Written by Øyvind Svanes Lunde Plot Summary | Add Synopsis You'll generally have Yersinia pestis bacteria present in your bloodstream only if you have septicemic plague. In mid-nineteenth-century Vienna, however, this was a subversive idea. But Nuland's certainty that Semmelweis suffered from Alzheimer's disease is not shared by most historians. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. At the time of the Black Death, doctors did not understand the cause of the pandemic, let alone how to stop it. The "riveting" (Houston Chronicle), "captivating" (Discover), and "compulsively readable" (San Francisco Chronicle) story of the discovery that handwashing helps prevent the spread of disease.Surgeon, scholar, best-selling author, Sherwin B. Nuland tells the strange story of Ignác Semmelweis with urgency and the insight gained from his own studies and clinical experience. 'The Doctors' Plague' Feb. 1, 2004. Enter Ignac Semmelweis, an outsider from Hungary with a poor accent who had turned to obstetrics after failing to win appointment to his first- and second-choice positions at the hospital. Semmelweis's doctrine was controversial in medical circles, Nuland explains, partly because the eccentric physician's self-destructive personality alienated possible supporters. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Well, I gave birth in a modern hospital in the USA in 2015 and, while rare, I came down with a classic case. “The Doctors’ Plague” is a particularly important read today, when so many people are still actively denying science. THE DOCTORS' PLAGUE: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis User Review - Kirkus. I was interested in this topic from a Public Health standpoint. Over 600 years ago humankind faced the most devastating pandemic throughout history: the Black Death. Embittered--and, evidently, turning to alcoholism--his increasingly erratic behavior was conveniently labeled as "mad" (and, as Nuland indicates, he was peremptorily beaten to death after a brief, enforced "commitment"). In this engrossing story, Nuland shows how Semmelweis's groundbreaking discovery of how childbed fever was transmitted was later validated by the work of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister. Plague doctors are often depicted in an iconic costume and seen as a symbol of death and disease. What could be more devastating than the death of a mother shortly after childbirth? Although plague doctors were clearly and repeatedly related to the Black Death, a grand total of zero doctors wore beak masks during that period. I contracted childbed fever after delivering my son. . I know of no one else in the history of medicine whose reputation rose from the extreme of oblivion to reverence as one of medicine's greatest heroes. The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis (Great Discoveries) - Kindle edition by Nuland, Sherwin B.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Still, the glaring statistics he presented--a much, much higher rate of "puerperal" deaths in the wing where the doctors had just arrived from autopsies--should have prompted immediate attention, had the doctors really cared. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. In contrast, the incidence of this disease in women delivered by hospital midwives was dramatically lower and puerperal fever was quite rare when mothers had their babies born at home.While a few physicians (most notably Alexander Gordon and Oliver Wendell Holmes) realized that childbed fever was a contagious process, it was Semmelweis who identified the nature of the problem as stemming from the failure of obstetricians and medical students to wash their hands and change their clothing, especially after performing autopsies or doing surgery. The Doctors' Plague offers a fascinating glimpse at how politics, pride, and obstinacy can short-circuit medical progress and the public good. THE DOCTOR'S PLAGUE is a thoughtful rediscovery of a significant medical pioneer." Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. “The Doctors’ Plague” is a particularly important read today, when so many people are still actively denying science. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected. Please try again. The Plague Doctors updated their website address. The Doctors' Plague offers a fascinating glimpse at how politics, pride, and obstinacy can short-circuit medical progress and the public good. These physicians were hired by cities to treat infected patients regardless of income, especially the poor that could not afford to pay. Ignác Semmelweis is remembered for the now-commonplace notion that doctors must wash their hands before examining patients. Many people have heard of Semmelweis, whose fame rests on having shown in the 1840s that deaths from puerperal fever (an infection following childbirth) at the Vienna Lying-in Hospital could be reduced by making doctors and medical students wash their hands in a disinfectant solution before entering the maternity ward. Given that the beak-wearing plague doctors were a European thing, they date back to as early as the 6th Century. de Lorme wanted to keep doctors safe from the miasms, so that meant strictly limiting the air to which the doctor would be exposed. See All. Alibaba.com offers 603 the doctors plague products. Find out more about the origins of the 17 th-century plague doctor’s uniform, shaped by medieval understandings of disease. I was in the hospital for four days on an IV. Although theories were advanced that attributed it to unhealthy conditions in the expectant mother's body, Semmelweis launched his own investigation. Add to Wishlist. Plague doctors consequently resorted to some dubious, dangerous, and debilitating treatments. It was really sad to read about how his theory was misunderstood and mock, and that he went insane in the end. This book is a welcome expansion of that paper, with important additional information. You weren’t anything back in the day if you didn’t have a special hat that said who you were. The book is also about paradigm changes in science and medicine. In mid-nineteenth-century Vienna, however, this was a subversive idea. . If so, it is out of place in an otherwise admirable history of the life and work of Semmelweis. Plague doctors were largely unqualified, so they had less medical knowledge than “real” physicians who themselves subscribed to incorrect scientific theories. With deaths from childbed fever exploding, Semmelweis discovered that doctors themselves were spreading the disease. Blood. He specifically noted that their clothes prevented fleas from jumping into their skin but ultimately concluded that the costume’s anti-flea properties were a convenience rather than prevention. At the time of the Black Death, doctors did not understand the cause of the pandemic, let alone how to stop it. The Doctors' Plague by Sherwin B. Nuland, October 2003, W. W. Norton & Company edition, in English By: Sherwin B. Nuland Narrated by: Peter Lerman Try for $0.00 $14.95/month after 30 days. Many centuries ahead of the Airborne supplement with its herbal extracts, plague doctors had a different idea about how to protect themselves from an airborne disease. Plague doctors battled the bubonic plague in 1665, wearing unusual all black medical gear. Apropos of “Daleks in North Yorkshire,” “The Plague Doctors of Hellesdon” is a great 70s Doctor Who title. The plague doctor mask is one of the best known and most disturbing, even scaring Venetian masks. 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