The Blue Death: True Tales of Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink
Author: Robert D Morris
With the keen eyes of a scientist and the sensibilities of a seasoned writer, Dr. Robert Morris chronicles the fascinating and at times frightening story of our drinking water. His gripping narrative vividly recounts the epidemics that have shaken cities and nations, the scientists who reached into the invisible and emerged with controversial truths that would save millions of lives, and the economic and political forces that opposed these researchers in a ferocious war of ideas.
In the gritty world of nineteenth-century England, amid the ravages of cholera, Morris introduces John Snow, the physician who proved that the deadly disease could be hidden in a drop of water. Decades later in the deserts of Africa, the story follows Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch as they raced to find the cause of cholera and a means to prevent its spread. In the twentieth century, burgeoning cities would subdue cholera and typhoid by bending rivers to their will, building massive filtration plants, and bubbling poisonous gas through their drinking water. However, with the arrival of the new millennium, the demon of waterborne disease is threatening to reemerge, and a growing body of research has linked the chlorine relied on for water treatment with cancer and stillbirths.
In The Blue Death, Morris dispels notions of fail-safe water systems. Along the way he reveals some shocking truths: the millions of miles of leaking water mains, constantly evolving microorganisms, and the looming threat of bioterrorism, which may lead to catastrophe. Across time and around the world, this riveting account offers alarming information about the natural and man-made hazards present in thevery water we drink.
The Washington Post - Barron H. Lerner
Morris is no impartial observer. An epidemiologist who specializes in drinking water, he is the author of a controversial paper suggesting that chlorine might increase the rates of several cancers. Indeed, some of his narrative describes his David-like efforts to challenge the Goliaths of water, ranging from the Environmental Protection Agency to the drinking-water industry, which he suggests are cutting corners on water purification to save money. Still, it is hard not to be sympathetic to Morris's claims, which rely in part on the same crack epidemiological detective work used by Snow 150 years ago.
Publishers Weekly
In this engrossing and disquieting book, the author, who specializes in drinking water epidemiology, raises the alarm about hidden perils in our water. He traces the history of the search for water-borne pathogens from the mid-19th century, when doctors discovered the bacterium that causes cholera (the blue death), to the 20th century, when it was found that chlorination and filtration would block many of the organisms responsible for diseases such as typhoid fever, dysentery and cholera. But today, our water supply is far from safe. Some pathogens elude conventional filters; others are resistant to chlorine; and chlorinated drinking water may increase the risk of certain cancers. Climate change, emerging diseases, toxic chemicals, decaying pipes and terrorism also threaten our water. To dramatize his thesis, Morris describes devastating outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease, such as the one caused by a parasite in Milwaukee's drinking water that sickened 400,000 people in 1993. During the 19th century, doctors had to overcome opposition from those who refused to believe that diseases could be waterborne. Now, epidemiologists and researchers who advocate for tighter controls on drinking water must battle drinking water industry lobbyists who resist regulatory efforts. Morris argues persuasively that unless we do more to protect the water we drink, we court disaster. (Aug.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationTina Neville - Library Journal
In this fast-paced chronicle of waterborne diseases, Morris (emeritus, Harvard Univ., Tufts Univ., & Medical Coll. of Wisconsin) begins with a thorough look at British physician John Snow's 19th-century investigation into the cause of cholera and empathizes with Snow's difficulties in convincing people that water can cause disease. He continues with an examination of French chemist Louis Pasteur and German physician Robert Koch's contributions to the study of cholera. After this lengthy historical overview, he jumps ahead to the mid-20th century, when chlorination created a misguided complacency with the purity of U.S. water. The public's confidence was shattered with the severe outbreak of the parasitic disease cryptosporidiosis in Wisconsin during the early 1990s and the discovery of possible links between chlorinated water and certain types of cancer. Following a detailed account of why chlorination or filtration alone is not enough, Morris concludes with suggestions for creating a safer water supply. A clear and convincing argument; recommended for public libraries.
