Koncocoo

Best Medical Diseases

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
“A fascinating look at the disease that…could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life” ( People ), Brain on Fire is an unforgettable exploration of memory and identity, faith and love, and a profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance that is destined to become a classic. *Starred Review* In this fascinating memoir by a young New York Post reporter previously known for going undercover as a stripper and writing a butt-implant story headlined Rear and Present Danger, Cahalan describes how she crossed the line between sanity and insanity after an unknown pathogen invaded her body and caused an autoimmune reaction that jump-started brain inflammation, paranoia, and seizures. So, she writes, an external trigger, such as a sneeze or a toxic apartment, probably combined with a genetic predisposition toward developing aggressive antibodies to create her problem. --Karen Springen “Captivating…Cahalan’s prose carries a sharp, unsparing tabloid punch in the tradition of Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin.” (New York Times Book Review). “A fascinating look at the disease that – if not for a nick-of-time diagnosis – could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life.” (People magazine). “The bizarre and confounding illness that beset the 24-year-old New York Post reporter in early 2009 so ravaged her mentally and physically that she became unrecognizable to coworkers, family, friends, and—most devastatingly—herself… She dedicates this miracle of a book to ‘those without a diagnosis’… [An] unforgettable memoir.” (Elle). “This fascinating memoir by a young New York Post reporter… describes how she crossed the line between sanity and insanity…Cahalan expertly weaves together her own story and relevant scientific information…compelling.” (Booklist (starred review)). "The best reporters never stop asking questions, and Cahalan is no exception...The result is a kind of anti-memoir, an out-of-body personal account of a young woman's fight to survive one of the cruelest diseases imaginable.
Reviews
"It was brought to my attention by a friend and reading it was what lead us to a diagnosis of Autoimmune Encephalitis for my son. We need all the help we can get to raise awareness of Autoimmune Encephalitis and reading this book is a great place to start."
"Or any family that hasn't!"
"I realize that there isn't always a happy ending, a sad ending, or an ending at all when it comes to real life, but somehow I was left wanting more of an ending. I wish she would talk more about her adjustment period then. Also, I would have liked to see photos of her during the "dark" period of her neuroses or even pre and post photos to quench my curiosity."
"excellent analysis and description of what can happen and how some doctors understand and others have no clue."
"Very well written by the author and it's a true story of her brain on fire, a diagnosis a doctor finally determined after many doctor had misdiagnosed her, from her immune system attacking her brain."
"Cahalan makes something that would likely put me to sleep in textbook format fun instead; an oddly entertaining look into a horrifying and unfamiliar illness."
"This was one of those books that I just could not put down."
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The Gene: An Intimate History
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. A New York Times Notable Book. A Washington Post and Seattle Times Best Book of the Year From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies —a fascinating history of the gene and “a magisterial account of how human minds have laboriously, ingeniously picked apart what makes us tick” ( Elle ). “A fascinating and often sobering history of how humans came to understand the roles of genes in making us who we are—and what our manipulation of those genes might mean for our future” ( Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ), The Gene is the revelatory and magisterial history of a scientific idea coming to life, the most crucial science of our time, intimately explained by a master. "This is perhaps the greatest detective story ever told—a millennia-long search, led by a thousand explorers, from Aristotle to Mendel to Francis Collins, for the question marks at the center of every living cell. “With this fat, enthralling, juicy, scholarly, wonderfully written history of cancer, Siddhartha Mukherjee vaults into that exalted company, inviting comparisons to the late physician and historian Lewis Thomas and the late palaeontologist and historian of science Stephen Jay Gould… What a story—full of quixotic characters, therapeutic triumphs and setbacks, and recent historical events—with all the hubris and pathos of Greek tragedy.” (Susan Okie, Washington Post). "It’s hard to think of many books for a general audience that have rendered any area of modern science and technology with such intelligence, accessibility, and compassion. “Mukherjee brings an impressive balance of empathy and dispassion to this instantly essential piece of medical journalism.” (Time). “A meticulously researched, panoramic history… What makes Mukherjee's narrative so remarkable is that he imbues decades of painstaking laboratory investigation with the suspense of a mystery novel and urgency of a thriller. “Riveting and powerful… Mukherjee’s extraordinary book might stimulate a wider discussion of how to wisely allocate our precious health care resources.” (San Francisco Chronicle). Add to their company Siddhartha Mukherjee: oncologist, researcher, and author of The Emperor of All Maladies (Scribner), a sweeping, erudite, and challenging ‘biography of cancer.’” (Elle magazine). “Sobering, humbling, and extraordinarily rich reading from a wise and gifted writer who sees how far we have come—but how much farther far we have to go to understand our human nature and destiny.” (Kirkus, starred review). "Mukherjee deftly relates the basic scientific facts about the way genes are believed to function, while making clear the aspects of genetics that remain unknown. He offers insight into both the scientific process and the sociology of science... By relating familial information, Mukherjee grounds the abstract in the personal to add power and poignancy to his excellent narrative." Mukherjee punctuates his encyclopedic investigations of collective and individual heritability, and our closing in on the genetic technologies that will transform how we will shape our own genome, with evocative personal anecdotes, deft literary allusions, wonderfully apt metaphors, and an irrepressible intellectual brio.” (Ben Dickinson, Elle). The story [of the gene] has been told, piecemeal, in different ways, but never before with the scope and grandeur that Siddhartha Mukherjee brings to his new history… he views his subject panoptically, from a great and clarifying height, yet also intimately.” (James Gleick, New York Times Book Review). The book is compassionate, tautly synthesized, packed with unfamiliar details about familiar people.” (Jennifer Senior, The New York Times). "[Mukherjee] nourishes his dry topics into engaging reading, expresses abstract intellectual ideas through emotional stories . [and] swaddles his medical rigor with rhapsodic tenderness, surprising