Mark Twain and medicine
Subtitle: "any mummery will cure"
By: K. Patrick Ober.
Series: Mark Twain and his circle series
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Columbia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 362
Subjects: Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 -- Knowledge -- Medicine.; Literature and medicine -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Medicine -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Medicine in literature.
Description: The nineteenth century was a critical time in the development of American medicine, with much competition among the different systems of health care, both traditional and alternative. Not surprisingly, Mark Twain was right in the middle of it all. He experimented with many of the alternative care systems that were available in his day-in part because of his frustration with traditional medicine and in part because he hoped to find the "perfect" system that would bring health to his family. Ober demonstrates that many of Twain's observations are still relevant to today's health care issues, including the use of alternative or complementary medicine in dealing with illness, the utility of placebo therapies, and the role of hope in the healing process.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-351) and index.