Years ago, when I was small, I had a little problem and my mother took me to see the doctor. He prescribed some anthelmintic drugs and in no time I was fit and dandy again. Never a bother again. Ever. Well, as far as I know anyway.
Then, over the past few days I read this book. Which was about disease. Not a novel. Not a pleasant beach read. Basically a what is what in the major human contagious diseases. Plague, smallpox, measles, some I can't pronounce, tuberculosis, polio and right at the end even some life style ones like heart disease.
There were several diseases in the book that dealt with critter based diseases. Malaria and Dengue Fever for example are spread by mosquitoes. But there were also ones that involved worms, either outside or inside (see the anthelmintic stuff at the top: I was dewormed!).
It was a gripping read. So many scary afflictions to die of and only one has been eradicated so far (Smallpox). In fact, I was one of the last generations of people still getting vaccinated against smallpox in the Netherlands. Ah, that might have been a better opening...
Anyway, the book was really interesting as it not only offered up the bland symptoms of syphillis and puerperal fever (also known as childbed fever), but also direct accounts of people who suffered and/or died from those diseases or saw first hand what they did. There were doctors and researchers aplenty, as were the quacks (this cures all: from cancer to in-grown toe nails), who were always ready to make a buck or two.
The most 'current' chapters were on Influenza and Sars (the book was written in 2014, so before the current Covid-19 pandemic). The actions taken at the time of the Spanish flu are almost the same as the actions taken now. The origins are mostly likely similar too as recent research has been showing.
So, if you want a gripping read about all that can go wrong within the human body when it gets attacked by critters, viruses, bacteria or just plain greediness: this is the one!
Wow that was some reading and learning. I was about 5 when polio was a big worry...I recall the adults worrying about all of us then came the magical sweet cure...in the form of a sugar cube!!
ReplyDeleteHugs cecilia
It definitely sounds interesting, especially with all that is going on now.
ReplyDeleteThere is enough scary health stuff going around right now that I think I will skip that book. It does sound interesting though.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a book my ghostwriter would read! She has all kinds of books about diseases because she's a nurse. She can tell you a few creepy tales too.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very interesting book. My daughter had Dengue fever a few years ago and still suffers flare ups. It seems to be one of those diseases that never leaves you.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. How long do those flare ups last?
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a book for the times!!! Thanks for the review and will put it on the wishlist... YAM xx
If you have a kindle, it's now on sale for only 99p. That's why I got it (mainly because it sounded interesting, but 99p!).
DeleteHari Om
DeleteThanks for the heads-up... now in my library! Yxx
In July I finished The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. That is the one that killed my 27 year old grandmother, her 2 month old daughter, my great grandparents on my grandfather's side and a great uncle. The book was fascinating. At times technical enough to require a couple of rereads of a paragraph to grasp the concepts of certain experiments. That pandemic does so parallel our current condition. Even a president that wanted to ignore the virus and concentrate on WWI.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good book too. And what a connection to your own family. It is scary though how some people just don't want to learn from the past! Including presidents.
Delete