Prescribing by Numbers - Drugs and the Definition of Disease

Preface vii Acknowledgments xiii Introduction. The Pharmacopoeia of Risk Reduction 1 PART ONE: Diuril and Hypertension, 1957-1977 19 1 Releasing the Flood Waters: The Development and Promotion of Diuril 21 2 Shrinking the Symptom, Growing the Disease: Hypertension after Diuril 51 PART TWO: Orinase and Diabetes, 1960-1980 81 3 Finding the Hidden Diabetic: Orinase Creates a New Market 83 4 Risk and the Symptom: The Trials of Orinase 115 PART THREE: Mevacor and Cholesterol, 1970-2000 149 5 The Fall and Rise of a Risk Factor: Cholesterol and Its Remedies 151 6 Know Your Number: Cholesterol and the Threshold of Pathology 189 Conclusion. The Therapeutic Transition 221 Notes 241 Index 309