The Forgetting: Alzheimer's, Portrait of an EpidemicDoubleday, 2001 - 290 sider An urgent and moving exploration of the Alzheimer's epidemic, The Forgetting is a dazzling meditation on the nature of memory and self and on the disease that robs people of both. Alzheimer's disease is a demographic time bomb. Since 1975, the number of Americans afflicted has risen from five hundred thousand to five million; over the next fifty years, an estimated eighty to "one hundred million more people worldwide will succumb to it. But it is the story behind these numbers that makes The Forgetting such a landmark work. A magnificent synthesis of history, science, politics, psychology, and profound human drama, the book explores the nature of a disease that attacks not merely memory but the very core of our human identity. Delving into such diverse areas as art history, literature, genetics, and neurobiology, David Shenk shows that Alzheimer's particular terror, the gradual eradication of memory and of mind is as old as humankind itself. He convincingly posits that such historical figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jonathan Swift and Frederick Law Olmstead were caught in the disease's insidious grip. Moving portraits of contemporary patients, their families, and their caregivers drive home the sad pattern of regression Alzheimer's exacts, a pathology that eerily mirrors child development in reverse. Yet Shenk offers a well of empathy and understanding for families striving to better understand and come to terms with their loss. With equal mastery Shenk charts the complicated race to find a cure. As scientists pursue a treatment worth billions of dollars, the brutal competition among them poses a serious threat to the traditional ethic of sharing vital research. Butthere "are heartening signs of progress, and for the first time there is excitement among scientists that a cure may indeed be possible. Shenk eloquently calls Alzheimer's "death by a thousand subtractions." The Forgetting is at once a powerful examination of what this means and a forthright discussion of the impact this epidemic will have on the life of every reader. |
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Side 173
... death formed a graceful U. The probability of dying , he noticed , was very high at birth ; it declined rapidly ... death - or , rather , its pur- poselessness . Death , they came to realize , is not a part of the plan . It is not ...
... death formed a graceful U. The probability of dying , he noticed , was very high at birth ; it declined rapidly ... death - or , rather , its pur- poselessness . Death , they came to realize , is not a part of the plan . It is not ...
Side 224
... death , " the death of the spirit occurring well before the death of the actual body . Alzheimer's specializes in such split - level death . The final passing from Alzheimer's is really just the last in a long series of deaths . It is ...
... death , " the death of the spirit occurring well before the death of the actual body . Alzheimer's specializes in such split - level death . The final passing from Alzheimer's is really just the last in a long series of deaths . It is ...
Side 225
... death usually looks like a single experience . One moment the per- son is there , alive , and the next moment ... death , 11:19 . " But the reality of death is not so crisp . Even when the dying is instantaneous , as from a catastrophic ...
... death usually looks like a single experience . One moment the per- son is there , alive , and the next moment ... death , 11:19 . " But the reality of death is not so crisp . Even when the dying is instantaneous , as from a catastrophic ...
Indhold
The God Who Forgot and the | 44 |
The Race | 62 |
Irrespective of | 72 |
Copyright | |
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