Download or read book The Deadly Truth written by Gerald N. Grob and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Deadly Truth chronicles the complex interactions between disease and the peoples of America from the pre-Columbian world to the present. Grob's ultimate lesson is stark but valuable: there can be no final victory over disease. The world in which we live undergoes constant change, which in turn creates novel risks to human health and life. We conquer particular diseases, but others always arise in their stead. In a powerful challenge to our tendency to see disease as unnatural and its virtual elimination as a real possibility, Grob asserts the undeniable biological persistence of disease. Diseases ranging from malaria to cancer have shaped the social landscape--sometimes through brief, furious outbreaks, and at other times through gradual occurrence, control, and recurrence. Grob integrates statistical data with particular peoples and places while giving us the larger patterns of the ebb and flow of disease over centuries. Throughout, we see how much of our history, culture, and nation-building was determined--in ways we often don't realize--by the environment and the diseases it fostered. The way in which we live has shaped, and will continue to shape, the diseases from which we get sick and die. By accepting the presence of disease and understanding the way in which it has physically interacted with people and places in past eras, Grob illuminates the extraordinarily complex forces that shape our morbidity and mortality patterns and provides a realistic appreciation of the individual, social, environmental, and biological determinants of human health.

Download or read book Improving Diagnosis in Health Care written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-12-29 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. According to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients. It is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. Diagnostic errors may cause harm to patients by preventing or delaying appropriate treatment, providing unnecessary or harmful treatment, or resulting in psychological or financial repercussions. The committee concluded that improving the diagnostic process is not only possible, but also represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a continuation of the landmark Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), finds that diagnosis-and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errorsâ€"has been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Without a dedicated focus on improving diagnosis, diagnostic errors will likely worsen as the delivery of health care and the diagnostic process continue to increase in complexity. Just as the diagnostic process is a collaborative activity, improving diagnosis will require collaboration and a widespread commitment to change among health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policy makers. The recommendations of Improving Diagnosis in Health Care contribute to the growing momentum for change in this crucial area of health care quality and safety.

Download or read book Deadly Diagnosis written by Martha Stearn and published by Signet Book. This book was released on 1995 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a new and even more deadly strain of the AIDS virus is traced back to a powerful New Jersey pharmaceutical company, Dr. Katherine Crane of Atlanta's Center for Disease Control investigates. But what she finds leads her into a fiendish plot of twisted revenge and murder--and onto the trail of a madman.

Download or read book Stupid Reasons People Die written by John Corso and published by High Lakes PressLlc. This book was released on 2007-03 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. John Corso's entertaining yet serious new non-fiction book, Stupid Reasons People Die, An Ingenious Plot For Defusing Deadly Diseases, illuminates why thousands of people die in the prime of life, from easily preventable causes, and how you can avoid becoming one of them. Most people do not know the scope of life-saving technology available to them, because it is not on their menu of medical benefits and may never be mentioned by their physicians. Vital tests and treatments too often remain unknown and unused. With stinging candor and wry humor, this page-turner lays out exactly which screenings and treatments you should consider and how to gain the control and knowledge needed to get the best that modern medicine has to offer. This book is a survival guide, a “get-smart, take-charge, how-to” book on diffusing your own medical time bomb. When someone dies before their time from heart attack, stroke, cancer, or other natural cause, it represents a failure on the part of the patient, the doctors, and the healthcare system to detect these diseases and intervene when they were easily curable. The book explores why we are failing so often, and it exposes the blind spots and traps inherent in our healthcare system, our culture, and in our own minds. It explains clearly what you can do to make sure you and your loved ones avoid them. It offers a logical yet radically different view from what most of us believe to be healthy vs. unhealthy and explores how we are focusing our efforts towards longevity on the wrong things. This is not another "eat-right, get-fit, lose-weight" guilt trip. Nor is it "twenty more secrets that your doctor doesn't want you to know." Engaging and comprehensive, you will learn the things that actually work. The state-of-the-art knowledge, imaging, medications and more, that identify and stop our most common killers before they can hurt us, all presented by a straight-talking doctor with two decades experience on the front lines of medical practice. Dr. Corso uncovers the obstacles we face in preventing needless illness or death: our widespread but outdated medical myths, our misunderstanding of sensationalized media and advertising claims, and an inert, gridlocked healthcare system which, when taken together, will confuse even the brightest people and interfere with effective management of their health. You will become immune to scare tactics meant to boost ratings instead of inform the viewer, and you will no longer be affected by advertising claims geared to sell product at all cost. This book cuts through the rhetoric and delivers the best in preventive health information. It saves lives. Stupid Reasons People Die first explores the peculiar relationship between emotion, language, and behavior and uncovers the power behind our most common medical buzzwords. It demonstrates how we behave more on the basis of subliminal feelings than on rational thought. For example, we see how the misguided notion that "all natural" means "all healthy" proves that a great marketing angle can have disastrous consequences. Enter the media and advertising industries coupled with our cultural love-hate relationship with technology, and we see how our confusion and fear over medical issues has become blinding. Finally, our impossible expectations of healthcare, insurance, and government entitlements are exposed and put to rest, allowing us to trade our dependent and passive relationships with these institutions for one that we can actively put to use on our behalf. Part two moves into specific medical issues, focusing on the diseases we need to seek out early and stop, and how we go about doing so. Explanations of heart attack, aneurysm, cancers of the colon, lung, prostate, breast, esophagus and bladder, the deadly effects of chronic sleep apnea, osteoporosis, and many more are presented in easy and enjoyable layman's language but in-depth enough to satisfy the demanding reader.

