Medicine Today : 2000 to the Present

by Kelly, Kate

• ISBN13: 9780816072101
• ISBN10: 0816072108
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-02-01
• Publisher: FACTS ON FILE INC

Summary

The History of Medicine is a six-volume chronological account of the development of biology and chemistry and the economic and policy issues associated with public health. The interdisciplinary set begins with an exploration of the medical practices of early humans and concludes with a volume presenting readers with the vital information they need to answer questions concerning the future, from understanding personal risks associated with certain diseases to the ethical questions concerning organ transplants and the preservation of life.

Author Biography

Kate Kelly is the author of more than 30 books, including That's Not in My Science Book!, a layperson's guide to complex scientific concepts, and has collaborated on works on medical topics such as heart disease, macular degeneration, allergies, and asthma.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. viii
Acknowledgments	p. xii
Introduction	p. xiii
Recently Crossed Medical Frontiers	p. 1
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	p. 3
How the CDC Identifies an Illness	p. 7
Medical Frontiers Recently Crossed	p. 10
Transplants: A Recent Accomplishment	p. 12
The First Test Tube Baby	p. 17
Advances in Surgery	p. 20
Conclusion	p. 22
Human Health and the Environment	p. 23
The Dangers of Mercury	p. 24
Mercury: Early Use as a Medicine	p. 28
Lead and Asbestos	p. 30
Radon and Electromagnetic Fields	p. 36
Global Warming Expected to Affect Human Health	p. 38
Rise in Asthma Partially Due to Pollutants	p. 40
Medical Waste	p. 42
Conclusion	p. 45
Animal and Human Diseases-A Definite Link	p. 47
SARS-a Clear Alert	p. 48
HIV/AIDS	p. 50
Worries about Avian Flu	p. 51
How the Virus Might Mutate	p. 55
Hope for the Future-Conservation Medicine	p. 61
What Scientists Learned from the 1918 Flu Virus	p. 62
The Deadly Dozen from the Wildlife Conservation Society	p. 65
Conclusion	p. 67
Medical Frontiers of the Future	p. 69
The Hope for Stem Cells	p. 70
The Controversy over Stem Cells	p. 75
Genetic Testing and Gene-Based Medicine	p. 77
How a Cloned Sheep Could Help Medicine	p. 78
Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine	p. 83
The Goals of Nanotechnology	p. 85
Nanomedicine-Not without Risks	p. 88
Conclusion	p. 89
Modern Medicine and Medical Ethics	p. 90
Baby K	p. 92
Karen Ann Quinlan	p. 93
The Pillow Angel Case	p. 94
The Ethics of Medical Studies	p. 95
Correcting Ethical Mistakes of the Past	p. 96
The Creation of Hospital Ethics Boards	p. 98
Values in Medical Ethics	p. 99
Conclusion	p. 101
Health Care in Crisis-Who Will Pay?	p. 102
The Background on Health Insurance	p. 104
The Medicaid Program	p. 106
How Most Americans Receive Health Insurance	p. 107
The Problem with Having So Many Uninsured	p. 108
Possible Solutions to the American Dilemma	p. 109
How Massachusetts Puts Itself on the Map	p. 110
How Other Countries Manage	p. 112
Why Electronic Health Records Are Important	p. 114
Conclusion	p. 116
Preventive Medicine-Key to Better Health	p. 117
The New Epidemic-Obesity	p. 118
Fighting Simple Colds and the Flu	p. 122
The Dangers of Our Food Supply	p. 125
People Resist Simple Measures That Help	p. 126
The Solution Lies in Balance	p. 131
The Challenge of Autoimmune Diseases	p. 131
Conclusion	p. 133
A Medical Visit of Tomorrow	p. 134
A Virtual Doctor Visit	p. 134
Cyberchondria-Fears Grow	p. 136
The Patient, the Expert	p. 136
Advances in Medicine	p. 137
Not All Answers Are Medical	p. 140
Conclusion	p. 142
Chronology	p. 143
Glossary	p. 145
Further Resources	p. 148
Index	p. 153
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Many people take for granted that physicians know what they are doing, but every day scientists must make very difficult decisions. Just because scientists can harvest stem cells, doesn't mean that they should; and while one day nanotechnology might mean a little "nanobot" can be turned into a blood vessel to clean out the arteries, there are some ethical and environmental issues that must be considered first. Today people can be kept alive mechanically, but physicians must wrestle with how long breathing on a machine should continue before a person is declared dead and their organs can be harvested. These difficult and emotional issues have no easy answers, but medical practitioners have tried to come up with ethical solutions.Available in full color,Medicine Todayexplains some of the technology and discoveries that are currently being explored in the world of medicine, providing information on what some of these new developments might mean and the possibilities for tomorrow. Containing a chronology, a glossary, and an array of historical and current sources for further research, Medicine Today provides readers with the background necessary to ask the right questions about medical decisions of the future.Chapters include:

• Recently Crossed Medical Frontiers
• Human Health and the Environment: Forever Linked
• Conservation Medicine: Why Vets are Being Consulted on Human Health
• Medical Frontiers of the Future
• Modern Medicine and Medical Ethics
• Health Care in Crisis: Who Will Pay?
• Preventive Medicine: Key to Better Health
• A Doctor Visit of Tomorrow.

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Excerpted from Medicine Today: 2000 to the Present by Kate Kelly
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.