In this Book
- Leprosy in Premodern Medicine: A Malady of the Whole Body
- Book
- 2007
- Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
summary
While premodern poets and preachers viewed leprosy as a “disease of the soul,” physicians in the period understood it to be a “cancer of the whole body.” In this innovative study, medical historian Luke Demaitre explores medical and social perspectives on leprosy at a time when judicious diagnosis could spare healthy people from social ostracization and help the afflicted get a license to beg.Extending his inquiry from the first century to late in the eighteenth century, Demaitre draws on translations of academic treatises and archival records to illuminate the professional standing, knowledge, and conduct of the practitioners who struggled to move popular perceptions of leprosy beyond loathing and pity. He finds that, while not immune to social and cultural perceptions of the leprous as degenerate, and while influenced by their own fears of contagion, premodern physicians moderated society's reactions to leprosy and were dedicated to the well-being of their patients.
Table of Contents
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- Introduction
- pp. vii- xii
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xiii- xv
- Chapter Four: Definitions and Explanations
- pp. 103-131
- Chapter Seven: Diagnosis: Signs and Symptoms
- pp. 196-239
- Conclusion
- pp. 278-280
Additional Information
ISBN
9780801891977
Related ISBN(s)
9780801886133
MARC Record
OCLC
299754569
Pages
344
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No