One Medicine

How understanding animals can save our lives

Dr Matt Morgan

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Paperback

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English

Simon & Schuster
03 July 2024

Autobiography: science, technology & engineering; Mathematics & Sciences; Popular medicine & health

It all started with a Hob Nob. As Dr Matt Morgan, an intensive care consultant, examined a patient who had suffered a cardiac arrest after inhaling some biscuit crumbs, he saw a flock of birds fly past the window. They must inhale objects all the time when flying, how do they survive? he thought to himself. This began an investigation that spanned continents, species and millennia.

For animal science has so much to teach us about human medicine. While some of the overlaps and parallels are obvious – we know how much DNA we share with primates, the first pig heart has been transplanted into a human – there is so much more that we have learnt from the animal world. For example, studying kangaroos, in particular the female’s three vaginas, has improved in-vitro fertilisation success rates. Watching how a giraffe breathes can help save the life of someone struggling with asthma. Investigating why birds that live in the frozen Arctic circle don’t freeze to death led to advances with treating hypothermia. Getting a ECG on the 150kg heart of a humpback whale was instrumental to keeping patients with cardiac failure living longer.

We owe animals so much, it’s time to focus on examining how they live and what we still have to learn from them. Better shared understanding of how our species coexists with millions of others can lead to untold medical advances, help both humans and animals and improve the world for all creatures from single-celled bacteria to a 30,000 kg whale. Who knows, maybe a kiss from a frog will save your life?

By: Dr Matt Morgan
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 18mm
ISBN: 9781471173103
ISBN 10: 1471173100
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 03 July 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Dr Matt Morgan is a British intensive care doctor. His open letter addressed to patients during the 2020 COVID pandemic has been read by over half a million people worldwide and viewed by over two million times after featuring on the Channel 4 news. His articles have featured in the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Sunday Mirror and Huffington Post. A regular writer for the internationally acclaimed British Medical Journal, his article 'A letter from the ICU' is one of their most popular ever opinion article, read by over 130,000 people in 2020. His first book, Critical, has been translated into four languages. He lives in Australia with his family, enjoys CrossFit, photography, cold beer and even colder ice cream.

Reviews for One Medicine: How understanding animals can save our lives

"""In humanity's quest to tackle some of our biggest health challenges, the animal kingdom can provide a rich and often surprising source of inspiration. In this dazzling book, full of extraordinary revelations, the reader is transported on an intriguing journey through the natural world and how it is helping to inspire doctors around the world on the frontiers of medicine,"" -- David Cox * health journalist for The Telegraph *"