Taking the Medicine: A Short History of Medicine’s Beautiful Idea, and our Difficulty Swallowing It
Page 32
onions 12, 57–8
opiates 40, 237
opium 15–16, 18–19, 22, 28–9, 32, 60, 65, 68, 117, 121
optics 25
organic chemistry 84–5, 105
Orwell, George 159n, 186–7, 219
Osborne, Lord 89
Osler, Sir William 38, 78
Principles and Practices of Medicine 78, 149
Ossietzky, Carl von 139
ostrich eggs 4, 51
Oxford 29–30, 146–8, 150, 294
Oxford Book of English Verse 17
oxygen 136
paediatrics 294
pain 18, 40, 52, 60, 118, 119, 220, 237, 238, 239, 254, 296
Paine, Cecil George 144–6
Paine, Thomas, Common Sense 280
Pall Mall (London) 80
Papaver 13, 14
Papaver rhoeas 14, 16
Papaver setigerum 16–17
Papaver somniferum 16, 17–19, 32
Papaveraceae 13
Paracelsus (Theophrastus Phillippus Aureolus Bombasus von Hohenheim) 27–9, 31, 65
Paracetamol (N-[4–hydroxyphenyl]ethanamide) 112–13, 117
Paré, Ambroise 56–8
Paris 71, 80, 282, 283, 287
Pasteur Institute 100, 101, 135, 142
Pasteur, Louis 86, 90–1, 121, 143
patents 245–6
pathology 303
Pearson, Karl 170–1, 172, 178, 189
Pell, Jill (with G. Smith) ‘Parachute Use to Prevent Death and Major Trauma Related to Gravitational Challenge’ (2003) 292
Pelletier, Pierre Joseph 69
(with J.B. Caventou) ‘Chemical Researches on the Quinquinas’ 49
penicillin 21, 143, 144, 145–6, 147, 148–52, 154, 170, 205, 238
Penicillium 21, 141–2, 143, 144–5, 147, 148, 150
Pepys, Samuel 6
Perkin, William 81–5, 107, 111
(with A. Church) ‘On Some New Colouring Matters’ 82
Perkin’s Green 84
pernicious anaemia 129
Persia 117
Peru 40, 43
Perutz, Max 154, 191–2
Peruvian balsam bark 40, 124, 140, 158, 290
Peto, Richard 254, 255, 256–7, 259
pharmaceuticals 116
pharmacology 16, 172, 183, 303
pharmacopoeias 69–70, 123
Phenacetin 112, 113
phenetidine 113
phenol 113, 114, 231–2
Philadelphia 154, 168, 280, 282, 285, 289
Phillips Academy (US) 71
philosophy 24
physiology 89, 303
picric acid 84–5
Pierce, F.M. 117
pine resin 290
Piria, Raffaele 106
pitch 122
placebo-controlled trials 225–30, 243, 247–8, 249–50, 252, 253, 255
placebos 182, 205, 207, 221, 237, 266, 268, 272, 299–300
Plantae 13
plasmodium 39, 48, 95
Plato 23, 24
Platt committee 197
Platystemon californicus (Californian poppy) 14
pleurisy 59
Pliny the Elder 18, 37
Pneumococcus 145
pneumonia 5, 26, 38, 72, 74, 99, 128, 129, 136, 137, 177, 212, 233
Poland 91, 206
polypharmacy 32
Pope, Alexander 26
poppies 13–19, 29, 32, 116–19
poppy seeds 121
poppy tea 32
Porcupine’s Gazette 286–7, 289
porphyria 199
Porter, Roy, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind 4–5, 20
poultices 122
Powder of Sympathy 42
pregnancy 9, 207, 208, 210, 220, 223
Princes Risborough 60
Princeton University 280, 281
Prontosil 134–6
Prontosil rubrum 133, 138–9, 140
protozoan parasite 39
Prout, William 83
puerperal fever 75, 134–7, 146, 150, 258
pulvis Jesuiticus (pulvis cardinalis) (Jesuits’ powder) 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47
purgatives 20
Pyramidon 110
pyrazolone 108
Queen Charlotte’s Hospital (London) 134–5
quill 86
quina-quina 40
quinine 39, 40–50, 69, 83, 95, 97, 98, 106, 107, 116
rabbits 103, 104, 109, 117, 143, 205
Radcliffe Infirmary (Oxford) 149
radiation 219
radiotherapy 193
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) 293–5, 304–5
Ranunculales 13
rashes 128
rats 205
Rayy (city) 53
reagents 66
Redruth (Cornwall) 80
regulation 200–5, 208–10, 212–13, 222–5, 226, 262, 265, 297, 301
Reichel, Georg Christian 88
respiratory illness 118
resuscitation 237
retroviruses 277
Revere, Paul 71
reverse transcriptase 277
Rhazes (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyaa al-Razi) 52–3, 117
rheumatoid arthritis 107, 115
rhubarb 97
Richardson-Merrill 208–11
risk 128–9, 252, 261, 267, 274
Rockefeller Foundation 78, 149, 150, 168
Romania 72
Romanovsky, Yuri 95
Romans 5, 18, 20, 22, 28, 303
Rome 39
Roosevelt, Theodore 202
roots 111n
rose leaves 46
Rosenberg, Isaac 17
roses 87