vulnerability, and occasional flashes of pure poetry. With a marriage of architectural precision and luscious narrative, an eye for both the paradoxical detail and the unsettling irony, and a genius for locating the emotional truths buried in chemical abstractions, Mukherjee leaves you feeling as though you've just aced a college course for which you'd been afraid to register -- and enjoyed every minute of it." He renders complex science with a novelist’s skill for conjuring real lives, seismic events.” (Hamilton Cain, Minneapolis Star Tribune). The Gene captures the scientific method—questioning, researching, hypothesizing, experimenting, analyzing—in all its messy, fumbling glory, corkscrewing its way to deeper understanding and new questions.” (Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The Gene is a story that, once read, makes us far better educated to think about the profound questions that will confront us in the coming decades.” (Ron Krall, Steamboat Today). But his sober warning about the future might be the book’s most important contribution.” (Kevin Canfield, San Francisco Chronicle). “Destined to soar into the firmament of the year’s must reads, to win accolades and well-deserved prizes, and to set a new standard for lyrical science writing. Thanks to Dr. Mukherjee’s remarkably clear and compelling prose, the reader has a fighting chance of arriving at the story of today’s genetic manipulations with an actual understanding of both the immensely complicated science and the even more complicated moral questions.” (Abigail Zuger, New York Times Science Section). “[The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene] both beautifully navigate a sea of complicated medical information in a way that is digestible, poignant, and engaging . I shook my head countless times while devouring it, wondering how the author—a brilliant physician, scientist, writer, and Rhodes Scholar—could possibly possess so many unique talents. “A brilliant exploration of some of our age’s most important social issues, from poverty to mental illness to the death penalty, and a beautiful, profound meditation on the truly human forces that drive them. Perhaps the most powerful lesson of Dr Mukherjee’s book [is]: genetics is starting to reveal how much the human race has to gain from tinkering with its genome, but still has precious little to say about how much we might lose.” (The Economist). But at a deeper level, the book is far more than a simple science history.” (Fred Bortz, Dalls Morning News). A well-written, accessible, and entertaining account of one of the most important of all scientific revolutions, one that is destined to have a fundamental impact on the lives of generations to come. Mukherjee opens with a survey of how the gene first came to be conceptualized and understood, taking us through the thoughts of Aristotle, Darwin, Mendel, Thomas Morgan, and others; he finishes the section with a look at the case of Carrie Buck (to whom the book is dedicated), who eventually was sterilized in 1927 in a famous American eugenics case.
Reviews
"The volume benefits from Mukherjee’s elegant literary style, novelist’s eye for character sketches and expansive feel for human history. Mendel was an abbot in a little known town in Central Europe whose pioneering experiments on pea plants provided the first window into the gene and evolution. Eugenics has now acquired a bad reputation, but Galton was a polymath who made important contributions to science by introducing statistics and measurements in the study of genetic differences. Many of the early eugenicists subscribed to the racial theories that were common in those days; many of them were well intended if patronizing, seeking to ‘improve the weak’, but they did not see the ominous slippery slope which they were on. Eugenics was enthusiastically supported in the United States; Mukherjee discusses the infamous Supreme Court case in which Oliver Wendell Holmes sanctioned the forced sterilization of an unfortunate woman named Carrie Buck by proclaiming, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough”. Another misuse of genetics was by Trofim Lysenko who tried to use Lamarck’s theories of acquired characteristics in doomed agricultural campaigns in Stalinist Russia; as an absurd example, he tried to “re educate” wheat using “shock therapy”. Mutations in specific genes (for instance ones causing changes in eye color) allowed them to track the flow of genetic material through several generations. The scientists most important for recognizing this fact were Frederick Griffiths and Oswald Avery and Mukherjee tells their story well; however I would have appreciated a fuller account of Friedrich Miescher who discovered DNA in pus bandages from soldiers. All these events set the stage for the golden age of molecular biology, the deciphering of the structure of DNA by James Watson (to whom the quote in the title is attributed), Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin and others. Many of these pioneers were inspired by a little book by physicist Erwin Schrodinger which argued that the gene could be understood using precise principles of physics and chemistry; his arguments turned biology into a reductionist science. As a woman in a man’s establishment Franklin was in turn patronized and sidelined, but unlike Watson and Crick she was averse to building models and applying the principles of chemistry to the problem, two traits that were key to the duo’s success. The book then talks about early successes in correlating genes with illness that came with the advent of the human genome and epigenome; genetics has been very useful in finding determinants and drugs for diseases like sickle cell anemia, childhood leukemia, breast cancer and cystic fibrosis. Mukherjee especially has an excellent account of Nancy Wexler, the discoverer of the gene causing Huntington’s disease, whose search for its origins led her to families stricken with the malady in remote parts of Venezuela. The basic verdict is that while there is undoubtedly a genetic component to all these factors, the complex interplay between genes and environment means that it’s very difficult currently to tease apart influences from the two. The last part of the book focuses on some cutting edge research on genetics that’s uncovering both potent tools for precise gene engineering as well as deep insights into human evolution. There are a few minor scientific infelicities: for instance Linus Pauling’s structure of DNA was not really flawed because of a lack of magnesium ions but mainly because it sported a form of the phosphate groups that wouldn’t exist at the marginally alkaline pH of the human body. The book’s treatment of the genetic code leaves out some key exciting moments, such as when a scientific bombshell from biochemist Marshall Nirenberg disrupted a major meeting in the former Soviet Union. Nor is there much exploration of using gene sequences to illuminate the ‘tree of life’ which Darwin tantalizingly pulled the veil back on: in general I would have appreciated a bigger discussion of how DNA connects us to all living creatures. Its sweeping profile of life’s innermost secrets could not help but remind me of a Japanese proverb quoted by physicist Richard Feynman: “To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven."
