Dr. Sharon Moalem's 'Survival Of The Sickest'

In this work of nonfiction, Rebecca Skloot writes about the life of a woman that unknowingly supplied her cells to scientific research. Additionally, Skloot expresses issues such as race, scientific methods, class, and ethics, that were raised by the HeLa cells. The novel commences with a quote by Elie Wiesel from The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg code. The quote follows “ We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish and with some measure of triumph”. By judging the content of the quote, it is obvious that it serves as an indirect summary of contents the book contains-- the life of Henrietta, her adversities, triumphs,

“In the late 1800 and early 1900's, infectious diseases were the most serious threat to health and well being.” Until the late 1900’s the leading cause of death was communicable diseases. As doctors gain more knowledge about medicine the death rate of those disease has substantially decreased. The three main illnesses of the 1800’s-1900’s were scarlet fever, tuberculosis, and chicken pox, yet a positive outcome from these horrendous sicknesses were antibiotics, remedies, and vaccines.

Cholera had initially touched base in Britain, from Chinese importing ships, in 1831. The poor got to be powerless to Cholera, since they dwelled in swarmed lodging. Cholera could without much of a stretch spread in extensive urban areas, in particular London. Streams in these urban areas were allotted a double reason. The waterways were a wellspring of H₂O as well as, a sewage transfer.The first class and rich individuals of Victorian Britain, were pretty much as apt to catch cholera as poor people, amid the Great Exhibition. In the same way as Prince Albert had additionally gotten cholera. The infection was brought about by drinking grimy water, so anyone who drank the messy water would have a moderate to high likelihood of coming down with the ailment. Destitute individuals in SOME cases had a greater opportunity to contract a sickness, in light of the fact that the poor did not have clean water, yet the rich individuals had the cleaner water to drink. Without a doubt, the ruling and first class had a slight favorable position over poor people. However, in the seasons of Victorian Britain, the conditions were exceedingly unsanitary, so there was a somewhat an equal chance for anybody to catch cholera. Individuals were not exceptionally instructed on the ailment and how to counteract adequately it. Specialists trusted that Cholera was brought on by the contaminated air, thus everyone who inhaled it in power succumb

Many people do not realize how fortunate they are to have the medical advances and medical technology we easily have the right to use. People from many years ago did not have specialized doctors and medicine to cure their diseases that we easily have access to today. (Ramsey) Many civilizations used what they thought to be alleviating processes, but medical experts today know now were pointless and dangerous. Among these people were the Elizabethans. (Chamberline) The Elizabethan Era was a time of accusations. People believed certain procedures were curing people when in fact they were killing them. (Ramsey) They also blamed mysterious acts they could not explain on innocent people, creating a handful of superstitions we know and use today. Unexplainable events and hazardous medical customs sparked the era of the Elizabethan Age. (Elizabethan Superstitions)

Deep within the bowels of Camden Clark Medical Center I began my workday as any other. My basket consisted of sharp fresh needles, silky gauze, alcohol swabs, and several unused tubes. My patients dreadfully awaited to be drawn as I stock my supplies. Every day I work I walk into unknown territory, not knowing what could happen at any given time. The hospital is a very hazardous and precautionary place. Generally working with admitted patients, I come in contact with the same patient several times a day and many times a week to draw a persons blood. My job has unusual experiences I will never forget. A dirty needle-stick, getting hit, and training, explains my worst day working as a Phlebotomist.

Disease, one of the major killers of the 18th and 19th Century. Hundreds of thousands across the world have died from numerous infectious disease that spread as fast as wildfire. One of the most notorious examples of a plague that spread and wiped out a third of europe was the Bubonic Plague or its common name, the Black Death. How do we keep diseases such as the Bubonic Plague from wiping out the developing new world known as America? What disease could cause cause such panic and uproar that hundreds of citizens to flee from their city to avoid it?

