Book picks similar to
Vitalism: The History of Herbalism, Homeopathy, and Flower Essences by Matthew Wood
herbalism
health
herbal
herbal-medicine
Osler's Web: Inside the Labyrinth of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic
Hillary Johnson - 1996
In many circles this disease, still known as Yuppi Flu, is dismissed as a psychological aberration. For the nearly two million people who have endured its traumatic and very real debilitating physical effects, however, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is no joke.
Gray's Anatomy
Henry Gray - 1858
About The Author: Henry Gray, F.R.S., Fellow of the royal college of Surgeons: Lecturer on anatomy at St. George?s Hospital Medical School. Table Of Contents: Descriptive and Surgical Anatomy The Articulations Muscles and Fasclae The Blood-vascular system The Lymphatics The Nervous system The Organs of special sense The Organs of Digestion The Organs of voice and respiration The urinary organs The Male Organs of Generation The Female Organs of Generation The Surgical Anatomy of Hernia Surgical Anatomy of the Perinaeum General Anatomy or Histology Embryology
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
Atul Gawande - 2002
Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is--uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.Complications is a 2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.
Reflections of the Moon on Water: Healing Women's Bodies and Minds through Traditional Chinese Wisdom
Xiaolan Zhao - 1980
Since establishing her practice in Canada twelve years ago, Dr. Xiaolan Zhao has treated thousands of women suffering from fatigue, PMS, infertility, depression, menopausal symptoms and other gynecological disorders — health problems that are all too common in the West but less so in China, where traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been an integral part of women’s lives for thousands of years. As a physician originally trained in Western medicine who later took up the practice of TCM, Dr. Zhao has seen how effective the Chinese approach is for her patients, and she’d like to see more Canadian women incorporating its wisdom and practices in their own lives, as a complement to their regular health care.In Reflections of the Moon on Water, she explains the unique philosophy behind the healing tradition, a way of thinking that is liberating and empowering for women. Sharing stories from her own life and the lives of her patients, Dr. Zhao shows that we have nothing to reject about our feminine selves, and explains how we can develop new relationships with our bodies and our emotions. There is so much every woman can do in terms of ongoing and preventative self-care to improve her health and vitality and prevent illness. By making simple changes in diet, exercise routine, sex life and the way we deal with stress and our emotions, we can profoundly improve our health now and into the future."Many Westerners think Chinese medicine sounds too complicated or too esoteric. They find discussions of yin and yang, or the life energy known as qi intimidating. In fact, Chinese medicine is very simple and accessible. Many of the herbs we use are ordinary ones. Sometimes, I might treat a patient’s sinus condition with eucalyptus or other familiar herbs, and she’ll say, "Oh that smells just like what my grandmother used to give me." So much of Chinese medicine is based on intuition and common sense. Although the history behind TCM is 5,000 years old — 4,500 years older than our scientific traditions — it is knowledge open to anyone."—excerpt from Reflections of the Moon on WaterFrom the Hardcover edition.
Hygieia: A Woman's Herbal
Jeannine Parvati Baker - 1979
It's an encyclopedic work covering how specific herbs can help with birth control, menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, and much more. Personal stories, dreams, and poems enliven the text. The author is an outspoken activist in the need for women to be in charge of their own health, to use natural remedies, and to be less reliant on the western medical establishment.According to the author, the book is named after Hygieia, the Greek goddess of healing.The book is beautifully and artistically designed with black and white drawings and photos, hand-lettered pages, and original artwork. And it's easy to use when it comes to finding a particular herbal remedy for a health issue.For example, it recommends 96 herbs to help with pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation. Some of the herbs include Bayberry (for ovaries and womb troubles), Milkwort (to help increase the milk supply of nursing mothers), and Wild Cherry (to help relieve pain during childbirth).From the book:"This book grew out of the need to be healthy and re-own the powers of naturally healing ourselves. In no way do we suggest that this book can replace a relationship that already exists between yourself and a healer/doctor. Oftentimes we do need help from someone else—and sometimes, we are startled into running to the doctor's office for a cure when the situation could best be handled at home. And nowadays, treatments given to women by medical men sometimes prove to be iatrogenic, i.e., causes of even more serious diseases. This work is inspired not from any personal, negative reaction with western medicine but rather from my positive relationship with Self as Healer and herbs as the main tool in this process."
Newton's Madness: Further Tales Of Clinical Neurology
Harold Klawans - 1990
A leading neurologist offers a new collection of essays about the strange and frightening things that happen when the workings of the human brain go awry.
The Spanish Flu: A History from Beginning to End
Hourly History - 2020
It infected nearly one-third of the world’s population and killed ten percent of those it struck. In its wake, schools and businesses closed, hospitals became overwhelmed, and the sick spilled out into makeshift care centers in public spaces. Policemen, public transportation workers, and everyday citizens in face masks were a common—and eerie—sight. Yet, discussion of this global pandemic often takes a backseat to World War I and other contemporary events.
A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities
Jan Bondeson - 1997
He regales us with stories of spontaneous human combustion; vicious tribes of tailed men; the Two-Headed Boy of Bengal; Mary Toft, who allegedly gave birth to seventeen rabbits; and Julia Pastrana, exhibited around the world as the Ape Woman. Bondeson combines an historian's skill in showing us our timeless fascination with the grotesque with a physician's diagnostic abilities, as he examines the evidence and provides likely explanations for these peculiar events.
