Best Sociological Study of Medicine
After losing seven members of his family to cancer over the course of a decade, Ty set out on a global quest to learn as much as he possibly could about cancer treatments and the medical industry that surrounds the disease. The Truth about Cancer delves into the history of medicine—all the way back to Hippocrates’s credo of “do no harm”—as well as cutting-edge research showing the efficacy of dozens of unconventional cancer treatments that are helping patients around the globe. The little-known wisdom found in this book can help end human suffering across the globe while saving people from the ravages of the failed cancer industry.”. “Ty Bollinger provides patients, scientists, and health care professionals with an excellent explanation of why our current cancer model is flawed, how cancer can be prevented, and offers a more complete ‘menu’ of treatment options that are far more favorable on a risk-to-benefit-to-cost ratio when compared to most standard oncology protocols. In this groundbreaking book, Ty Bollinger sheds light on the plethora of natural ways to promote immunity, fuel the body, and stifle cancer. His exploration into the politics of cancer is a remarkably brave look at a desperate situation that affects millions of people worldwide. He doesn’t just take the medical view; he engages in a massive historical sweep, through centuries of manipulation and scientific abuse, to explain how we have got to where we are with the Big C (cancer). Ty Bollinger’s new book is a tell-all story of how we get cancer, how it is promoted by the pharmaceutical industry and perpetuated by the ‘standard of care’ in the medical community. — Ben Johnson, M.D., D.O., N.M.D., best-selling co-author of The Healing Code and author of The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom and No Ma’am-ogram!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book has been life changing for my family and myself. After phase 1, I traveled to speak with other doctors and was given the book and docu-series THE TRUTH ABOUT CANCER. It was the best book I have ever read on the subject (and I have read a lot to try to understand and prevent cancer.)."
"I highly recommend this alternative "look" at cancer care."
"I was fairly disinterested until I had a cancer diagnosis which was false and it made me take my health into my own control and not believe ALL we are told by media and doctors alike. The reason that word is not getting around quicker is that most folks think you are a little odd when you mention that there are many Cancer cures across the world and often friends and family just distance themselves from talking about the subject which is upsetting and frustrating - just get the book and look forward to not being so scared of Cancer and other illnesses which plague society."
"He helped save my life because I wouldnt have known about thermograms (vs mammograms), which lead me to a high risk cancer diagnosis that otherwise wouldn't have been seen until it was too late."
"Therefore, when I discovered a bump in my boob at the age of 64, which was confirmed by the mammogram (Ygggg) and I was frightened into surgery within a few days - the slash part. Recovering after the op, I was lying in bed googling "real hair wigs" on my i-pad, thinking that that was the next step. Under pressure, I entered the oncology centre in Durban, South Africa, to be met with the sight of yellow shuffling corpses feeding their limp bodies with coca cola, chips and suggary doughnuts from the vending machine in the centre. As I am typing this, our very own Tim Noakes has just been found guilty by the SA Medical Association of advising a mother to wean her baby onto a low carbohydrate, high fat diet."
From a small town in Mexico to the boardrooms of Big Pharma, an explosive and shocking account of addiction and black tar heroin in the heartland of America. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America--addiction like no other the country has ever faced. “Over the last 15 years, he has filed the best dispatches about Mexican migration and its effects on the United States and Mexico, bar none.” ― Los Angeles Times Book Review. “Journalist Quinones weaves an extraordinary story, including the personal journeys of the addicted, the drug traffickers, law enforcement, and scores of families affected by the scourge, as he details the social, economic, and political forces that eventually destroyed communities in the American heartland and continues to have a resounding impact.” ―starred review, Booklist. “In Dreamland , former Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Quinones deftly recounts how a flood of prescription pain meds, along with black tar heroin from Nayarit, Mexico, transformed the once-vital blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, and other American communities into heartlands of addiction. With prose direct yet empathic, he interweaves the stories of Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics agents, and small-town folks whose lives were upended by the deluge of drugs, leaving them shaking their heads, wondering how they could possibly have resisted.” ― Mother Jones. “Smack is back in the news as heroin use spikes and busts pile up at the border, making Dreamland a timely book. But he also goes way deeper; he tells the social and human stories at the heart of the opiate trade and how it tortures the souls of America and Mexico.” ―Ioan Grillo, author of EL NARCO. “ Dreamland spreads out like a transnational episode of The Wire , alternately maddening, thrilling, depressing, and with writing as sharp and insightful as a razor blade. Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic is an intricate jigsaw puzzle piecing together his findings from intensive investigation of the unprecedented spread of heroin addiction throughout the United States over the past two decades . Dreamland stands as a model of meticulous investigative reporting providing important insights not only the current opiate epidemic but also into the sometimes negative symbiosis between our country and our neighbors to the south.” ― New York Journal of Books. "The path of heroin from America’s urban slums to its trim suburban subdivisions is traced by a Los Angeles Times reporter. Quinones’ deeply researched and readable book says well-heeled addicts got hooked first on pain-killing medications like OxyContin--but then switched to much cheaper Mexican heroin, feeding a problem across the nation." Using expert storytelling and exhaustive detail, Quinones chronicles the perfect storm of circumstances that cleared the way for the Mexican narcotic to infiltrate our small and midsize communities over the last two decades.” ― Kansas City Star. "You won’t find this story told better anywhere else, from the economic hollowing-out of the middle class to the greedy and reckless marketing of pharmaceutical opiates to the remarkable entrepreneurial industry of the residents of the obscure Mexican state of Nayarit . Quinones combines thorough research with superlative narrative skills to produce a horrifying but compulsively readable book about opiate addiction . Spanning the central U.S. and crossing the Mexican border, Dreamland adroitly unsnarls the tangled business that feeds a growing lust for chemical euphoria and relief.” ― Shelf Awareness. "[A] powerful investigation into the explosion of heroin abuse in suburban America that combines skillful reporting and strong research with a superb narrative."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm an Obstetrician who is dealing with the repercussions of the opioid epidemic and countless babies struggling in the throes of neonatal abstinence syndrome (withdrawal)."
"I also was vaguely aware of the 'pill mills' going on in Florida and other states primarily in the eastern part of the US, after reading this book I can say I not only know but am alarmed at how easy it was to get a Medicaid card and rake in big bucks selling Oxycontin on taxpayer money. On the other side of the coin, I have suffered from Fibromyalgia for sixteen years and the premise that pain can be controlled solely by physical therapy, nutrition, counseling, acupuncture without medication is bunk."
"The economics of the heroin trade are analyzed in detail showing evidence of a completely new way of dealing drugs that emanates from a desire of small-town Mexican farm boys to make it big in the US."
"Anyone who wants to understand the state of addiction in America should read this book."
"We are an upper middle class family and I was blown away when I found out our 22 yr old son was on heroin!"
"This book, or at least selected chapters need to be read over and over to kids."
"The reader finishes the book fully informed on the link between prescription pill addiction and black tar heroin."
"This is an excellent book and a real eye-opener about the opiate epidemic in this country."
In 1918, the Italian-Americans of New York, the Yupik of Alaska and the Persians of Mashed had almost nothing in common except for a virus--one that triggered the worst pandemic of modern times and had a decisive effect on the history of the twentieth century. "Impressive...Set against the devastating backdrop of global contagion, it is individual lives and deaths, discovered in letters, diaries, biographies and memoirs, that epitomize this rich account. As the book progresses, the flu is cast increasingly as a character that crops up Zelig-like at important moments in history, altering the course of events previously unattributed to it.... ...With superb investigative skill and a delightfully light-hearted writing style, Spinney extends her analysis far beyond the relatively short duration of the plague....Spinney finds it odd that we know so little about the worst calamity to affect the human race. Retracing influenza's death trail over nine continents, she attempts to show how the flu affected not only the war-torn West but also remote communities in South Africa, China, and Brazil. The book reveals how desperately and differently people reacted and how gravely the flu influenced the modern world, touching everything from medicine to business and from politics to poetry. "Ambitious...Spinney delves into the unfolding tragedy around the globe, looking at Brazil, China, Iran, India, and Russia. "An excruciating report on the global disaster...Absorbing...Spinney's important book does not attempt to offer light reading. The enduring message of Spinney's magisterial work is to underline just how crucial that remarkable service is to the future security of an unusually privileged nation. "Spinney's book is intensely readable, and instead of a strictly chronological account she circles around history, epidemiology and culture to give a panoramic portrait of the previous century's most deadly pandemic.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is full of statistics, suppositions, reports and scientific information."
