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The night shift: real life in the heart of the ER
By Brian Goldman. 2010
Goldman shares his experiences of the witching hours at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. He introduces us to the kinds of…
patients who walk into an ER after midnight, but also reveals the heartbreaking side of everyday ER visits: adult children forced to make life and death decisions about critically ill parents, victims of sexual assault, and mentally ill and homeless patients looking for understanding and a quick fix. c2010.The man who mistook his wife for a hat: And Other Clinical Tales
By Oliver W Sacks. 1985
Doctor Sacks discusses a wide range of neurological cases, touching on some of the deepest and strangest extremes of the…
human condition. There are patients with perceptual and intellectual aberrations and those who display abnormal mental powers. The curious details of the cases are lit up by Doctor Sacks' profound sympathy which enables us to enter the world of his patients. 1985. Uniform title: Man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical talesThe juggler's children: a journey into family, legend and the genes that bind us
By Carolyn Abraham. 2013
Explores the stunning power and ethical pitfalls of using genetic tests to answer questions of genealogy--by cracking the genome of…
her own family. Armed with DNA kits, the author criss-crosses the globe, taking cells from relatives and strangers, a genetic journey that turns up far more than she bargained for--ugly truths and moral quandaries. With lively writing and a compelling personal narrative, 'The Juggler's Children' tackles profound questions around the genetics of identity, race and humanity. 2013.When death becomes life: notes from a transplant surgeon
By Joshua D Mezrich. 2019
Surgeon Joshua D. Mezrich takes us inside the operating room to unlock the process of transplant surgery, a delicate, intense…
ballet requiring precise timing, breathtaking skill, and at times, creative improvisation. Mezrich examines centuries of medical breakthroughs, connecting this history with the stories of his patients and the ethical debates surrounding organ transplantation. 2019.Under the knife: a history of surgery in 28 remarkable operations
By Arnold van de Laar. 2018
Surgeon Arnold van de Laar uses his own experience and expertise to tell this engrossing history of surgery. From the…
story of the desperate man in seventeenth-century Amsterdam who grimly cut a stone out of his own bladder to Bob Marley's deadly toe, the author offers a wealth of fascinating insights into medicine and history via the operating room. What happens during an operation? How does the human body respond to being attacked by a knife, a cancer cell or a bullet? And, as technological advances continuously push the boundaries of what medicine can cure, what are the limits of surgery? 2018.Survival of the sickest: a medical maverick discovers why we need disease
By Jonathan Prince, Sharon Moalem. 2007
Conditions that are diseases today actually gave our ancestors a leg up in the survival sweepstakes. When the option is…
a long life with a disease or a short one without it, evolution opts for disease almost every time. 2007.The dawn of medicine
By Robert Silverberg. 1967
Son rise: the miracle continues
By Barry Neil Kaufman. 1993
Expanding on the 1979 television special called SON-RISE, this updates the story of Raun Kaufman, whose parents' efforts helped him…
develop from a lifeless, non-communicative child into an active, verbal, loving boy. As a result of their experience the Kaufmans started an institute to help other families of autistic children. 1993.Take my hands: the remarkable story of Dr. Mary Verghese
By Dorothy Clarke Wilson. 1963
Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom
By Katherine Eban. 2019
From an award-winning Fortune reporter, an explosive narrative investigation of the generic drug boom that reveals the life-threatening dangers posed…
by globalization-The Jungle for pharmaceuticalsThe widespread use of generic drugs has been hailed as one of the most important public health developments of the twentieth century. Today, almost 90 percent of our pharmaceutical market is comprised of generics, the majority of which are manufactured overseas. We have been reassured by our pharmacists, our doctors, and our regulators that the generic and brand-name drugs are identical, generics just cheaper. But is this really true? Katherine Eban's Bottle of Lies exposes the widespread deceit behind generic drug manufacturing-creating terrifying risks for global health. Drawing on exclusive accounts from whistleblowers, inspectors, and regulators, as well as thousands of pages of confidential internal FDA documents, Eban reveals an industry where fraud is rampant, companies falsify data, and executives circumvent almost every principle of safe manufacturing to minimize cost and maximize profit. Meanwhile, patients unwittingly consume adulterated medicine with unpredictable and even life-threatening effects. The story of generic drugs is truly global: it connects middle America to sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, and Brazil, and encompasses every market banking on the promise of a low-cost cure. Given that tens of millions of patients take drugs of dubious quality approved with fake data, the generics industry is the ultimate litmus test of globalization: what is the risk of moving drug manufacturing offshore, and is it worth the savings? An investigation with international sweep, exotic settings, molecular mayhem, and big money at its core, Bottle of Lies reveals how the world's greatest public-health innovation has become one of its most astonishing swindles.The Body: A Guide for Occupants