Wheater's Functional Histology: A Text and Colour Atlas
Barbara Young - 2000
The book starts with a section on general cell structure and replication. Basic tissue types are covered in the following section, and the third section presents the microstructures of each of the major body systems. The highest -quality color light micrographs and electron micrograph images are accompanied by concise text and captions which explain the appearance, function, and clinical significance of each image. The accompanying website lets you view all the images from the atlas with a virtual microscope, allowing you to view the image at a variety of pre-set magnifications.Includes access to website containing book images and additional material, extra illustrations, self tests, and more. Utilizes virtual microscope function on the website, allowing you to see images first in low-powered and then in high powered magnification. Incorporates new information on histology of bone marrow, male reproductive system, respiratory system, pancreas, blood, cartilage, muscle types, staining methods, and more. Uses Color coding at the side of each page to make it easier to access information quickly and efficiently. Includes access to www.studentconsult.com - where you'll find the complete text and illustrations of the book online, fully searchable - Integration Links to bonus content in other STUDENT CONSULT titles - 300 new USMLE-style review questions, with answers and rationales - content clipping for handheld devices - an interactive community center with a wealth of additional resources - and much more!
Smallpox: The Death of a Disease: The Inside Story of Eradicating a Worldwide Killer
D.A. Henderson - 2009
In 1967, Dr. D.A. Henderson became director of a worldwide campaign to eliminate this disease from the face of the earth.This spellbinding book is Dr. Henderson’s personal story of how he led the World Health Organization’s campaign to eradicate smallpox—the only disease in history to have been deliberately eliminated. Some have called this feat "the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievement of the past century."In a lively, engrossing narrative, Dr. Henderson makes it clear that the gargantuan international effort involved more than straightforward mass vaccination. He and his staff had to cope with civil wars, floods, impassable roads, and refugees as well as formidable bureaucratic and cultural obstacles, shortages of local health personnel and meager budgets. Countries across the world joined in the effort; the United States and the Soviet Union worked together through the darkest cold war days; and professionals from more than 70 nations served as WHO field staff. On October 26, 1976, the last case of smallpox occurred. The disease that annually had killed two million people or more had been vanquished–and in just over ten years.The story did not end there. Dr. Henderson recounts in vivid detail the continuing struggle over whether to destroy the remaining virus in the two laboratories still that held it. Then came the startling discovery that the Soviet Union had been experimenting with smallpox virus as a biological weapon and producing it in large quantities. The threat of its possible use by a rogue nation or a terrorist has had to be taken seriously and Dr. Henderson has been a central figure in plans for coping with it.New methods for mass smallpox vaccination were so successful that he sought to expand the program of smallpox immunization to include polio, measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines. That program now reaches more than four out of five children in the world and is eradicating poliomyelitis.This unique book is to be treasured—a personal and true story that proves that through cooperation and perseverance the most daunting of obstacles can be overcome.
The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales of Science, Surgery, and Mystery
Rob Dunn - 2015
Thought of as the seat of our soul, then as a mysteriously animated object, the heart is still more a mystery than it is understood. Why do most animals only get one billion beats? (And how did modern humans get to over two billion, effectively letting us live out two lives?) Why are sufferers of gingivitis more likely to have heart attacks? Why do we often undergo expensive procedures when cheaper ones are just as effective? What do Da Vinci, Mary Shelley, and contemporary Egyptian archaeologists have in common? And what does it really feel like to touch your own heart, or to have someone else's beating inside your chest? Rob Dunn's fascinating history of our hearts brings us deep inside the science, history, and stories of the four chambers we depend on most.
Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden: An Illustrated Companion to Medieval Plants and Their Uses
Robin Whiteman - 1996
Now, with this beautifully illustrated book, Cadfael fans can spend a typical year with their favorite monk, following him on his rounds as Shrewsbury's apothecary and healer, visiting his garden', and learning more about hundreds of herbs -- many of which are still cultivated today. Here is a succinct history of herbal remedies and monastic herb gardens like Cadfael's, as well as a complete A-to-Z guide to the medical uses for every herb and plant mentioned in the Ellis Peters books. For anyone intrigued by Brother Cadfael's medieval universe -- or interested in the recent boom in herbal remedies -- Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden is a marvelous guide to greater knowledge.
The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump: John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera
Sandra Hempel - 2006
A killer with little respect for class or wealth, cholera ravaged the squalid streets of Soho and rocked the great centers of Victorian power. In this gripping book, Sandra Hempel tells the story of John Snow, a reclusive doctor without money or social position, who—alone and unrecognized—had the genius to look beyond the conventional wisdom of his day and uncover the truth behind the pandemic. She describes how Snow discovered that cholera was spread through drinking water and how this subsequently laid the foundations for the modern, scientific investigation of today's fatal plagues. A dramatic account with a colorful cast of characters, The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump features diversions into fascinating facets of medical and social history, such as Snow's tending of Queen Victoria in childbirth, Dutch microbiologist Leeuwenhoek's deliberate breeding of lice in his socks, Dickensian children's farms, and riotous nineteenth-century anesthesia parties. An afterword discusses the new threat of infectious diseases—including malaria, yellow fever, and cholera—with today's global warming. Copub: Granta
Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes
Nathan H. Lents - 2018
But if we are supposedly evolution’s greatest creation, why do we have such bad knees? Why do we catch head colds so often—two hundred times more often than a dog does? How come our wrists have so many useless bones? Why is the vast majority of our genetic code pointless? And are we really supposed to swallow and breathe through the same narrow tube? Surely there’s been some kind of mistake. As professor of biology Nathan H. Lents explains in Human Errors, our evolutionary history is nothing if not a litany of mistakes, each more entertaining and enlightening than the last. The human body is one big pile of compromises. But that is also a testament to our greatness: as Lents shows, humans have so many design flaws precisely because we are very, very good at getting around them. A rollicking, deeply informative tour of humans’ four billion year long evolutionary saga, Human Errors both celebrates our imperfections and offers an unconventional accounting of the cost of our success.