"Poor continuity in writing and seems to jump around a lot."
"A very interesting book and a useful counterpart to The Plague of the Spanish Lady, which I read decades ago."
"Incredibly researched history of the Spanish flu."
"This book opens the reader's eyes to in of the most devastating events in the past century, but one that we tend to view far more lightly than we should."
"Curiosity about this under reported, global event led me here and I wasn't disappointed."
"I was interested in the so called Spanish flu as a close relative had died of it, and one theory that came out in the book is that there may be a genetic suseptability."
"The author did a very good job of putting the Spanish Flu in context to the times."
Best Organized Crime True Accounts
From a small town in Mexico to the boardrooms of Big Pharma, an explosive and shocking account of addiction and black tar heroin in the heartland of America. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America--addiction like no other the country has ever faced. “Over the last 15 years, he has filed the best dispatches about Mexican migration and its effects on the United States and Mexico, bar none.” ― Los Angeles Times Book Review. “Journalist Quinones weaves an extraordinary story, including the personal journeys of the addicted, the drug traffickers, law enforcement, and scores of families affected by the scourge, as he details the social, economic, and political forces that eventually destroyed communities in the American heartland and continues to have a resounding impact.” ―starred review, Booklist. “In Dreamland , former Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Quinones deftly recounts how a flood of prescription pain meds, along with black tar heroin from Nayarit, Mexico, transformed the once-vital blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, and other American communities into heartlands of addiction. With prose direct yet empathic, he interweaves the stories of Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics agents, and small-town folks whose lives were upended by the deluge of drugs, leaving them shaking their heads, wondering how they could possibly have resisted.” ― Mother Jones. “Smack is back in the news as heroin use spikes and busts pile up at the border, making Dreamland a timely book. But he also goes way deeper; he tells the social and human stories at the heart of the opiate trade and how it tortures the souls of America and Mexico.” ―Ioan Grillo, author of EL NARCO. “ Dreamland spreads out like a transnational episode of The Wire , alternately maddening, thrilling, depressing, and with writing as sharp and insightful as a razor blade. Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic is an intricate jigsaw puzzle piecing together his findings from intensive investigation of the unprecedented spread of heroin addiction throughout the United States over the past two decades . Dreamland stands as a model of meticulous investigative reporting providing important insights not only the current opiate epidemic but also into the sometimes negative symbiosis between our country and our neighbors to the south.” ― New York Journal of Books. "The path of heroin from America’s urban slums to its trim suburban subdivisions is traced by a Los Angeles Times reporter. Quinones’ deeply researched and readable book says well-heeled addicts got hooked first on pain-killing medications like OxyContin--but then switched to much cheaper Mexican heroin, feeding a problem across the nation." Using expert storytelling and exhaustive detail, Quinones chronicles the perfect storm of circumstances that cleared the way for the Mexican narcotic to infiltrate our small and midsize communities over the last two decades.” ― Kansas City Star. "You won’t find this story told better anywhere else, from the economic hollowing-out of the middle class to the greedy and reckless marketing of pharmaceutical opiates to the remarkable entrepreneurial industry of the residents of the obscure Mexican state of Nayarit . Quinones combines thorough research with superlative narrative skills to produce a horrifying but compulsively readable book about opiate addiction . Spanning the central U.S. and crossing the Mexican border, Dreamland adroitly unsnarls the tangled business that feeds a growing lust for chemical euphoria and relief.” ― Shelf Awareness. "[A] powerful investigation into the explosion of heroin abuse in suburban America that combines skillful reporting and strong research with a superb narrative."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm an Obstetrician who is dealing with the repercussions of the opioid epidemic and countless babies struggling in the throes of neonatal abstinence syndrome (withdrawal)."
"I also was vaguely aware of the 'pill mills' going on in Florida and other states primarily in the eastern part of the US, after reading this book I can say I not only know but am alarmed at how easy it was to get a Medicaid card and rake in big bucks selling Oxycontin on taxpayer money. On the other side of the coin, I have suffered from Fibromyalgia for sixteen years and the premise that pain can be controlled solely by physical therapy, nutrition, counseling, acupuncture without medication is bunk."
"It became somewhat burdensome, and although I tried to tell myself that this was a symbolic narrative representation of the repetitive persistence of drug use and addiction, I found myself skimming quite a bit, especially towards the end."
