Best of
Disease

2017

This is the Way the World Ends: An Oral History of the Zombie War


Keith Taylor - 2017
    Every surviving human has been touched in some way by death. Some nations have emerged stronger than ever. Some struggle to survive. Some no longer exist at all. In the aftermath of the global zombie pandemic Keith Taylor, the noted pre-war author of post apocalyptic fiction, traveled the world to gather first hand accounts of survivors from every walk of life, culture and level of society, ranging from US political and military leaders to British journalists to members of India's homeless underclass. These accounts take the reader through the initial emergence of the virus in Siberia, through the infamous Shibuya footage and the political crisis of the President's impeachment hearings, and end with the eventual military campaigns on the US mainland and beyond. From these candid interviews emerges an image of the world as it was, flawed and imperfect, and the most illuminating and complete commentary to date as to how the nations of the world responded to the greatest threat humanity has yet faced. This is the Way the World Ends takes an unflinching, uncompromising look at the civilization we had and lost; a look at how humanity went to extraordinary lengths to deny the evidence, and how we suffered due to our inability to accept a single, simple truth: Zombies are real. Note: Readers who lived through the pandemic may find the interviews contained within this collection distressing. Discretion is advised.

The Mourning Parade


Dawn Reno Langley - 2017
    Desperate to find relief from her unspeakable loss, she volunteers as a veterinarian on an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, but soon realizes she may be in over her head. Battling the memories that torment her day and night, Natalie must find a way to heal an angry, injured elephant named Sophie. Through love, acceptance, and gentle care, Natalie and Sophie heal together, finding new ways to enjoy life again.

The Spectrum of Hope: An Optimistic and New Approach to Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias


Gayatri Devi - 2017
    And imagine how that would change the outlook of the 5 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, not to mention their families, loved ones, and caretakers. A neurologist who’s been specializing in dementia and memory loss for more than 20 years, Dr. Gayatri Devi rewrites the story of Alzheimer’s by defining it as a spectrum disorder—like autism, Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects different people differently. She encourages people who are worried about memory impairment to seek a diagnosis, because early treatment will enable doctors and caregivers to manage the disease more effectively through drugs and other therapies. Told through the stories of Dr. Devi’s patients, The Spectrum of Hope is the kind of narrative medical writing that grips the reader, humanizes the science, and offers equal parts practical advice and wisdom with skillful ease. But beyond the pleasures of great reading, it’s a book that offers real hope. Here are chapters on how to maintain independence and dignity; how to fight depression, anxiety, and apathy; how to communicate effectively with a person suffering from dementia. Plus chapters on sexuality, genetics, going public with the diagnosis, even putting together a bucket list—because through her practice, Dr. Devi knows that the majority of Alzheimer’s patients continue to live and work in their communities. They babysit their grandkids, drive to the store (or own the store), serve their clients, or otherwise live fulfilling lives. That’s news that 5 million people are waiting to hear.

Paleo Principles: The Science Behind the Paleo Template, Step-by-Step Guides, Meal Plans, and 200+ Healthy Delicious Recipes for Real Life


Sarah Ballantyne - 2017
    In her signature approachable yet comprehensive style, Sarah Ballantyne, PhD, has laid a complete foundation for understanding the principles of the Paleo template in order to inform and empower people’s day-to-day choices. Combined with an unprecedented collection of practical strategies, tips, and visual guides, plus more than 200 delicious recipes and twenty meal plans for a variety of health goals, this book is a one-stop-shop for nutrition nerds, health nuts, and gourmands alike. The Paleo diet is a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory whole-foods diet based on eating a variety of quality vegetables, meats, seafood, fruits, eggs, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, herbs, and spices. It is clinically proven to improve health by providing complete and balanced nutrition while omitting most processed and refined foods and empty calories. Far from being a historical re-enactment, the Paleo framework is derived from thousands of scientific studies that illuminate our understanding of which foods support health and which foods undermine it. Combined with attention to essential lifestyle factors like physical activity, sleep, and stress, the Paleo template is quite simply the most robust approach out there for optimal health, performance, and longevity! With the perfect balance of detailed explanations, accessible summaries of actionable information, and visual guides, Paleo Principles provides everything readers need to achieve their best health. Beyond a set of rules, this book teaches precisely why some foods are better choices than others while providing indispensable resources like food lists, shopping guides, and cooking how-tos. Health comes from more than just the foods on our plates, however, which is why Dr. Ballantyne also incorporates a focus on lifestyle factors known to improve health, including being active, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and connecting with community. People needn’t worry that following a Paleo-style diet will leave them feeling hungry or deprived. Healthy re-creations of family-friendly favorites, from pizza to pancakes, prove that you can regain your health and love every bite! Paleo Principles contains more than 200 nutritious Paleo recipes that are free of gluten, grain, dairy, legumes, and refined sugar—including kitchen basics, breakfasts, soups and salads, main dishes, side dishes, baked goods, and desserts—all labeled for the top eight allergen ingredients as well as other common food sensitivities, like FODMAPs and nightshades, and the Autoimmune Protocol. Adapt the Paleo template to serve your specific needs and health goals by using Paleo Principles’ guides on customizing macronutrient ratios, navigating gray-area foods, troubleshooting chronic illnesses and food sensitivities, transitioning to a Paleo-style diet, understanding your body’s individual response to different foods, and balancing Paleo priorities with competing interests for lifelong success. Combine these resources with twenty meal plans reflecting the most common health objectives, and you have the know-how to personalize your plan to fit your life. Join the millions of people taking back their health by following a Paleo lifestyle. Whether your goal is to lose weight, increase performance, reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors, prevent cancer, mitigate autoimmune disease, reverse diabetes, or simply achieve your best health, Paleo Principles gives you answers and a veritable toolkit to make lasting, positive change toward better health.

Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety


Rachel Harris - 2017
    That article struck a chord with psychotherapist Rachel Harris, who had encountered many clients unresponsive to traditional therapy and antidepressant protocols. Used for more than 8,000 years in the Amazon rainforest, ayahuasca is a powerful — and illegal — psychedelic that has distressing gastrointestinal side effects. Yet Harris found many willing to try it, so deep was their suffering. Harris here shares her original research (the largest study of ayahuasca use in North America) into its effects on depression, anxiety, and PTSD, along with her own personal experiences. By detailing ayahuasca’s risks and benefits, she aims to help those driven to investigate ayahuasca to do so safely and to give their psychological caregivers a template for transformative caring and healing.

The River Is in Us: Fighting Toxics in a Mohawk Community


Elizabeth Hoover - 2017
    For years she witnessed elevated rates of miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer in her town, ultimately drawing connections between environmental contamination and these maladies. When she brought her findings to environmental health researchers, Cook sparked the United States’ first large-scale community-based participatory research project.In The River Is in Us, author Elizabeth Hoover takes us deep into this remarkable community that has partnered with scientists and developed grassroots programs to fight the contamination of its lands and reclaim its health and culture. Through in-depth research into archives, newspapers, and public meetings, as well as numerous interviews with community members and scientists, Hoover shows the exact efforts taken by Akwesasne’s massive research project and the grassroots efforts to preserve the Native culture and lands. She also documents how contaminants have altered tribal life, including changes to the Mohawk fishing culture and the rise of diabetes in Akwesasne.Featuring community members such as farmers, health-care providers, area leaders, and environmental specialists, while rigorously evaluating the efficacy of tribal efforts to preserve its culture and protect its health, The River Is in Us offers important lessons for improving environmental health research and health care, plus detailed insights into the struggles and methods of indigenous groups. This moving, uplifting book is an essential read for anyone interested in Native Americans, social justice, and the pollutants contaminating our food, water, and bodies.

Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic


Richard A. McKay - 2017
    Yet the term itself did not exist before the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. How did this idea so swiftly come to exert such a strong grip on the scientific, media, and popular consciousness? In Patient Zero, Richard A. McKay interprets a wealth of archival sources and interviews to demonstrate how this seemingly new concept drew upon centuries-old ideas—and fears—about contagion and social disorder. McKay presents a carefully documented and sensitively written account of the life of Gaétan Dugas, a gay man whose skin cancer diagnosis in 1980 took on very different meanings as the HIV/AIDS epidemic developed—and who received widespread posthumous infamy when he was incorrectly identified as patient zero of the North American outbreak. McKay shows how investigators from the US Centers for Disease Control inadvertently created the term amid their early research into the emerging health crisis; how an ambitious journalist dramatically amplified the idea in his determination to reframe national debates about AIDS; and how many individuals grappled with the notion of patient zero—adopting, challenging and redirecting its powerful meanings—as they tried to make sense of and respond to the first fifteen years of an unfolding epidemic. With important insights for our interconnected age, Patient Zero untangles the complex process by which individuals and groups create meaning and allocate blame when faced with new disease threats. What McKay gives us here is myth-smashing revisionist history at its best.