By Bill Bryson. 2019
Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel…
that is the human body. As compulsively readable as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody. Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body-how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted." The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information.Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic
By Matt McCarthy. 2019
"An amazing, informative book that changes our perspective on medicine, microbes and our future." -Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, New York Times…
bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies A New York Times bestselling author shares this exhilarating story of cutting-edge science and the race against the clock to find new treatments in the fight against the antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as superbugs. Physician, researcher, and ethics professor Matt McCarthy is on the front lines of a groundbreaking clinical trial testing a new antibiotic to fight lethal superbugs, bacteria that have built up resistance to the life-saving drugs in our rapidly dwindling arsenal. This trial serves as the backdrop for the compulsively readable Superbugs, and the results will impact nothing less than the future of humanity. Dr. McCarthy explores the history of bacteria and antibiotics, from Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, to obscure sources of innovative new medicines (often found in soil samples), to the cutting-edge DNA manipulation known as CRISPR, bringing to light how we arrived at this juncture of both incredible breakthrough and extreme vulnerability. We also meet the patients whose lives are hanging in the balance, from Remy, a teenager with a dangerous and rare infection, to Donny, a retired New York City firefighter with a compromised immune system, and many more. The proverbial ticking clock will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Can Dr. McCarthy save the lives of his patients infected with the deadly bacteria, who have otherwise lost all hope?Lifespan: Why We Age - and Why We Don't Have To
By David Sinclair, Matthew LaPlante. 2019
From an acclaimed Harvard professor and one of Time's most influential people, this paradigm-shifting book shows how almost everything we…
think we know about aging is wrong, offers a front-row seat to the amazing global effort to slow, stop, and reverse aging, and calls readers to consider a future where aging can be treated. For decades, experts have believed that we are at the mercy of our genes, and that natural damage to our genes-the kind that inevitably happens as we get older-makes us become sick and grow old. But what if everything you think you know about aging is wrong? What if aging is a disease-and that disease is treatable? In Lifespan, one of the world's foremost experts on aging and genetics reveals a groundbreaking new theory that will forever change the way we think about why we age and what we can do about it. Aging isn't immutable; we can have far more control over it than we realize. This eye-opening and provocative work takes us to the frontlines of research that is pushing the boundaries on our perceived scientific limitations, revealing incredible breakthroughs-many from Dr. David Sinclair's own lab-that demonstrate how we can slow down, or even reverse, the genetic clock. The key is activating newly discovered vitality genes-the decedents of an ancient survival circuit that is both the cause of aging and the key to reversing it. Dr. Sinclair shares the emerging technologies and simple lifestyle changes-such as intermittent fasting, cold exposure, and exercising with the right intensity-that have been shown to help lead to longer lives. Lifespan provides a roadmap for taking charge of our own health destiny and a bold new vision for the future when humankind is able to live to be 100 years young.Discover an eye-opening and provocative new way to look at our health based on the latest groundbreaking discoveries in the…
