Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
15
result(s) for
"Booss, John"
Sort by:
Missionaries, measles, and manuscripts: revisiting the Whitman tragedy
The missionaries Marcus Whitman, a doctor, and Narcissa Whitman, his wife, and twelve other members of the Waiilatpu Mission were murdered in November 1847 by a small contingent of the Cayuse Indians in the Oregon Territory. The murders became known as the “Whitman Massacre.” The authors examine the historical record, including archived correspondence held at the Yale University Libraries, for evidence of what motivated the killings and demonstrate that there were two valid perspectives, Cayuse and white. Hence, the event is better termed the “Whitman Tragedy.” The crucial component, a highly lethal measles epidemic, has been called the spark that lit the fuse of the tragedy.
Journal Article
Survival of the Pilgrims: A Reevaluation of the Lethal Epidemic Among the Wampanoag
The 1616-1619 epidemic among the Native Americans of coastal New England resulted in a highly significant depopulation. Although the microbial etiology of the disease has not been identified, its epidemiological characteristics of limited geographic distribution, restriction in time, and exceptionally high mortality are well-documented and known to be crucial to its historical impact. Te epidemic resulted in the devastation of the Wampanoag while, remarkably, sparing their rivals, the Narragansett. Te unique combination of the epidemic's timing, restricted location, and lethality forced Wampanoag leader Massasoit to enter into a treaty with the Pilgrims. Professor Booss argues that, despite the considerable yet inconclusive scholarly speculation about the exact nature of the disease, it was the highly unusual conjunction of epidemiological factors which drove the historical consequences. John Booss is a Professor Emeritus at the Yale University School of Medicine. (1)
Journal Article
Science and the Deepening of Historical Knowledge: The Case of the Haitian Revolution
Over millennia, epidemics have wielded as much sway over human affairs as have wars, economic crises, and political upheavals. Devastating epidemics in the past have changed the course of history. This article focuses on the yellow fever epidemic of 1802 in St. Domingue to demonstrate how science has deepened our understanding of the epidemic, and hence of the Haitian Revolution. Genetics, affirming epidemiology, demonstrated that the origin of the virus was in Africa, and genomics demonstrated that the vector of yellow fever, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, evolved in the context of the ecological creation of the Sahara and the Sahel. The vector fed on humans and reproduced in man-made water containers, allowing transport to the Caribbean during the African slave trade. Serological studies in Africa later demonstrated that many African-origin slaves would have had adaptive immunity. French fighters did not, and they were decimated. The French withdrew, Haiti was created, and the Louisiana Purchase was executed.
Journal Article
Guest editorial
Booss offers his personal view of the evolution of clinical care and research in multiple sclerosis over the past three decades. He concludes with a consideration of public policy.
Journal Article
Chronic-treated HIV: A neurologic disease
The concept of slow virus diseases was developed by Sigurdsson in the 1950s in studies of infections of Icelandic sheep, including Visna, a slow (lenti) viral infection of the central nervous system. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) belongs to the same lentivirus subfamily of retroviruses and causes significant dysfunction of all levels of the nervous system. Highly active antiretroviral therapy should allow host control of opportunistic infections, producing a clinical state of chronic-treated HIV. However, viral persistence may occur in the sanctuary of the central nervous system. As a consequence, major disabilities in the chronic-treated phase of the HIV epidemic may include cognitive impairment, gait disorders, and various pain syndromes. Policy planning will need to take into account the long-term residential, social, and health care needs of this population.
Journal Article
Quality of life for veterans with multiple sclerosis on disease-modifying agents: Relationship to disability
Our objective was to compare self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for U.S. veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS) on disease-modifying agents with provider reports of HRQOL from standard disability measures. We conducted a 3-year prospective observational study of 204 subjects who used interferon beta or glatiramer acetate and compared subjects' responses on the Veterans Short-Form 36 (VSF-36) (36-item short-form functional status assessment for veterans) with the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the Functional System (FS) scales, which are standard MS disability scales. EDSS and FS scores were significantly correlated with some VSF-36 domains (physical function [r = -0.57], role physical [r = -0.37], and physical component summary [r = -0.40]) and weakly correlated with other domains. HRQOL scores did not predict disability or compliance with therapy. We observed decrements in HRQOL at relatively low disability levels. HRQOL measures directly associated with physical function were correlated with standard MS disability scales. Researchers need to clarify the role of HRQOL in clinical outcomes assessment, as shown by the lack of outcome sensitivity and predictive value of the VSF-36.
Journal Article
Quality Enhancement Research Initiative in Stroke: Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation
Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. Both within and outside of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the lack of a systematic approach to stroke prevention and treatment may have contributed to reduced rates of compliance with recommended practices and increased rates of stroke. Gaps in the knowledge base inhibit a systematic approach to high-quality care within the veteran population. Initial recommendations for closing those gaps are proposed. In some cases (eg, systematic anticoagulation management), the VHA is perceived as a leader in applied research; therefore, a systematic national policy for implementing these clinics may significantly reduce stroke rates. In other areas (eg, carotid endarterectomy), databases exist that would help advance quality and outcomes, but short-term studies are necessary to establish their utility. To promote strategic improvement in prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation for veterans who may be at risk or have had a stroke, specific objectives are proposed to (1) identify best practices for the effective delivery of long-term anticoagulation and enhance veterans' access to these services, (2) develop risk-adjusted models for the surgical preventive procedure carotid endarterectomy to understand facility variation in outcomes so practices can be improved, (3) define a systematic acute stroke management system so that high-quality stroke-related care can be generalizable to a variety of VHA settings, and (4) assess the impact of poststroke rehabilitation on risk adjustment and the location of outcomes so as to facilitate the implementation of best rehabilitation practices.
Journal Article
Does brain penetration of anti-HIV drugs matter?
[...]as noted previously, the relative decline in AIDS dementia in the era of potent antiretroviral therapy may be less than for other AIDS defining illnesses. 15 Secondly, AIDS dementia is occurring in individuals with higher peripheral blood CD4 cell counts. Once infected, will brain virus begin to evolve independently of other compartments? [...]these questions are definitively answered, clinicians must, whenever possible, use antiretroviral regimens that penetrate the CNS.
Journal Article