"There are abundant scientific notions to satisfy any reader picking up the book to understand the real subject matter, but not in the general bland fashion of studies-and-conclusions that tend to lose many a lay people. From the notions of introns and exons to the polygenic nature of most phenotypes, the feedback from environment to gene mutation and the massive role played by non-gene factors in most our traits, the author uncovers a staggering number of interesting findings in a highly understandable manner. As professionals or parents seek to weed out certain deformities, there are genuine risks of us eliminating some important evolutionary traits mainly out of ignorance of how genes really work at this stage but also out of their possible other utilities in long future."
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The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes
Dr. Fuhrman makes clear that we don’t have to “control” diabetes. No more highs and lows Less insulin; most typically, dose is cut by half Healthy, stable body weight A normal life span, without complications.
Reviews
"I hardly ever write reviews but I feel compelled to share my wife, Robyn's, experience after five weeks on Dr. Fuhrman's diet. She ate a full filet of salmon with two cobs of corn and a full cup of great northern beans with onions and garlic. Needless to say, tomorrow we will be back on this diet permanently with only an infrequent special occasion to interrupt it. If you suffer from type 2 diabetes but are willing to dedicate yourself to this diet, make no mistake, it will reverse your disease and give you a great chance at a long, complication-free life. 8-17-2016 UPDATE. New test results from recent blood work: Triglycerides six week ago - 259."
"When I read the recipes in the back of the book I thought they were so radical that no one, unless they were, 'on death's doorstep', would eat that way. I was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago and since then, my life has been a rollercoaster between feeling awful and just fair. I'm also eating steel cut oats and taking red rice yeast. I see on his website you can sign up, for a nominal sum, and get additional recipes and recommendations, etc., personally, I think that's, 'milking', it but, that's just my opinion. When I began this way of eating, my blood sugar was 7.8 and my doctor wanted to start me on insulin...which I was VERY opposed to. AND, although I stick to it about 99% I do use olive oil when I want to, I eat grilled shrimp on a caesar salad smothered in grated cheese occasionally."
"I started the ADA diet and followed it 100% for a few weeks and could not get my blood sugar to go below 140. I started the diet that day and the next morning my blood sugar was down to 100, the next day was in the 90's and now i have a fasting blood sugar between Mid 70's and the 80's. My doctor took me off the metformin after just one week of being on this lifestyle change."
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Best AIDS & HIV

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th-Anniversary Edition
Upon it's first publication twenty years ago, And The Band Played on was quickly recognized as a masterpiece of investigative reporting. His work is critical of the medical and scientific communities' initial response and particularly harsh on the Reagan Administration, who he claims cut funding, ignored calls for action and deliberately misled Congress. "An exhaustive account of the early years of the AIDS crisis, this outlines the medical, social and political forces behind the epidemic's origin and rapid spread," reported PW .
Reviews
"I always knew I'd read this book eventually, but as with any long non-fiction tome there comes a risk that at some point your attention span might have to bow out. It seems almost an omniscient narrative voice in involved, and with over 900 interviews and his own previous years of investigative work on AIDS, there's a reason for that. His book, already a tribute to a lost generation, is now an example of all the substantive contributions those men and women could've made if politics could have been shoved aside sooner."
"There was no sex education that i could remember and the only thing I do remember about AIDS was a gym teacher telling the class that if you are gay, your tongue will turn purple and you will die of AIDS."
"I remember hearing of a "homosexual disease" in early summer 1981, which was surprisingly early, especially for an Ohioan."
"I didn’t really understand the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis since I was too young."
"With that being said, this is far and away the best book I have ever read on the AIDS epidemic."
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Best Brain Diseases

The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox: How We Are Sleeping Our Way to Fatigue, Disease and Unhappiness
- Achieve your perfect weight by suppressing your appetite naturally. - Slow down the aging process. - Wake up happy and refreshed every morning. - Improve your energy levels, concentration and mental focus. - End daytime sleepiness and brain fog. --Mark Hyman, MD, #1 NYTimes bestselling author of The Blood Sugar Solution and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine "I can't stress enough how important this book is for understanding why you need quality sleep, what the pitfalls or correctable problems may be that are preventing you from getting it, and what you can do about it. --Eva Selhub, MD, Harvard Medical School Lecturer in Medicine and author of Your Health Destiny "In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Burhenne explains how each of us is susceptible to sleep breathing interruptions and what to do to optimize this breathing for efficient, optimal, and healing sleep every night of our lives." --Frank Lipman, MD, NYTimes bestselling author of The New Health Rules "Getting good sleep is one of the most precious things we can do for our long-term health and this book will help you find out whether you have a sleep disorder that is preventing you from having the health you deserve and living the life you want."
Reviews
"As a licensed psychotherapist, I help clients with sleep issues every single day."
"I suffer from a combination of obstructive sleep apnea and circadian rhythm disorder, so needless to say this was exactly the type of book I was looking for. It's written by a dentist who has extensive experience in the area of sleep apnea, as well as innumerable other sleep issues. Sleep apnea, as well as other sleep disorders, can not only affect the quality of your life, but they can actually be life threatening. This book covers everything that you could possibly want to know about sleep apnea and other sleep issues."
"Lots of info on what good sleep is an how to get there."
"Suffering from insomnia .... the book helped me a lot...."
"The information in this book can save your life!"
"This is by far a most informative and practical book."
