the demon under the microscope by thomas hager

The powerful new drugs changed how care was given as well as who gave it. The result, in the view of some, has been a shift in the profession from caregiver to technician. They routinely perform what were once considered miracles. Today they act: They prescribe, they treat, they cure. A century ago most physicians were careful, conservative observers who provided comfort to patients and their families. The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctors Heroic Search for the Worlds First Miracle Drug by Thomas Hager and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Aspiring caregivers today are chosen as much (or more) for their scientific abilities, their talent for mastering these manifold technological and pharmaceutical advances as for their interpersonal skills. One that has been shaped to a great degree by the successful development of potent cures that followed the discovery of sulfa drugs. This is a fascinating scientific tale with all the excitement and intrigue of a great suspense novel.“Where there were once several competing approaches to medicine, there is now only one that matters to most hospitals, insurers, and the vast majority of the public.

The very concept that chemicals created in a lab could cure disease revolutionized medicine, taking it from the treatment of symptoms and discomfort to the eradication of the root cause of illness.Ī strange and colorful story, The Demon Under the Microscope illuminates the vivid characters, corporate strategy, individual idealism, careful planning, lucky breaks, cynicism, heroism, greed, hard work, and the central (though mistaken) idea that brought sulfa to the world.

Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved, and sold transformed the way doctors treated patients and ushered in the era of modern medicine. Sulfa saved millions of lives-among them those of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.-but its real effects are even more far reaching. The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug is a 2006 nonfiction book about the discovery of Prontosil, the first commercially available antibacterial antibiotic and sulfanilamide, the second commercial antibiotic. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of sulfa, the first antibiotic and the drug that shaped modern medicine.

The demon under the microscope by thomas hager