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The chaotic state of today's health care is the result of an explosion of effective medical technologies. Rising costs will continue to trouble U.S. health care in the coming decades, but new molecular strategies may eventually contain costs. As life expectancy is dramatically extended by molecular medicine, a growing population of the aged will bring new problems. In the next fifty years genetic intervention will shift the focus of medicine in the United States from repairing the ravages of disease to preventing the onset of disease. Understanding the role of genes in human health, says Dr. William B. Schwartz, is the driving force that will change the direction of medical care, and the age-old dream of life without disease may come close to realization by the middle of the next century. Medical care in 2050 will be vastly more effective, Schwartz maintains, and it may also be less expensive than the resource-intensive procedures such as coronary bypass surgery that medicine relies on today. Schwartz's alluring prospect of a medical utopia raises urgent questions, however. What are the scientific and public policy obstacles that must be overcome if such a goal is to become a reality? Restrictions on access imposed by managed care plans, the corporatization of charitable health care institutions, the increasing numbers of citizens without health insurance, the problems with malpractice insurance, and the threatened Medicare bankruptcy—all are the legacy of medicine's great progress in mastering the human body and society's inability to assimilate that mastery into existing economic, ethical, and legal structures. And if the average American life span is 130 years, a genuine possibility by 2050, what social and economic problems will result? Schwartz examines the forces that have brought us to the current health care state and shows how those same forces will exert themselves in the decades ahead. Focusing on the inextricable link between scientific progress and health policy, he encourages a careful examination of these two forces in order to determine the kind of medical utopia that awaits us. The decisions we make will affect not only our own care, but also the system of care we bequeath to our children. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1998.

This is a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the diagnosis, clinical features and management of inherited disorders conferring cancer susceptibility. It is fully updated with much molecular, screening and management information. It covers risk analysis and genetic counselling for individuals with a family history of cancer. It also discusses predictive testing and the organisation of the cancer genetics service. There is information about the genes causing Mendelian cancer predisposing conditions and their mechanism of action. It aims to provide such details in a practical format for geneticists and clinicians in all disciplines.

Biological Environmental Science is an introductory textbook for undergraduate students who desire a one semester course or, alternatively, a springboard course for advanced environmental offerings. This book features timely issues such as global warming, air, ground and water pollutions, population growth, species extinction and environmental policy. Unique features of this book include the use of research data and literature, copious illustrations and appendices for the scientific method.

Feigin and Cherry's Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases helps you put the very latest knowledge to work for your young patients with unparalleled coverage of everything from epidemiology, public health, and preventive medicine through clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and much more. Ideal for all physicians, whether in an office or hospital setting, Feigin and Cherry’s equips you with trusted answers to your most challenging clinical infectious disease questions. Meet your most difficult clinical challenges in pediatric infectious disease, including today’s more aggressive infectious and resistant strains as well as emerging and re-emerging diseases, with unmatched, comprehensive coverage of immunology, epidemiology, public health, preventive medicine, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and much more. Find the answers you need quickly thanks to an organization both by organ system and by etiologic microorganism, allowing you to easily approach any topic from either direction.

Victimology, Eighth Edition, shows how to transform the current criminal’s justice system into a victim’s justice system. Doerner and Lab, both well-regarded scholars, write compellingly about the true scope of crime victims’ suffering in the United States. They lay out the sources of evidence available to victimology researchers. In later chapters, theory is woven together with the description of each topic and illustrated with specific examples. The second part of the book addresses the full impact of victimization. Part III, Types of Victimization, details specific problems ranging from violent crimes, child and elder abuse, and property crime to crime in the workplace. The authors emphasize their concern with the extent of criminal victimization, explain how obstacles hinder the pursuit of justice, and introduce the idea that reforms have rendered the system much more victim-friendly. Appropriate for undergraduate as well as early graduate students in Victimology courses in Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology programs, as well as Justice Studies, this book offers an instructor’s manual with a test bank, as well as PowerPoint lecture slides and a companion site with student resources.