The Origins of AIDS / Jacques PépinIt is now forty years since the discovery of AIDS, but its origins continue to puzzle doctors, scientists and patients. Inspired by his own experiences working as a physician in a bush hospital in Zaire, Jacques Pépin looks back to the early twentieth-century events in central Africa that triggered the emergence of HIV/AIDS and traces its subsequent development into the most dramatic and destructive epidemic of modern times. He shows how the disease was first transmitted from chimpanzees to man and then how military campaigns, urbanisation, prostitution and large-scale colonial medical interventions intended to eradicate tropical diseases combined to disastrous effect to fuel the spread of the virus from its origins in Léopoldville to the rest of Africa, the Caribbean and ultimately worldwide. This is an essential perspective on HIV/AIDS and on the lessons that must be learned as the world faces another pandemic.
ISBN: 9781108767019
발행일자: 2021-01-05
Diagnosing from a Distance / John Martin-JoyEver since the rise of Adolf Hitler, mental health professionals have sought to use their knowledge of human psychology to understand - and intervene in - political developments. From Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump, psychiatrists have commented, sometimes brashly, on public figures' mental health. But is the practice ethical? While the American Psychiatric Association prohibits psychiatric comment on public figures under its 'Goldwater Rule', others disagree. Diagnosing from a Distance is the first in-depth exploration of this controversy. Making extensive use of archival sources and original interviews, John Martin-Joy reconstructs the historical debates between psychiatrists, journalists, and politicians in an era when libel law and professional standards have undergone dramatic change. Charting the Goldwater Rule's crucial role in the current furor over Trump's fitness for office, Martin-Joy assesses the Rule's impact and offers a more liberal alternative. This remarkable book will change the way we think about psychiatric ethics and public life.
ISBN: 9781108761222
발행일자: 2020-02-29
That Jealous Demon, My Wretched Health / Jonathan NobleThe health - and especially deaths - of composers excite controversy. Was Mozart really poisoned? Did Tchaikovsky commit suicide? How did Beethoven lose his hearing? Much good previous scholarship has been sullied by unsubstantiated views, and many composers' reputations have been unfairly tarnished by scandalous commentary, often involving alcoholism or syphilis. This book, by a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, charts the disturbed physical and mental health of 70 great composers. It attempts to unpick the evidence forensically and to define the cause of death based on the legal paradigm of a balance of probabilities. The author reviews where the composer was when thefinal illness or death overtook him and considers how many of them would have fared with modern treatment. Chapters are organised thematically, by illness; and numerous misconceptions, such as madness fuelling creativity, are challenged. The book relates the nature of composition to composers' suffering, showcasing much triumph in adversity, and, importantly, rehabilitates reputations. JONATHAN NOBLE is a retired surgeon, who has spent many years researching the illnesses and deaths of composers. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and was President of the British Association of Knee Surgeons as well as the British Orthopaedic Sports Trauma Association. He looked after Test cricketers, Manchester United, and dancers and musicians in the North of England.
ISBN: 9781787442283
발행일자: 2018-06-15
Infections, Chronic Disease, and the Epidemiological Transition / Alexander MercerSince the eighteenth century, chronic diseases have superseded acute infectious diseases as the predominant cause of morbidity and mortality; age at death has shifted from childhood to older adult ages; and life expectancy, population, and the proportion of older people continue to increase. This transition constitutes a fundamental change in the human condition, and thus an understanding of the historical process behind it is of major importance. This book is the first to document this ongoing, worldwide epidemiological transition in a single country, drawing on records of cause-specific mortality since the eighteenth century in England and comparative data from other Westerncountries. Alexander Mercer discusses possible causes of specific disease trends, reassessing the relative importance of "health interventions" and "standard of living" as determinants of increased life expectancy, and presents anew theory of how chronic diseases have developed. Showing that specific microorganisms are causal agents in some chronic diseases, the study suggests that a new conceptualization of the epidemiological transition is required, one that takes into account interrelationships between infectious diseases, between infections and chronic diseases, and between disorders underlying different chronic diseases. Alexander Mercer is an independent researcher.
ISBN: 9781580468718
발행일자: 2014-12-22
Psychosomatic Medicine / Kurt Ackerman (Editor); Andrea Dimartini (Editor)Psychosomatic Medicine (PM) is a rapidly developing subspecialty of psychiatry focusing on psychiatric care of patients with other medical disorders. PM specialists diagnose and manage psychiatric symptoms in a variety of medical settings, optimize their patients' medical care, and expandunderstanding regarding the role of psychological factors in health and disease. PM practitioners may function as psychiatric consultants in hospital-based wards, primary providers in med-psych units, or collaborative practitioners integrated with inpatient and outpatient medical teams. PMpractitioners strive to stay current with the latest research and practice guidelines in a burgeoning field involving complex interactions and combinations of illnesses. To address these challenges, this book provides practical instruction from PM clinicians, educators and researchers, covering coreclinical concepts routinely used in practice.Psychosomatic Medicine serves as an educational resource covering salient psychosomatic medicine topics for trainees and colleagues in psychiatry and other medical specialties. A history of PM contextualizes the field, and an overview of psychiatric consultation in the general medical settingemphasizes specifics of psychosomatic interviewing, physical examination, and collaboration with primary medical services. The remaining chapters cover the diagnosis and management of conditions commonly encountered by the psychosomatic psychiatrist: assessment and treatment of psychiatric disordersin a medical setting; assessment of decisional capacity; use of psychotropic medication in medically-compromised patients; management of delirium, cognitive and somatoform disorders; psychiatric manifestations of neurologic and other general medical conditions; emergent complications of psychiatricmedication and illicit substance use; and special topics pertinent to PM. Finally, future directions in PM are explored in fascinating detail.