Book Description
Leading investigators with extensive practical knowledge and experience describe their best methods for studying the tuberculosis pathogen. Packed with step-by-step instructions to ensure successful results, these methods range from basic handling techniques to the application of functional genomics. Highlights include methods for the basic safety and culture of M. tuberculosis, fractionation of the bacterium (nucleic acids, lipids, culture filtrate, and capsule), the analysis of gene expression (start site mapping, real-time PCR microarrays, and proteomics), the growth of the bacterium in macrophages and low oxygen, cytological analysis of the bacteria, and diagnostics. Highly practical and accessible, Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protocolsutilizes advanced functional genomics and mutagenesis methodologies to provide both experimental and clinical investigators all the powerful techniques needed to illuminate the molecular biology of tuberculosis and its interactions with host cells, and so drive work on the wide variety of emerging therapeutic opportunities. ... Read more

Book Description

Consider two polar images of the same medical condition: the pale and fragile Camille ensconced on a chaise in a Victorian parlor, daintily coughing a small spot of blood onto her white lace pillow, and a wretched poor man in a Bowery flophouse spreading a dread and deadly infection. Now Katherine Ott chronicles how in one century a romantic, ambiguous affliction of the spirit was transformed into a disease that threatened public health and civic order. She persuasively argues that there was no constant identity to the disease over time, no "core" tuberculosis.

What we understand today as pulmonary tuberculosis would have been largely unintelligible to a physician or patient in the late nineteenth century. Although medically the two terms described the same disease of the lungs, Ott shows that "tuberculosis" and "consumption" were diagnosed, defined, and treated distinctively by both lay and professional health workers. Ott traces the shift from the pre-industrial world of 1870, in which consumption was conceived of primarily as a middle-class malaise that conferred virtue, heightened spirituality, and gentility on the sufferer, to the post-industrial world of today, in which tuberculosis is viewed as a microscopic enemy, fought on an urban battleground and attacking primarily the outcast poor and AIDS patients.

Ott's focus is the changing definition of the disease in different historical eras and environments. She explores its external trappings, from the symptoms doctors chose to notice (whether a pale complexion or a tubercle in a dish) to the significance of the economic and social circumstances of the patient. Emphasizing the material culture of disease--medical supplies, advertisements for faraway rest cures, outdoor sick porches, and invalid hammocks--Ott provides insight into people's understanding of illness and how to combat it. Fevered Lives underscores the shifting meanings of consumption/tuberculosis in an extraordinarily readable cultural history.

Customer Reviews (1)

Historical perspectives on tuberculosis and public health
Ott interweaves the changing understanding and treatment of tuberculosis with its natural companion, public health.There are a variety of stories here--that of researchers like Edward Koch (who discovered the bacillus) and public health reformers like Charles Chapin and C-E. A. Winslow.The housing of consumptives, in such places as sanatoriums, merits a chapter, andmethods of nursing and care.Though the book is arranged thematically and not chronologiaclly, it is the story of our understanding of TB from the mid-19th century to the present.The book does not focus on the medical or scientific aspects of the disease, however (though they are mentioned) but rather, Ott's point seems to be that TB is not a definable illness by modern standards, but something that is changing continuously, as are our methods of dealing with the disease."Fevered Lives" offers some interesting perspectives on the history of public health and TB, and is a well written book on the history of medicine for those not in the profession. ... Read more

Book Description
The dramatic increase since the 1980s in the global prevalence of tuberculosis, a disease destined as recently as thirty years ago for complete eradication, is a story of medical failure. A pandemic whose geography defies simple categorization—it ranges from schools in the UK to prisons in Russia, from refugee camps in central Africa to affluent suburbs in North America—the 'new' tuberculosis is derived from a combination of different developments such as collapsing health-care services, shifting patterns of poverty and inequality, the spread of HIV, and the emergence of virulent drug-resistant strains.

This collection provides an international survey of current thought on the spread and control of tuberculosis, covering historical, social, political, and medical aspects. While the contributors may differ in their opinions over specific treatments or research methodology, all are agreed on the overriding thesis of the book—that the resurgence of disease is one of the most telling indictments of the failure of global political and economic institutions to improve the lives of ordinary people. ... Read more

Book Description
In the 1980s and early 1990s, New York City experienced an unprecedented outbreak of tuberculosis. Inadequate healthcare services, an increase in social alienation of the poor, and the emergence of drug-resistant strains led city health officials to respond with draconian policies to ensure compliance, including the use of detention of non-infectious individuals--sometimes for up to two years--that violated individual civil liberties. The New York TB epidemic has since been controlled, but this public health triumph has come at great cost. This gripping narrative of medicine and morality raises ethical issues that are of increasing importance in the world of modern medicine. Richard J. Coker warns the international community against assuming a fortress mentality, advocating a more just balance between health, liberty, and the burdens society should be prepared to accept in the pursuit of both. ... Read more

