Royal Maladies


Book Description

An intensive historical study of the hereditary diseases hemophilia and porphyria in the personal and political lives of the European royal families Part I Nineteenth century medical knowledge of hemophilia as a hereditary bleeding disorder will be considered. Hemophilia appeared in a son born to Queen Victoria in 1853. Hemophilia was transmitted through Victoria’s unaffected daughters to the ruling houses in Germany, Russia and Spain. The political consequences of a chronically ill male heir to the throne fostered the demise of the royal families in these countries. The royal physicians were well aware of the hereditary nature of hemophilia and failed to advise the British royal family on this matter that had significant political consequences for the modern world. Part II The “Madness of King George III” resulted from variegate porphyria, an inherited disorder of heme metabolism. The disorder was evident in: The immediate family of George III, Ancestors from at least the 13th century, Descendents into the 20th century. The malady was inherited by other ruling houses in continental Europe and affected political life there for over six centuries. Genetic analysis will consider how such an anomaly could have been inherited through so many successive generations. Preliminary DNA evidence will be considered to document variegate porphyria in living relatives of the British royal family. Alternate history if these disorders had not plagued the royal families will be considered in conclusion.




Royal Inbreeding and Other Maladies


Book Description

When we think of kings and queens, we conjure up illusions of a magnificent kingdom where His and Her Majesties live in the lap of luxury and want for nothing. While this may be true, life wasn’t always as perfect. With the history of royal families comes a long and twisted history of genetics and family intermarriage that is often swept aside. In Ms Cummings' latest book, she takes us through the complicated spider’s web of royal marriages. She tells us of the atrocities of the Ptolemy Dynasty as they continued to marry brothers and sisters to fend off political outsiders. She tells us about the centuries of intermarriage in European’s most prominent royal family, along with the devastating results that came with it. We will learn of the devastation of mental illness that befell reigning monarchs of The Hundred Years War and plagued George III of England, Juana of Castile and the Wittlebach Empire. She will also tell us of the desperation that fell upon the Russian Royal Family as their only heir to the throne grew ill with haemophilia. She will also go into depth about the notorious Hapsburgs, the decades of physical and mental ailments that tormented them, and how their empire ended with the most inbred royal in history, Charles II of Spain. After hearing the heartwrenching stories of these great monarchs, you’ll find that you can’t help but sympathize with them as you read about how genetics was the ultimate game-changer in most families.






















Maladies of Empire


Book Description

A sweeping global history that looks beyond European urban centers to show how slavery, colonialism, and war propelled the development of modern medicine. Most stories of medical progress come with ready-made heroes. John Snow traced the origins of London’s 1854 cholera outbreak to a water pump, leading to the birth of epidemiology. Florence Nightingale’s contributions to the care of soldiers in the Crimean War revolutionized medical hygiene, transforming hospitals from crucibles of infection to sanctuaries of recuperation. Yet histories of individual innovators ignore many key sources of medical knowledge, especially when it comes to the science of infectious disease. Reexamining the foundations of modern medicine, Jim Downs shows that the study of infectious disease depended crucially on the unrecognized contributions of nonconsenting subjects—conscripted soldiers, enslaved people, and subjects of empire. Plantations, slave ships, and battlefields were the laboratories in which physicians came to understand the spread of disease. Military doctors learned about the importance of air quality by monitoring Africans confined to the bottom of slave ships. Statisticians charted cholera outbreaks by surveilling Muslims in British-dominated territories returning from their annual pilgrimage. The field hospitals of the Crimean War and the US Civil War were carefully observed experiments in disease transmission. The scientific knowledge derived from discarding and exploiting human life is now the basis of our ability to protect humanity from epidemics. Boldly argued and eye-opening, Maladies of Empire gives a full account of the true price of medical progress.




The Evolution of Medical Genetics


Book Description

This informative new book presents an accessible account of the development of medical genetics over the past 70 years, one of the most important areas of 20th, and now 21st, century science and medicine. Based largely on the author’s personal involvement and career as a leader in the field over the last half century, both in the UK and internationally, it draws on his interest and involvement in documenting the history of medical genetics. Underpinning the content is a unique series of 100 recorded interviews undertaken by the author with key older workers in the field, the majority British, providing invaluable information going back to the very beginnings of human and medical genetics. Focusing principally on medically relevant areas of genetics rather than the underlying basic science and technological aspects, the book offers a fascinating insight for those working and training in the field of clinical or laboratory aspects of medical genetics, genomics and allied areas; it will also be of interest to historians of science and medicine and to workers in the social sciences who are increasingly attracted by the social and ethical challenges posed by modern medical genetics and genomics.




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