Incurable and Intolerable [electronic resource] : Chronic Disease and Slow Death in Nineteenth Century France.

ISBN:

9780813547107

9781282094208

9780813545455

Title:

Incurable and Intolerable [electronic resource] : Chronic Disease and Slow Death in Nineteenth Century France.

Author:

Szabo, Jason.

Personal Author:

Szabo, Jason.

Publication Information:

Piscataway : Rutgers University Press, 2009.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (310 pages)

Contents:

Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1: "What Are His Chances, Doctor?": The Semantics of Incurability in the Nineteenth Century; 2: Reinventing Hope in the Late Nineteenth Century; 3: "I Told You So": The Rhyme and Reason of Chronic Disease; 4: Death, Decay, and the Genesis of Shame; 5: Medical Attitudes toward the Care of Incurables; 6: Medical Strategies, Social Conventions, and Palliative Medicine; 7: Ecce Homo: Opiates, Suffering, and the Art of Palliation; 8: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Incurability and the Quest for Goodness.

9: The Fate of the Incurably Ill between the Two Revolutions, 1789184810: Caught between Initiative and Inertia: Responses to the Incurably Ill from 1845 to 1905; Conclusion; Notes; Select Bibliography; Index; About the Author.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Chronic diseases -- France -- History -- 19th century.

Palliative treatment -- France -- History -- 19th century.

Geographic Term:

France.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2009

Publication Information:

Piscataway : Rutgers University Press, 2009.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
616.044	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Terminal illness and the pain and anguish it brings are experiences that have touched millions of people in the past and continue to shape our experience of the present. Hospital machines that artificially support life and monitor vital signs beg the question: Is there not anything that medical science can offer as solace?

Incurable and Intolerable looks at the history of incurable illness from a variety of perspectives, including those of doctors, patients, families, religious counsel, and policy makers. This compellingly documented and well-written history illuminates the physical, emotional, social, and existential consequences of chronic disease and terminal illness, and offers an original look at the world of palliative medicine, politics, religion, and charity. Revealing the ways in which history can shed new light on contemporary thinking, Jason Szabo encourages a more careful scrutiny of today's attitudes, policies, and practices surrounding "imminent death" and its effects on society.

Author Notes

JASON SZABO is a medical doctor and historian involved in AIDS care and clinical research at MontrTal General Hospital. He has pursued postgraduate studies in history at McGill University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

In this vivid, meticulous history of medical, religious, and political responses to incurable illness in 19th-century France, Szabo (Montreal General Hospital) chronicles the diagnostic and prognostic difficulties physicians encountered, given their limited scientific understanding. Physicians even debated what constituted a "cure." Fearing for their reputations and frustrated by their lack of success, some physicians abandoned incurable patients, leaving them to charlatan healers. Scientific advances made opiates available for pain, but fears of addiction and social decay limited physicians' use of these drugs. The book vividly portrays the social context concerning debates about incurable disease and if and to what extent people with illness were a public responsibility. Despite this volume's narrow geographic and historical scope, it concludes with a brief exploration of parallels between 19th-century France and contemporary times. The book's provocative conclusion forces readers to think about how much or how little the situation has changed over two centuries. This is a first-rate snapshot of illness and medicine in a particular location and time frame. It raises timeless questions concerning medicine, healing, and responsibility. A valuable addition to library collections supporting history and medical ethics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above. A. W. Klink Duke University