"Fascinating book about a silent killer!"
"This book is a thorough primer for the lay person in everything you need to know about sleep disordered breathing and its deleterious effects throughout one's body."
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Best Cardiovascular Diseases

Eat Meat And Stop Jogging: 'Common' Advice On How To Get Fit Is Keeping You Fat And Making You Sick
With "Coach" Mike discussing the need for red meat, saturated fat and cholesterol in human nutrition, outlining the long-term consequences of losing weight via marathon training, plant based nutrition and extreme dieting, and helping the reader understand that most medical professionals, public health authorities, and fitness and wellness coaches, are ill-informed when it comes to the science of nutrition, exercise physiology, and what it takes to get fit, stay fit, and live with abundant health. Mike Sheridan has been advising on nutrition and fitness for nearly a decade.
Reviews
"The information really goes along with what I already felt and knew bits and pieces of."
"It talks about the dangers of going extreme, and goes into a common sense approach to gain the upper hand in your fitness management. I recommend this highly, it’s entertaining, to the point, and really does well in pointing out the flaws in a lot of misconceptions today."
"If you are new to the idea of a low-carb lifestyle for better health, or need to be convinced of its scientifically-proven validity, or want more information about the how and why it works for both weight loss and long-term quality of health, then this book is a great place to start."
"As an amateur athlete, I know what the benefits of jogging are and I also know what the risks of eating only meat are, but it it always good to stay informed and educate myself."
"Overall if you want to improve your lifestyle and lose weight then this book is for you especially if you have tires the "mainstream" diets and they have not worked this is one that will."
"Thank you to the author for putting it out there, it will safe lives and change a lot of people, I recommend it highly."
"There is a LOT of advice out there on what to eat, and more on what NOT to eat."
"It literally took me an hour to read, and lists reasons why you should eat meat and why grains are evil and why you shouldn't focus on cardio. If you are interested in why eating meat could be a part of a healthy diet read Sally Fallon or some Paleo books."
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Best Digestive Organ Diseases

My Story of Survival: The ultimate low-reactive diet for allergies, gut problems, food intolerances and chemical sensitivities.
Her diet contains no gluten, eggs, sugar, fructose, grains, flours, nuts, seeds, meat, beans, soy, and no legumes. The author's One Size Fits All diet has a lot in common with the FODMAP diet plan which was developed by Sue Shepherd PhD and Peter Gibson MD, and is considered a revolutionary plan for managing IBS and other digestive disorders. Foreword by Health Practitioner Writingthis foreword to Mimi Emmanuel's little book has been challenging to mepersonally, as I felt I could not possibly endorse the concept of eating onlyten foods to obtain all the nutrients necessary for sustaining life.
Reviews
"Even though she is married to a doctor, there didn't appear to be answers for her inoperable ruptured appendix and septicemia; she also had an intolerance to antibiotics, allergies, and was chemically sensitive to a lot of standard fare."
"This is an honest-to-goodness real story of one woman's grit and self-determination when faced with an over-whelming medical conundrum as to why her body was on revolt. I especially like her "useful facts" that she places throughout the book to not only make her case as to nutritional needs, but they also spark a deeper interest for further study and personal application."
"Having suffered food sensitivities for a number of years, I found Mimi's story inspirational."
"I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to read an amazing and inspiring survival story based on nutrition, perseverance and faith, and/or for others needing encouragement and dietary options while struggling with food and chemical intolerance."
"An Interesting and compelling true story of how one person was able to find a workable diet despite many food intolerances."
"Excellent TRUE story of someone taking control of their life to affect positive change."
"I believe that people who have fought through their crises are inspired or 'In Spirit' as Dr Wayne Dyre would say. Every time I try to fathom what she went through when her body started to react to everything including water, I feel really uneasy and scared. But if you are like me who can eat anything in the world including Rhinoceros' skin, read the book for the information on food in general for understanding the health benefits."
"After suffering for many years with illnesses, some too difficult to cure, Mimi took her life into her own hands and discovered by eating only ten foods she was able to allow her body to rid itself of many of the problems it endured."
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Best Diseases of the Extremities

77 Natural Beauty Remedies: How To Look Beautiful Without Botox or Other Toxic Skin Care Products and Procedures (Healthy Herbal Remedies Book 1)
Most of them can be purchased online for less than lunch, and you can make these healthy remedies at home quickly and easily, without any expensive equipment, gear or medications required! Using her newfound knowledge, Tina was able to lose weight, get back in shape, get off all medications and live a healthy, joyful life free of pain and disease!
Reviews
"My mom has always been a natural health type of person and would tell me to do these things....especially for my enlarged pores."
"This book is a very easy to read and thorough look at skin care through non toxic and natural means."
"I was amazed of the wealth of knowledge using natural products right from the kitchen, refrigerator and bathroom cabinet as beauty products, facials , cleansers body scrub e.t.c."
"One thing I disagreed with was your suggestion to use a flouride toothpaste."
"I really enjoyed the book and how the sections are specific for anti-aging, teeth whitening, hair, body scrubs and so much more."
"Love the remedies!"
"This book has some wonderful beauty recipes!"
"I expected the format of the various masks etc to be as one would read a recipe book along with quantities of each ingredient."
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Best Viral Diseases

THE CRISIS OF ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA AND HOW ESSENTIAL OILS CAN HELP: Essential Oils Have Super Powers Series #1
The author is clearly a true believerin the power of essential oils, and by the book's end, even skeptical readersmay be tempted to give them a try.
Reviews
"This book is great for anyone who wants to know more about the amazing powers of essential oils."
"Fascinating and timely information about the power of essential oils as a safer alternative to antibiotics."
