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Health & Fitness. History. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of sulfa, the first antibiotic and the drug that shaped modern medicine. The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. Sulfa saved millions of lives�??among them those of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.�??but its real effects are even more far reaching. Sulfa changed the way new drugs were developed, approved, and sold; transformed the way doctors treated patients; and ushered in the era of modern medicine. The very concept that chemicals created in a lab could cure disease revolutionized medicine, taking it from the treatment of symptoms and discomfort to the eradication of the root cause of illness. A strange and colorful story, The Demon Under the Microscope illuminates the vivid characters, corporate strate… (more)
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Hager takes the reader on the history of the first real triumph in antibiotics-sulfa drugs. This story spans 4 countries, two World Wars, and touches the lives of several heads of state. It includes everything necessary for a good coming-of-age novel, including a poor and struggling scientist still getting over the horrors of his time in combat, scientists snagging ideas from each other and learning things by accident, and several near-death experiences. This is not some boring scientific tome devoted to the chemical properties of chemotherapeutic medicines. It is the very human story of what drove dozens of scientists, several corporations, and governments to find drugs that seriously changed how infection was viewed on the battlefield. Hager displays several vignettes to demonstrate the path that sulfa drugs took from dye to medicine, and then to near-irrelevance.
This is an excellent account that explains how the new kind of pharmaceutical research started. The early 20th century showed a new direction for scientific research. Instead of the dedicated, philanthropic, hobbyist scientist happening upon discoveries (a la Louis Pasteur), companies formed with the goal of discovering chemicals that could be created, patented, and sold at huge profits. If they saved lives, all the better. And because of this trend, government regulation became a necessity. The FDA’s history is presented as well, including the cases that allowed it to gain more prominence and hold more power to regulate the patent medicine market.
This book reads like a novel that travels from the germ theory of disease to penicillin resistance, leaving the reader with a better understanding of how scientific endeavors are taken on and of many of the struggles and obstacles facing pharmaceutical researchers-and the people waiting for cures.
The thing I didn't like about the book was that it didn't seem very organized and kind of jumped around. Otherwise, the history was interesting. I had not known that antibiotics existed before penicillin.
Although non-fiction, the book reads like a novel. The main actors are well researched and really seem to come alive, especially during descriptions of the rivalries and feuds between scientists and labs. The author puts Domagk's discovery into the broader perspective of WWII and the post-war era. The perils and pitfalls of "wonder drugs" are clearly described. The book also describes how the high demand for sulfa drugs led to tragedy and strengthening of the FDA in the US. Anyone interested in the history of modern medicine/science or even science during WWII would likely enjoy this book.
I learned a lot from Hager's story, not only about Domagk but about the history of the modern pharmaceutical industry. As somebody who has worked for over 17 years in pharmaceutical quality assurance I was very interested to learn about this part of the history of the industry. Sulfa was the first true modern drug, rigorously researched and tested before being released. I was fascinated by many of the connections that Hager weaves together to tell the story of the first miracle drug, and how many seemingly different events all had an impact on not only sulfa's discover, but the revolution in antibiotics and the modern pharmaceutical industry.
One part of the story that I most enjoyed was Hager's recounting of the tragic Elixir of Sulfanilamide event. During the early craze over sulfa drug makers - many of them makers of "patent" medicines that had almost no testing for safety or effectiveness - made a plethora of sulfa containing drugs. All in the hopes of getting in on the sulfa crazy and earning money. Elixir of Sulfanilamide was a sweet tasting syrup that contained the wonder drug sulfa and was sold over the counter by pharmacists across the United States. The elixir had another component used to dissolve the sulfa (sulfanilamide was notoriously difficult to put into solution and couldn't be dissolved in water) - diethylene glycol. Today we know that diethylene glycol is a very toxic chemical and will attack the kidneys and lead to death. In the 1930's almost nothing was known about this chemical. In the rush to join the sulfa bandwagon the maker of the elixir used a harmful chemical without knowing it. No testing or research was done, and as a result over 100 people in the US were killed. Hager's recounting of the events around the Elixir of Sulfanilamide, and how it related to not only to the history and discovery of sulfa, but also to the evolution of the modern drug regulatory environment, was very well done. (The deaths cause by the elixir spurred the US Congress to pass new laws that gave more oversight and power to the Food and Drug Administration - FDA - effectively changing overnight how drugs were to be manufactured, tested, and sold in the US. In essence I owe my own career in pharmaceutical quality assurance to sulfa and the tragic events of the elixir.)
Spanning across decades and tying together not only the research from Germany, France, and England, but also the lives of the researchers and doctors, The Devil Under the Microscope is a compelling narrative about one of the pivotal points in modern history. Had sulfa not been discovered and its benefits been shown to the world the modern antibiotics we have today may still have been discovered, but the process by which new drugs are researched, tested, and brought to market may never have come about. Even though sulfa was soon overshadowed by the end of WWII by penicillin and other antibiotics its discovery was instrumental in paving the way for our modern pharmaceutical industry. Hager's research into the history of sulfa, and the clear and entertaining way that the story of sulfa is delivered to the reader, makes The Demon Under the Microscope a book well worth the read.
I listened the the wonderful audiobook version from Tantor media read by Stephen Hoye and downloaded from my local library. Hoye does a great job of narrating the events, bringing the lives of the different characters in the discovery of sulfa to life, and making the pronunciation of so many different tongue-twisting chemical names seem easy and effortless.
I highly recommend this book for anybody interested not only in history or the history of science, but for people who are interested in real-life drama and medical mysteries.
Now I know that non-fiction science books are quite a niche genre of books to be gaga over but this book is a
Conclusion: If you like history and most especially medical history then this book needs to be added to your list toot sweet.