Dr. Patrick Treacy from Garrison has released a new book, entitled 'The Living History of Medicine'.

It contains details of fellow Fermanagh surgeon Denis Burkitt, who is known for his pioneering work in identifying a form of cancer that primarily affects children in certain regions of Africa.

Like Dr. Treacy, he spent some time on humanitarian missions to Uganda, and while there first described the disease in 1958 that later became known throughout the world as Burkitt's lymphoma.

He also made other significant contributions to the field of health. His observations led to the recognition of a link between dietary factors, particularly a high-fibre diet, and the prevention of certain diseases, including colorectal cancer.

Dr. Treacy is recognised as one of the most influential aesthetic practitioners in the world. He was awarded ‘Top Aesthetic Practitioner in the World’ (2019) and ‘Doctor of the Year’ UK and Ireland (2019).

In this fascinating book, he takes us on a journey with Osler’s famed ‘Goddess of Medicine’ and explains how she is continually on the move, fleeing from battles, tyranny, and oppression, seeking to find a home where man can study pathology in peace. She has moved over the past centuries from Edinburgh to Dublin, from London to Vienna, from Berlin to Maryland, then onwards to California to guide doctors in the wonders of new technologies, manipulating defects in the genetic code of our existence and help us fight the diseases of the new millennium.

He said: ''The history of medicine is a living one and involves much more than reflecting on the battles that have been won or lost in the ever-changing struggle against disease. The living history really lies within man himself and too often the human side of this story is neglected. As doctors, we have been trained to focus on the signs of disease and consequently, we pay little attention to the people who discovered them.

"When we read in our pathology texts about the interesting triad of defects in an illness such as Hand-Schuller-Christian disease, we tend to forget about the doctors who faced great personal hardships to bring us the medical eponyms and more importantly, the  information we now use to treat the disorder. These doctors who often faced great personal hardships brought us the information we now use to treat the disorder."