Book Description
Why does tuberculosis, a disease which is both curable and preventable, continue to produce over 50,000 new cases a year in South Africa, primarily among blacks? In answering this question Randall Packard traces the history of one of the most devastating diseases in twentieth-century Africa, against the background of the changing political and economic forces that have shaped South African society from the end of the nineteenth century to the present. These forces have generated a growing backlog of disease among black workers and their families and at the same time have prevented the development of effective public health measures for controlling it. Packard's rich and nuanced analysis is a significant contribution to the growing body of literature on South Africa's social history as well as to the history of medicine and the political economy of health. ... Read more

Book Description
In this first English-language study of popular and scientific responses to tuberculosis in nineteenth-century France, David Barnes provides a much-needed historical perspective on a disease that is making an alarming comeback in the United States and Europe. Barnes argues that French perceptions of the disease--ranging from the early romantic image of a consumptive woman to the later view of a scourge spread by the poor--owed more to the power structures of nineteenth-century society than to medical science. By 1900, the war against tuberculosis had become a war against the dirty habits of the working class.
Lucid and original, Barnes's study broadens our understanding of how and why societies assign moral meanings to deadly diseases. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very impressive historical treatment
This book is well-written, persuasive, and very impressive.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York City. Concise text forpractitioners on the relationship between tuberculosis and AIDS. Coversepidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment,and public health issues. ... Read more

Book Description
The World Health Organization estimates that 200 million people will develop tuberculosis between 2000 and 2020 and that 35 million of these will die. The unique contribution of nurses to prevention and care is enhanced by their comprehensive understanding of the current evidence and guidance for best practice in caring for patients with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis: a foundation for nursing and healthcare practice provides a clear and up-to-date insight into the issues surrounding the current global pandemic of tuberculosis and provides guidance on the nursing role in diagnosis, prevention, treatment and care. In this stimulating text, assumptions are challenged, new paradigms are explored and nurses and other practitioners are encouraged to apply and adapt core principles to their own care environments. This text offers nurses and other healthcare practitioners an essential reference for the planning and implementation of confident, competent and relevant individualized care for an increasing number of patients with tuberculosis. ... Read more

Book Description
Tuberculosis and the Tubercle Bacillus, an extension of the 1994publication Tuberculosis, is a state-of-the-art review of the corpus ofknowledge available to researchers in the field. Divided into threecomprehensive sections, this new volume begins with an examination of thecurrent issues related to tuberculosis, including clinical andepidemiological features of the disease-causing strains. Topics exploredin the second section include genetics, genomics, cell structure, andmetabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ... Read more

Book Description
A Truly Personal Account that will raise awarenesss worldwide of Tuberculosis and Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis. The Tuberculosis Survival Handbook is an engrossing personal story as well as an invaluable source of information for people with TB around the world.

In recognition of the worldwide TB epidemic, this useful publication has been extensively updated. The comprehensive and easily readable text covers the clinician's and patient's perspective; practical information including the DOT strategy for adherence to treatment; treatment and management. A must read for patients and healthcare workers. ... Read more

Product Description
The WHO/IUATLD 3rd global report on anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in the world provides data from drug resistance surveys conducted in 77 different countries/geographical settings, between 1999 and 2002. The aim of the project is to collect standardized, reliable and comparable worldwide information on drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... Read more

Book Description
The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB)threatens TB control programs worldwide. Outbreaks of MDRTB in theUnited States grabbed the attention of the medical community and thegeneral public, and subsequent surveys have found 'hot spots' of MDRTBin low- and middle-income countries on four continents. Unlike other textbooks that contain only a single chapter on MDRTB,this book is devoted to the subject. Contributions from experts frommulti disciplines provide detailed descriptions, causation, molecularbiology, laboratory diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and publichealth, aspect of this disease. This book provides an authoritativeoverview of MDRTB and will be a useful reference book for clinicians,scientists and other health personnel involved in the care of TB andMDRTB patients in industrialized and developing countries. ... Read more

Book Description
In the United States, TB has re-emerged as a serious public health problem.In addition to those with active TB, an estimated 10 to 15 million people in the United States are infected with M. tuberculosis without displaying symptoms (latent TB) and about one in ten of these individuals will develop active TB at some time in their lives.Minorities are affected disproportionately by TB: 54 percent of active TB cases in 1999 were among African-American and Hispanic people, with an additional 20 percent found in Asians. This issue updates the reader on the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very informative, a little verbose.
As a non-medical 2nd year uni student I found the book thorough and informative, more than sufficient as a source for assignment information. However I found myself reaching for a dictionary more often than necessary, to make it through words like 'involuted' and so forth. And the pathogenesis section was a little disjointed, it appeared to have conflicting information over the course of pages 66 to 69. Otherwise a very vigorous treatise of TB.

