American Disease

By the time his body hung from the gallows for his crimes at Harper’s Ferry, abolitionists had made John Brown a "holy martyr" in the fight against Southern slave owners. But Northern hatred for Southerners had been long in the making. Northern rage was born of the conviction that New England, whose spokesmen and militia had begun the American Revolution, should have been the leader of the new nation. Instead, they had been displaced by Southern "slavocrats" like Thomas Jefferson. And Northern envy only exacerbated the South’s greatest fear: race war.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells - taken without her knowledge - became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects.

In 1900, the U.S. sent three doctors to Cuba to discover how yellow fever was spread. There, they launched one of history's most controversial human studies. Compelling and terrifying, The American Plague depicts the story of yellow fever and its reign in this country - and in Africa, where even today it strikes thousands every year. With "arresting tales of heroism," it is a story as much about the nature of human beings as it is about the nature of disease.

For decades, researchers have chased a pharmaceutical cure for memory loss. But despite the fact that no disease-modifying biotech treatments have emerged, new research suggests that dementia rates have actually declined in the United States and Western Europe over the last decade. Why is this happening? And what does it mean for brain health in the future?

In An American Plague, Jim Murphy tells the story of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic. Bizarre medical practices of the time are discussed, as well as popular historical figures, such as George Washington and Benjamin Rush, who were involved in finding a cure for this horrific outbreak. Pat Bottino's captivating narration adds appeal to this interesting historical tale.

In The Great American Health Hoax, Francis exposes the truth about how to stay healthy and introduces us to a way of life that can become a "highway to health", while he quite effectively demonstrates that we really don't have to be sick. Then, he reminds us that not only is there absolutely no fun in being sick, but we are going broke trying to pay the cost. Francis realizes that the only solution for individuals and society as a whole is to maintain health.

On June 5, 1981, the scientific community received a wake-up call from the CDC in the form of a terrible new illness that the world would soon know as AIDS. Three decades later, remarkable progress has been made, but much more remains to be understood and to be done. In this audiobook, we explore where the disease came from, how it works, how it spreads, the search for a vaccine, and cultural and sociological factors.

At the turn of the last century, a smallpox epidemic swept the United States. The age-old disease spread swiftly through an increasingly interconnected American landscape: from southern plantations to the immigrant neighborhoods of northern cities to far-flung villages on the edges of the American empire. In Pox, historian Michael Willrich offers a gripping chronicle of how the nation's continent-wide fight against smallpox launched one of the most important civil liberties struggles of the 20th century.

In this sequel to Harrison's True North, Donald Burkett, a middle-aged Chippewa-Finnish man, is dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. While his wife, Cynthia, transcribes, Donald begins dictating his family history for the benefit of their children, stories that he never before has shared. As old crimes, dreams, wounds, and sacred moments are revived for the members of Donald's family, each is affected in different and profound ways.

Nearly two million people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the United States every year. Many more are diagnosed with prediabetes. For the millions of people already living with diabetes, preventing or treating the many complications of diabetes is a constant concern. Designed specifically for those are ready to take action, Your Type 2 Diabetes Action Plan is a concise, step-based approach to quickly improving blood glucose management and quality of life.

In arresting, but harrowing, prose, James Daschuk examines the roles that Old World diseases, climate, and, most disturbingly, Canadian politics—the politics of ethnocide—played in the deaths and subjugation of thousands of Indigenous people in the realization of Sir John A. Macdonald’s “National Dream.” It was a dream that came at great expense: the present disparity in health and economic well-being between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, and the lingering racism and misunderstanding that permeates the national consciousness to this day.

Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, writes about losing her father to Alzheimer's disease, saying goodbye in stages, and watching the progression of a disease that steals what is most precious: a person's memory. Past and present come together in this illuminating portrait of grief, of a man, a disease, and a girl and her father.

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.

Multiple Sclerosis for Dummies gives you accessible, easy-to-understand information about what happens with MS - what kinds of symptoms it can cause, how it can affect your life at home and at work, what you can do to feel and function better, and how you can protect yourself and your family against the long-term unpredictability of the disease. You'll learn how to make treatment and lifestyle choices that work for you, what qualities to look for in a neurologist and the rest of your healthcare team, how to manage fatigue, and much more.

The author, Yuchi Yang, has been a registered dietitian for more than twenty years. She has been counseling patients with Parkinson’s on food and nutrition to optimize their health with diet. Levodopa (L-dopa) is the most commolny used medication to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Dietary protein can compete with L-dopa to cross the blood-brain barrier and decrease the efficacy of the drug. Such problem of protein and levodopa competition usually appears years after the initiation of L-dopa therapy.

A Food Guide to Lowering Blood Triglycerides shows you four simple steps to lower your blood triglycerides. When you make your own meal plan, you can refer back to the examples in this book. In addition, you will get answers to frequently asked questions. For example: Are smoothies healthy? How much oil do you need? What is a good ratio of different fats?

The author, Yuchi Yang, has been a registered dietitian for more than 20 years. She has helped many people successfully alleviate their constipation through dietary changes. Here is a quote from one of her clients: “I have been following your dietary suggestions. I feel great! I am no longer constipated. And I have discontinued taking the dietary fiber supplements. I have my bowel movement every day and the stool is soft. And my belly looks smaller now! Thanks a lot!”

The third edition of American Diabetes Association Guide to Raising a Child with Diabetes features the latest advances in diabetes care and parenting advice from the diabetes experts. Full of problem-solving examples, the book tells parents how to adjust insulin to allow for the foods children like to eat, care for a child with type 2 diabetes, handle sick days, and plan meals that are nutritious and balanced.

Noah and Allie fell in love as teenagers, with the purest sort of love, only to be kept apart by Allie's mother. Their feelings survived in spite of everything - and they recounted their romance in the pages of a notebook. Now, years later, Allie suffers from Alzheimer's, and her memory has been wiped clean. By reading the story of their relationship and the passion they shared, Noah hopes to break through the barrier of his wife's illness. This poignant first novel from Nicholas Sparks rivals any love story ever written.

Native Country of the Heart is the writer and activist Cherrie Moraga's love letter to her "unlettered" mother. It begins with her mother, Elvira Isabel Moraga, who as a child, along with her siblings, was hired out by her own father to pick cotton in California's Imperial Valley. The lives of Cherrie and her mother, and of their people, are woven together in a story of critical reflection and deep personal revelation as Moraga charts her own coming to consciousness alongside the heartbreaking story of her mother's decline.