Medical Cures
The quest for a health is a natural human response to illness, but medical history provides plenty of reason to think twice before you try that miracle cure - Olivia B. Waxman
image by: Garrondo
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What's Holding Back Cures? Our Collective Ignorance (And No, Not A Pharma Conspiracy)
The birthers, it turns out, aren’t the only ones with wacky conspiracy theories; evidently a lot of people out there really think there are cures “They” don’t want you to know about. In particular, there seems to be a surprisingly pervasive belief that drug companies aren’t working on cures for disease because it’s far more profitable to chronically maintain patients on medication. This also explains (so the reasoning goes) why drug companies offer so many incremental therapeutics, and so few revolutionary treatments.
If only this explanation were true.
Resources
'Quackery' Chronicles How Our Love Of Miracle Cures Leads Us Astray
Since the beginning of time, humans have been searching for ways to make ourselves feel better fast. Unfortunately, history has shown that many of those ways — cannibalism, cocaine tooth drops, ingesting heavy metals — left us sick, broke, or both. Yet we keep looking for that fast cure.
The Medical Revolution
Where are the cures promised by stem cells, gene therapy, and the human genome?
There’s a way for modern medicine to cure diseases even when the treatments aren’t profitable
Strides in medicine have contributed to a dramatic increase in life expectancy over the last century. Diseases like HIV and cervical cancer that were essentially death sentences as recently as 30 years ago can now be managed with access to prescription drugs and surgical procedures. Yet previously unknown or undiagnosed diseases and conditions continue to appear. And there are few to no effective treatments for many diseases and conditions.
‘The Oldest Cure in the World’ Review: No First Helpings
Fasting is a time-honored practice, often with a spiritual dimension. Its benefits to physical health are ignored or wrongly forgotten.
Development of Medical Treatments and Cures: An Era of Discovery and Innovation
America has always been a country where innovation and new ideas thrive, and this is particularly true with regard to new treatments and cures.
Do not try this at home: Medieval medicine under the spotlight in major new project
How did our medieval ancestors use dove faeces, fox lungs, salted owl or eel grease in medical treatments? A Wellcome funded project at Cambridge University Library is about to find out.
Four horrifying medical procedures we’re glad history forgot
The annals of medical history are filled with some bizarre treatments. They range from the infamous, like leeches and bloodletting, to the obscure. Here, four of the most shocking medical procedures you’ve probably never heard of:
Medical ‘Cures’ That Did More Harm Than Good
Having trouble warding off that weight gain? Have you tried taking some tapeworm eggs? Got a troublesome toothache? Consider cocaine. Swollen joints? Slather on some snake oil. Those are just a few of the quack remedies catalogued in Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything, by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen.
Medieval Cures for the Black Death
Since no one knew what caused the disease, no cure was possible, but this did not stop people from trying what they could based on the medical knowledge of the time which came primarily from the Greek doctor Hippocrates (l. c. 460 - c. 370 BCE), philosopher Aristotle of Stagira (l. 384-322 BCE), and the Roman physician Galen (l. 130-210 CE) as well as religious belief, folklore, herbalism, and superstition.
Quack Cures and Self-Remedies: Patent Medicine
The so-called golden age of patent medicines lasted from the mid-nineteenth century into the first two decades of the twentieth century. By modern standards, Americans during this period knew very little about human physiology, biochemistry, and endocrinology. They sought quick solutions for medical problems that they did not necessarily understand.
Research, Cures and Future Medicine
Facing a decade of intense change in medicine along with unprecedented opportunities, Dr. Farrugia has developed a plan to respond, engaging new tools and a mindset to accelerate discovery in order to cure disease. "Increasingly, 'cure' is a reality we will be able to provide," says Dr. Farrugia.
Secret Cures of Slaves
Massive mortality among enslaved Africans and European planters, soldiers, and sailors fueled the search for new healing techniques. Amerindian, African, and European knowledges competed to cure diseases emerging from the collision of peoples on newly established, often poorly supplied, plantations. But not all knowledge was equal.
Strange Colonial Cures
Much of eighteenth century medicine was based on the idea that illness needed to be removed from the body. This could happen through bloodletting, forced vomiting, blistering, enemas, sweating, or by contact with objects that could transfer sickness from a person’s body.
‘Can Psychedelics Cure?’ Review: Tripping Toward Recovery
This ‘NOVA’ presentation examines ways that hallucinogens can aid in treatments for addictions and psychiatric conditions alongside the history of medical research using these drugs.
‘Magic’ Weight-Loss Pills and Covid Cures: Dr. Oz Under the Microscope
The celebrity physician, a candidate in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for Senate, has a long history of dispensing dubious medical advice on his daytime show and on Fox News.
‘More Than Medicine’ Review: An Ounce of Prevention
So what does work? Mr. Kaplan credits behavioral change for much of the decline in mortality from stroke and heart disease over recent generations...
What's Holding Back Cures? Our Collective Ignorance (And No, Not A Pharma Conspiracy)
The unfortunate truth is that drug companies really want to cure disease, but rarely know how. Medical science simply isn’t up to the challenge. Most diseases aren’t well enough understood to enable the rational development of truly transformative treatments.
3 Strange Treatments Doctors Used to Think Were Good for You
TIME spoke to Kang about some of the practices once touted as good medicine that are well known to be harmful today.
30 Strange Old-Timey Medical Treatments
Radium was once considered a legitimate medical treatment. The ailments it supposedly cured included arthritis, impotence, and aging.
5 Diseases That May Be Cured Within Our Lifetime
Thanks to clinical research and the dedicated efforts of medical professionals, many diseases have been eradicated over the last 100 years. Modern treatments exist for smallpox, polio and leprosy, and researchers have even developed therapies for previously fatal illnesses such as pneumonia.
7 of the Most Outrageous Medical Treatments in History
It’s hard to keep up with the treatment recommendations coming out of the medical community. One day something is good for you, and the next day it’s deadly and should be avoided.
7 terrifying medical "treatments" that never caught on
Today's buzzy remedies can be dubious, from the Food Babe's diets to hot new studies that promise to make everything okay. But these medical miracles from the past century were a curse.
Cures Within Reach
Cures Within Reach’s mission is to leverage the speed, safety and cost-effectiveness of testing already approved therapies for new indications that improve patient quality and length of life, serving philanthropic and/or commercial uses – driving more treatments to more patients more quickly.
FasterCures
FasterCures, a Washington, D.C.-based Center of the Milken Institute, is driven by a singular goal – to save lives by speeding up and improving the medical research system. As a nonprofit, non-partisan think tank, we are uniquely positioned to receive input from all stakeholders and make informed, autonomous decisions when prioritizing program and project initiati
Cure International
Join us in providing life-changing surgery and the love of Jesus to children worldwide living with treatable disabilities.
Project Cure
Project C.U.R.E. was founded in 1987 to address the staggering shortage of medical resources around the world. Since our humble beginnings in a garage in Colorado, Project C.U.R.E. has become the world’s largest distributor of donated medical supplies, equipment and services to doctors and nurses serving the sick and dying in more than 135 countries.
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