"Loved this book is a great book for people who really want to understand about how the Opiate problem is taking over the nation."
"It can be a little too detailed and redundant but a great lesson about the dangers of drugs from a century ago (China opium) and very prevalent today in affluent high schools with the modern "drug of choice"."
"Cleverly put together as he traces the rise and expansion of opioid and the fascinating story of importing heroin from Mexico."
"We are an upper middle class family and I was blown away when I found out our 22 yr old son was on heroin!"
"Pastors and community workers and universities offering counseling programs should read this book more than once."
Best Social Security
Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout (and perhaps underpins) our society; not a medical "condition" distinct from the lives it affects, rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional, and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs (and behaviors) of addiction. “In this brilliant and well-documented book, Gabor Maté locates the source of addictions in the trauma of an emotionally empty childhood, making it a relational rather than a medical problem. "Dr. Maté’s latest book is a moving, debate-provoking, and multi-layered look at how addiction arises, the people afflicted with it and why he supports decriminalization of all drugs, including crystal meth.… [ In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts ] reads not only as a lively textbook analysis of the physiological and psychological causes of drug addiction, but also as an investigation into his heart and mind." “In this comprehensive and courageous book … Maté relates, with compassion and honesty, the poignant stories of severe substance addicts – the hungry ghosts, in Buddhist-realm terminology – whom he treats. And it is the addicts’ stories and the clear logic of the latest science and statistics that Maté shares which convince the reader that society’s attitudes toward, and treatment of, addiction must change. "It’s time to give Maté … the Order of Canada for this erudite and sensitive book about the lives of Downtown Eastside intravenous-drug users, the neurobiology of addiction, and the folly of the war on drugs. "Gabor Maté’s latest book is a sprawling but fascinating look at addiction that is part science, part diatribe, part character study, and part confessional.… The writing is powerful.… the book leaves the reader with a profound sense of empathy and understanding for some of society’s most marginalized victims. "It seems odd to use the word ‘beautiful’ to describe a book that focuses, frequently in graphic, unrelenting detail, on the lives of some of the most hopeless outcasts of our society: the hard-core street addicts with whom Dr. Gabor Maté works. " In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts looks at addictions, how they work, who experiences them and what can be done.… The book is a survey of scientific evidence on addiction, but it is haunted by Maté’s patients who are wrestling with poverty, violence, mental illness, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, the authorities, their pasts. We read about the depths of addiction, but also the persistence of humanity under the worst of conditions.… That the well-off and the destitute are considered together in this book reminds us that addiction transcends class." “[ In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts ] shows an unflinching look at addiction… Dr. Maté makes observations that cut through all the myths and misinterpretations about addicts and how they live… There are many nuggets of wisdom and insight throughout the book. I heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in addiction, addiction treatment, early childhood development, or drug policy.”. — Drug War Chronicle. “As a person who has struggled with addiction and worked with recovering addicts, I’m pleased to see that someone is bold enough to write holistically and compassionately about addiction. I devoured this book page by page—it is more than a book on addiction, it is on what makes us human.”. — Ex Libris. “[ In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts ] is quite unlike any book or documentary I've ever seen about the topic of addiction… This book allows the reader to become a spectator of the treatment of addicts—the people considered on the bottom level of society.”. — A Book of Days. Gabor Maté, a Vancouver-based physician specializing in addictions explains in his book In The Realm Of Hungry Ghosts that criminalization and coercion do nothing but perpetuate the War On Drugs… Dr. Maté further explains that a far better way to approach drug addiction is through a process called harm reduction, which has more to do with compassion and empathy, not ostracism and punishment, and which encourages a gradual reduction of addiction.” —The Ithaca Journal “ In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts provides essential reading for anyone who has ever been a parent, fetus, young child, child care worker, teacher, or physician… [Gabor Maté’s] empathy toward the addicts he treats is compelling, as he links degrees of neglect and trauma described by these hapless, unloved patients to his early upbringing. “The book opens with specific stories of addicts who Dr. Maté has worked with and interviewed. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout (and perhaps underpins) our society; not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects, rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional, and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs (and behaviors) of addiction. “Gabor Maté’s latest book effectively demolishes the belief that addictions arise from chemical imbalances, genetics, or bad choices…. I n the Realm of Hungry Ghosts condemns society for depriving human beings of what they need to thrive and then persecuting and punishing them for using drugs to relieve their pain… well-written, engaging.”. — Dissident Voice. Maté, a physician in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, has been treating poor and homeless people addicted to various drugs, particularly cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, for many years and in this account his insights into the physiological, sociological, psychological, and political-economic nature of addiction are stunningly elucidated… exceptionally clearly-written and readable… Too many books are described as essential reading, but for anyone who has ever been touched in any way by substance abuse or other addictions, or for anyone who knows someone who has, and especially for anyone dealing professionally with medical and policy issues related to addictive drugs, this book simply must be read. “[Gabor Maté], a front-line professional combating addiction in Canada, questions the premise that addiction is a choice that people make. Does that make sense – people want to, choose to be addicted?”. — Addiction Magazine.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Though his focus is on drug addiction he gives insight to any kind of addiction."
