Medical History: Some Perspectives

A variety of topics are presented in this book that seek to reflect on medical history before and after the golden age of the Medical Renaissance. These topics include newborn care, the story of adolescence, behavioral pediatrics, psychopharmacology, substance abuse, psychodermatology, specific organ systems (the kidney and the heart in pediatrics), and other motifs. Reflections on adolescence are provided based on societys classic disdain and envy of its youth, which is seen throughout the ages of human life. In this book, we include a variety of scholars who stood on the shoulders of giants and made giant leaps in medicine of their own. In each century since the Medial Renaissance, these giants advanced the field of medicine into what we have as todays standard medical care, and perhaps we can learn what it will be like in the future. These esteemed experts learned from the past, made mistakes, exhibited amazing courage, and faced scientific -- and sometimes -- sacerdotal criticism. Their courage was amazing, as many were confronted with minacious, inauspicious, portentous, and unpropitious attacks against their ethics and accomplishments. However, they persisted and were able to develop verifiable data that others could independently substantiate and sometimes improve upon for the benefit of all humans.