Well, or one could say that the greatest medical tragedy was when doctors started doing autopsies. There's a great story to that as well--part of the doctor-midwife wars--thoigh it's not included here. Antiseptics are, however, and they're aloso an interesting story.
I agree - great review and you make the book sound fantastic, definitely going on my TBR. I'm not so much a fan of medical history as much as I am allergic to just about every antibiotic I've ever been given (there's one I've taken successfully so far) including everything in the sulfa and penicillin families, so my interest comes more from the angle of "why?!?".
I'm a doctor's brat, so I found it additionally fascinating because I grew up with the idea that antibiotics were very much a finite and endangered resource due to resistance caused by people using antibacterial everything in an utterly haphazard fashion. So I can envision a world in which resistant strains throw us back into a pre-sulfa era, or where new treatments will make viruses as treatable as bacteria, or both. Only time will tell...
Cipro is the only one I've ever been able to take twice. So, at least if anthrax ever becomes a major problem I'm not totally screwed. I thought the Z-pack and I were going to be friends, but on taking it a third time we too had to part ways.
My childhood/teens/early 20's pretty much sucked whenever I got sick, but I've been pretty healthy overall since and it's been less of an issue (an impacted wisdom tooth almost put me in hospital though), knock on wood. I wash my hands a lot. :)
I always hoped it was the former, and not the latter. It's... sobering... when doctors look at your allergy list and either get a bit pale, or leave the room to "consult".
On the plus side though, I have almost no allergies to anything airborne or topical (tea tree oil). My sister can take most antibiotics, but is allergic to just about anything that can float. From a day-to-day living perspective, I got the better deal. :)
Wow...with the antibiotic everything these days (creating resistant bacteria, argh) I'd think that an allergy to antibiotics would be equally unpleasant as well as scary :(
Yeah he did! I used to be an EMT many years ago and go to learn all kinds of interesting medical trivia. The BBC ran a great series "Pain, Pus and Poison" that covers a lot of this same territory: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01f51s5
I'm a doctor's brat, so I found it additionally fascinating because I grew up with the idea that antibiotics were very much a finite and endangered resource due to resistance caused by people using antibacterial everything in an utterly haphazard fashion. So I can envision a world in which resistant strains throw us back into a pre-sulfa era, or where new treatments will make viruses as treatable as bacteria, or both. Only time will tell...
My childhood/teens/early 20's pretty much sucked whenever I got sick, but I've been pretty healthy overall since and it's been less of an issue (an impacted wisdom tooth almost put me in hospital though), knock on wood. I wash my hands a lot. :)
On the plus side though, I have almost no allergies to anything airborne or topical (tea tree oil). My sister can take most antibiotics, but is allergic to just about anything that can float. From a day-to-day living perspective, I got the better deal. :)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medical-Detective-Cholera-Mystery-Street/dp/1862079374/
Pasteur's a pretty good story, too. Did you know he cured a kid of rabies?