Investigator Awards In Health Policy Research Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research
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Publications » Featured Books by Investigators:
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Investigator publications listed on this site relate to research funded through the Investigator Awards program. References are provided for books and selected journal articles written by the investigators. Abstracts are available for some featured publications.
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Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society
Aronowitz, R.A.
Published: 2007
Cambridge University Press
»Show summary
Unnatural History explores the change over the last two centuries from isolated, private fears to an immense individual and collective risk of breast cancer. The book begins with the experiences of a Quaker woman diagnosed with breast cancer in 1812 and ends with our problematic era in which almost every woman is waiting for 'the axe to fall'. In between, the book traces changes in the beliefs and values of women and their doctors, medical knowledge and technology, clinical and public health practices, and the biological impact of the disease. Unnatural History suggests that we have oversold both the fear of breast cancer and the effectiveness of screening and treatment, leading to miscalculation at the individual and societal levels.
Linked Investigator Award(s):
Robert A. Aronowitz, M.D.The Construction of Health Risk and the Demand for Disease Prevention, 1945-2000
Award Year: 2000

»Show Abstract
While many newly defined health risks have elicited major societal and biomedical responses such as screening tests and risk-reducing drugs, others have not. Dr. Aronowitz examines how values and interests of various stakeholders influence how we recognize, name, define, and respond to health risks. His project traces the history of these risks in the U.S. since World War II and seeks to explain how they have been discovered, promoted, and made the object of prevention practices. Case studies on cancer cluster investigations, in situ cancers, Lyme disease vaccines, lung cancer screening, and the association between homocysteine and coronary heart disease will be compiled. Findings should inform and provoke societal debate over new ways to better manage research on health risks as well as the demand for interventions to reduce them.
More Books by Author(s):
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Aronowitz, R.A., Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society. Cambridge University Press, 2007.