"What a great study on the very real properties and benefits of pure essential oils!"
"This is one of greatest book that I have read,I would highly recommend this book, it has very useful information."
"I have not finished this book yet, but I know I'll be buying the rest of the series."
"Not well organized."
"So far none of the rollers roll."
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Best Special Condition Diets

The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now!
In THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION, Dr. Mark Hyman reveals that the secret solution to losing weight and preventing not just diabetes but also heart disease, stroke, dementia, and cancer is balanced insulin levels. "Dr. Hyman has done it again with a lucid description of the causes of the diabesity epidemic and a powerful treatment program. The Blood Sugar Solution is a must-read for anyone anywhere on the spectrum between mild insulin resistance and full-blown Type-2 diabetes--a groundbreaking, science-based, easy-to-follow prescription. "― Mehmet Oz, MD "With compassion and authority, Dr. Mark Hyman addresses the real driver of overeating, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and more-insulin. He puts all of these attributes to work for you in The Blood Sugar Solution , providing detailed guidance for both individuals, and the population, to avoid the perils of obesity and chronic disease-and get to health. "If you want to be empowered to change your life, lose weight, and get to the bottom of chronic health problems, The Blood Sugar Solution by Dr. Mark Hyman will take you all the way there. In The Blood Sugar Solution, Dr. Mark Hyman shows you how. "In The Blood Sugar Solution, Mark Hyman maps a road to health that will benefit anyone. "In his book The Blood Sugar Solution , Dr. Mark Hyman combines the latest scientific findings and decades of experience to show how correcting physical imbalances - involving nutrition, inflammation, allergy, toxicity, metabolism and stress - can reverse prediabetes and prevent heart disease. The Blood Sugar Solution provides a radical new program to restore radiant health and well-being for millions of Americans struggling with chronic disease. Many of these books have touched upon the topic of blood sugar and diabetes. It is Dr. Hyman's book The Blood Sugar Solution , however, that has struck me to be the perfect balance between helping the reader to understand the revolution that is occurring in the science of blood sugar and chronic disease with the 'news to use' for the reader to successfully apply this breakthrough information in their own lives years before it becomes common knowledge. Dr. Mark Hyman's insistence on identifying the root social causes of obesity and diabetes is a crucial step beyond many of our long-held assumptions and in the direction of real solutions. "THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION is a highly informative but, thankfully, also a very accessible book for both professionals and the laypersons... "Dr. Hyman has done it again with a lucid description of the causes of the diabesity epidemic and a powerful treatment program. The Blood Sugar Solution is a must-read for anyone anywhere on the spectrum between mild insulin resistance and full-blown Type-2 diabetes--a groundbreaking, science-based, easy-to-follow prescription.
Reviews
"Dr. Hyman makes a good point in that there are only a handful of things that can go wrong with your physical body. Worse, the implementation of his program is tediously complex and too difficult for me to follow without making a full-time job out of it. Many pages deal with stuff I have no interest in whatsoever and he spends so much time trying to convince you that there is a problem out there with the way most Americans eat. Dr. Hyman might possibly be one of the greatest guys on Earth, but at the same time, he is an incessant hype machine and a master marketer. So basically I just eliminated eating everything except for the vegetables and fruits from my garden, supplemented by meat purchased at the store. What distinguishes the "paleo community," however, is that although there are books written about it, you don't need to buy any of them because all the information you need to know about the diet is free on a variety of websites. One of the more complete websites is Mark's Daily Apple, which explains the diet in detail, in a straight forward, uncomplicated manner. In summary, Dr. Hyman's book for me was complicated and even stressful to try and use as a guide, not to mention expensive if you get his supplements."
"You can get the same information at the library or other sources for free."
"I haven't bought any supplements from the website, but the information in his books is priceless."
"Excellent book."
"My husband and I changed our diet several years ago and reading this book re-enforced our goal to get and remain healthy. I added a 7” frozen banana, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and doubled the cinnamon to the Healthiest Breakfast smoothie recipe."
"Good read."
"Excellent and great price!"
"will see how the program works through long term.. so far, has not help my blood sugar level much, since everyone behaves differently."
