Best of
Disease

2013

Why Can't I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease


Richard I. Horowitz - 2013
    It can mimic every disease process including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, autoimmune conditions like MS, psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety, and cause significant memory and concentration problems, mimicking early dementia. It is called the “Great Imitator,” and inaccurate testing—combined with a fierce, ongoing debate that questions chronic infection—makes it difficult for sufferers to find effective care.When Dr. Richard Horowitz moved to the Hudson Valley over two decades ago to start his own medical practice, he had no idea that he was jumping into a hotbed of Lyme disease. He would soon realize that many of the chronic disease diagnoses people were receiving were also the result of Lyme—and he would discover how once-treatable infections, in the absence of timely intervention, could cause dis­abling conditions. In a field where the number of cases is growing exponentially around the world and answers remain elusive, Dr. Horowitz has treated over 12,000 patients and made extraordinary progress. His plan represents a crucial paradigm shift, without which the suffering will continue.In this book, Dr. Horowitz:• Breaks new ground with a 16 Point Differential Diagnostic Map, the basis for his revolutionary Lyme treatment plan, and an overarching approach to treating all chronic illness.• Introduces MSIDS, or Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome, a new lens on chronic illness that may prove to be an important missing link.• Covers in detail Lyme’s leading symptoms and co-infections, including immune dysfunction, sleep disorders, chronic pain and neurodegenerative disorders – pro­viding a unique functional and integrative health care model, based on the most up-to-date scientific research, for physicians and health care providers to effectively treat Lyme and other chronic illnesses.Cutting through the frustration, misinformation and endless questions, Dr. Horowitz’s enlightening story of medical discovery, science and politics is an all-in-one source for patients of chronic illness to identify their own symptoms and work with their doctors for the best possible treatment outcome.

Sum It Up: 1,098 Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective


Pat Head Summitt - 2013
    For 38 years, she has broken records, winning more games than any NCAA team in basketball history. She has coached an undefeated season, co-captained the first women's Olympic team, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and has been named Sports Illustrated 'Sportswoman of the Year'.She owes her coaching success to her personal struggles and triumphs. She learned to be tough from her strict, demanding father. Motherhood taught her to balance that rigidity with communication and kindness. She is a role model for the many women she's coached; 74 of her players have become coaches.Pat's life took a shocking turn in 2011, when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, an irreversible brain condition that affects 5 million Americans. Despite her devastating diagnosis, she led the Vols to win their sixteenth SEC championship in March 2012. Pat continues to be a fighter, facing this new challenge the way she's faced every other--with hard work, perseverance, and a sense of humor.From the Hardcover edition.

Our Interrupted Fairy Tale


Megan Williams - 2013
    Just a few days later, Chad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the blood. While it would be more than three years and a bone marrow transplant before Chad and Megan finally kissed, it was the beginning of a love story you will never forget – and of a battle they shared and fought together.

Beautiful Inside and Out: Conquering Thyroid Disease with a Healthy, Happy, "Thyroid Sexy" Life


Gena Lee Nolin - 2013
    Then suddenly she was plagued by a baffling array of symptoms: exhaustion, brain fog, bloating, depression, hair loss, and debilitating changes in energy, weight, and mood, culminating in lifethreatening symptoms during her pregnancy. Like millions of American women, Nolin was struggling with undiagnosed thyroid disease. Thyroid problems leave women feeling anything but beautiful, and often they find themselves stigmatized by friends, family, the media—even doctors. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Collaborating with New York Times bestselling author and internationally recognized thyroid patient advocate Mary Shomon, Nolin uses her own story to deliver practical information vital for anyone struggling with thyroid issues. Readers will learn how to get diagnosed accurately and treated effectively, how to lose weight, balance hormones, solve beauty challenges, and regain their self-confidence. Full of practical checklists, questionnaires, and advice from America’s leading experts in thyroid and hormonal health, here is a heartfelt, helpful guide for women who are ready to feel strong, sexy, and beautiful again.

The Migraine Miracle: A Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, Ancestral Diet to Reduce Inflammation and Relieve Your Headaches for Good


Josh Turknett - 2013
    You also know that your next headache could still strike at any time, and as a result, you may lead a life of fear and trepidation, never knowing when the responsibilities of work and family will once again fall victim to your throbbing skull. Unfortunately, despite the many advances in medicine, there is still no real cure for the migraine headache. In The Migraine Miracle, a neurologist with a personal history of migraines offers readers the revolutionary dietary cure that has worked for him and continues to work for his patients: a diet low in wheat, sugar, and processed foods, and high in organic, protein-rich animal products. The book also explores the link between inflammation, diet, and migraines, and contains a 21-day meal plan to help readers change the way they eat. By following this easy meal plan, millions of sufferers will discover a life free from symptoms—once and for all. The book includes comprehensive, research-based information that explains what the brain goes through during a migraine headache, the phases of the migraine, and how a diagnosis is made. It also explores the risks and benefits of migraine medication, natural remedies for migraines, dietary migraine triggers, and detailed, specific instructions for a migraine-free eating plan. If you have tried migraine medicine but have not found real relief, it’s time to try something new. By changing the way you eat, and understanding what foods can trigger your migraine, you can start feeling better longer, without the threat of a migraine always looming over everything you do.