"Really interesting, thoughtful, nuanced and compassionate."
"I found this book truly helpful."
"Such an enlightening, personal reflection of this man's life and work."
"Although I am not a typical drug or alcohol addict I do love to gamble, but am able to stay away for long periods, but I would say he is right on and when I compared his opinions to people in my life that suffer hard core addiction.....it all makes more sense!"
"I AM A ADC COUNSELOR INTERN AND MATE SHOWS US THE REALITY OF ADDICTION AND THAT WE ALL ARE HUMAN, ADDICTS ARE NOT TO BE JUDGED FOR BEING ADDICTS, THEY DIDNT CHOOSE TO BE ADDICTS WHEN GROWING UP THEY DIDNT SAY I AM GOING TO GROW UP AND BE AN ADDICT!!!!!"
"One of most informative, humane treaties on addiction that elegantly ties together the neurobiologic underpinnings of addiction with the personal and social elements."
"This is a great book by a gifted and minful doctor who don't go with the flow."
Best Medical Ethics
She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2010 : From a single, abbreviated life grew a seemingly immortal line of cells that made some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible. Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five in Baltimore, a poor African American migrant from the tobacco farms of Virginia, who died from a cruelly aggressive cancer at the age of 30 in 1951. A sample of her cancerous tissue, taken without her knowledge or consent, as was the custom then, turned out to provide one of the holy grails of mid-century biology: human cells that could survive--even thrive--in the lab. Meanwhile, Henrietta's family continued to live in poverty and frequently poor health, and their discovery decades later of her unknowing contribution--and her cells' strange survival--left them full of pride, anger, and suspicion. Jad Abumrad is host and creator of the public radio hit Radiolab , now in its seventh season and reaching over a million people monthly. Just the simple facts are hard to believe: that in 1951, a poor black woman named Henrietta Lacks dies of cervical cancer, but pieces of the tumor that killed her--taken without her knowledge or consent--live on, first in one lab, then in hundreds, then thousands, then in giant factories churning out polio vaccines, then aboard rocket ships launched into space. The cells from this one tumor would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry and become a foundation of modern science--leading to breakthroughs in gene mapping, cloning and fertility and helping to discover how viruses work and how cancer develops (among a million other things). But what's truly remarkable about Rebecca Skloot 's book is that we also get the rest of the story, the part that could have easily remained hidden had she not spent ten years unearthing it: Who was Henrietta Lacks?
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This was a great book that I'm so glad I read."
"In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Rebecca Skloot introduces us to the “real live woman,” the children who survived her, and the interplay of race, poverty, science and one of the most important medical discoveries of the last 100 years. Skloot narrates the science lucidly, tracks the racial politics of medicine thoughtfully and tells the Lacks family’s often painful history with grace. When science appears, it does so effortlessly, with explanations of cell anatomy or techniques like “fluorescence in situ hybridization” seamlessly worked into descriptions of the coloured wards of Johns Hopkins hospital to Lacks’s hometown of Clover, Virginia. And yet for all its grand scope, skilful writing and touching compassion, there is one simple element that makes As a final thought, I was struck by the parallels between Henrietta’s cells and her story."
"The author did a great job of allowing the reader to decide if Henrietta's family should have profited from her cells."