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Best Genetics

The Gene: An Intimate History
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. A New York Times Notable Book. A Washington Post and Seattle Times Best Book of the Year From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies —a fascinating history of the gene and “a magisterial account of how human minds have laboriously, ingeniously picked apart what makes us tick” ( Elle ). “A fascinating and often sobering history of how humans came to understand the roles of genes in making us who we are—and what our manipulation of those genes might mean for our future” ( Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ), The Gene is the revelatory and magisterial history of a scientific idea coming to life, the most crucial science of our time, intimately explained by a master. "This is perhaps the greatest detective story ever told—a millennia-long search, led by a thousand explorers, from Aristotle to Mendel to Francis Collins, for the question marks at the center of every living cell. “With this fat, enthralling, juicy, scholarly, wonderfully written history of cancer, Siddhartha Mukherjee vaults into that exalted company, inviting comparisons to the late physician and historian Lewis Thomas and the late palaeontologist and historian of science Stephen Jay Gould… What a story—full of quixotic characters, therapeutic triumphs and setbacks, and recent historical events—with all the hubris and pathos of Greek tragedy.” (Susan Okie, Washington Post). "It’s hard to think of many books for a general audience that have rendered any area of modern science and technology with such intelligence, accessibility, and compassion. “Mukherjee brings an impressive balance of empathy and dispassion to this instantly essential piece of medical journalism.” (Time). “A meticulously researched, panoramic history… What makes Mukherjee's narrative so remarkable is that he imbues decades of painstaking laboratory investigation with the suspense of a mystery novel and urgency of a thriller. “Riveting and powerful… Mukherjee’s extraordinary book might stimulate a wider discussion of how to wisely allocate our precious health care resources.” (San Francisco Chronicle). Add to their company Siddhartha Mukherjee: oncologist, researcher, and author of The Emperor of All Maladies (Scribner), a sweeping, erudite, and challenging ‘biography of cancer.’” (Elle magazine). “Sobering, humbling, and extraordinarily rich reading from a wise and gifted writer who sees how far we have come—but how much farther far we have to go to understand our human nature and destiny.” (Kirkus, starred review). "Mukherjee deftly relates the basic scientific facts about the way genes are believed to function, while making clear the aspects of genetics that remain unknown. He offers insight into both the scientific process and the sociology of science... By relating familial information, Mukherjee grounds the abstract in the personal to add power and poignancy to his excellent narrative." Mukherjee punctuates his encyclopedic investigations of collective and individual heritability, and our closing in on the genetic technologies that will transform how we will shape our own genome, with evocative personal anecdotes, deft literary allusions, wonderfully apt metaphors, and an irrepressible intellectual brio.” (Ben Dickinson, Elle). The story [of the gene] has been told, piecemeal, in different ways, but never before with the scope and grandeur that Siddhartha Mukherjee brings to his new history… he views his subject panoptically, from a great and clarifying height, yet also intimately.” (James Gleick, New York Times Book Review). The book is compassionate, tautly synthesized, packed with unfamiliar details about familiar people.” (Jennifer Senior, The New York Times). "[Mukherjee] nourishes his dry topics into engaging reading, expresses abstract intellectual ideas through emotional stories . [and] swaddles his medical rigor with rhapsodic tenderness, surprising vulnerability, and occasional flashes of pure poetry. With a marriage of architectural precision and luscious narrative, an eye for both the paradoxical detail and the unsettling irony, and a genius for locating the emotional truths buried in chemical abstractions, Mukherjee leaves you feeling as though you've just aced a college course for which you'd been afraid to register -- and enjoyed every minute of it." He renders complex science with a novelist’s skill for conjuring real lives, seismic events.” (Hamilton Cain, Minneapolis Star Tribune). The Gene captures the scientific method—questioning, researching, hypothesizing, experimenting, analyzing—in all its messy, fumbling glory, corkscrewing its way to deeper understanding and new questions.” (Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The Gene is a story that, once read, makes us far better educated to think about the profound questions that will confront us in the coming decades.” (Ron Krall, Steamboat Today). But his sober warning about the future might be the book’s most important contribution.” (Kevin Canfield, San Francisco Chronicle). “Destined to soar into the firmament of the year’s must reads, to win accolades and well-deserved prizes, and to set a new standard for lyrical science writing. Thanks to Dr. Mukherjee’s remarkably clear and compelling prose, the reader has a fighting chance of arriving at the story of today’s genetic manipulations with an actual understanding of both the immensely complicated science and the even more complicated moral questions.” (Abigail Zuger, New York Times Science Section). “[The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene] both beautifully navigate a sea of complicated medical information in a way that is digestible, poignant, and engaging . I shook my head countless times while devouring it, wondering how the author—a brilliant physician, scientist, writer, and Rhodes Scholar—could possibly possess so many unique talents. “A brilliant exploration of some of our age’s most important social issues, from poverty to mental illness to the death penalty, and a beautiful, profound meditation on the truly human forces that drive them. Perhaps the most powerful lesson of Dr Mukherjee’s book [is]: genetics is starting to reveal how much the human race has to gain from tinkering with its genome, but still has precious little to say about how much we might lose.” (The Economist). But at a deeper level, the book is far more than a simple science history.” (Fred Bortz, Dalls Morning News). A well-written, accessible, and entertaining account of one of the most important of all scientific revolutions, one that is destined to have a fundamental impact on the lives of generations to come. Mukherjee opens with a survey of how the gene first came to be conceptualized and understood, taking us through the thoughts of Aristotle, Darwin, Mendel, Thomas Morgan, and others; he finishes the section with a look at the case of Carrie Buck (to whom the book is dedicated), who eventually was sterilized in 1927 in a famous American eugenics case.
