Edward Golub, distinguished researcher and former professor of immunology, shows that major advances in medicine are caused by changes in the way scientists describe disease. Bleeding, sweating, and other treatments we consider barbaric were standard treatments for centuries because they conformed to a conception of disease shared by patients and doctors. Scientific breakthroughs in the understanding of disease in the nineteenth century transformed treatment and the goals of medicine. Golub argues that the ongoing revolution in molecular genetics has opened the door to the "biology of complexity," again transforming our view of disease. This thought-provoking, timely book reveals a crucial but overlooked role of science in medicine, and offers a new vision for the goals of both science and medicine as we enter the twenty-first century.

This volume contains the edited transcript of the third Totts Gap Colloquium held at Totts Gap, Pennsylvania, June 14-16, 1976. The Colloquium was aimed at sensing and evaluating anticipated pat terns of medical responsibility and practice and preparing for im minent change - specifically as it will concern the role of the doctor. Recognizing that community values and social behavior are powerful forces affecting health, the participants explored ways in which the physician and the rest of the health care professionals may exert their salutary influence. What are the boundaries in which the doctor can function most usefully and effectively? The problem was examined from the view point of the philosopher, the public, the social scientist, the medical educator, the legislator, and the practicing physician. Currently available literature is unidimensional in the sense that it consists largely of essays written from an advocate point of view. In contrast, the participants of this Totts Gap Collo quium examined disparate data and opinion in the hope of achieving, insofar as possible, reconciliation and synthesis. The dialogue dealt with values and priorities attached to health and health care by our society and with the shifting perspectives occasioned by rapidly expanding scientific knowledge. Questions of economic choice and of public policy were dealt with, assessing anticipated costs of the various options to the community, as well as their implications for medical education.

Medicine Unbound

The term `bioethics' was coined in 1971, just as interest in the medical humanities claimed a prominent place in medical education. Out of this interest, a substantial area of research and scholarship took shape: the philosophy of medicine. This field has been directed to the epistemological, ontological, and value-theoretical issues occasioned by medicine and the biomedical sciences. Bioethics is nested in this field and can only be fully understood in terms of the foundational issues it addresses. This collection of essays in honor of Stuart F. Spicker, one of the individuals who gave shape to the philosophy of medicine, lays out the broad scope of concerns from the philosophy of embodiment, to issues of the role of ethics consultants, to concepts of disease, equity and the meaning of history.

Autumn Alcott Ridenour offers a Christian theological discussion on the meaning of aging toward death with purpose, identity, and communal significance. Drawing from both explicit claims and constructive interpretations of St. Augustine's and Karl Barth's understanding of death and aging, this volume describes moral virtue as participation in Christ across generations, culminating in preparation for Sabbath rest during the aging stage of life. Addressing the inevitability of aging, the prospect of mortality, the importance of contemplative action and expanding upon the virtues of growing older, Ridenour analyzes how locating moral agency as union with Christ results in virtuous practices for aging individuals and their surrounding communities. By responding with constructive theology to challenges from transhumanist, bioethical and medical arenas, the volume highlights implications not only for virtue ethics, but also for the goals of medicine.

Completion of the Human Genome Project will make possible a staggering array of new medical technologies, including new diagnostic and screening tests for inherited disorders, gene therapies, and the ability to manipulate a person's inherited, non-disease traits. Most of the attention given to the social implications of these technologies has focused on their potential to harm the individual, for example, by denying employment or insurance. This book explores instead the potential harm to society if we unfairly distribute the enormous benefits of genetic technologies. The resulting division of society into genetic haves and have-nots would undermine the basic foundation of Western democratic society—the belief in equality of opportunity. This book explains, in terms that can be understood by the general reader, how DNA works, what the Human Genome Project is, what these genetic technologies are and what they promise, and how they could disrupt our democratic society. In an original contribution to the literature, the book then discusses the alternatives for avoiding the creation of a genetic underclass, ranging from halting the Human Genome Project itself to making genetic technologies available without regard to ability to pay. The authors' provocative conclusion is that a lottery in which everyone has a chance to obtain access to these technologies is the only feasible option. This book will be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn more about the Human Genome Project and the genetic revolution that it will create, as well as those who already are familiar with the project and are concerned about the social consequences of its scientific developments.

The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing, first published in 2005, is a guide to the body of knowledge, theory, policy and practice relevant to age researchers and gerontologists around the world. It contains almost 80 original chapters, commissioned and written by the world's leading gerontologists from 16 countries and 5 continents. The broad focus of the book is on the behavioural and social sciences but it also includes important contributions from the biological and medical sciences. It provides comprehensive, accessible and authoritative accounts of all the key topics in the field ranging from theories of ageing, to demography, physical aspects of ageing, mental processes and ageing, nursing and health care for older people, the social context of ageing, cross cultural perspectives, relationships, quality of life, gender, and financial and policy provision. This handbook will be a must-have resource for all researchers, students and professionals with an interest in age and ageing.

This text exposes the cause of the health care crisis and proposes an alternative to make care affordable and available to all. It shows how the quest for perfection is the core of the crisis, and suggests a medicine that bows to the limits of human nature and gives priority to meeting basic needs.

This title was first published in 2003. The fulfilment of health care rights in a world where resources are scarce is a prominent issue. In this volume, Frances H. Miller introduces studies on a wide variety of aspects of this important yet complex process.