"Medicine on a Grand Scale"

Author: Ian F. McNeely
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Liberalism
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description

"Medicine on a Grand Scale"

Author: Ian F. McNeely
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Liberalism
Languages : en
Pages : 126

Get Book Here

Book Description


Revolutionary Medicine

Revolutionary Medicine PDF Author: Jeanne E Abrams
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 081475936X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
An engaging history of the role that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin played in the origins of public health in America. Before the advent of modern antibiotics, one’s life could be abruptly shattered by contagion and death, and debility from infectious diseases and epidemics was commonplace for early Americans, regardless of social status. Concerns over health affected the Founding Fathers and their families as it did slaves, merchants, immigrants, and everyone else in North America. As both victims of illness and national leaders, the Founders occupied a unique position regarding the development of public health in America. Historian Jeanne E. Abrams’s Revolutionary Medicine refocuses the study of the lives of George and Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams, and James and Dolley Madison away from politics to the perspective of sickness, health, and medicine. For the Founders, republican ideals fostered a reciprocal connection between individual health and the “health” of the nation. Studying the encounters of these American Founders with illness and disease, as well as their viewpoints about good health, not only provides a richer and more nuanced insight into their lives, but also opens a window into the practice of medicine in the eighteenth century, which is at once intimate, personal, and first hand. Today’s American public health initiatives have their roots in the work of America’s Founders, for they recognized early on that government had compelling reasons to shoulder some new responsibilities with respect to ensuring the health and well-being of its citizenry—beginning the conversation about the country’s state of medicine and public healthcare that continues to be a work in progress.

The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine

The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine PDF Author: James Le Fanu
Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub
ISBN: 9780786707324
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
Argues that the pace of medical discoveries has slowed in the last twenty-five years due to excessive emphasis on the social and political aspects of health care, and to controversies caused by ethical issues.

The Creative Destruction of Medicine

The Creative Destruction of Medicine PDF Author: Eric Topol
Publisher:
ISBN: 0465025501
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A professor of medicine reveals how technology like wireless internet, individual data, and personal genomics can be used to save lives.

Large-Scale Biomedical Science

Large-Scale Biomedical Science PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309089123
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
The nature of biomedical research has been evolving in recent years. Technological advances that make it easier to study the vast complexity of biological systems have led to the initiation of projects with a larger scale and scope. In many cases, these large-scale analyses may be the most efficient and effective way to extract functional information from complex biological systems. Large-Scale Biomedical Science: Exploring Strategies for Research looks at the role of these new large-scale projects in the biomedical sciences. Though written by the National Academies' Cancer Policy Board, this book addresses implications of large-scale science extending far beyond cancer research. It also identifies obstacles to the implementation of these projects, and makes recommendations to improve the process. The ultimate goal of biomedical research is to advance knowledge and provide useful innovations to society. Determining the best and most efficient method for accomplishing that goal, however, is a continuing and evolving challenge. The recommendations presented in Large-Scale Biomedical Science are intended to facilitate a more open, inclusive, and accountable approach to large-scale biomedical research, which in turn will maximize progress in understanding and controlling human disease.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

A Framework for Assessing Mortality and Morbidity After Large-Scale Disasters

A Framework for Assessing Mortality and Morbidity After Large-Scale Disasters PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309680255
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
In the wake of a large-scale disaster, from the initial devastation through the long tail of recovery, protecting the health and well-being of the affected individuals and communities is paramount. Accurate and timely information about mortality and significant morbidity related to the disaster are the cornerstone of the efforts of the disaster management enterprise to save lives and prevent further health impacts. Conversely, failure to accurately capture mortality and significant morbidity data undercuts the nation's capacity to protect its population. Information about disaster-related mortality and significant morbidity adds value at all phases of the disaster management cycle. As a disaster unfolds, the data are crucial in guiding response and recovery priorities, ensuring a common operating picture and real-time situational awareness across stakeholders, and protecting vulnerable populations and settings at heightened risk. A Framework for Assessing Mortality and Morbidity After Large-Scale Disasters reviews and describes the current state of the field of disaster-related mortality and significant morbidity assessment. This report examines practices and methods for data collection, recording, sharing, and use across state, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders; evaluates best practices; and identifies areas for future resource investment.