Medical writing at its best.Incredible prose!
Admittedly most medical texts are not "page-turners". This is an exception. Using beautiful prose, Iseman has compiled an excellent piece on this disease of antiquity. It is a joy to read and should be in the library of every physician who concerns him or herself with tuberculosis.

Bottling Excellence
Videophiles may recall a classic TV advertisement (for Prego spaghetti sauce) that featured the tag line, "It's in there!"From the basic tomato paste to the more exotic herbs and spices, the ad line went, if it contributes to a fine spaghetti sauce, "It's in there!"Reading Dr. Iseman's fine new book gives me the same feeling of a complete and satisfying product.A compendium in the very best sense of the word, the text details the history, diagnosis, epidemiology, and treatment of tuberculosis in 14 elegantly-written, easily-digested chapters.My guess is that the secret ingredient in this impressive work is Dr. Iseman's obvious respect both for the disease and for those historical figures who struggled, sometimes heroically, to understand and to overcome it. And, as for Excellence...it's in there.

The definitive TB text
Those of us in the field of TB know Mike Iseman as one of the giants and this textbook provides an invaluable guide for the treatment of this spreading disease.He deftly mixes historical perspective with clinicalwisdom to achieve that rare combination of an edifying text that isactually pleasant to read.I can honestly say that I found myself readingthis book not just as a reference, but as a work of literature--a rarecomplement, indeed, in the world of medical writing.The writing issuperb, the research is cutting edge, and the book is a must have foranyone who deals with TB. ... Read more

Book Description
By the late 1890s, the question of bovine tuberculosis (TB) and infected meat had become one of national importance, reflecting a national sense of fear. Although the extent of the threat to health proved uncertain, bovine TB had come to stand at the centre of debates about diseased meat and public health. The anxiety it caused was part of a longer story, linked to concern over food safety, changes in how tuberculosis was understood, and to worries over diseased meat and the 'evils' of the urban meat trade. The Bovine Scourge explores the debates and fears that came to surround bovine TB, meat and public health between the 1860s and 1914. It traces how diseased meat and bovine TB emerged as a public health issue, examines the measures adopted to protect the public, and addresses how by the Edwardian era milk had become the major source of concern in discussion of bovine TB. It also raises important questions about the history of food safety, the concerns generated by diseased meat, and the role of the public health and veterinary profession in preventing the sale of contaminated food.KEIR WADDINGTON is a senior lecturer in the School of History and Archaeology at Cardiff University. ... Read more

Book Description
(Imperial College Press) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,UK. Discusses the holistic aspects of global tuberculosis control. Issuesand principles outlines are relevant to many other areas of globalmedicine including HIV/AIDS. For those involved in the design,establishment and management of disease control programs at all levels. ... Read more

Book Description
Against the background of AIDS, wars, migration, and the inadequate provision of health care, a very serious epidemic of tuberculosis is once again occurring worldwide. This profusely illustrated book, written by an author with immense personal experience in the field, documents the wide spectrum of tuberculosis encountered in the various organ systems, and correlates the images with clinical, laboratory, and histopathological findings. The value of the many different methods of imaging (radiography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, nuclear medicine scans) in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of tuberculosis is discussed and illustrated. The epidemiology of tuberculosis and its relationship with AIDS are also explored. This unique book will be of great value not only to radiologists but to all who encounter tuberculosis in their clinical practice. ... Read more

Book Description
Case presentations are probably one of the most accessible ways for the trainee to learn about a particular aspect of medicine. This series of 100 cases has been complied to cover virtually every aspect of tuberculosis that the physician will ever encounter, including cases from around the world. The authors give a comprehensive flavour of the way tuberculosis presents in real life' offering diagnostic and therapeutic solutions.The book includes introductory cases which remain straightforward from diagnosis to discharge, cases that are difficult to diagnose but easy to manage, problems of management associated with poor compliance, emergent drug resistance and the development of concomitant disease. The text features failures in addition to successes, since from the former much can often be learned. Where management might be improved upon, detailed reference is provided in the discussion leading the reader to explore different management options. The book will be of value to the trainee in infectious disease or respiratory medicine, but will also be useful as a ready reference for the practising clinician, particularly those considering an appointment in the developing world. ... Read more