In 1991, HIV/AIDS was an immensely scary topic for the public. AZT had just been released, but no one saw it as a cure. Some were even frightened of the long-term side effects. In the decade following, multi-drug HAART therapy transformed HIV into a livable condition, at least for patients in the developed world. But in 1991, the fear the words “HIV” and “AIDS” invoked – especially in those given this diagnosis – needs to…
Since around 2005, I’ve attempted to learn the big picture of American healthcare while focusing on my little niche in the system. After 16 years (and several legislative bills with major changes), I find myself as befuddled by the economic organization as I was at the beginning. Before dying in 2017, Reinhardt was a leading voice in healthcare economics. A Canadian by citizenship and a German by birth but an American by living, he mastered…
Most Americans, heeding the news in 2020-2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, have some bits and pieces about how the “war” against the coronavirus was waged. Very few (yet) have a comprehensive view. Enter Borrell’s The First Shots. In it, he aims to provide a first-draft of a history describing the vaccine’s development. Resulting is an engaging and educational narrative that will inform generations to come. With many actors, Borrell tellingly provides “A Cast of Characters”…
In the 1990s, scientists made significant advances to limit the impact of HIV upon human lives… in the West. However, HIV continued to flourish in sub-Saharan Africa, and it remained for the new millennium to limit its reach there. Bass’s book tells the story of the American effort in this quest that spanned multiple presidencies across both political parties. She concludes with its impact on the COVID pandemic. The effort to defeat HIV/AIDS is so…
The human response to venereal disease has always had a strongly social component. Not only is there biology involved; other factors also include prostitution, gender dynamics, sexuality, fear, and moralisms. In this work, Brandt identifies all of these impacts and constructs a narrative of how Americans have reacted to this disease since the underlying biology had begun to be unearthed in the late 19th century. He does so meticulously and comprehensively so that no important…
A close friend of mine was recently diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). It’s a disease of the nerves (a neuropathy) that especially affects the distal parts of legs and arms. I’ve had a longtime curiosity about how diseases affect life, and I like to read. Therefore, I bought this book to empathize with his experience more. Here, Johnson describes her lifelong experiences on a particularly difficult life journey with CMT. She does so with the…
The Great Depression and World War II precipitated much change in the world around America and in America itself. These times witnessed America’s transition from a inwardly struggling economy into an international leader for human rights. Coal-mining towns transitioned from being operated by companies into independent villages responsible for their own self-government. As described in Biederman’s biography, the forgotten but strong figure Dr. Elizabeth Hayes led the way in pushing for modernization of these coal…
There exist few ways to understand something better than understanding its history. Nuanced details make more sense when attached to the historical narrative. Such is certainly the case in medicine, the universal human struggle against death. This book, an edited collection of histories of various aspects of medicine, offers these explanations with clarity and erudition. It offers hard science commingled with human insight – a coupling appropriate for the task of healing. Students of medicine…
In my early twenties, I decided to devote my life to bettering American healthcare. I gained exposure to the system as a medical student and still contribute professionally by bettering medical research through software development. My experiences show that many inefficiencies and much greed exist in the system. As Hartmann attests to in this book, so many people angle to profit off of citizens’ health needs. It’s sad, but the political will and personal wills…
“Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.” “The primary problems we now face are not scientific problems but social problems involving science.” Such statements certainly provide an impetus to read this classic about the early history of AIDS in America. Though this book is over thirty years old, its meticulous research still communicates how human nature often denies diseased persons respect, compassion, and the resources necessary to recover. Such was certainly true in…