Cardiology as a medical specialty originated in the 20th century and Britain played an important role in its development. British Cardiology in the 20th Century provides the first comprehensive account of the British contributions to this exciting field as well as the interesting story of many of the people and institutions who were involved. Many of the key changes in the understanding of the physiology of the heart and their clinical implications were discovered by these individuals. This book will be of great interest to clinicians, students, and medical historians who wish to gain a historical understanding and appreciation of this dynamic clinical discipline that has improved the health and prognosis for so many.
This book examines the relationship between medicine and the media in 1960's Britain, when the first wave of heart transplants were as much media as medical events and marked a decisive period in post-war history. Public trust in their doctors was significantly undermined, and medicine was held publicly to account as never before.
This groundbreaking book weaves together three important themes. It describes major developments in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in the twentieth century, explains how the Mayo Clinic evolved from a family practice in Minnesota into one of the world's leading medical centers, and reveals how the invention of new technologies and procedures promoted specialization among physicians and surgeons. Caring for the Heart is written for general readers as well as health care professionals, historians, and policy analysts. Unlike traditional institutional or disease-focused histories, this book places individuals and events in national and international contexts that emphasize the interplay of medical, scientific, technological, social, political, and economic forces that have resulted in contemporary heart care. Patient stories and media perspectives are included throughout to help general readers understand the medical and technological developments that are described. The book is a synthetic study, but it is written so that readers may pick and choose the chapters of most interest to them. Another feature of the book is that readers may follow the stories without looking at the notes. Those who are interested in delving deeper into the main topics will find a wealth of carefully chosen references that offer greater detail and additional perspectives. The descriptions and interpretations that fill the book benefit from the fact that the author has been a practicing cardiologist and medical historian for almost four decades. This is mainly a twentieth-century story, but it begins earlier--before there were physicians who were identified as cardiologists and at a time when medical specialization was just emerging in America. The final chapter, which addresses present-day concerns about health care costs, counterbalances earlier ones that might be read as celebrations of new technologies.
This book traces the career of pioneering South African plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Jack Penn, from its beginnings during the Second World War. It explores the establishment of Penn’s private practice, and his work in diverse countries, including Gabon, Japan and Israel, as he sought to rectify the injury caused by conflict. It also addresses his role on the President’s Council, established by Prime Minister P.W. Botha to introduce reform to the system of apartheid. Penn’s career is contextualised by modernisation which was a significant feature of twentieth-century South Africa. It was linked with race from the inception of the state in 1910 with racial segregation and paternalism. Penn’s work during the Second World War was part of a “modernist” bent by the state under Jan Smuts to take the lead in promoting science and technological development – which continued during apartheid. Modernisation was also fluid with state priority shifting between the two poles of development and security as apartheid policies were met with hostility both within the state and beyond its borders. Within the context of decolonisation, increasing black urbanisation required a balancing act on the part of the state to uphold the ideology of racial distinction while simultaneously addressing economic challenges – and this was reflected in the reform initiatives under Botha. Plastic and reconstructive surgery as evident in the work of Jack Penn is intertwined with this narrative of apartheid, modernisation and reform. It demonstrated Western prowess, with medicine and development a perceived bulwark against Communism. It also served as a means for the modernising apartheid state to initiate, maintain or enhance alliances with other states in the facing of mounting isolation and international condemnation. The career of Jack Penn, then, is a lens through which the contradictions, complexities and anxieties of twentieth-century South Africa are exposed.
This work, written by a practising medical doctor, looks at the phenomenon known as 'the irritable heart of soldiers'. This condition, characterised by chest pains, palpitations, breathlessness, fatigue, syncope and exercise intolerance, first became an issue in the American Civil War, where it incapacitated thousands of troops. In this study, the author brings to bear his expertise as a historian, professor of medicine and a former soldier to analyse the condition and to trace the changing medical and social attitudes to it. By viewing the condition through the dual lenses of history and modern medical knowledge, this work provides a unique perspective on one of the pioneering areas of Anglo-American cardiology.
This book brings together a collection of empirical case studies featuring a wide spectrum of medical innovation. While there is no unique pathway to successful medical innovation, recurring and distinctive features can be observed across different areas of clinical practice. This book examines why medical practice develops so unevenly across and within areas of disease, and how this relates to the underlying conditions of innovation across areas of practice. The contributions contained in this volume adopt a dynamic perspective on medical innovation based on the notion that scientific understanding, technology and clinical practice co-evolve along the co-ordinated search for solutions to medical problems. The chapters follow an historical approach to emphasise that the advancement of medical know-how is a contested, nuanced process, and that it involves a variety of knowledge bases whose evolutionary paths are rooted in the contexts in which they emerge. This book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners concerned with medical innovation, management studies and the economics of innovation. Chapter 5 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 3.0 license.
John Lister-Kaye has spent a lifetime exploring, protecting and celebrating the British landscape and its creatures. His memoir The Dun Cow Rib is the story of a boy's awakening to the wonders of the natural world. Lister-Kaye's joyous childhood holidays - spent scrambling through hedges and ditches after birds and small beasts, keeping pigeons in the loft and tracking foxes around the edge of the garden - were the perfect apprenticeship for his two lifelong passions: exploring the wonders of nature, and writing about them. Threaded through his adventures - from moving to the Scottish Highlands to work with Gavin Maxwell, to founding the famous Aigas Field Centre - is an elegy to his remarkable mother, and a wise and affectionate celebration of Britain's natural landscape.
A Brandon/Hill Medical List suggested initial purchase. This is the "digital edition" of the 11th edition of this classic work, which means the book comes with a subscription to the online site (good for the life of the edition) giving access to the complete text, an image library, updates, links, and customization features as well as PDA download
Cardiac Arrhythmias Produce Rapid, Slow, Or Irregular Heart Beats And Are Extremely Common And Range In Severity From Benign To Sudden, Life-Threatening Emergencies. Some Patients May Be Acutely Conscious While Others May Be Unaware. Whether You Or A Loved One Suffers From Heart Rhythm Disorders, You And Your Arrhythmia: A Guide To Heart Rhythm Problems For Patients And Their Families Offers Help. This Book Includes Cases With Simple Explanations To Provide Patients And Their Families With A Better Understanding Of Heart Rhythm Disorders, Diagnosis, Treatment, And Long-Term Care.
Much of the improved survival rate from heart attack can be traced to Eugene Braunwald's work. He proved that myocardial infarction was an hours-long dynamic process which could be altered by treatment. Thomas H. Lee tells the life story of a physician whose activist approach transformed not just cardiology but the culture of American medicine.