roses, oil of 56, 57
Royal Botanical Gardens (Kew) 281
Royal College of Chemistry 81
Royal College of Physicians 43, 200
Royal Navy 157, 231
Royal Prussian Institute for Experimental Therapy (Frankfurt) 95
Royal Society 42, 45, 61, 64, 82, 86, 122, 171, 172
Runge, Friedrich 80, 81
Rush, Benjamin 280–7, 289–90
Rush-Light, The 289
Russia 72
Rutgers University 152, 153 and note
Sackett, David 293
saffron 32, 86–7
saffron brandy 86
St Mary’s Hospital (London) 117
St Petersburg 95
salicin 106, 107, 115
salicylic acid 70, 106, 107, 114, 115
salicylic acid, acetylated 117
Salix 70
Salonica 162
salt 51
Salvarsan (606 compound) 103, 127, 128, 202
salves 51
sanitation 6, 170
Sanocrysin 155–6, 185
Sarrabat, Nicolas 87
scarlet fever 136, 137
Schatz, Albert 152–4
Schedula Romana 41
Scheele, Carl Wilhelm 83
schistosomiasis 21
Schofield, Frank 241
Schweitzer, Hugo 231–2
scientific method 179
scurvy 157–8, 163
sea snails 82–3
sea water 158
Second World War 146–7, 148, 151, 152, 159, 161–8, 198, 206, 219, 243
sedatives 206, 208, 220
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) 298
senna 19
Sertürner, Friedrich Wilhelm 68, 116
serum sickness 128
serum therapy 93–4, 128–39
sexual disease 27, 145, 214, 290
Sheffield 144, 146
Sheskin, Jacob 219, 220–1
Shippen, John 281
side effects 187–8, 193, 207, 208, 210–11, 212, 226–7, 242
Siegel, Rudolph 44
silver nitrate 145 and note
Silverman, William 217, 261
skulls (human) 31
sleep 18, 19
sleeping sickness (African lethargy) 99–100, 101–2, 103
smallpox 128
&n
bsp; smallpox vaccine 214
Smith, Edwin 12
Smith, Gordon (with J. Pell), ‘Parachute Use to Prevent Death and Major Trauma Related to Gravitational Challenge’ (2003) 292
smoking 236, 238 and note
snake-skins 12
snakes 31, 83
Société de Médecine 66
Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge see Royal Society
soil microbiology 152, 153, 154
solvent extraction 68
sophists 23–4
South America 47, 49, 50
Soviet Union 265
Spanish Civil War 159 and note, 186
speculative studies 248
Spruce, Richard 50
stains 87–95, 99, 100, 102, 133
Staphylococci 141
statins 224
statistics 174–8, 179, 183–4, 188–9, 228
Sterling 255–7
steroids 227–8
stethoscope 121
Stone, Edward 60–3, 106, 140
Stones of Immortality 28
Strehlen (Upper Silesia) 91
streptococcus 132–3, 134, 136, 138, 258
Streptococcus pyogenes 132
streptokinase 259–61
streptomycin 153–5, 180–4, 185–8, 190, 198, 219, 238
strokes (cerebral thrombosis) 243, 244
sugar 60, 65, 68
sulfa drugs 136–9
sulphanilamide 135–6, 138
sulphonamides 144, 150, 152, 154, 165, 170, 204, 205, 208, 301
sulphone group 135
sulphuric acid 158
Sumerians 11–12, 13, 14, 18, 51
Sunday Times 211
Sutherland, Ian 191
Swan, Harold 146
sweat 19
sweet clover disease 241
Swift, Jonathan, A Tale of a Tub 282
Switzerland 27
Sydenham, Thomas 29–32
syphilis 21, 92, 102–3, 126, 214
Talbor, Robert 44, 45–6, 47n
The English Remedy 46–7
Tehran 53
tetanus 93
tetrahydroquinoline 108
thalidomide 205–13, 218, 219, 220–3, 227, 239, 268, 297, 301
Thames water 84–5
therapeutic nihilism 149
Therapeutic Substances Act (1925) 201
Third World 226
thistles 27
Thomas, Lewis 302–3
Thompson, Francis, ‘The Poppy’ 17
Thompson, James (merchant) 43
Thomson, Thomas 65
thyme 12
thyroid hormones 295
tobacco 40
tonsillitis 296
tonsils 240
toxicity 218–19
trauma 20
treacle 56
trepanation 21
Treponema pallidum 102
tricyclics 300
Trypan Red 102
Trypanosoma brucei 99, 102
trypanosome 100, 101, 102
tsetse flies 97, 98, 99, 100
Tsuruoka, Koki 294
tubercle bacillus 92
tuberculosis 91, 92, 94, 118, 142, 153, 155, 155–6, 165–7, 168, 169, 170, 173–4, 180, 181–2, 185, 219
tuberculous meningitis 238
Turkey 72
Turner, Erick 297
turpentine 6, 56, 57
turtle shells 12
Tyndall, John 141
typhus 122, 126
Ukraine 72
ulcers 220
unconscious 19, 122
unicorn horn 31
United Nations Children’s Fund 6
United States Department of Agriculture 15
University of Berlin 90
University College Hospital 160–1