Download or read book Human Prion Diseases written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-06-07 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human Prion Diseases, Volume 153 is designed to update the reader on the latest advances and clinical aspects of prion diseases. The book is organized into five sections, including the pathophysiology of prions and a description of animal and human diseases. This is followed by detailed reports on recent advances in diagnosis strategies for the development of novel anti-prion molecules and possible designs of clinical trials in such a rare disease. An introductory chapter gives an extensive historical background of prion research, with a final chapter highlighting recent progress, and more importantly, unsolved problems. Offers an authoritative overview of prion diseases in humans, detailing the pathogenesis of the disease, clinical investigations, and the diagnosis of both the genetic and acquired forms Provides clarity and context by presenting prion diseases in relation to other neurodegenerative diseases in humans Emphasizes the unique properties of prion diseases and consequent problems they can cause, both clinically and in public health terms

Download or read book Deadly Diagnosis written by Mairi Chong and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2022-03-07 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “One of the best books I have ever read!” —Amazon reviewer, five stars A dying patient’s mysterious warning sends a doctor to follow a trail of murder in a new novel by the author of Death by Appointment. As Betty Scott is dying, she warns Dr. Cathy Moreland that danger lurks at the charity shop where she volunteers. But the only clue she provides is a reference to the now-derelict psychiatric hospital called Fernibanks. Then Betty is found dead—but not from natural causes—and Cathy is compelled to investigate. At the charity shop, Cathy encounters several workers, some of whom raise her suspicions. When a local man with a learning disability is arrested for Betty’s murder, a man Cathy deems an unlikely suspect, she grows more determined to find the truth. And when two people end up in hospital, the story behind the recent events—and a long-ago death—begins to emerge . . . Praised for her “great characters” (Peter Boon, author of Who Killed Miss Finch?), former physician Mairi Chong presents a compelling story of hidden crimes and lethal secrets.

Download or read book A Diagnosis Dark Deadly written by Heather C. Myers and published by Heather C Myers. This book was released on 2020-10-11 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Olivia Goodson breaks up with her abusive boyfriend and hooks up with her boss the same night. She never thought she'd be a friends-with-benefits type of girl but Mason Hadley is so good that she can't help it. He's a top diagnostician at Boulder Grace Hospital, rough around the edges, and he's kind of a prick. But, God, he's the best lover Olivia has ever had. The problem is, feelings start to get involved. She likes him, has since before she broke up with her boyfriend. But she isn't sure he feels the same way. And when her ex finds a way to involve himself in her life again - albeit indirectly - it puts Hadley in an incredibly precarious situation... Olivia must decide if she can forgive Hadley for his decision - if there's anything to forgive in the first place.

Download or read book Rare Diseases and Orphan Products written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-04-03 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rare diseases collectively affect millions of Americans of all ages, but developing drugs and medical devices to prevent, diagnose, and treat these conditions is challenging. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends implementing an integrated national strategy to promote rare diseases research and product development.