"After reading about Henrietta Lacks, I began thinking about all the blood tests I've had done, and some minor surgeries I've had and I constantly wondered, what did those doctors and/or hospitals do with my tissues and/or blood? I realize there are laws in place now that weren't there when Henrietta lived, but to read how Dr. Gey took samples of Henrietta's cancerous tumor and used it to advance science and medicine as we know of it today, is mind-boggling. All of us living today should be thankful for Henrietta because she has done something that no one else seems to ever have been able to do, which is live immortally. Lacks' cells, while her family continues to live in poverty. I learned so much about cells and DNA, not to mention that just about every pill I've ever taken, most likely was the result of Henrietta's cells, which still grow today."
"When a friend recommended this book I'd never heard of Henrietta Lacks or HeLa."
Best Virology
The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. The dramatic and chilling story of an Ebola virus outbreak in a surburban Washington, D.C. laboratory, with descriptions of frightening historical epidemics of rare and lethal viruses.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm writing this review now because, 1- the current (July 2014) outbreak of Ebola is "the deadliest in recorded history," and 2- I've NEVER forgotten the book. The thing that is so terrifying is the way the poor people who contract the disease die."
"I learned a lot about the virus. After reading this book, im able to read between the headlines of what is being said and more importantly, what's NOT being said. Medical researchers working with the virus give share their information."
"I bought this book in its hard-cover version when it first came out, quite a few years ago, and what with the recent Ebola crisis in Africa and now in the news here in the U.S., I wanted to re-read it. I am dismayed that the CDC is still "learning" how to contain this disease, when the knowledge has been in use by the U.S. Army, and various charitable organizations in Africa for many years."
"A scary, eye opening book about Ebola. He describes in detail the Ebola Reston outbreak in Maryland."
"A must read for anyone who wants the scientific truth about this disease, how it can be spread & how easily & quickly it can mutate."
"Although twenty years old, the information is timely and so. pertinent for our age when Ebola is devastating Africa and may be advancing thought the world."
"Because you will be terrified every time you have a tiny headache. Because you will want strangers to stay far away from you, especially if they are breathing. Because you will realise that your government, our government, the government will probably be unable to stop a proper Ebola virus. Because you will forgive the sometimes over detailed writing because you are completely absorbed in the horror. Because this is not fiction, this is real, this is here, this is now. And this is a gripping, interesting, well put together, well researched non-fiction book that reads like an adventure, a horror and a thriller all at once. Viruses are clever little buggers and best we be afraid."
Best Biographies of Organized Crime
Winner of the NBCC Award for General Nonfiction. Named on Amazon's Best Books of the Year 2015--Michael Botticelli, U.S. Drug Czar ( Politico ) Favorite Book of the Year--Angus Deaton, Nobel Prize Economics ( Bloomberg / WSJ ) Best Books of 2015--Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky ( WSJ ) Books of the Year--Slate.com's 10 Best Books of 2015-- Entertainment Weekly 's 10 Best Books of 2015 --Buzzfeed's 19 Best Nonfiction Books of 2015--The Daily Beast's Best Big Idea Books of 2015-- Seattle Times ' Best Books of 2015-- Boston Globe 's Best Books of 2015-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch 's Best Books of 2015-- The Guardian 's The Best Book We Read All Year--Audible's Best Books of 2015-- Texas Observer 's Five Books We Loved in 2015--Chicago Public Library's Best Nonfiction Books of 2015. From a small town in Mexico to the boardrooms of Big Pharma to main streets nationwide, an explosive and shocking account of addiction in the heartland of America. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America--addiction like no other the country has ever faced. An Amazon Best Book of April 2015: The rise of OxyContin addiction and subsequent heroin use has been much in the news lately as we try to make sense of what is happening in suburban and small town America.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm an Obstetrician who is dealing with the repercussions of the opioid epidemic and countless babies struggling in the throes of neonatal abstinence syndrome (withdrawal)."
"I also was vaguely aware of the 'pill mills' going on in Florida and other states primarily in the eastern part of the US, after reading this book I can say I not only know but am alarmed at how easy it was to get a Medicaid card and rake in big bucks selling Oxycontin on taxpayer money. On the other side of the coin, I have suffered from Fibromyalgia for sixteen years and the premise that pain can be controlled solely by physical therapy, nutrition, counseling, acupuncture without medication is bunk."
"The economics of the heroin trade are analyzed in detail showing evidence of a completely new way of dealing drugs that emanates from a desire of small-town Mexican farm boys to make it big in the US."
