Medical Brain

Nine million Americans are touched by aneurysms during their lifetimes. This is one story of love. Brainstorm is the candid and powerful memoir of the author's harrowing experience of an aneurysm and his road to recovery. It is a journey of love and devotion and a clash of medical beliefs and countercultures.

In the early days of the Cold War, a spirit of desperate scientific rivalry birthed a different kind of space race: not the race to outer space that we all know, but a race to master the inner space of the human body. While surgeons on either side of the Iron Curtain competed to become the first to transplant organs like the kidney and heart, a young American neurosurgeon had an even more ambitious thought: Why not transplant the brain?

The technology invented by psychiatrist Robert G. Heath at Tulane University in 1950s and 60s has been described as one of "the most controversial yet largely undocumented experiments in US history" - controversial to us because Heath's patients included incarcerated convicts and gay men to be 'cured' of their sexual preference; controversial in its day because his work was allegedly part of MKUltra, the CIA's notorious "mind control" project. As a result, Heath's cutting-edge research and legacy were put under lock and key, buried in Tulane's archives.

When Tom DeBaggio turned 57 in 1999, he thought he was embarking on the golden years of retirement -- time to spend with his family, his friends, and the herb garden he spent decades cultivating. One winter day, he told his doctor during a routine exam that he had been stumbling into forgetfulness. After it subsequent battery of tests, DeBaggio joined the legion of 12 million others afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

Narrated by the author, Diane Wilson shares her journey through random and sometimes humorous events of having an invisible illness, how her brain kept this injury even from herself, the loss of focus and sense of self, an obsession with day trading retirement funds, and the alternative therapies that helped heal her brain—a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, acupuncture, learning to sing, and, most centrally, neurofeedback.

This is the story of a physician who lived life with blinders on, navigating the increasing demands of being “doctor mom”. It reveals that grit and diligent hard work do not protect you against the heartache of burnout, and the best decisions are not made with logic or reason, but right-brain instinct. Right Brain Rescue is a literary “creativity prescription” that will inspire us to think differently about how we use our energy, explore our values, and care for our bodies and minds so we can become the most sparkly version of ourselves.

Most would not expect a book about a stroke to be entertaining, but this memoir will force you to laugh through a tragedy, then cry, then laugh again. Avrel Seale was fifty, did not smoke or drink, had low blood pressure, and had hiked more than two hundred miles the year a stroke nearly ended his life. In an instant, he was teleported into the body of an old man—unbalanced, shaky, spastic, and half-paralyzed. Overnight, he was plunged into a world of brain surgeons, nurses, insurance case managers, and an abundance of therapists.

Fusion! explores the groundbreaking potential of brain-machine interfaces, where human thought directly connects with technology to restore lost abilities and enhance cognitive functions. This book examines how these systems are already helping individuals with disabilities regain independence by restoring mobility and speech while enabling direct control of digital devices through thought alone. The book provides real-world examples of brain-machine interfaces in action, showcasing their current medical and assistive technologies applications. It delves into the technical aspects of how ...

Dear Frustrated Concussion Sufferer: Many elite athletes never get over their concussions. They can't think straight. They can't remember. They can't function. They can't work! Don't be one of those people. You're in the right place if: 1. You’re still having terrible headaches long after your concussion. 2. You’re holding off the things you want to do because of the aftermath of your concussion. 3. You’ve been forced to quit your job. 4. You’re depressed. 5. You’re having ANY thoughts of suicide at all! A concussion is not a LIFE sentence. The best advice that the best ...

Christine Bryden was a top civil servant and single mother of three children when she was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 46. Since then she has gone on to challenge almost every stereotype of people with dementia. This is a vivid account of the author's experiences of living with dementia, exploring the effects of memory problems, loss of independence, difficulties in communication and the exhaustion of coping with simple tasks. She describes how, with the support of her husband, Paul, she continues to lead an active life and explains how professionals and carers can help.

This audiobook is a story of recovery and self-discovery with ups and downs, struggles, and successes. The journey starts with an introduction that sets the context for a series of chapters describing the physical and emotional aspects of the recovery.

Despite the rapid advances in medical science, the majority of people who visit a doctor have medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), symptoms that remain a mystery despite extensive diagnostic studies. The most common MUS are back pain, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, and dizziness. This book addresses the obstacles of managing people with MUS in our modern-day society from both a historical and contemporary perspective.

Psychedelic drugs being used to treat anxiety and depression? Yes, at a select Nevada hospice where legally-sanctioned LSD is employed as a compassionate treatment for terminally-ill patients. But when a variant (or analogue) of standard LSD is introduced at the facility, unexpected consequences emerge. Plot threads interweave between the hospice and the university that furnishes the drug and between two patients with inoperable brain tumors: Garrett Wayley, a chemistry grad student, and Nick Farris, a San Diego police detective. When their brain tumors mysteriously improve after LSD ...

When her six-year-old daughter found her collapsed on the kitchen floor, Rachel had no idea how much her life was about to change. A brain scan revealed a dark shadowy mass, a huge abnormal growth of tissue that, whilst benign, was still growing and would surely kill her. It was too big to operate on. It needed to be "managed", and Rachel had, at best, two years to live. Refusing to accept the bleak prognosis, Rachel was determined to stay alive.

Unlocking My Brain: Through the Labyrinth of Acquired Brain Injury brings to life Christine's personal experience of brain injury - from losing her vision and being unable to walk, talk or write, Christine regained her life, her thoughts and her career. In 1991, Christine was involved in a horrific car accident and suffered extensive injuries including Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). Unlocking My Brain shows the incredible plasticity of the human brain as well as the plasticity of the human spirit.

What is it really like to be a brain surgeon, to hold someone's life in your hands, to drill down into the stuff that creates thought, feeling and reason? In this brutally honest account, one of the country's top neurosurgeons reveals what it is to play god in life-and-death situations. Henry Marsh gives us a rare insight into the intense drama of the operating theatre and the exquisite complexity of the human brain.

Every time surgeons operate, they're betting their skills are better than the brain tumor, the faulty heart valve, the fractured femur. Sometimes, they're wrong. At Chelsea General, surgeons answer for bad outcomes at the Morbidity and Mortality conference, known as M & M. This extraordinary peek behind the curtain into what is considered the most secretive meeting in all of medicine is the back drop for the entire book.

Eloquent. Philosophical. Introspective. These are not the words usually associated with an autistic child. But in a remarkable display of courage and creativity, a boy named Tito has shattered stereotypes, and in The Mind Tree makes us question all of our previous assumptions about autism. For Tito is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, and this is his story.

Bullet to the Brain is a Felix Hoenniker medical murder mystery. A short story at the intersection of a murder most foul, a drug dealer grappling with quantum entanglement, and a neurosurgeon who thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes. Throw in an angry girlfriend and a genius scientist who disco dances in stiletto heels, and you’re in for a wild ride.

In researching his acclaimed true-crime books, Philip Carlo interviewed some of the most infamous criminals and killers of our times in prisons and on death rows throughout the country. He was able to forge trusting relationships with his subjects, enabling him to extract the facts behind their monstrous acts and identify what motivated them to commit their horrific crimes.