True crime fans often have a pet case that haunts them above all others—one that keeps them returning to the clues, again and again, in search of an answer. I have a few such cases myself, but it only recently occurred to me that I also have a shortlist of obsessed-over medical mysteries. Fatal familial insomnia. Munchausen's. The 1951 Pont-Saint-Esprit mass poisoning, which inspired the 2023 novel, Cursed Bread.
Criminal mysteries and medical mysteries have some eerie analogies. In the broadest strokes, crimes have victims, clues, suspects, and trials; diseases have patients, symptoms, differential diagnoses, and prognoses. As the incidence of chronic illness has risen, so too have the number of patient memoirs that seek to advocate for sufferers amid a dearth of answers from the medical establishment. Alongside these intimate accounts are fascinating journalistic narratives that listen like detective stories, where the investigation takes place across entirely human landscapes. There may be blood but also heart and plenty of brains. The stakes are high and the twists keep coming in these riveting medical mysteries.
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In The Sleeping Beauties, award-winning neurologist Dr. Suzanne O’Sullivan investigates mysterious psychosomatic disorders in communities all over the world, from the so-called "Havana Syndrome" afflicting US diplomats in Cuba to a baffling episode of tics and seizures among teen girls in upstate New York to the eponymous case of the collection, which refers to the coma-like Resignation Syndrome, exclusively affecting refugee children living in Sweden.
Written by narrative nonfiction master Robert Kolker (Lost Girls), this bestseller and Oprah's Book Club pick tells the stranger-than-fiction story of a midcentury American family with six out of 12 children who suffered from schizophrenia. With compelling narration by Sean Pratt, the genius of the audiobook lies in both its sensitive portrayal of a deeply dysfunctional family and its skillful investigation of a poorly understood and highly stigmatized disease.
National Book Award-winning author Imani Perry tells the dramatic story of her ongoing struggle with lupus—an autoimmune disease that attacks multiple organ systems—and what we can learn from those who are grappling with chronic illness. This Audible Original memoir follows Perry as her body sends her the first warning signs that something is wrong—“the pain felt biblical”—to a journey through a medical labyrinth as she seeks solutions to her suffering and struggles to juggle illness, her high-flying career, and her personal life.
For as long as writer Porochista Khakpour could remember, she had been sick and most of that time, she didn't know why. Several drug addictions, three major hospitalizations, and over $100,000 later, she finally had a diagnosis: late-stage Lyme disease. Sick is Khakpour's arduous, emotional journey through the chronic illness that perpetually left her a victim of anxiety, living a life stymied by an unknown condition.
This powerful and educational listen written by Hungarian-Canadian psychologist and physician Gabor Maté may best be summed up by the following quote attributed to the author himself: “When we have been prevented from learning how to say no, our bodies may end up saying it for us.” This wake-up call disguised as an audiobook delves into the physiological connection between life’s stresses and emotions and the body’s nervous system, immune apparatuses, and hormones.
In this deeply researched and insightful memoir, author Meghan O’Rourke illuminates how chronic illness has become the defining medical mystery of our times, and the source of a painful dissonance between the promises of modern medicine and the lived experiences of so many. Drawing on her own health issues as well as her background as a poet, O’Rourke weaves insights from doctors, patients, researchers, and other experts into a captivating and lyrical narrative, with a timely focus on long COVID, autoimmune disorders, and other “invisible” conditions.
This Audible Original podcast is devoted to exploring how the mind works and how it influences our physical body. Created by Dr. Indre Viskontas and inspired by famed neurologist Oliver Sacks, it discusses such unique topics as the healing effects of music, how to deal with and overcome traumatic memories, and how freak events like lightning strikes can change our brain chemistry in shocking and unpredictable ways. As is always the case with the work of Oliver Sacks, Radiant Minds is jaw-dropping, eye-opening, and deeply human in its approach.
Contrary to its name, this podcast might actually save your life. Each episode tackles a different disease or health hazard, from its history to its biology, and finally, how scared you need to be if you're infected or contaminated. Ecologists and epidemiologists Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke make infectious diseases and environmental dangers (asbestos, bedbugs, and more) acceptable conversation fodder and provide cocktail recipes to match. Episode 20: Apocalypse Cow covers the scary world of prion diseases, including fatal familial insomnia.
In the hotly anticipated follow-up to his breakout podcast Donor 9623, host Dov Fox further unravels the strange case of a sperm bank donor who seemed to be the perfect biological father—a music prodigy, a gifted athlete, and an intelligent man with a genius IQ. The only problem? It was all a lie. Thirty-six children later, the truth about the biggest hoax in reproductive history was revealed in the explosive original series. In this necessary follow-up, Fox checks in with how the affected families are dealing with the ramifications and living with uncertainty while delving deeper into the legal fallout and America’s changing landscape for reproductive rights.
Now a film starring Chloë Grace Moretz, this award-winning memoir is both a riveting medical mystery and powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity. Brain on Fire is the astonishing true story of Susannah Cahalan's sudden and terrifying descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen.
