Medical Biography

Referred to as "the father of psychoanalysis", Sigmund Freud is credited with championing the "talking cure" and charting the human unconscious. Both revered and reviled, he was a brilliant innovator but also a man of troubling contradictions, sometimes tyrannical, often misrepresenting the course and outcome of his treatments to make the "facts" match his theories.

From the co-author of Three Cups of Tea comes the inspiring story of two very different doctors—one from the United States, the other from Nepal—united in a common mission: to rid the world of preventable blindness. In this transporting book, David Oliver Relin shines a light on the work...

In this book, Prusiner tells the remarkable story of his discovery of prions - infectious proteins that replicate and cause disease but surprisingly contain no genetic material - and reveals how superb and meticulous science is actually practiced with talented teams of researchers who persevere. He recounts the frustrations and rewards of years of research and offers fascinating portraits of his peers as they raced to discover the causes of fatal brain diseases.

Patti M. Hall’s life is pitched into an abyss of uncertainty when a golf ball-sized tumour is discovered in her teenage son’s head and he is diagnosed with gigantism, a disease of both legend and stigma. After scrambling to access a handful of medical experts in the field, Patti learns that her son could grow uncontrollably, his mobility could be permanently limited, and his life could be cut short without timely and aggressive treatment. Patti’s attention shifts fully to her son, away from her relationships as well as her own career and health.

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

Acclaimed CBS News reporter Barry Petersen writes about hearing the unimaginable; what it meant, what it still means, what he did---and didn't do---and how this beautiful love story needs to be heard by the thousands of families who have already heard that same devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Even though Barry has spent his long-time, award-winning television career covering wars and events that shaped the world, he was not even slightly prepared for what happened to his darling wife, Jan, and how it would impact his life.

“Strokes are the third-leading cause of death in America, and for the ‘lucky’ stroke victims who don’t die, about half will spend the rest of their lives trying to recover.” Roughly 700,000 American suffer a stroke each year and around 140,000 of them are fatal. Different Strokes is an in-depth look at what surviving, or not surviving, a stroke can mean.

In the novel Little Women, Mr. March goes off to war. But in real life, it was Jo March (Louisa May Alcott herself, an avowed abolitionist) who traveled to Washington to nurse Northern soldiers. This is Alcott’s memoir but she chose to use the pseudonym “Tribulation Periwinkle” to tell her story. Despite the subject matter, her account is full of amusing anecdotes as she makes her way alone from Concord, Massachusetts to DC, trying to finagle a free ticket and convinced she will drown during the journey.

In This Common Secret, Dr. Susan Wicklund chronicles her emotional and dramatic twenty-year career on the front lines of the abortion war. Growing up in working class, rural Wisconsin, Wicklund had her own painful abortion at a young age. It was not until she became a doctor that she realized how many women shared her ordeal of an unwanted pregnancy - and how hidden this common experience remains.

Born in Italy during World War II, Salvatore Forcina was a young boy who survived all odds by living through his young childhood without any real or proper shelter. Like many Italians during this time, a month after turning eight years old, his parents followed this migration to Argentina, a developing country at the time rich with natural resources and hope for a more stable life.

Elke bevalling kan positief zijn en dat is precies wat verloskundige Geke Born wil vertellen. Met Goed bevallen schreef zij een boek waar elke (aanstaande) ouder enorm veel kracht en motivatie uit kan halen. Voor veel ouders behoort een zwangerschap en bevalling tot de meest indrukwekkende ervaringen in hun leven. Geke Born begeleidde als verloskundige honderden bevallingen en vraagt zich af hoe het toch komt dat we elkaar vooral de negatieve ervaringen vertellen.

While speaking at a memorial event in 2006, Siri Hustvedt suffered a violent seizure from the neck down. Despite her flapping arms and shaking legs, she continued to speak clearly and was able to finish her speech. It was as if she had suddenly become two people: a calm orator and a shuddering wreck. Then the seizures happened again and again. The Shaking Woman tracks Hustvedt's search for a diagnosis, one that takes her inside the thought processes of several scientific disciplines, each one of which offers a distinct perspective on her paroxysms but no ready solution.

Cameron West was in his thirties, a successful businessman, happily married and the father of a young son when he spoke these words. The “voice” he heard belonged to Davy, the first of twenty-four alter personalities to emerge over a period of several months as West began to recall memories of horrific abuse he’d repressed since childhood. With distinct characteristics, mannerisms, and memories, all twenty-four were created by West to protect his psyche from the trauma of repeated sexual abuse at the hands of family members.

In this debut collection of essays, Pace tells of his years as a career paramedic—wandering through the highs and the lows, the saves and the losses, the patients he remembers, and the ones he tries to forget. In 1997, Pace began his career as an EMT because he wanted to do something exciting. He wanted to help people too. And he thought those two things—excitement and helping people—would exist hand in hand. With a little sprinkle of glory thrown in for good measure.

Yumiko Kadota war der Traum aller asiatischen Eltern: Musterschülerin, Medizinstudentin, immer die Beste. Sie ordnete alles der ersehnten Karriere unter. Doch die Realität im öffentlichen Gesundheitswesen brach sie. Überarbeitung, Sexismus, Mobbing und Belästigung. Man nannte sie "emotional", "zu selbstbewusst". Irgendwann war es zu viel, Yumiko kündigte. Als sie ihren Blog mit den Worten begann: "Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass ich das einmal sagen würde, aber ich gebe auf. Ich gebe meinen Traum auf, Chirurgin zu werden", ging ihre Geschichte viral.

A book that challenges our notions of family honour and morality Sometime, somewhere, the conspiracy of silence around Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in Indian homes had to be shattered. This path-breaking book'the first of its kind in the country and subcontinent'attempts to give that...

At just past 70, Alex Witchel’s smart, adoring, ultra-capable mother began to exhibit undeniable signs of dementia. Witchel reacted as she’d been raised: If something was broken, she would fix it. But as medical reality undid that hope, she retreated to the kitchen, trying to reclaim the mother who was disappearing in plain sight, by cooking the comforting foods that were her mother’s signature. Reproducing the perfect meat loaf was no panacea, but it helped a grieving daughter come to terms with her predicament, the growing phenomenon of "ambiguous loss" - loss of a beloved one who lives on.

Written by a three times cancer survivor, this book is a must-listen for anyone facing and fighting cancer as well as for their caregivers. Called from a scientific background into Christian ministry, Philip has the ideal background to furnish valuable factual advice and spiritual counsel to his listeners. He shares candidly about how God helped him overcome malignant melanoma and prostate cancer and about his present struggles against multiple myeloma.

My Friends Walk Barefoot, based on actual events, tells the story of Jim Humphreys, a veterinarian in Southeast New Mexico who for more than three decades treated everything from dogs to donkeys, cats (including a Bengal tiger) to cows, and canaries to ostriches. Each chapter takes the listener on a new adventure filled with excitement, drama, and humor. You will laugh and you will cry as you experience the challenges faced by this country doctor whose patients, some tiny, others huge, some loving, others dangerous, all contribute to a heartwarming and magical journey.

At age 55, Jeffrey L. Reynolds, Ph.D., crossed the finish line at Ironman Florida, the crowning achievement of his endurance sports journey. Just weeks later, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He fought through treatment, recovered—and was hit again. This time, it was Stage 3B colorectal cancer. In Every Mile Matters, Reynolds shares how the physical training, mental fortitude, and resilience developed through triathlon racing became his greatest weapons in the fight for his life. He didn’t just apply his athletic mindset—he relied on it. Each round of radiation became a daily workout.