Medical Brain

At 28, Jessica Fechtor was happily immersed in graduate school and her young marriage and thinking about starting a family. Then one day she went for a run, and an aneurysm burst in her brain. She nearly died. She lost her sense of smell and the sight in her left eye and was forced to the sidelines of the life she loved. Jessica's journey to recovery began in the kitchen as soon as she was able to stand at the stovetop and stir. There, she drew strength from the restorative power of cooking and baking.

Are you planning a pregnancy soon? Do you want your child to have the very best start in life? Author Chong Chen, with his background in medicine, psychiatry and brain science, brings his vast knowledge to bear in his book, Before You Get Pregnant: How to Sow the Best Seeds for Your Baby’s Developing Brain, which is designed to help your child develop its brain before it is even born. With well-researched evidence, in-depth and detailed information and a thought-provoking writing style, you will uncover all the facts you’ll need, through chapters on: Planning your pregnancy Eating ...

A Daughter’s Survival A Son’s Farewell Based on a true story, Shattered Not Broken embarks on a mother’s journey through immense familial trials and losses. It is a poignant and deeply moving inspirational story of the complexities of grief and resilience. The author questions her faith as her son battles with a brain tumor and his eventual succumbing to despair and suicide. Written as a parallel narrative, Bobbie Bomar Brown recounts the heart-wrenching medical drama of navigating through her daughter’s devastating car accident while searching for answers to her son’s suicide. ...

This is the story of one man's battle to pursue his dreams despite an often incapacitating brain disorder. From his early experiences of fear and denial to his exasperating search for treatment, Kurt Eichenwald provides a deeply candid account of his years facing this misunderstood and often stigmatized condition. He details his encounters with the doctors whose negligence could have killed him, but for the heroic actions of a brilliant neurologist and the family and friends who fought for him.

One day Donna Jackson Nakazawa found herself lying on the floor to recover from climbing the stairs. That’s when it hit her. She was managing the symptoms of the autoimmune disorders that had plagued her for a decade, but she had lost her joy. As a science journalist, she was curious to know what mind-body strategies might help her. As a wife and mother she was determined to get her life back. Over the course of one year, Nakazawa researches and tests a variety of therapies including meditation, yoga, and acupuncture to find out what works.

Three months together, three months apart, 90 days from now until September. Koel Henshaw’s life changed when he fell unconscious to the floor of his high school calculus class. A year later, Koel is trying to enjoy his last few months of freedom before his summer is ruined by a looming surgery for a surprise—and now chronic—health condition. Having to give up his college football career, Koel also gives up getting locked down in a relationship before his surgery, so he is able to focus on getting back to the person he was before his diagnosis. One night, Koel meets Ryann Morrissey ...

Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, writes about losing her father to Alzheimer's disease, saying goodbye in stages, and watching the progression of a disease that steals what is most precious: a person's memory. Past and present come together in this illuminating portrait of grief, of a man, a disease, and a girl and her father.

In the early 1920s, when neurosurgery was more likely to be a death sentence than a cure, two men revolutionized the study of the brain: Wilder Penfield and William Cone. Drawn together by their shared fascination with the “undiscovered country” inside our heads, the surgeons formed a partnership and within ten years established the Montreal Neurological Institute in a Gothic stone hospital on the slope of a mountain. The Neuro soon became the world’s leading centre for neurological study, attracting men and women from across the globe to a booming mid-century city.

Julie Flygare was on an ambitious path to success, entering law school at age 22, when narcolepsy destroyed the neurological boundaries between dreaming and reality in her brain. She faced terrifying hallucinations, paralysis, and excruciating sleepiness, aspects of dream sleep taking place while wide awake. Yet, narcolepsy was a wake-up call for Julie. Her illness propelled her onto a journey she never imagined, from lying paralyzed on her apartment floor to dancing euphorically at a nightclub; from the classrooms of Harvard Medical School to the start line of the Boston Marathon.

How does one begin to treat such cases, to counsel people whose lives may be changed forever? How does one train the next generation of clinicians to deal with the moral and medical aspects of brain disease? Dr. Ropper and his colleague answer these questions by taking the listener into a rarified world where lives and minds hang in the balance.

From USA Today Bestselling Author, Uvi Poznansky, comes a gripping medical thriller: Ash finds herself in the ER diagnosed with coma. She has no memory of what has happened to her, but what she can do--despite what everyone around her might think--is listen to the conversations of her visitors. One of them is the man who raped her. For Ash, there is little time to gather clues: blackouts are happening not only in the hospital but throughout California. The Russian hackers who are intent on sabotaging the power grid are trying to blackmail her boyfriend, Michael, into helping their cause. ...

In 2008, Simon Fitzmaurice was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was given four years to live. In 2010, in a state of lung-function collapse, Simon knew with crystal clarity that now was not his time to die. Against all prevailing medical opinion, he chose life. Despite the loss of almost all motor function, thanks to miraculous technology he has continued to work, help raise his children, and write this astonishing, life-affirming memoir.

Rebooting My Brain is the true story of what happens when you get yanked out of your life by a crisis and have to get back on the ride all over again. With refreshing candor, Maria Ross shares how the relentless pace of her life came to a screeching halt when an undetected brain aneurysm ruptured and nearly killed her. Along her stubborn road back to health, her resulting cognitive and emotional challenges forced her sometimes kicking and screaming to reframe her life, her work and her identity.

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.

Lauren Marks was 27 when an aneurysm ruptured in her brain and left her fighting for her life. She woke up in a hospital soon after with serious deficiencies to her reading, speaking, and writing abilities, and an unfamiliar diagnosis: aphasia. This would be shocking news for anyone, but Lauren was a voracious reader, an actress, director, dramaturg, and pursuing her PhD. At any other period of her life, this diagnosis would have been a devastating blow. But she woke up...different.

In September of 2020, while on vacation, Shannon Taylor had a seizure. She was diagnosed with a large non-cancerous brain tumor on her brain stem that night. She spent the next two months awaiting a particularly invasive craniotomy. The tumor was rare, the surgical approach was rare, and the complications were rare. Sucks About Your Brain Tumor tells the story of Shannon’s healing through raw journal entries that update what each month (or so) were like from the medical standpoint.

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.

Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 121, credited one thing for her long life: olive oil. Olive oil enthusiasts and experts Alice Alech and Cecile Le Galliard join forces in this complete guidebook detailing the amazing, almost miraculous, health benefits of olive oil. From slowing the effects of Alzheimer's to building healthy bones, olive oil is unrivaled in its natural goodness.

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 ...

Multiple Sclerosis for Dummies gives you accessible, easy-to-understand information about what happens with MS - what kinds of symptoms it can cause, how it can affect your life at home and at work, what you can do to feel and function better, and how you can protect yourself and your family against the long-term unpredictability of the disease. You'll learn how to make treatment and lifestyle choices that work for you, what qualities to look for in a neurologist and the rest of your healthcare team, how to manage fatigue, and much more.