University College London 171
University of Connecticut 300
University of Hull 300
University of Munich 107
University of Strasbourg 109
University of Wisconsin 241
Urban VIII, Pope 40, 41
uric acid 83
urine 150
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 202–3
vaccinations 6
Van Dyck, Sir Anthony 42
Van Helmont, John Baptista 72, 74
Oriatrike, or Physick Refined 58–9
Vane, John 246
Venezuela 219
Vereinigte Chemische Werke 101
Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica 49
Vetter, Dr Helmuth 235
Victoria, Queen 84
Vieussens, Raymond 86
Vigo, Giovanni da 55, 56, 57
vinegar 111n, 158
viral infection 233
Virginia 281, 284, 287
vitamin C tablets 163
vitamins 7, 236
vivisection 122, 144
vomiting 19, 21, 31, 47 and note, 97, 288
Vuillemin, Jean-Paul 143
Wainwright, Milton 146
Waksman, Selman 152–4
Walcheren 48
Wales 247
Walpole, Horace 39–40
Ward, Nathaniel 49
warfarin 241–2, 255, 295
Washington, George 6, 281, 287–9
Wasserman, August von 92, 93
watermelons 12
Watkins, Harold 203, 204
Waugh, Evelyn 161
Waxman, Henry 274–5, 277
Weigart, Karl 91
Weismann, Chaim 104
Welcker, Hermann 89
Welt am Sonntag newspaper 210
Weskott, Johann 111
wheat 14
whisky 47
White, Kerr 250–1, 291
White, William 63
Whittier, John Greenleaf 75
Whittington, Craig 298
whooping cough 183
Wilde, Oscar 17, 18
Wiley Act see Food and Drugs Act (US, 1906)
Wiley, Harvey Washington 202
willow 12–13, 51, 60–3, 106, 114, 115, 116, 121, 140, 148
Windsor Palace 46
wine 31, 32, 44, 46, 51, 60, 125
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation 241
Witherborne, Dr 25
Withering, William 236
Wittes, Robert 273
Wöhler, Friedrich 70
Women’s Health Initiative 296–7
woodlice 31
World Health Organisation (WHO) 15–16, 221
World Medical Association 217–18
worm infestation 109
wounds 51, 55–8, 113, 141, 143, 144, 219
Wright, Charles Alder 117
Yale University 150
yawning 52
yeast 163–4
yellow fever 281, 282, 283–7
Young, Colonel 161
zidovudine 277
Zululand 99
Zyklon B 234
Acknowledgments
My thanks to Peter Buckman at Ampersand Agency, and especially to Jenny Uglow at Chatto & Windus for her generous editorial help. Iain Chalmers kindly contributed both time and suggestions, and the James Lind Library in which he has been so involved was a particularly good resource. Matthew Stephens of the University of Chicago answered several queries while I was working on this book, but his obvious enthusiasm for statistics, to which I was occasionally forced to listen years ago while hauling him up and down various branches of the Thames, was an even more useful lesson.
The impulse to write this book emerged gradually out of repeated exposure to both the theoretical and clinical difficulties involved in treating patients, and the questions that come up over the value of what a doctor has to offer. It was aided by the interest in evidence based medicine shown by so many of my teachers and colleagues, and sparked in particular by two wonderful books that I greatly recommend: William Silverman’s Where’s the Evidence? and David Wootton’s Bad Medicine. It was also very much the result of repeated conversations over many years with Marion Mafham ab
out the role of our shared medical work, as well as her involvement in a large-scale clinical trial. Our friend and neighbour Richard Lehman, particularly with his infectious interest in reading medical journals and considering their contents, has also been a tremendous influence.
This book omits many of the milestones in the development of evidence based medicine. My intention has not been to track them comprehensively, but to focus on those that were most influential or interesting. I will undoubtedly have missed some that I should have included, and mentioned a few that I would have been best off omitting. For these and any other errors I take full responsibility.
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