Multiple Sclerosis: The History of a Disease

Book Review Multiple Sclerosis: The History of a Disease, by T. Jock Murray, 580 pp, with illus, $29.95, New York, NY, Demos Medical Publishing (telephone: 800-532-8663), 2005, ISBN 1-888799-80-3 Type and Scope of Book: A single-authored monograph that outlines the history of clinical nosology and research in multiple sclerosis. Contents: The first 9 chapters, roughly half the book, chronicle the gradual recognition of multiple sclerosis as a distinct disease entity. This is accomplished with use of detailed case histories gleaned from a wide spectrum of medical and literary sources and landmark observations by great clinicians and pathologists of the 18th and 19th centuries. Advances in understanding multiple sclerosis are explored in parallel with general medical progress and with brief philosophical perspective. The remainder of the text recounts contemporary clinical and research advances; 21st-century hypotheses about the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis and current research are discussed in historical context. Strengths: The narrative is highly readable, provides an outstanding overview of recent medical history and medical philosophy, and is enhanced by the author’s viewpoint and clinical experience. Historical and recent photographs provide additional interest for those in the field. Deficiencies: The text has a few minor but distracting typographical errors and transpositions. Recommended Readership: Neurologists, neurology and neuroscience trainees, and all students of medical history. Overall Grading: ##### Dean M. Wingerchuk, MD, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Scottsdale, Ariz

Grading Key ★★★★★ = outstanding; ★★★★ = excellent; ★★★ = good; ★★ = fair; ★ = poor. © 2005 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

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