science of compassion, kindness, and human connection. For all of its rigor and science, medicine is full of stories-mysteries-that doctors and research cannot explain. Patients who are biologically healthy, but feel ill. Patients who are biologically ill, but feel healthy. What if these health mysteries could teach us something about what really makes us sick-and how to be healthy? When Columbia University doctor Kelli Harding began her clinical practice, she never intended to explore the invisible factors behind our health. But then there were the rabbits. In 1978, a seemingly straightforward experiment designed to establish the relationship between high blood cholesterol and heart health in rabbits discovered that kindness-in the form of a particularly nurturing post-doc who pet and spoke to the lab rabbits as she fed them-made the difference between a heart attack and a healthy heart. As Dr. Kelli Harding reveals in this eye-opening book, the rabbits were just the beginning of a much larger story. Groundbreaking new research shows that love, friendship, community, life's purpose, and our environment can have a greater impact on our health than anything that happens in the doctor's office. For instance, chronic loneliness can be as unhealthy as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day; napping regularly can decrease one's risk of heart disease; and people with purpose are less likely to get sick. Through provocative storytelling and compelling research, Harding presents a new model for you to take charge of your health. At once paradigm-shifting and empowering, The Rabbit Effect shares a radical new way to think about health, wellness, and how we live.Be With: Letters to a Caregiver
By Mike Barnes. 2018
SHORTLISTED FOR THE TORONTO BOOK AWARD AS SEEN ON GLOBAL NEWS TV'S THE MORNING SHOW A CBC CANADIAN BOOK TO…
READ FOR MENTAL HEALTH WEEK Drawing on the author’s seven years of caring for his mother through Alzheimer’s, Be With: Letters to a Caregiver is what its title promises: four dispatches to an anonymous long-term caregiver. In brief passages that cast fresh light on what it means to live with dementia, Barnes shares trials, insights, solace—and, ultimately, inspiration. Meant to be a companion in waiting rooms, on bus routes, or while a loved one naps, Be With is a dippable source of clarity for harried readers who might only have time for a few lines or paragraphs. Mike Barnes writes with sensitivity and grace about fellowship, responsibility, and joyful relatedness—what it means to simply be with the people that we love.The Romanovs: the final chapter
By Robert K Massie, Robert K. Massie. 1995
Chronicles the work of historians, journalists, and scientists to locate and identify the remains of the last Russian tsar and…
his family. Discusses the 1918 execution and interment, subsequent denials by Soviet authorities, the recovery of the remains, arguments among forensic experts, claims that family members had survived, and conclusions based on DNA testingClimbing mount improbable
By Richard Dawkins. 1996
Explores the design of organisms and life systems through the process of Darwinian natural selection. Illustrates the operation of evolution…
in the development of such complex wonders as wings, spiderwebs, and the human eyeDying well: the prospect for growth at the end of life
By Ira Byock, Ira Byock. 1997
A holistic approach to dealing with the physical and emotional pain of terminal illness. Based on his years as a…
hospice physician, the author provides the tools he considers necessary to make the passage from life to death a tranquil experienceThe dragons of Eden: speculations on the evolution of human intelligence
By Carl Sagan. 1977
Essays by an award-winning scientist about the possible development of human intelligence, written for nonspecialists. Discusses the biological functions of…
sleep, increasing brain size, and language learning among chimpanzees. Chronicles advances in understanding the brain and implications for the future. BestsellerHello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person
By Anna Mehler Paperny. 2019
NATIONAL BESTSELLERAward-winning journalist Anna Mehler Paperny's stunning memoir chronicles with courageous honesty and uncommon eloquence her experience of depression and…
her quest to explore what we know and don't know about this disease that afflicts almost a fifth of the population--providing an invaluable guide to a system struggling to find solutions. As fascinating as it is heartrending, as outrageously funny as it is serious, it is a must-read for anyone impacted by depression--and that's pretty much everybody. Depression is a havoc-wreaking illness that masquerades as personal failing and hijacks your life. After a major suicide attempt in her early twenties, Anna Mehler Paperny resolved to put her reporter's skills to use to get to know her enemy, setting off on a journey to understand her condition, the dizzying array of medical treatments on offer and a medical profession in search of answers. Charting the way depression wrecks so many, she maps competing schools of therapy, pharmacology, cutting-edge medicine, the pill-popping pitfalls of long-term treatment, the glaring unknowns and the institutional shortcomings that both patients and practitioners are up against. She interviews leading medical experts across Canada and the US, from psychiatrists to neurologists, brain-mapping pioneers to family practitioners, and others dabbling in strange hypotheses--and shares compassionate conversations with fellow sufferers.Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me tracks Anna's quest for knowledge and her desire to get well. Impeccably reported, it is a profoundly compelling story about the human spirit and the myriad ways we treat (and fail to treat) the disease that accounts for more years swallowed up by disability than any other in the world.