The most recommended medicine books

I laughed so hard at this book. It's a collection of reports from eighteenth and nineteenth-century medical journals in which doctors shared their most interesting and unusual cases.

I learned about the sailor who alleviated his companion's boredom at sea by swallowing knives and later passing them--until one got stuck. About the use of a chicken to cure a child's fever, because of course. About how cigar smoke could rescue someone from drowning (guess where the good doctor was supposed to blow it?). And the physician who thought he could train his infant son to be amphibious by immersing him in water. I can't remember if he kept a lighted cigar nearby during experiments.

I delight in retelling the stories for my students. Still, I'm careful also to note Morris's perceptive point: that however bizarre the treatments seem today, doctors of the past really were trying to help, using the… show more.

Okay, this one isn't about Consciousness, although it does form a key part of the story. But this is such a beautiful read, especially so for anyone touched by critical illness, that I couldn't not mention it in a list of inspirational books.

This isn't a medical book, as such. It's ultimately about us as people, about compassion and love. It's a journey of exploration and awakening from the stark realization that by employing a standard medical procedure, the young Dr. Ely was actually harming patients and likely killing others.

Compassion just pours off the pages. I'm left haunted by a number of the stories he tells of patients who were done such serious harm, with only the best of intentions, and of his quest to bring a new humanity to critical care medicine. Wonderfully uplifting.

This new collection of essays by an international team of cutting-edge scholars allows readers to see how the French Revolution affected ordinary men and women, in Paris, the French provinces, and the French empire overseas.  Treating a broad range of topics—from female activism to property, justice, medicine, food, material culture, childhood, religion, and war—these essays collectively paint a vivid picture of everyday life during this tumultuous period.  Each essay is accompanied by a primary document from the time, which enables readers to see for themselves the kinds of sources on which historians rely in their work.  Inspired by innovative historiographical approaches to spaces, emotions, and artifacts, Life in Revolutionary France paves the way for new research into the everyday experience of revolution.

The defining text of the topic of law and medicine, written by one of the nation’s premier bioethicists, Menikoff’s compendium of challenging cases and analyses is as relevant today as it was when first published two decades ago. Serious students of the subject matter will appreciate both the nuance and thoroughness of this short yet comprehensive volume.

Illnesses affect families as well as individuals. How would you react to the news that your Dad would soon lose a leg because of type 2 diabetes? Two brothers reacted by setting out to find the hard information about type 2 diabetes. That was tough—but the brothers tracked down the new information that this type of diabetes could be reversed to normal. Then persuading Dad that things had to change was an even greater challenge. The family’s journey, and the remarkable achievement of major weight loss, is brilliantly documented. The insights into the stresses on the family as they support Dad are sublime. Even after decades of dealing with human tragedies as a doctor, this book raised a lump in my throat. Today, Geoff still has two legs. 

Amongst the books covering the scientific basis of energy healing, Oschman’s Energy Medicine stands out for its accessibility to the general reader. Energy Medicine provides a sound foundation to the subject. Covering the historical development of the subject; the scientific basis for measuring the energy body; the frequencies of its electromagnetic fields; and how this research has allowed the development of techniques and technologies for its measurement and regulation in order to promote healing and restore health.

A whole range of energy modalities are discussed amongst which we find such, by now, standard medical interventions as Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy (PEMF); others, such as acupuncture, are still considered to be ‘alternative’ in the context of mainstream medicine; and still others, such as Rolfing or Structural Integration, fall within the ambit of ‘personal development’. The great value of this information is that it provides the reader with a broad, up-to-date scientific… show more.

I read this book because I was curious about the detransition experience. I wanted to know the perspective of kids who chose to both transition and detransition. I felt compelled to hear their own words about what moved them to go in either direction. I also desired to learn about their lives as older adults and how their health and perspectives evolved with time.

I found each of the seven kids’ stories to be of value in growing my understanding beyond the parent perspective. As a mom of a daughter, I was also interested in learning why adolescent girls are more likely to become involved in the trans trend. 

I am always fascinated by gender history and women’s experiences in the past. Churchill’s book puts women front and center and considers how medical practitioners understood women’s bodies and health and what women experienced as patients. The book covers traditionally feminine conditions – gynecological and obstetrical issues – but also looks at disorders that affected both men and women, including smallpox, and mental health – hysteria and hypochondria. I like the way this book thinks through all aspects of women’s experiences, how their disorders were understood, who they sought treatment from, and how those treatments were adapted to the specifics of the female body (menstruation and lactation).

Giddings takes the stories of Henrietta Lacks and the Tuskegee experiments and extrapolates them into the present day. A young woman dealing with crushing medical debt agrees to participate in medical trials with strange and debilitating side effects. This book is horrific, lyrically written, and brimming with emotion.

This book introduces the reader to Marc Bregman - a postman turned dream interpreter whose approach breaks through intellectual interpretations of dreams to the emotional experience of your predicament in life. Dreams show you the path out of your predicament – usually through connecting with what used to be called “your inner child” but here is redefined as being childlike in your sense of adventure and mystery in life. 

The method shown in this book goes far beyond dream interpretation to using a dream to heal your life, your relationships, your career confusions, and more. The images in the dream are medicine and can be recalled to offer healing in your waking life. Full disclosure – Marc Bregman was my dream therapist for several years, I found him through this book.