Download or read book Yellow Fever written by James L. Dickerson and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2010-06-03 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using personal tales, diary extracts and anecdotes, [Dickerson] paints a vivid picture of the full horrors of a disease that struck indiscriminately....he has written personal accounts of the great US epidemics and humanity's fight to overcome the virus....this slender volume makes pleasant reading. -Times Literary Supplement[A] well-written history of the yellow fever epidemics that ravaged Philadelphia, New Orleans and other locales from the late 1700s through the 19th century....As interesting as the medical tale are the social aspects, such as the role of the city's blacks, who believed they were immune to yellow fever, in treating its victims....Dickerson suggests that yellow fever is a prime candidate for use as a biological weapon, and he considers disturbing evidence that global warming could bring a resurgence of the virus in North America. -Publishers WeeklyYellow fever is unlikely to be found on a list of potential health threats facing Americans today. Most people, if they have heard of the disease at all, would consider it a historical curiosity from a bygone era. In this fascinating study of a once-terrifying pandemic, author James L. Dickerson makes it clear that the disease could reemerge with deadly virulence.In a vividly told narrative, filled with poignant and graphic scenes culled from historical archives, Dickerson recounts the history of one of the most feared diseases in the United States. From the late 18th to the early 20th century, yellow fever killed Americans by the tens of thousands in the Northeast and throughout the South. In Memphis alone, five thousand people died in 1878.Dickerson describes how public health officials gradually eliminated the disease from this country, so that by the mid 1950s it had ceased to be of much concern to the public at large. However, to this day no cure has been found. As a mosquito-borne viral infection, yellow fever is impervious to antibiotics, and it continues to wreak havoc in parts of South America and Africa.Focusing on the present, Dickerson discusses the potential threat of yellow fever as a biological warfare agent in the hands of terrorists. Also of concern to public health researchers is the effect of global warming on mosquito populations. Even a one-to-two degree warming enables disease-bearing mosquitoes to move into areas once protected by colder weather. He concludes with a discussion of current precautionary efforts based on interviews with experts and analysis of available studies.Both absorbing history and a timely wake-up call for the present, Yellow Fever is fascinating and important reading.FURTHER PRAISE FOR YELLOW FEVER:Beginning with a smoothly written history of yellow fever in the United States followed by the eventual discovery of its cause, Dickerson then lays out the sobering scenario for its reemergence both naturally and as a weapon.... It is sobering to realize there still is no cure for this ancient scourge and vaccinations are not fool proof or without risk. This is a serious wake-up call that needs to be read by anyone with an interest in public safety. -Monsters and Critics.com[Dickerson's skills as a journalist make this book a good read for a nonscientific audience....still, there are a number of sections that will be of interest to physicians and scientists. -Journal of Clinical InvestigationJames L. Dickerson, an award-winning journalist and a former social worker, has published twenty nonfiction books and numerous health-related articles for magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Omni. His books include Dixie's Dirty Secret, an investigative account of civil rights abuses in the 1950s and 1960s.

Download or read book Chasing My Cure written by David Fajgenbaum and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2019-09-10 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LOS ANGELES TIMES AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER • The powerful memoir of a young doctor and former college athlete diagnosed with a rare disease who spearheaded the search for a cure—and became a champion for a new approach to medical research. “A wonderful and moving chronicle of a doctor’s relentless pursuit, this book serves both patients and physicians in demystifying the science that lies behind medicine.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene David Fajgenbaum, a former Georgetown quarterback, was nicknamed the Beast in medical school, where he was also known for his unmatched mental stamina. But things changed dramatically when he began suffering from inexplicable fatigue. In a matter of weeks, his organs were failing and he was read his last rites. Doctors were baffled by his condition, which they had yet to even diagnose. Floating in and out of consciousness, Fajgenbaum prayed for a second chance, the equivalent of a dramatic play to second the game into overtime. Miraculously, Fajgenbaum survived—only to endure repeated near-death relapses from what would eventually be identified as a form of Castleman disease, an extremely deadly and rare condition that acts like a cross between cancer and an autoimmune disorder. When he relapsed while on the only drug in development and realized that the medical community was unlikely to make progress in time to save his life, Fajgenbaum turned his desperate hope for a cure into concrete action: Between hospitalizations he studied his own charts and tested his own blood samples, looking for clues that could unlock a new treatment. With the help of family, friends, and mentors, he also reached out to other Castleman disease patients and physicians, and eventually came up with an ambitious plan to crowdsource the most promising research questions and recruit world-class researchers to tackle them. Instead of waiting for the scientific stars to align, he would attempt to align them himself. More than five years later and now married to his college sweetheart, Fajgenbaum has seen his hard work pay off: A treatment he identified has induced a tentative remission and his novel approach to collaborative scientific inquiry has become a blueprint for advancing rare disease research. His incredible story demonstrates the potency of hope, and what can happen when the forces of determination, love, family, faith, and serendipity collide. Praise for Chasing My Cure “A page-turning chronicle of living, nearly dying, and discovering what it really means to be invincible in hope.”—Angela Duckworth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit “[A] remarkable memoir . . . Fajgenbaum writes lucidly and movingly . . . Fajgenbaum’s stirring account of his illness will inspire readers.”—Publishers Weekly

