Life Saving Drugs : The Elusive Magic Bullet

The Elusive Magic Bullet: Introduction 1(10) Fighting Bacteria 11(74) The Black Death 11(7) Miasmata, Animalcules and Mal aria 14(4) Antiseptics 18(9) From Dyes to Sulfonamides: The First Antibacterials 27(6) Penicillins: Early Ideas of Antibiosis 33(2) Penicillins: Fleming's Serendipitous Discovery 35(7) Chain and Florey and the Penicillin Production Line 42(6) Semi-Synthetic Penicillins and the Growing Problem of Resistance 48(5) The Mould that Grew on Sewage: Evolution of the Cephalosporins 53(3) The Mode of Action of the Penicillins and Cephalosporins 56(5) The White Plague and its Treatment 61(9) More `Treasures' from the Streptomyces 70(7) The Rise of the `Superbugs' 77(8) Antiviral Treatments 85(56) Introduction 85(1) What is a Virus? 86(3) Antibodies: Nature's Magic Bullets 89(16) Smallpox 89(10) Rabies 99(2) Polio 101(1) Gene Technology 102(3) Coughs and Colds and Influenza 105(11) Influenza: The Disease 105(6) Influenza: The Treatments 111(3) The Common Cold 114(2) Herpes: Colds Sores and Chicken Pox 116(4) Aids: History of the Disease 120(6) Aids: Prevention and Treatment 126(9) Haemorrhagic Fever Viruses 135(6) Cancer: The Disease and its Treatment 141(82) Aetiology 143(13) Cancer Chemotherapy 156(11) From Poison Gas to Platinum Drugs 157(10) Beating Leukaemia 167(8) Other Anti-metabolites 172(3) Periwinkles, Mayapples and Yew Trees: Anti-Cancer Drugs from Plants 175(14) Microorganisms also Produce Anti-Tumour Agents 189(6) Anti-Tumour Drugs from the Sea 195(6) Turning off Hormonal Influences 201(10) Breast Cancer 205(4) Prostate Cancer 209(2) Biological Warfare Against Cancer Cells 211(10) Prevention is Better Than Cure 221(2) Magic Bullets: Still Elusive After all These Years 223(10) Further Reading 233(8) Subject Index 241