The Enlightenment was a movement that shunned superstition and was more in favor with a scientific explanation of the world. The Enlightenment was also known as the Age of Reason or Age of Enlightenment. It started in Europe and America around the 17th and 18th centuries. The Enlightenment was about people who used their critical thinking skills to argue knowledge, education, politics, religion, and art. The enlightenment produced an increased number of inventions, books, scientific findings, political laws, and revolutions.

It’s the Pre-Columbian era and Native Americans don’t have a thought of Columbus’s arrival. Before 1492, the Americas was occupied with tribal societies who took part in trade, battle, and sacrificial offerings to their gods. “In a tribal society, members usually took on gender roles. For example, the males would hunt for food while the females would prepare the meal. Duties of both genders were unique to the success of their community. Without the touch of European hands Natives were living life as they’ve been since their unknown arrival in the Americas.”(Encyclopedia of the Great Plains)

Iron carries oxygen from our lungs through the bloodstream and releases it in the body where it’s needed. Iron is built into the enzymes that do most of the chemical heavy lifting in our bodies, where it helps us to detoxify poisons and to convert sugars into energy.” Despite being a vital mineral, too much of anything can be detrimental for the human body; therefore, introducing

Dr. Moalem’s unique view on disease and humanity’s complex relationship with it inspired many questions in the mind of the reader. He theorizes that diseases passed on genetically remained in the gene pool because they may have provided advantages to our ancestors, and this theory casts a new light and creates a new perspective on such diseases. The diseases discussed in the book, such as hemochromatosis, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia, would ordinarily be considered harmful. However, the author explains that under different circumstance, these illnesses might have been viewed as beneficial instead, and that these benefits are worth

Disease in the 1700s significantly contributed to the decline of the Native American population; after European contact exposed many to serval diseases. The most significant disease, however, was smallpox. By the end of the 1800s, Native Americans had suffered a series epidemics having a devastating effect and leaving some tribes destined for extinction. Historian Alex Alvarez perspective examines if the spreading of smallpox was a deliberate or unintentionally spread. In this analysis, he covers disease in Native America and the link between smallpox and genocide.

She points out facts about different methods of curing human imperfections, such as ageing, impotence and organ failures, and how the idea of ageing has evolved over the years: “old age was so rare in less-developed societies that people who achieved it were granted a certain amount of status and even a mystical cachet. Later, the elderly might have been mocked or isolated, but age was still not seen as an illness. It’s only in recent centuries, as old age has become more and more commonplace, that we have started to venerate youth; ageing is now associated not with fortunate longevity but with decrepitude and disease.” These facts introduce and support the idea that ageing is certainly a problem now compared to earlier in life and is in need of a cure. Zimmerman continues by presenting the effort of others, who are credited, who have put there life work into finding ways to better the effects of ageing, such as the San Quentin prison experiment involving the implanting of executed prisoners’ testis to promote “youth, health and vigour (Zimmerman 2014).” Such proof that cures are being invented appeals to logos and impresses the reader because most will not see ageing as a problem but a way of life that must happen

Between the years of 1800 and 1900, the North American social and political landscape changed by the presence of so many African people, who brought with them several centuries of civilization. Africanized America in terms of medicine. In this paper, I will be exploring the influence of Africans on the American traditions of medicine.

Johnson’s “The Ghost Map” gives a very detailed narrative of life in London during the mid-1850’s. We see a city full of growth on a massive scale. The population was growing exponentially, industrial technology allowed supply to keep up with demand, and Victorian ideas were bustling through the streets. However, the waste from this massive growth was piling up just as fast. London became the largest city in Europe all the while creating a breeding ground for disease. Johnson’s view of London allows us to critically examine the similarity and differences with other urban areas 150 years later. Political, social, and economic agendas within these urban areas have evolved as well. The accounts of John Snow and Henry Whitehead show how new ideas

The discovery of what causes a disease was made by Louis Pasteur. Pasteur developed the Germ Theory, this states that a microorganism called the “Germ” can cause dangerous diseases. He discovered the germ in a food conversion, the germ was infecting the food and beverages causing people to get