"Anyone who wants to understand the state of addiction in America should read this book."
"We are an upper middle class family and I was blown away when I found out our 22 yr old son was on heroin!"
"This book, or at least selected chapters need to be read over and over to kids."
"The reader finishes the book fully informed on the link between prescription pill addiction and black tar heroin."
"This is an excellent book and a real eye-opener about the opiate epidemic in this country."
Best Psychopathology
On Combat looks at what happens to the human body under the stresses of deadly battle the impact on the nervous system, heart, breathing, visual and auditory perception, memory - then discusses new research findings as to what measures warriors can take to prevent such debilitations so they can stay in the fight, survive, and win. Expanding on Lt. Col. Grossman s popular "Bulletproof mind" presentation, the book explores what really happens to the warrior after the battle, and shows how emotions, such as relief and self-blame, are natural and healthy ways to feel about having survived combat. In their description of Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, Slate Magazine said, "Grossman cuts such a heroic, omnicompetent figure, he could have stepped out of a video game." Col. Grossman's research was cited by the President of the United States in a national address, and he has testified before the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Congress, and numerous state legislatures.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Wow, is this an awesome book."
"Great book, I would highly recommend this to everyone. This is one of the must have on your bookshelf books."
""On Killing" (Dave Grossman's first book) and this book were required reading for some special ops units and should be required for ALL MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY for their first promotion!"
"Although we caution officers and soldiers not to get a Superman Complex, but to fight wisely, Grossman shows that fighting like a smart immortal greatly increases your rate of victory and survival. If you are a professional that routinely goes into harms way, read it, and then pass it on to your spouse and co-workers; it just might save a life, and help someone keep their sanity."
"I had an issue with this order and the seller resolved my problem to full satisfaction within hours."
"excellent book by one authority in this field ."
"If you would have told me I'd not only read a pychology book, but actually enjoy it, I'd have told you you were nuts."
"While there are some aspects I think are concluded at a cursory level, and believe there is something deeper to explain the aspect, issue or theory, all in all I think it has many, many interesting insights - that's from a guy with some applicable experience."
Best Schizophrenia
Elyn R. Saks is an esteemed professor, lawyer, and psychiatrist and is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Law School, yet she has suffered from schizophrenia for most of her life, and still has ongoing major episodes of the illness. Her personal experience of a world in which she is both frightened and frightening is graphically drawn and leads directly to her advocacy of mental patients' civil rights as they confront compulsory medication, civil commitment, the abuse of restraints and the absurdities of the mental care system.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I wanted to understand schizophrenia and aspects related to this mental disorder; this book delivers that and much more."
"This was a very interesting book about schizophrenia - how it presents itself, how it differs from other mental illnesses, and how it's treated with medication."
"I have never read such a descriptive book on mental illness."
"I can't say enough good things about this book: The bravery and ability to write about one's own schizophrenia."
"The author's constant and consistently present idea that staying on medication (even though it kept her sane) indicated that she was a failure makes the book a bit monotonous. Elyn has some stress in life, becomes psychotic, gets medication that helps, then refuses to take it because that would make her a failure. Also, I found the author to be a tad self-congratulatory for my taste, though I understand how proud she must have been to be accomplishing what she was, despite having such a debilitating mental illness. I have noticed many people's negative reviews surround Elyn's privileged status. I see this same kind of classist vitriol (of the reviewers) in another book I enjoy in this genre Prozac Nation."
"She shows how a high functioning life can be fabricated with the help of support, talk therapy and medication."
"As Ms. Saks brings the reader into the the experiences of confusion, fear, and chaos she has lived through having schizophrenia, she imparts the vital part trusted friends can play in comforting and guiding a psychotic friend to the help they need when an episode occurs."
"Brilliant woman, prodigiously educated and schizophrenic."