Reviews
"The volume benefits from Mukherjee’s elegant literary style, novelist’s eye for character sketches and expansive feel for human history. Mendel was an abbot in a little known town in Central Europe whose pioneering experiments on pea plants provided the first window into the gene and evolution. Eugenics has now acquired a bad reputation, but Galton was a polymath who made important contributions to science by introducing statistics and measurements in the study of genetic differences. Many of the early eugenicists subscribed to the racial theories that were common in those days; many of them were well intended if patronizing, seeking to ‘improve the weak’, but they did not see the ominous slippery slope which they were on. Eugenics was enthusiastically supported in the United States; Mukherjee discusses the infamous Supreme Court case in which Oliver Wendell Holmes sanctioned the forced sterilization of an unfortunate woman named Carrie Buck by proclaiming, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough”. Another misuse of genetics was by Trofim Lysenko who tried to use Lamarck’s theories of acquired characteristics in doomed agricultural campaigns in Stalinist Russia; as an absurd example, he tried to “re educate” wheat using “shock therapy”. Mutations in specific genes (for instance ones causing changes in eye color) allowed them to track the flow of genetic material through several generations. The scientists most important for recognizing this fact were Frederick Griffiths and Oswald Avery and Mukherjee tells their story well; however I would have appreciated a fuller account of Friedrich Miescher who discovered DNA in pus bandages from soldiers. All these events set the stage for the golden age of molecular biology, the deciphering of the structure of DNA by James Watson (to whom the quote in the title is attributed), Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin and others. Many of these pioneers were inspired by a little book by physicist Erwin Schrodinger which argued that the gene could be understood using precise principles of physics and chemistry; his arguments turned biology into a reductionist science. As a woman in a man’s establishment Franklin was in turn patronized and sidelined, but unlike Watson and Crick she was averse to building models and applying the principles of chemistry to the problem, two traits that were key to the duo’s success. The book then talks about early successes in correlating genes with illness that came with the advent of the human genome and epigenome; genetics has been very useful in finding determinants and drugs for diseases like sickle cell anemia, childhood leukemia, breast cancer and cystic fibrosis. Mukherjee especially has an excellent account of Nancy Wexler, the discoverer of the gene causing Huntington’s disease, whose search for its origins led her to families stricken with the malady in remote parts of Venezuela. The basic verdict is that while there is undoubtedly a genetic component to all these factors, the complex interplay between genes and environment means that it’s very difficult currently to tease apart influences from the two. The last part of the book focuses on some cutting edge research on genetics that’s uncovering both potent tools for precise gene engineering as well as deep insights into human evolution. There are a few minor scientific infelicities: for instance Linus Pauling’s structure of DNA was not really flawed because of a lack of magnesium ions but mainly because it sported a form of the phosphate groups that wouldn’t exist at the marginally alkaline pH of the human body. The book’s treatment of the genetic code leaves out some key exciting moments, such as when a scientific bombshell from biochemist Marshall Nirenberg disrupted a major meeting in the former Soviet Union. Nor is there much exploration of using gene sequences to illuminate the ‘tree of life’ which Darwin tantalizingly pulled the veil back on: in general I would have appreciated a bigger discussion of how DNA connects us to all living creatures. Its sweeping profile of life’s innermost secrets could not help but remind me of a Japanese proverb quoted by physicist Richard Feynman: “To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven."
"There are abundant scientific notions to satisfy any reader picking up the book to understand the real subject matter, but not in the general bland fashion of studies-and-conclusions that tend to lose many a lay people. From the notions of introns and exons to the polygenic nature of most phenotypes, the feedback from environment to gene mutation and the massive role played by non-gene factors in most our traits, the author uncovers a staggering number of interesting findings in a highly understandable manner. As professionals or parents seek to weed out certain deformities, there are genuine risks of us eliminating some important evolutionary traits mainly out of ignorance of how genes really work at this stage but also out of their possible other utilities in long future."
"But when it comes to genetics, surely the most significant (maybe the last) revolution of all, I am basically at a loss, bewildered and dumbfounded. Thus it is both a relief and pleasure to read and study this book to attain the very basic level of understanding of the subject."
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Best Heart Healthy Cooking

The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now!
In THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION, Dr. Mark Hyman reveals that the secret solution to losing weight and preventing not just diabetes but also heart disease, stroke, dementia, and cancer is balanced insulin levels. "Dr. Hyman has done it again with a lucid description of the causes of the diabesity epidemic and a powerful treatment program. The Blood Sugar Solution is a must-read for anyone anywhere on the spectrum between mild insulin resistance and full-blown Type-2 diabetes--a groundbreaking, science-based, easy-to-follow prescription. "― Mehmet Oz, MD "With compassion and authority, Dr. Mark Hyman addresses the real driver of overeating, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and more-insulin. He puts all of these attributes to work for you in The Blood Sugar Solution , providing detailed guidance for both individuals, and the population, to avoid the perils of obesity and chronic disease-and get to health. "If you want to be empowered to change your life, lose weight, and get to the bottom of chronic health problems, The Blood Sugar Solution by Dr. Mark Hyman will take you all the way there. In The Blood Sugar Solution, Dr. Mark Hyman shows you how. "In The Blood Sugar Solution, Mark Hyman maps a road to health that will benefit anyone. "In his book The Blood Sugar Solution , Dr. Mark Hyman combines the latest scientific findings and decades of experience to show how correcting physical imbalances - involving nutrition, inflammation, allergy, toxicity, metabolism and stress - can reverse prediabetes and prevent heart disease. The Blood Sugar Solution provides a radical new program to restore radiant health and well-being for millions of Americans struggling with chronic disease. Many of these books have touched upon the topic of blood sugar and diabetes. It is Dr. Hyman's book The Blood Sugar Solution , however, that has struck me to be the perfect balance between helping the reader to understand the revolution that is occurring in the science of blood sugar and chronic disease with the 'news to use' for the reader to successfully apply this breakthrough information in their own lives years before it becomes common knowledge. Dr. Mark Hyman's insistence on identifying the root social causes of obesity and diabetes is a crucial step beyond many of our long-held assumptions and in the direction of real solutions. "THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION is a highly informative but, thankfully, also a very accessible book for both professionals and the laypersons... "Dr. Hyman has done it again with a lucid description of the causes of the diabesity epidemic and a powerful treatment program. The Blood Sugar Solution is a must-read for anyone anywhere on the spectrum between mild insulin resistance and full-blown Type-2 diabetes--a groundbreaking, science-based, easy-to-follow prescription.
Reviews
"Dr. Hyman makes a good point in that there are only a handful of things that can go wrong with your physical body. Worse, the implementation of his program is tediously complex and too difficult for me to follow without making a full-time job out of it. Many pages deal with stuff I have no interest in whatsoever and he spends so much time trying to convince you that there is a problem out there with the way most Americans eat. Dr. Hyman might possibly be one of the greatest guys on Earth, but at the same time, he is an incessant hype machine and a master marketer. So basically I just eliminated eating everything except for the vegetables and fruits from my garden, supplemented by meat purchased at the store. What distinguishes the "paleo community," however, is that although there are books written about it, you don't need to buy any of them because all the information you need to know about the diet is free on a variety of websites. One of the more complete websites is Mark's Daily Apple, which explains the diet in detail, in a straight forward, uncomplicated manner. In summary, Dr. Hyman's book for me was complicated and even stressful to try and use as a guide, not to mention expensive if you get his supplements."