Hemingway's Brain


Andrew Farah - 2017
    After committing seventeen years to researching Hemingway's life and medical history, Andrew Farah, a forensic psychiatrist, has concluded that the writer's diagnoses were incorrect. Contrary to the commonly accepted diagnoses of bipolar disorder and alcoholism, Farah provides a comprehensive explanation of the medical conditions that led to Hemingway's suicide.Hemingway received state-of-the-art psychiatric treatment at one of the nation's finest medical institutes, but according to Farah it was for the wrong illness. Hemingway's death was not the result of medical mismanagement, but medical misunderstanding. Farah argues that despite popular mythology Hemingway was not manic-depressive and his alcohol abuse and characteristic narcissism were simply pieces of a much larger puzzle. Through a thorough examination of biographies, letters, memoirs of friends and family, and even Hemingway's FBI file, combined with recent insights on the effects of trauma on the brain, Farah pieces together this compelling, alternative narrative of Hemingway's illness, one that has been missing from the scholarship for too long. Though Hemingway's life has been researched extensively and many biographies written, those authors relied on the original diagnoses and turned to psychoanalysis and conjecture regarding Hemingway's mental state. Through his research Farah has sought to understand why Hemingway's decline accelerated after two courses of electroconvulsive therapy and in this volume explains which current options might benefit a similar patient today. Hemingway's Brain provides a full and accurate accounting of this psychiatric diagnosis by exploring the genetic influences, traumatic brain injuries, and neurological and psychological forces that resulted in what many have described as his tortured final years. It aims to eliminate the confusion and define for all future scholarship the specifics of the mental illnesses that shaped legendary literary works and destroyed the life of a master.

Operation Freedom


E.G. Michaels - 2017
    Time until the Variants outbreak reached Philadelphia. Time until the City of Brotherly Love was locked in a fight to the death to keep the city from being overrun. It’s taking every member of the armed forces and police to battle the Variants and it’s a battle they appear to be losing. SWAT Sergeant Vince Black and his team are assigned a new desperate mission: To travel through Variant infested neighborhoods into the heart of the city and rescue the Governor’s daughter, who is trapped without food or water there. Can Black and his team complete this suicide mission and live to see the next day? This is their story.

Incision Decisions: A Guide to Getting Through Surgery, Recovery, and Your Hospital Stay


Kaye Newton - 2017
    With warmth and humor, fellow surgery patient and hospital advocate Kaye Newton gives you the inside scoop on what to really expect during a hospital stay and how to make life easier for yourself while recuperating. She shares effective ways to manage pre-surgery anxiety, line up help for your recovery period, avoid hospital acquired infections, deal with the post-surgery blues, stay positive during your recovery process, and much more. Kaye addresses the emotions patients experience as well as practicalities such as how to review your medical bills and make sure that you are not overcharged. Incision Decisions is chock-full of useful advice and planning tools and is an invaluable guide for patients and their loved ones.

Dreadful Diseases and Terrible Treatments


Jonathan J. Moore - 2017
    Squirming parasites, bursting pustules, rotting limbs, and cascading diarrhea: it's all depicted here in vivid detail. Sometimes the remedy proved as unbearable as the sickness itself. Whether performing dire dentistry or ice-pick lobotomies, bloodletting or blistering, the medical practitioners of history were ever inventive, if not effective. Disease played a role in shaping human history, too: read how measles and smallpox hastened the decline of the native peoples of the Americas, and how typhus helped to defeat Napoleon. Extraordinary anecdotes abound, such as the cautionary tale of Typhoid Mary and how a cow called Blossom saved the day. Packed with startling medical illustrations, this morbidly fascinating study of all that ails is bound to grip you from page one and leave you reaching for the disinfectant."

Dark Lady: A Novel of Emilia Bassano Lanyer


Charlene Ball - 2017
    To make matters worse, she comes from a family of secret Jews. When she is raped as a teenager, she knows she probably will not be able to make a good marriage, so she becomes the mistress of a much older nobleman. During this time she falls in love with poet/player William Shakespeare, and they have a brief, passionate relationship--but when the plague comes to England, the nobleman abandons her, leaving her pregnant and without financial security. In the years that follow, Emilia is forced to make a number of difficult decisions in her efforts to survive, and not all of them turn out well for her. But ultimately, despite the disadvantaged position she was born to, she succeeds in pursuing her dreams of becoming a writer--and even publishes a book of poetry in 1611 that makes a surprisingly modern argument for women's equality.

Poor Little Rabbit!


Jörg Mühle - 2017
    And there’s blood!Can you help him? Blow gently three times, try a plaster, a rhyme,but he’s still crying... Let’s give his ears a stroke and wipe his tears.There, all better! Off you go, Little Rabbit!

Escape Velocity (The Quantum War Book 1)


Jonathan Paul Isaacs - 2017
    A mysterious threat. One man is all that stands between destruction and salvation. In 2271, space is anything but empty. Exoplanet settlements drive a constant demand for new colonists and unending trade. But the dangers of interstellar expansion are many.With responsibility for everything from pirates to broken spacecraft, Lieutenant Wyatt Wills doesn't understand his latest orders: perform a covert reconnaissance mission to Juliet, home to twenty million people and humanity's largest presence beyond Earth. All contact has been lost from the other side of the quantum gate. And what few rumors make it through smack of government conspiracies and an uncontrolled pandemic. Some even mention an alien invasion.It will be up to Wyatt and a hastily-assembled team of replacements to go to Juliet and uncover the truth.Once there, they may not make it back alive.