Fatal Thirst: Diabetes in Britain Until Insulin

Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-90-04-17250-0
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 9, 196 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 485 g

Reihe: History of Science and Medicine Library

Although ancient and medieval doctors knew of the disorder called diabetes, the disease they treated was rare and largely confined to young sufferers. By the late Renaissance, however, the increasing incidence of diabetes in older adults required a re-examination of what caused the malady and how to cure it. Led by English healers, such as controversial apothecary Nicholas Culpeper and elite physician Thomas Willis, the study of diabetes produced significant debate in print over the locus of the disease and remedies for its treatment. These debates paralleled the growing schism in English medical circles over contradictory iatric theories and professional jurisdiction. On the eve of insulin's discovery, diabetologists still quarrelled over what diets might alleviate its symptoms. Including perspectives from patients and drawing on myriad sources, this book examines changing approaches to diabetes and its victims within the context of medical and scientific progress.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Furdell, Elizabeth Lane

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Geschichte der Medizin
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Klinische und Innere Medizin Diabetologie
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Klinische und Innere Medizin Endokrinologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction: The “Biography” of a Disease and Its Sufferers

1. The Early History of Diabetes from Classical Times to the Renaissance: Diagnoses and Descriptions
2. Renaissance Diabetics and Their Doctors: Changing Treatments for Revolutionary Times
3. Early Modern Medicine in Print and Diabetes: Published Advice and Imagery
4. Diabetes and Seventeenth-Century Medical Controversy
5. Reconstructing Diabetic Life in Early Modern England
6. Diabetic Specialists and Their Patients in the Long Nineteenth Century: Competition for a Cure
7. After Insulin: The Lingering Effects of an Incurable Disease

Epilogue

Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Elizabeth Lane Furdell, Ph.D. (1973) in History, Kent State University, is Professor of History at the University of North Florida. She has published extensively on early modern medicine including The Royal Doctors (Rochester, 2001) and Textual Healing (Brill, 2005).