Nonfiction

You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation

You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation

  • Downloads：8395
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-09-22 03:19:08
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Paul A. Offit
  • ISBN：1541620399
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Dan Curiosity Hour ，

What a fascinating read and I was surprised how much of a page-turner this is！ Given the theme of the podcast I co-host， I was really moved and inspired by the curiosity of the many people profiled in this book。 Such curiosity led to major discoveries that improved health and dramatically reduced death and suffering。 But such advances are challenging and oftentimes ultimate successes start with failures。 Persistence is as important as the curiosity of those who embark upon these medical advances What a fascinating read and I was surprised how much of a page-turner this is！ Given the theme of the podcast I co-host， I was really moved and inspired by the curiosity of the many people profiled in this book。 Such curiosity led to major discoveries that improved health and dramatically reduced death and suffering。 But such advances are challenging and oftentimes ultimate successes start with failures。 Persistence is as important as the curiosity of those who embark upon these medical advances。 Note: If you haven't been vaccinated yet against COVID-19 （Sars-cov-2）， please do so if you have access to the vaccine in whatever community you live in。 It's such an important step to protect yourself， your family， neighbors， colleagues， and the community where you live。 I'm happily vaccinated and encourage others to get vaccinated， too！Note: I voluntarily requested， read， and reviewed this book。 Thank you to the author， publisher， and NetGalley for sending me a temporary digital advance reading copy/advance review （ARC） galley of this book in exchange for an honest review。 As always， my opinions are my own and do not represent my co-host or the podcast。 I request， read， and review many books prior to publication to explore possible future guests for the podcast。 I wish we could interview the author of every one of these books because I'm so impressed by the creativity， thoughtfulness， and wisdom shared through the temporary books I get through NetGalley。 I find the idea of simplifying any book into 1-5 stars to be quite silly and reductionist， so I don't participate in that game and instead， just give five stars to each book。 。。。more

Daniel ，

Written at the beginning of the Covid pandemic， You Bet Your Life examines the history of medical breakthroughs， including the risks involved and the process of weighing those risks against very real and very necessary health benefits。 Written by someone on the forefront of fighting the pandemic including holding committee positions for both accelerating the development of a vaccine and getting that medicine approved by the FDA。 Not only is the author an expert on the Coronavirus and the vaccine Written at the beginning of the Covid pandemic， You Bet Your Life examines the history of medical breakthroughs， including the risks involved and the process of weighing those risks against very real and very necessary health benefits。 Written by someone on the forefront of fighting the pandemic including holding committee positions for both accelerating the development of a vaccine and getting that medicine approved by the FDA。 Not only is the author an expert on the Coronavirus and the vaccines that have been developed for it， Dr。 Offit has a history of vaccine development and is one of the nation’s experts on immunology and viruses。 While this book is， by necessity， constructed with the Covid-19 pandemic in the forefront of both the author’s and reader’s minds， it is about so much more than that。 By taking a trip through centuries of medical history， You Bet Your Life， examines the risk-reward calculations which have been made by patients and medical professionals every time new medical treatments and technologies have been made available， such as x-rays and chemotherapy。 。。。more

Siana T ，

With this book， Paul Offit takes us on a journey into medical history， showing that "virtually every medical breakthrough has exacted a human price。" The author uses the example of nine of modern medicine's greatest advances to draw lessons on "when and wether to accept new technologies"， that is， tips on medical decision making， which is particularly relevant during the pandemic。He shares these examples in a very enjoyable way， going further than a mere stating of facts， and presenting it in wh With this book， Paul Offit takes us on a journey into medical history， showing that "virtually every medical breakthrough has exacted a human price。" The author uses the example of nine of modern medicine's greatest advances to draw lessons on "when and wether to accept new technologies"， that is， tips on medical decision making， which is particularly relevant during the pandemic。He shares these examples in a very enjoyable way， going further than a mere stating of facts， and presenting it in what felt to me like a set of short stories。 It can get a little technical though， so I would recommend having a basic knowledge of science and medicine， or at least being okay with looking up a few things， although the author does a great job of simplifying。Overall， it was an interesting and instructive read。 I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in medicine or enjoys a good non fiction book， as well as those who might be pondering over an important medical decision。Thanks to Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more