Kirkus Reviews
Cholera, whose victims' blood is so viscous from dehydration that oxygen-deprived tissues turn blue, is just one of the scourges of contaminated drinking water vividly described in this collection of cautionary tales. Morris, a Seattle-based M.D. with a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, approaches water systems like an engineer, disease outbreaks like an epidemiologist, and the people and events behind waterborne disasters like an investigative reporter. This occasionally leads to florid writing of the "little did he know..." variety, but more often the effect is riveting. The author begins with the story of pioneering doctor John Snow, who persuaded Victorian authorities to remove the handle of London's Broad Street pump to stem a cholera epidemic. They did, but cholera returned again and again because the so-called "sanitarians" didn't believe water carried invisible organisms and were sure their new sewer systems guaranteed the public's health. Not until Robert Koch isolated and identified the comma-shaped bacillus that caused cholera would filtering systems and later chlorination become standard means of safeguarding drinking water. Neverending vigilance is a must, declares Morris, offering accounts of more recent disasters such as a 1993 outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee and a Canadian irruption of E. coli 0157:H7 in 2000. Only massive shipments of bottled water, he remarks, spared New Orleans from a post-Katrina waterborne plague. Cholera continues to be a threat in the developing world, especially when natural or manmade disasters trigger massive movements of people. The author highlights other disturbing portents: the prospect of climate change disrupting global watersupplies; the fact that most cities are served by century-old rusting and leaking pipes; evidence of chlorine-resistant bacteria; turf warfare between water companies and public-health agencies; and reluctance on the part of regulators like the EPA to impose stiffer standards. Makes a convincing case that more attention must be paid to our water supply. Agent: Nat Sobel/Sobel Weber Associates, Inc.
Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations IXPrologue 1
Waterborne Killers
The Blue Death 7
Snow on Cholera 25
All Smell Is Disease 45
The Experimentum Crucis 61
The Doctor, the Priest, and the Outbreak at Golden Square 75
The Great Stink 96
Thirsty Cities and Dirty Water
The Race to Cholera 111
The Scramble for Pure Water 136
The Two-Edged Sword 163
Spring in Milwaukee 178
The Hidden Seed 192
At War with the Invisible
Drinking the Mississippi 217
Death in Ontario 237
Surviving the Storm 247
The Worst Place on Earth 257
The Future of Water: From E. Coli to al Qaeda 269
Epilogue: Strategies for Safe Water: A Modest Proposal 293
Bibliography and Notes 297
Acknowledgments 308
Interesting book: Unhappy Valley or Healthy Work Stress Productivity and the Reconstruction of Working Life
1000 Cures for 200 Ailments: Integrated Alternative and Conventional Treatments for the Most Common Illnesses
Author: Victor S Sierpina
Alternative health practices have had a tradition of providing relief to people for hundreds—in some cases, thousands—of years, but doctors often suggest just one course of treatment, and you may not realize how many options are available. Here is the only all-in-one guide with professional medical advice from leading practitioners in five different fields—conventional medicine, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, herbalism, and naturopathy—on everything from aches and pains, sexual dysfunction, and the common cold to mind and spirit, anxiety, and general first aid. Compare traditional medicine side by side with four alternative treatments to decide what type of therapy best suits you and your family. This essential home reference offers information in symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment goals for the two hundred most common conditions, then provides advice from the five experts in an easy-to-read comparative format, along with key tips for prevention.
Whether you choose an alternative or conventional treatment for your ailment, the information here will let you take control of your health care and decide what path you want to take, so that you don't have to rely solely on the advice of your general physician or the misleading suggestions found on the Internet. This is the medical reference that no home should be without.
Janice Flahiff - Library Journal
Numerous consumer health guides and encyclopedias abound in the areas of conventional and alternative medicine. Sierpina (W.D. and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine, Univ. of Texas Medical Branch) brings these two broad approaches together with input from experts on both sides of the fence. Eight broad subjects (e.g., skin and hair, aches and pains) contain alphabetically arranged ailments that include a diagnosis and five condensed, practice-specific treatment plans. These plans generally agree or complement one another regarding when a doctor should be consulted (as with jaundice and leg pain) and what treatments are appropriate (as with thyroid conditions and arthritis). The few disagreements generally involve foods, e.g., the role of fruit in acid reflux. Drawbacks include many medical ailment headings (e.g., pruritis), a reliance on scientific measurements, no online ordering advice, uneven explanations of medical terms/concepts, and an incomplete glossary and resource sections. However, an adequate index and succinct, knowledgeable presentations serve the savvy consumer. Recommended where interest warrants in public and consumer health libraries. A good complement to Rajendra Sharma's illustrated Family Encyclopedia of Health, which is shorter on specific alternative treatments but stronger in physiological explanations.
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