Download or read book Breath from Salt written by Bijal P. Trivedi and published by BenBella Books. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recommended by Bill Gates and included in GatesNotes "Elaborating on the science as well as the business behind the fight against cystic fibrosis, Trivedi captures the emotions of the families, doctors, and scientists involved in the clinical trials and their 'weeping with joy' as new drugs are approved, and shows how cystic fibrosis, once a 'death sentence,' became, for many, a manageable condition. This is a rewarding and challenging work." —Publishers Weekly Cystic fibrosis was once a mysterious disease that killed infants and children. Now it could be the key to healing millions with genetic diseases of every type—from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to diabetes and sickle cell anemia. In 1974, Joey O'Donnell was born with strange symptoms. His insatiable appetite, incessant vomiting, and a relentless cough—which shook his tiny, fragile body and made it difficult to draw breath—confounded doctors and caused his parents agonizing, sleepless nights. After six sickly months, his salty skin provided the critical clue: he was one of thousands of Americans with cystic fibrosis, an inherited lung disorder that would most likely kill him before his first birthday. The gene and mutation responsible for CF were found in 1989—discoveries that promised to lead to a cure for kids like Joey. But treatments unexpectedly failed and CF was deemed incurable. It was only after the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a grassroots organization founded by parents, formed an unprecedented partnership with a fledgling biotech company that transformative leaps in drug development were harnessed to produce groundbreaking new treatments: pills that could fix the crippled protein at the root of this deadly disease. From science writer Bijal P. Trivedi, Breath from Salt chronicles the riveting saga of cystic fibrosis, from its ancient origins to its identification in the dank autopsy room of a hospital basement, and from the CF gene's celebrated status as one of the first human disease genes ever discovered to the groundbreaking targeted genetic therapies that now promise to cure it. Told from the perspectives of the patients, families, physicians, scientists, and philanthropists fighting on the front lines, Breath from Salt is a remarkable story of unlikely scientific and medical firsts, of setbacks and successes, and of people who refused to give up hope—and a fascinating peek into the future of genetics and medicine.

Download or read book Deadly Dermatologic Diseases written by Michael B. Morgan and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-04-18 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book deals with dermatologic diseases involving serious cutaneous malignancies. The sections are organized alphabetically and color-coded. Approximately 40 disease states are discussed with accompanying full-color clinical and microscopic photography. Each entity contains a single clinical photograph accompanied by three photomicrographs detailing the diagnostic features of each case. Subsections detailing disease prognosis are presented in a bullet-style. The pedagogical value of this book is its unique presentation of a variety of dermatologic entities capable of leading to serious medical consequences including death.

Download or read book Deadly Dermatologic Diseases written by David R. Crowe and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ​​This new edition of the popular 2007 original text is completely updated with full color, high quality photographs and illustrations for easy reference by dermatologists, dermatology residents, primary care and emergency medicine physicians. Presented in an easily accessible manner, this second edition discusses more than 40 diseases that could lead to serious medical consequences, including death. Organized alphabetically and focusing more heavily on dermatopathology than its predecessor, Deadly Dermatologic Diseases, Second Edition contains a single clinical photograph accompanied by three photomicrographs that detail the diagnostic features of each case. Additionally, each subsection discusses a disease prognosis with a current bibliography in a succinct, bulleted manner, making this a must-have reference for clinicians and pathologists alike.​

Download or read book The Deadly Dinner Party written by Jonathan A. Edlow and published by UNSW Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world is filled with bizarre and fascinating ways to fall ill. Stories of everyday people caught up in medical crises which take deduction and detective work to solve.

Download or read book The Randomness of Life written by Marilyn Warda and published by First Edition Design Pub.. This book was released on 2012-05-31 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barranquitas, Venezuela is real. Nearly half of its population has inherited a malicious, mutated gene that causes a deadly neurological disease. Marina Valdesa, age 36, lies dying in a Casa Hogar Amor y Fe, or House of Love and Hope.

Download or read book Influenza written by Jeremy Brown and published by Thorndike Press Large Print. This book was released on 2019-08-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the 100th anniversary of the pandemic of 1918, Jeremy Brown, veteran ER doctor and Director of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health, explores the troubling and complex history of the flu virus. He breaks down the current dialogue about the disease, explaining the controversy over vaccinations, antiviral drugs, and the federal government's role in preparing for pandemic outbreaks. Influenza is an enlightening and unnerving look at a deadly virus that has been around longer than people and may be for many more years before we are able to conquer it for good.

Download or read book Rickettsial Diseases written by Didier Raoult and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2007-04-26 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only available reference to comprehensively discuss the common and unusual types of rickettsiosis in over twenty years, this book will offer the reader a full review on the bacteriology, transmission, and pathophysiology of these conditions. Written from experts in the field from Europe, USA, Africa, and Asia, specialists analyze specific patho