Steve ，

I loved this book。 Dr。 Offit is a great writer and this book is almost impossible to put down。 The chapters are short and again I fell into the trap of I’ll only read one more， which was never just one more。 Dr。 Offit provides a great discussion of risk， what it means and when it is worthwhile。 He uses analogy to explain that there is a risk to doing something， for example， getting a vaccine and a risk of not doing anything like not getting a vaccine but getting a disease instead。 He walks throu I loved this book。 Dr。 Offit is a great writer and this book is almost impossible to put down。 The chapters are short and again I fell into the trap of I’ll only read one more， which was never just one more。 Dr。 Offit provides a great discussion of risk， what it means and when it is worthwhile。 He uses analogy to explain that there is a risk to doing something， for example， getting a vaccine and a risk of not doing anything like not getting a vaccine but getting a disease instead。 He walks through many areas of medicine and the history of medicine in a conversational tone， explaining all the science as he goes along。 The timing of this book is excellent given that， at this time， we are in the COVID-19 pandemic and he addresses this in his book。 But the book covers much more than just this and， like all his other books， is well worth reading。 Thank you to Netgalley and Perseus Books， Basic Books for the advance reader copy。 。。。more

Monique ，

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for this digital ARC。This book was interesting even not being a usual nonfiction reader。 While I learned somethings I hadn't understood previously about the COVID-19 pandemic， I wasn't expecting it to be a part of this book。 The book as a whole explores topics that the general public really only know at a surface。 The only con I would see， is like many references before it， this could eventually become slightly outdated especially with the key notes of the rece Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for this digital ARC。This book was interesting even not being a usual nonfiction reader。 While I learned somethings I hadn't understood previously about the COVID-19 pandemic， I wasn't expecting it to be a part of this book。 The book as a whole explores topics that the general public really only know at a surface。 The only con I would see， is like many references before it， this could eventually become slightly outdated especially with the key notes of the recent pandemic having constant new advancements in the field of medicine。 。。。more

Allyssa Smith ，

I loved this story of medical history。 Ranging from the beginnings of X-Rays to gene therapy， this book is full of stories that teach you a lot about the development of medical science and that sometimes things go wrong。 My rating is not affected by getting this for free as an ARC。

Jeff ，

Startling Look At （Mostly Relatively Recent） Medical History。 I consider myself a fairly well-read guy who is fairly knowledgeable about a *very* wide range of topics。 Here， Offit shares stories of medical breakthroughs - including several which are now literally every day occurrences - and how the initial days of these breakthroughs weren't always so routine。 Indeed， many of the stories Offit shares about these breakthroughs - some of which were still being litigated within the last decade - ar Startling Look At （Mostly Relatively Recent） Medical History。 I consider myself a fairly well-read guy who is fairly knowledgeable about a *very* wide range of topics。 Here， Offit shares stories of medical breakthroughs - including several which are now literally every day occurrences - and how the initial days of these breakthroughs weren't always so routine。 Indeed， many of the stories Offit shares about these breakthroughs - some of which were still being litigated within the last decade - are quite horrific， both from the practitioners really not understanding what they were doing and in some cases when they *did* know what they were doing - and did it anyway。 Including one tale in particular about the （now） famous Jonas Salk himself that was quite disturbing to read。 In the end， the book does exactly what it sets out to do - shows that there is always inherent risk in any medical procedure， particularly novel ones， and that often times it is those whose lives will be cut short with or without the procedure that take the risks that ultimately reduce those risks for later people and indeed enhance the lives of people they will never know many years down the line。 And yes， all of this is wrapped around the current debate over the COVID-19 vaccines - though while these are discussed， they are not actually a core component of the text itself。 The discussion here is current circa early November 2020 and is slightly outdated even as I read the text in early February 2021 - and certainly will have advanced even further by the time of the book's actual publication in mid September 2021。 Ultimately a truly fascinating read that is equally disturbing and enlightening， this book is very much recommended。 。。。more