Toward Precision Medicine

Toward Precision Medicine PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309222222
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
Motivated by the explosion of molecular data on humans-particularly data associated with individual patients-and the sense that there are large, as-yet-untapped opportunities to use this data to improve health outcomes, Toward Precision Medicine explores the feasibility and need for "a new taxonomy of human disease based on molecular biology" and develops a potential framework for creating one. The book says that a new data network that integrates emerging research on the molecular makeup of diseases with clinical data on individual patients could drive the development of a more accurate classification of diseases and ultimately enhance diagnosis and treatment. The "new taxonomy" that emerges would define diseases by their underlying molecular causes and other factors in addition to their traditional physical signs and symptoms. The book adds that the new data network could also improve biomedical research by enabling scientists to access patients' information during treatment while still protecting their rights. This would allow the marriage of molecular research and clinical data at the point of care, as opposed to research information continuing to reside primarily in academia. Toward Precision Medicine notes that moving toward individualized medicine requires that researchers and health care providers have access to very large sets of health- and disease-related data linked to individual patients. These data are also critical for developing the information commons, the knowledge network of disease, and ultimately the new taxonomy.

Deriving Drug Discovery Value from Large-Scale Genetic Bioresources

Deriving Drug Discovery Value from Large-Scale Genetic Bioresources PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030944781X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 115

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Book Description
The process of discovering and developing a new drug or therapy is extremely costly and time consuming, and recently, it has been estimated that the creation of a new medicine costs on average more than $2 billion and takes 10 years to reach patients. The challenges associated with bringing new medicines to market have led many pharmaceutical companies to seek out innovative methods for streamlining their drug discovery research. One way to increase the odds of success for compounds in the drug development pipeline is to adopt genetically guided strategies for drug discovery, and recognizing the potential benefits of collecting genetic and phenotypic information across specific populations, pharmaceutical companies have started collaborating with healthcare systems and private companies that have curated genetic bioresources, or large databases of genomic information. Large-scale cohort studies offer an effective way to collect and store information that can be used to assess geneâ€"environment interactions, identify new potential drug targets, understand the role of certain genetic variants in the drug response, and further elucidate the underlying mechanisms of disease onset and progression. To examine how genetic bioresources could be used to improve drug discovery and target validation, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a workshop in March 2016. Participants at the workshop explored the current landscape of genomics-enabled drug discovery activities in industry, academia, and government; examined enabling partnerships and business models; and considered gaps and best practices for collecting population data for the purpose of improving the drug discovery process. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Powerful Medicines

Powerful Medicines PDF Author: Jerry Avorn, M.D.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307489752
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
If you believe that the latest blockbuster medication is worth a premium price over your generic brand, or that doctors have access to all the information they need about a drug’s safety and effectiveness each time they write a prescription, Dr. Jerry Avorn has some sobering news. Drawing on more than twenty-five years of patient care, teaching, and research at Harvard Medical School, he shares his firsthand experience of the wide gap in our knowledge of the effectiveness of one medication as compared to another. In Powerful Medicines, he reminds us that every pill we take represents a delicate compromise between the promise of healing, the risk of side effects, and an increasingly daunting price. The stakes on each front grow higher every year as new drugs with impressive power, worrisome side effects, and troubling costs are introduced. This is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at issues that affect everyone: our shortage of data comparing the worth of similar drugs for the same condition; alarming lapses in the detection of lethal side effects; the underuse of life-saving medications; lavish marketing campaigns that influence what doctors prescribe; and the resulting upward spiral of costs that places vital drugs beyond the reach of many Americans. In this engagingly written book, Dr. Avorn asks questions that will interest every consumer: How can a product judged safe by the Food and Drug Administration turn out to have unexpectedly lethal side effects? Why has the nation’s drug bill been growing at nearly 20 percent per year? How can physicians and patients pick the best medication in its class? How do doctors actually make their prescribing decisions, and why do those decisions sometimes go wrong? Why do so many Americans suffer preventable illnesses and deaths that proper drug use could have averted? How can the nation gain control over its escalating drug budget without resorting to rationing or draconian governmental controls? Using clinical case histories taken from his own work as a practitioner, researcher, and advocate, Dr. Avorn demonstrates the impressive power of the well-conceived prescription as well as the debacles that can result when medications are misused. He describes an innovative program that employs the pharmaceutical industry’s own marketing techniques to reduce use of some of the most overprescribed and overpriced products. Powerful Medicines offers timely and practical advice on how the nation can improve its drug-approval process, and how patients can work with doctors to make sure their prescriptions are safe, effective, and as affordable as possible. This is a passionate and provocative call for action as well as a compelling work of clear-headed science.