Title
Current Therapy 1956
Author
Edited by: Howard F. Conn, M.D.
Publisher: W. B. Saunders Company
Location: Philadelphia & London
Copyright Date: 1956
Image
Description
This 1956 volume of Current Therapy, edited by Dr. Howard F. Conn, presents a comprehensive guide to “latest approved methods of treatment for the practicing physician.” A trusted reference at midcentury, the book compiles therapeutic recommendations from over a dozen leading medical authorities, offering practical guidance for conditions ranging from infectious disease to endocrinopathies, neurology, cardiology, and psychiatry.
The featured chapter on Acromegaly by Dr. Robert F. Skeels reflects the era’s clinical priorities: roentgen therapy, hormone manipulation, and detailed endocrinologic measurements were considered cutting-edge. Dosage recommendations for estradiol, testosterone, and Deladumone illustrate the blunt tools physicians wielded in hormone-based treatment before the advent of more targeted therapies.
Condition
Tan clothbound hardcover with globe and caduceus insignia stamped in blue and black. Minor shelf wear and bumping to corners and spine ends. Binding is tight and pages clean. Inner front leaf bears a clear IU School of Medicine Library discard stamp (Nov. 19, 1993). No other markings.
Gallery
Historical context
The Current Therapy series became a cornerstone of mid-20th-century medical practice, functioning as an annual update to the quickly evolving field of clinical medicine. The 1956 volume captures a snapshot of postwar medical progress — when antibiotics, hormone therapy, radiologic intervention, and public health were colliding with new understandings in endocrinology and chronic disease management.
That same year, the American Medical Association launched its “Standards of Practice” initiative, encouraging uniform protocols — a trend reflected in this book’s format: standardized recommendations by topic, often with dosages and defined regimens.
Curious Facts, Ephemera, and Trivia
The therapy for acromegaly included alternating estrogen and androgen regimens in both men and women — with no fixed ratio and highly individualized trial-and-error dosing.
The endocrine entry notes “visual disturbances” and “massive overgrowth of periosteal bone” as common acromegaly symptoms, treated primarily with roentgen radiation.
The book includes consulting editors like H. Houston Merritt, a giant in neurology and co-author of the Merritt’s Neurology textbook still in print today.
Excerpt
“The skilled therapist is able accurately to direct the radiation through small fields so that skin exposure may be held to a minimum… Androgen and estrogen should be highly individualized. No arbitrary dosage schedule can be applied to all patients.”
Why it is in the Cabinet
This book represents the bridge between pre-modern and modern clinical therapeutics — where empirical observation met structured clinical decision-making. The Current Therapy series was a mainstay on physicians’ desks, including likely those of rural GPs and hospitalists across the Midwest. The inclusion of therapies like roentgen irradiation and hormone cycling exemplifies how much the field has evolved — and how recently.
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