Title: Mark Twain and medicine
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.
Subjects: History, Knowledge, Literature and medicine, Medicine, Medicine in literature, Twain, mark, 1835-1910, Medicine, united states, Knowledge and learning, Complementary Therapies, History, 19th Century, Quackery
Places: United States
People: Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Time periods: 19th century