Brain Disease

Alzheimer’s disease, a haunting and harrowing ailment, is one of the world’s most common causes of death. Alzheimer’s lingers for years, with patients’ outward appearance unaffected while their cognitive functions fade away. Patients lose the ability to work and live independently, to remember and recognize. There is still no proven way to treat Alzheimer’s because its causes remain unknown. Mind Thief is a comprehensive and engaging history of Alzheimer’s that demystifies efforts to understand the disease.

Following her stroke, she felt unsupported by the systems in place to care for post-stroke victims. She knew there were resources available but with an inability to hold a thought or comprehend written words, Julianne became frustrated with her search for information. Aside from her family doctor, she seemed to be alone in her struggle to find information about therapies, services, and policies.

Lost in My Mind is a stunning memoir describing Kelly Bouldin Darmofal's journey from adolescent girl to special education teacher, wife and mother - despite severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Spanning three decades, Kelly's journey is unique in its focus on TBI education in America (or lack thereof).

In 1994, The Bell Curve and its controversial thesis catapulted the topic of genetic racial differences in IQ to the forefront of a renewed and heated debate. Now, in A Terrible Thing to Waste, award-winning science writer Harriet A. Washington adds her incisive analysis to the fray, arguing that IQ is a biased and flawed metric, but that it is useful for tracking cognitive damage. Featuring extensive scientific research and Washington's sharp, lively reporting, A Terrible Thing to Waste is sure to outrage, transform the conversation, and inspire debate.

Autism shakes up your world. It has changed my life and I wasn't even the one diagnosed with it. My brother's name is Ethan Wolfgang, but we call him Deets. He is one of the greatest gifts my family has ever received. And one of the most challenging.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the shocking mortality figures obscured the fact that death is not the only adverse outcome of the virus. Today, as many as 30 percent of COVID-19 survivors still experience symptoms long after their acute illness has passed, with cognitive and mental health problems especially prominent. For long haulers, this struggle with Long COVID has irrevocably changed their lives. In Clearing the Fog, neuropsychologist Dr. James C. Jackson offers people suffering from Long COVID and their families a roadmap to help them manage their “new normal.”

The Alzheimer's label too often generates fear, paranoia, and anxiety. It obscures the potential for vitality and wisdom that still exists in the graying years. By taking a closer look at what Alzheimer's is and isn't, Whitehouse offers hope to families as well as to those who suffer from a decline in their cognitive abilities.

While Parkinson’s Disease can be debilitating, there is plenty of compelling data to show that exercise is one of the best ways of managing PD symptoms. Studies show that regular exercise can improve gait, grip, balance, stability, strength, and motor control in the PD client. In addition, this improvement in movement and mobility helps to reduce falls, injuries, and various other complications of the disease in the PD client.

While everyone knows of the Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral craze that swept the nation in summer 2014, too few know the truly inspirational story behind it. Pete Frates was a man at war with his own body, a man whose love for others was unshakable. He was a man who refused to fight alone and, in so doing, mobilized a global army to combat one of the most devastating diseases on earth: ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

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

Each of us will know physical pain in our lives, but none of us knows when it will come or how long it will stay. Today as much as 10 percent of the population of the United States suffers from chronic pain. It is more widespread, misdiagnosed, and undertreated than any major disease. While recent research has shown that pain produces pathological changes to the brain and spinal cord, many doctors and patients still labor under misguided cultural notions and outdated scientific dogmas.

I think most of us believe that we know how life works and how we should live our lives, don't we? Meanwhile, over 87 percent of people in the world are unhappy, and their favorite everyday habits are complaining and moaning. So, why wouldn't you use the existing opportunities and seek help and advice?

The evidence is clear—almost half of all cases of dementia and cognitive decline are preventable. But sadly none are treatable. So what are the lifestyle changes that really make a difference to our brain health? And what can we do right now to preserve our quality of life as we age? Save Your Brain answers all these questions and more. As we age, dementia and Alzheimer's pose a serious threat to our health and wellbeing. To give us a running start in the fight against cognitive decline, Dr. Ginni Mansberg presents the latest evidence-based research on how to protect your most valuable asset.

How to Build a Healthy Brain is here to help. Written by a passionate advocate for the importance of mental health, Chartered Psychologist Kimberley Wilson draws on the latest research to give practical, holistic advice on how you can protect your brain health by making simple lifestyle choices. With chapters on Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise and Meditation, Kimberley has written an empowering guide to help you look after both your physical and mental well-being.

Medical treatment for ADHD fails much too often - not because of the drugs themselves, but how they are given. New ADHD Medication Rules - Brain Science & Common Sense shows that patients can react very differently to ADHD prescriptions, resulting in missed diagnoses, imbalanced treatment and over or under medication.

To make this groundbreaking audiobook, Dr. James Lyons-Weiler combed through the past fifty years of published research on autism, exploring subjects such as genetic variation, mechanisms of neurotoxicity of metals and pesticides, and the central and combined roles of each in causing autism.

Your body has secrets. Most of them are still unknown to science. But as research and technology improve, new mind-blowing revelations occur – and anyone can take advantage of them. One of the latest secrets revealed in the last few years is the secret vagus nerve. Eighty to ninety percent of the fibers in the vagus nerve are responsible for sensations inside your body. If you could manipulate this nerve and optimize it, you could drastically change your life and relieve pain that feels like it's been there forever!

The Woman Who Couldn't Wake Up tells Anna's story-and the broader story of her diagnosis, idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), a shadowy sibling of narcolepsy that has emerged as a focus of sleep research and patient advocacy. Quinn Eastman explores the science around sleepiness, recounting how researchers have been searching for more than a century for the substances that tip the brain into slumber.

Who doesn’t want to be smarter, think faster, have a better memory? This book, combining inspirational Chicken Soup for the Soul stories written just for this book and accessible leading-edge medical information from Harvard Medical School neurologist and instructor Dr. Marie Pasinski, will motivate listeners to get more out of their gray matter!

The words “you have multiple sclerosis” can be very frightening. There is no cure, symptoms are potentially debilitating, and there is no way to prevent it. While a diagnosis often requires ongoing lifestyle adjustments, with the proper treatment it is possible to have a fulfilling life. Understanding the condition and treatment options are the first steps to advocating for yourself or your loved ones living with MS.