How did people in ancient times treat illnesses? What medicines did they use and how successful were they? Read this book and find out how pills, powders, and potions have developed throughout history. Discover how scientists search for cures and learn about some of the drugs that have had a tremendous impact on the health of millions of people. Book jacket.

“The stories are skillfully told and entirely entertaining . . . An expert, mostly feel-good book about modern medicine” from the award-winning author (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Behind every landmark drug is a story. It could be an oddball researcher’s genius insight, a catalyzing moment in geopolitical history, a new breakthrough technology, or an unexpected but welcome side effect discovered during clinical trials. Piece together these stories, as Thomas Hager does in this remarkable, century-spanning history, and you can trace the evolution of our culture and the practice of medicine. Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book. “[An] absorbing new book.” —The New York Times Book Review “[A] well-written and engaging chronicle.” —The Wall Street Journal “Lucidly informative and compulsively readable.” —Publishers Weekly “Entertaining [and] insightful.” —Booklist “Well-written, well-researched and fascinating to read Ten Drugs provides an insightful look at how drugs have shaped modern medical practices. Towards the end of the book Hager writes that he ‘came away surprised by some of the things he had learned.’ I had the very same reaction.” —Penny Le Couteur, coauthor of Napoleon’s Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History

In the Age of Revolution, how did American women conceive their lives and marital obligations? By examining the attitudes and behaviors surrounding the contentious issues of family, contraception, abortion, sexuality, beauty, and identity, Susan E. Klepp demonstrates that many women--rural and urban, free and enslaved--began to radically redefine motherhood. They asserted, or attempted to assert, control over their bodies, their marriages, and their daughters' opportunities. Late-eighteenth-century American women were among the first in the world to disavow the continual childbearing and large families that had long been considered ideal. Liberty, equality, and heartfelt religion led to new conceptions of virtuous, rational womanhood and responsible parenthood. These changes can be seen in falling birthrates, in advice to friends and kin, in portraits, and in a gradual, even reluctant, shift in men's opinions. Revolutionary-era women redefined femininity, fertility, family, and their futures by limiting births. Women might not have won the vote in the new Republic, they might not have gained formal rights in other spheres, but, Klepp argues, there was a women's revolution nonetheless.

The healthy vegan diet-made easy. Vegans face their own special challenges when it comes to nutrition and this book provides answers. There are about one million vegans in the U.S. and about 50,000 new ones every year. A growing number of physicians advocate a completely plant-based diet for many of their patients who suffer from diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. In The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Plant-Based Nutrition, readers will find: ? Where to get nutrients that others get from meat and dairy. ? How to avoid the vegan pitfall of overfed but undernourished. ? How to spot hidden animal ingredients in packaged foods. ? Tips for eating at restaurants. ? Special considerations for children and seniors.

Here, at long last, is an unbiased look at alternative medicine by a distinguished and experienced clinician with an open mind. Ignoring the name-calling and turf wars among various health care factions, Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld, a professor of clinical medicine and author of several bestselling books (including Doctor, What Should I Eat? and The Best Treatment), turns his erudition to examining the field of alternative medicine. Based on in-depth research, and written with his trademark wit and candor, Dr. Rosenfeld reviews the track records of dozens of the most widely-used alternative therapies. He discusses such diverse approaches as hypnosis, acupuncture, chelation, homeopathy, reflexology, aromatherapy, applied kinesiology, hydrotherapy, oxygen therapy, fasting, Ayurvedic medicine, use of medicinal herbs, craniosacral therapy -- and more. For each approach, Dr. Rosenfeld describes how it is used, the theories on which it is based, how much scientific evidence exists to support claims for it, and, most important for the health consumer, whether it actually works. Dr. Rosenfeld calls it as it is, including a delicious description of how to tell a quack from a legitimate practitioner. This is an eye-opening and entertaining approach to a controversial subject of vital interest to everyone. You will find many surprises in these pages. Read the excerpt for just some of the ways alternative medicine can and cannot work for you.