Title Under the radar : cancer and the cold war / Ellen Leopold

Published New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, ©2009

Click on the following:
EBSCO eBooks

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xi, 284 pages) Series Critical issues in health and medicine Critical issues in health and medicine. Contents Double jeopardy: cancer and the "cure" -- The court considers informed consent -- The rise of radioactive cobalt -- The back story: "a little of the Buchenwald touch" -- Behind the fallout controversy: the public, the press, and conflicts of interest -- Cancer and fallout: science by circumvention -- Paradise lost -- Subdued by the system -- The hidden assassin: the individual at fault -- Experiments by other means Summary At the end of the Second World War, a diagnosis of cancer was a death sentence. Sixty years later, it is considered a chronic disease rather than one that is invariably fatal. Although survival rates have improved, the very word continues to evoke a special terror and guilt, inspiring scientists and politicians to wage war against it. In Under the Radar, Ellen Leopold shows how nearly every aspect of our understanding and discussion of cancer bears the imprint of its Cold War entanglement. The current biases toward individual rather than corporate responsibility for rising incidence rates, research that promotes treatment rather than prevention, and therapies that can be patented and marketed all reflect a largely hidden history shaped by the Cold War. Even the language we use to describe the disease, such as the guiding metaphor for treatment, "fight fire with fire," can be traced back to the middle of the twentieth century. Writing in a lucid style, Leopold documents the military, governmental, industrial, and medical views of radiation and atomic energy to examine the postwar response to cancer through the prism of the Cold War. She explores the role of radiation in cancer therapies today, using case studies and mammogram screening, in particular, to highlight the surprising parallels. Taking into account a wide array of disciplines, this book challenges our understanding of cancer and how we approach its treatment Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Cancer -- United States -- History -- 20th century Cobalt -- Isotopes -- Therapeutic use -- United States -- History -- 20th century Cold War -- Health aspects -- United States Informed consent (Medical law) -- United States Radioactive fallout -- United States Radiation carcinogenesis -- United States Neoplasms -- history Cobalt Radioisotopes -- history History, 20th Century Human Experimentation -- history Patient Rights -- history Radioactive Fallout -- history Radiotherapy -- history TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- Environmental -- Pollution Control. MEDICAL -- History. Cancer Cobalt -- Isotopes -- Therapeutic use Informed consent (Medical law) Radiation carcinogenesis Radioactive fallout SUBJECT United States Subject United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780813545653 081354565X 1281801747 9781281801746

  Permalink