Advanced Praise:
“Tanchanco tells their stories…in a smooth, clear style that’s impeccably researched…devoid of potentially off-putting clinical jargon. That approach makes this book ideal reading for anyone intrigued by medical innovations.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Like the very best narrative non-fiction writers, Tanchanco is gifted with a prose style that provides clarity of information with the flow of a novelist At times these historic cases read with the pace and excitement of a top notch medical thriller.“–-IndieReader (5-star review)
“Tanchanco is a captivating writer, and his research into each medical discovery is thorough but always presented with vivid, polished storytelling that will engage readers from the start. Fans of medical history will find these stories highly compelling”
—BookLife
“First Patients is a captivating medical history that deals with a subject too often forgotten: the patients whose bravery made today’s scientific advancements possible.”
—Foreword Clarion Review
“Highly recommend. Dr. Rod Tanchanco has accomplished a rare feat; he has written a history of scientific and medical discovery that privileges the human dimension of discovery, that is, the personal stories, the emotions, the motivations, and aspirations that led men and women to seek out new treatments for diseases…”—Kimba Tichenor, PhD, author of Religious Crisis and Civic Transformation
“Excellent work”—Gero Hütter, MD PhD, physician responsible for the world’s first successful case of HIV cure.
What was it like to be that patient caught in a medical crisis that sparked a medical milestone?
- How did an English farmer become the first smallpox vaccinator?
- What compelled U.S. Army doctors to infect themselves with yellow fever virus in Cuba?
- What led to the first human-to-human blood transfusion in the eighteenth century?
- Who was the first boy to be revived by a defibrillator, and how did that lead to the launch of CPR?
- Could a woman force cautious doctors to implant a new, untested pacemaker in time to save her husband’s life?
- How did a fifteen-year-old boy become a victim of AIDS in 1968, decades before the virus even had a name?
Often marked by the desperate need to save human lives, important developments in medicine have invariably started with patients—people whose ordeals fostered the advancement of medical knowledge. This book is a collection of such stories, each chapter an enthralling view into the history of medicine, revealing the extent of human inventiveness, resilience, and compassion.
Most readers will recognize these renowned health solutions. What makes this book so compelling is how the cases that prompted such groundbreaking innovations have considerably affected longevity and quality of human life for generations.
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FIRST PATIENTS 