The Mystery of Pain


Douglas Nelson - 2013
    The book explores the different types of pain, providing clear explanations of the processes involved within the body. It examines key issues such as diagnosis and measurement of pain, the placebo effect and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), and takes an in depth look at causes and treatment for chronic pain. The book is full of practical advice and small changes one can make to improve the effectiveness of pain treatment.Presented as a personal tutorial for understanding the psychology of pain, this book will be useful for practitioners, patients, and the general reader alike. It will be of particular interest to psychologists, alternative medicine practitioners, massage therapists and psychotherapists.

When People Come First: Critical Studies in Global Health


João Biehl - 2013
    It brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars to address the medical, social, political, and economic dimensions of the global health enterprise through vivid case studies and bold conceptual work. The book demonstrates the crucial role of ethnography as an empirical lantern in global health, arguing for a more comprehensive, people-centered approach.Topics include the limits of technological quick fixes in disease control, the moral economy of global health science, the unexpected effects of massive treatment rollouts in resource-poor contexts, and how right-to-health activism coalesces with the increased influence of the pharmaceutical industry on health care. The contributors explore the altered landscapes left behind after programs scale up, break down, or move on. We learn that disease is really never just one thing, technology delivery does not equate with care, and biology and technology interact in ways we cannot always predict. The most effective solutions may well be found in people themselves, who consistently exceed the projections of experts and the medical-scientific, political, and humanitarian frameworks in which they are cast. When People Come First sets a new research agenda in global health and social theory and challenges us to rethink the relationships between care, rights, health, and economic futures.

Season of the Dead


Lucia Adams - 2013
    Color, creed, and social standing mean nothing as the virus infects millions across the planet.Sharon: a zoologist from Nebraska, USA, has worked with the virus, and has seen the effects on the human mind. She knows more about the virus than nearly anybody alive, and far more than she wants to. Gerry: from Ontario, Canada, he gets his first taste of the virus from inside a prison cell. Locked up after an anti-government riot, his prison guard transforms before his eyes into a flesh craving zombie. Lucia: a chemist from Pittsburgh, USA, flees from a furry convention dressed as a giant squirrel, and escapes from the city in a Fed-Ex van. She’s a girl who knows when to run and when to fight. Paul: thinks he can sit out the apocalypse in his apartment block in Dublin, Ireland, until the virus comes to visit, bursting his bubble and leaving him with no choice but to face reality or perish. All four begin perilous journeys in mind and body as they face daily trials to survive: Four threads, four different parts of the world, one apocalypse!

Walks on the Margins: A Story of Bipolar Illness


Kathy Brandt - 2013
    Bathed in gentle compassion and exuding the most resilient love for her son and family, Kathy’s narrative favors a compelling witness-writing that shows how it feels to be in the circle of those intimately affected by mental illness and in a world beset by institutional failure.Max’s attentive gaze depicts reality through the lens of the artist he is yet to become, unearthing poetry, rhymes and a broad palette of colors in the most sordid of places. With a callous, ruthless self-scrutiny, he retells both his manic and depressive episodes. At times unnerving, the fierce honesty of his prose is ameliorated by humor and a highly visual writing style reminiscent of the vanguard novellas. Max conveys a playful and unsettling beauty that he scratches off the seemly dim surface of day-to-day life. It’s the whiz kid and his vexed mother. His emotional unrest and her unhindered kindness. Mother and son weave their narratives into a single powerful story about coming to terms with bipolar disorder.

You Untangled: A DBT Skills Workbook, Practical Tools To Manage Your Emotions And Improve Your Life


Amy Tibbitts - 2013
    Using the principles of dialectical behavioral therapy, this workbook offers proven methods to help free you from the tangled circumstances often brought on by chaotic thinking and behavior. Learn how to: Evaluate and understand your emotionsCommunicate effectively and maintain healthy relationships Achieve deeper understanding about why you feel the way you feel Gain the confidence necessary to say "no" to othersDiscover how mindful living can grant you a new perspectiveWith the compassionate guidance and practical skills presented in this workbook, you can conscientiously create a path toward the healthy, happy and fulfilling future you've always desired.

No Surrender Soldier


Christine Kohler - 2013
    Should the punishment be death?Growing up on Guam in 1972, fifteen-year-old Kiko is beset by worries: He’s never kissed a girl, and he thinks it’s possible he never will. The popular guys get all the attention, but the worst part is that Kiko has serious problems at home. His older brother is missing in Vietnam; his grandfather is losing it to dementia; he just learned that his mother was raped in World War II by a Japanese soldier. It all comes together when he discovers an old man, a Japanese soldier, hiding in the jungle behind his house. It’s not the same man who raped his mother, but, in his rage, Kiko cares only about protecting his family and avenging his mom – no matter what it takes. And so, a shy, peaceable boy begins to plan a murder. But how far will Kiko go to prove to himself that he’s a man ? Based on a historical incident, No Surrender Soldier is the story of a boy grappling with ancient questions of courage and manhood before he can move on.

Lotta Bipolar Bits: Survivors Diary Of Living Bipolar (My Bipolar World)


Sylvia Meier - 2013
    Oftentimes with Bipolar disorder our lives simply don't make sense.It becomes commonplace to live them instead in bits and pieces for living them more than a moment at a time, living with bipolar syndrome more than a moment at a time, is simply too much."Lotta Bipolar Bits: Survivors Diary Of Living Bipolar" continues on where "Bipolar Bits: Manic Madness To Depressive Depths" left off.Meier continues the exploration of the illness in the harshest most real of fashions.Anyone who has or loves someone with bipolar disorder should read this book.