Best Popular Psychology Psychopharmacology
Now with bonus material, including a new foreword and afterword with updated research In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nation’s children. Or did they find that these medications, for some paradoxical reason, increase the likelihood that people will become chronically ill, less able to function well, more prone to physical illness? Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic have already been drawn up. In Anatomy of an Epidemic investigative reporter Robert Whitaker cuts through flawed science, greed and outright lies to reveal that the drugs hailed as the cure for mental disorders instead worsen them over the long term. Whitaker tenderly interviews children and adults who bear witness to the ravages of mental illness, and testify to their newly found “aliveness” when freed from the prison of mind-numbing drugs.” —Daniel Dorman, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine and author of Dante’s Cure: A Journey Out of Madness “This is the most alarming book I’ve read in years. Relying on medical evidence and historical documentation, Whitaker builds his case like a prosecuting attorney.” —Carl Elliott, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota and author of Better than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream “ Anatomy of an Epidemic investigates a profoundly troubling question: do psychiatric medications increase the likelihood that people taking them, far from being helped, are more likely to become chronically ill? Robert Whitaker is a reliable, sensible, and persuasive, guide to the paradoxes and complexities of what we know about mental illness, and what we might be able to do to lessen the suffering it brings.” —Jay Neugeboren, author of Imagining Robert and Transforming Madness “Every so often a book comes along that exposes a vast deceit.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"There's a bunch of reviews on here that say this book is invalid, but when you dig into their reasons, they are cherry picking data and using disproven research. But gradual withdrawal does work, and many people have gotten their lives back by learning how to use psych drugs appropriately as a tool instead of as the entire solution. This book cites like 400 studies, works with all the best patient advocates in the industry, and is the best science has to offer to explain both problems and solutions."
"Many of the harshest reviews of this book seem to be coming from those who currently depend on psychiatric medications, and find the author's conclusions heartless, given their own distress. I had been told by well-respected psychiatrists at two major research universities that the only way to prevent recurring depressive episodes was to be on medication for life. As I looked around at my many, many friends and family members on psychiatric medications, it seemed to me that most of them were still pretty substantially depressed a lot of the time. I understand how doctors came to use that analogy to reassure patients who were alarmed at the prospect of being on mind-altering drugs for long periods of time. I did a very slow, careful taper off of my psych drugs, over a period of months (this part is absolutely crucial). I have found daily aerobic exercise to be a far more reliable way of mitigating depression than my former medications, and research in this book shows this to be true for a majority of people as well. The "medical model" of psychiatry saved that branch of medicine from dying out, given our insurance-based healthcare system, and Robert Whitaker does a great job of exposing the collusion between the pharmaceutical companies and the American Psychiatric Association, with its frightening consequences. I found the section of the book describing the way research evidence was "rewritten" for medical school textbooks truly alarming. There's a lot at stake here for the psychiatric profession; it's not surprising that so many psychiatrists turn from this research with alarm and denial."
"I purchased this book as part of a personal project and, the further I get in it, the more interested I am."
"A must read for anyone considering taking or prescribing psychoactive medication."
"this is a book everyone who is on or about to go on any medications for mental health."
"Great book and highly recommended!"
"Not every claim in it - I my opinion is accurate - but enough are and enough important questions are raised that every doctor and every patient should be familiar with questions it raises."
Best Children's Epilepsy Health
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest. In Merced, CA, which has a large Hmong community, Lia Lee was born, the 13th child in a family coping with their plunge into a modern and mechanized way of life. The report of the family's attempts to cure Lia through shamanistic intervention and the home sacrifices of pigs and chickens is balanced by the intervention of the medical community that insisted upon the removal of the child from deeply loving parents with disastrous results.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I purchased and read this for an Anthropology course and I must say it was truly a fascinating read."
"As a future physician assistant I learned a lot about the emotional struggles that cultural differences and language barriers can cause."
"This was very insightful and helped others to understand different perspectives and approach people of different cultures with compassion instead of judgment."
"I bought this book for a Multi-Cultural Communication class to learn about the struggles of what its like to be. a refugee and immigrant to the United States."
"With pertinent details, the author, assisted by a good translator and an excellent cultural guide, helps the reader understand what changes are necessary on the part of both doctors and nurses as well as immigrant patients and families to avert such tragedy in the future."
"I worked with Cambodian refugees in Philadelphia, so the integration into US of SE Asians was accurate and part of my own past. I presently work with immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Jamaica WI and other places in south and Central America."
"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman follows the experiences of a young Hmong child and her family and their experiences with Western medicine. The Lee family not only had a hard time talking to these people but also had problems reading the directions given to them by the medical staff which led to problems with Lia's treatments."
"The author tries very hard to be fair in her treatment of the cultural issues the characters present."