. The volume is enriched throughout with a wealth of primary sources, such as physicians' descriptions of their experiments. Medical experiments are not just a thing of the past, and readers will also learn about questions and debates related to contemporary efforts to advance medical science.

This book offers an accessible and comprehensive yet compact description of various forms of addiction, a disorder suffered by one in every 10 people in the United States. Now thought of as a brain disorder, addiction affects millions of individuals, their families, and society at large. Written by experts who treat people with addiction, this text provides an up-to-date explanation of different addictions with respect to their history, treatments, and related research. Readers will understand the causes, complications, and treatment of addictions after reading this text. Chapters cover the most serious addictions to drugs—alcohol, tobacco, opioids, stimulants, inhalants, and sedative hypnotics—and to highly addictive activity now recognized as a behavioral addiction, gambling. Research into these addictions and treatments for each specific addiction are reviewed. Chapters also consider rapidly changing issues related to addiction, including the increase in deaths due to the opioid epidemic, the evolving legal status of marijuana, and the use of hallucinogens in therapy. In addition to forms of addiction, the text addresses the neurobiology of addiction; brain pathways involved in addiction are just beginning to be understood.