"I give the book four stars because the one thing I don't like is there are many places in the book where it says go to the website for more information or a complete list or whatever."
"You can get the same information at the library or other sources for free."
"This book helps to open your eyes as to how and what we eat is killing us and the DIABETES epidemic going on in this world from processed foods!"
"I haven't bought any supplements from the website, but the information in his books is priceless."
"Excellent book."
"My husband and I changed our diet several years ago and reading this book re-enforced our goal to get and remain healthy. I added a 7” frozen banana, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and doubled the cinnamon to the Healthiest Breakfast smoothie recipe."
"Good read."
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Best Diabetic & Sugar-Free Cooking

The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now!
In THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION, Dr. Mark Hyman reveals that the secret solution to losing weight and preventing not just diabetes but also heart disease, stroke, dementia, and cancer is balanced insulin levels. "Dr. Hyman has done it again with a lucid description of the causes of the diabesity epidemic and a powerful treatment program. The Blood Sugar Solution is a must-read for anyone anywhere on the spectrum between mild insulin resistance and full-blown Type-2 diabetes--a groundbreaking, science-based, easy-to-follow prescription. "― Mehmet Oz, MD "With compassion and authority, Dr. Mark Hyman addresses the real driver of overeating, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and more-insulin. He puts all of these attributes to work for you in The Blood Sugar Solution , providing detailed guidance for both individuals, and the population, to avoid the perils of obesity and chronic disease-and get to health. "If you want to be empowered to change your life, lose weight, and get to the bottom of chronic health problems, The Blood Sugar Solution by Dr. Mark Hyman will take you all the way there. In The Blood Sugar Solution, Dr. Mark Hyman shows you how. "In The Blood Sugar Solution, Mark Hyman maps a road to health that will benefit anyone. "In his book The Blood Sugar Solution , Dr. Mark Hyman combines the latest scientific findings and decades of experience to show how correcting physical imbalances - involving nutrition, inflammation, allergy, toxicity, metabolism and stress - can reverse prediabetes and prevent heart disease. The Blood Sugar Solution provides a radical new program to restore radiant health and well-being for millions of Americans struggling with chronic disease. Many of these books have touched upon the topic of blood sugar and diabetes. It is Dr. Hyman's book The Blood Sugar Solution , however, that has struck me to be the perfect balance between helping the reader to understand the revolution that is occurring in the science of blood sugar and chronic disease with the 'news to use' for the reader to successfully apply this breakthrough information in their own lives years before it becomes common knowledge. Dr. Mark Hyman's insistence on identifying the root social causes of obesity and diabetes is a crucial step beyond many of our long-held assumptions and in the direction of real solutions. "THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION is a highly informative but, thankfully, also a very accessible book for both professionals and the laypersons... "Dr. Hyman has done it again with a lucid description of the causes of the diabesity epidemic and a powerful treatment program. The Blood Sugar Solution is a must-read for anyone anywhere on the spectrum between mild insulin resistance and full-blown Type-2 diabetes--a groundbreaking, science-based, easy-to-follow prescription.
Reviews
"Dr. Hyman makes a good point in that there are only a handful of things that can go wrong with your physical body. Worse, the implementation of his program is tediously complex and too difficult for me to follow without making a full-time job out of it. Many pages deal with stuff I have no interest in whatsoever and he spends so much time trying to convince you that there is a problem out there with the way most Americans eat. Dr. Hyman might possibly be one of the greatest guys on Earth, but at the same time, he is an incessant hype machine and a master marketer. So basically I just eliminated eating everything except for the vegetables and fruits from my garden, supplemented by meat purchased at the store. What distinguishes the "paleo community," however, is that although there are books written about it, you don't need to buy any of them because all the information you need to know about the diet is free on a variety of websites. One of the more complete websites is Mark's Daily Apple, which explains the diet in detail, in a straight forward, uncomplicated manner. In summary, Dr. Hyman's book for me was complicated and even stressful to try and use as a guide, not to mention expensive if you get his supplements."
"You can get the same information at the library or other sources for free."
"I haven't bought any supplements from the website, but the information in his books is priceless."
"Excellent book."
"My husband and I changed our diet several years ago and reading this book re-enforced our goal to get and remain healthy. I added a 7” frozen banana, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and doubled the cinnamon to the Healthiest Breakfast smoothie recipe."
"Good read."
"Excellent and great price!"
"will see how the program works through long term.. so far, has not help my blood sugar level much, since everyone behaves differently."
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Best Physician & Patient Caregiving

Learning to Speak Alzheimer's: A Groundbreaking Approach for Everyone Dealing with the Disease
Revolutionizing the way we perceive and live with Alzheimer’s, Joanne Koenig Coste offers a practical approach to the emotional well-being of both patients and caregivers that emphasizes relating to patients in their own reality. Currently in private practice as an Alzheimer's family therapist, she also serves as president of Alzheimer's Consulting Associates.
Reviews
"I've been quite anxious about her future and the future of the family as we look after her."
"As with Alz support meetings, however, I find few practical suggestions for some pretty common behaviors."
"I was very impressed with this book, but I passed it on to a friend whose husband was diagnosed."
"It took me forever to read, but it has a lot of very helpful points for anyone who is helping care for someone with Alzheimer's."
"Awesome info, very helpful."
"Very helpful book for the friends and family of someone with this disease."
"I found this book to be a bit condescending."
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