The End of Memory
A natural history of aging and Alzheimer’s
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
It has been called ‘the plague of the 21st century’ for its dramatic increase in numbers and the challenge it poses to health care. There are no effective treatments, merely a few drugs that promise only short-lived results. For centuries, those afflicted by Alzheimer's disease have been robbed of their memories and ability to think clearly; while families have watched their loved ones disappear day by day.
In The End of Memory, award-winning author Jay Ingram charts the history of the disease, explaining the fascinating science behind it, recounting the efforts to understand and combat it, and introduces us to the passionate researchers who are working to find a cure. This is an important book for the millions of people around the world who are affected by Alzheimer’s, as well as those who are intrigued by both the ageing process and the brain, and wish to understand them better.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this riveting tale of Alzheimer's disease, Canadian science writer Ingram (Fatal Flaws) elegantly traces the history of the persistent and devastating ailment and the many medical researchers who have contributed to the public's understanding of it. Ingram reviews German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer's 1901 case study of a 51-year-old patient, which offered insight into the causes of the patient's "premature symptoms of mental decline." Reports of Alzheimer's were largely unappreciated by the medical community, but researchers in the 1960s and 1970s confirmed that the "plaques" and "tangles" Alzheimer found in his patient's brain provided the explanation for the majority of cases of the disease. With crackerjack storytelling and fast-paced prose, Ingram examines recent research into Alzheimer's, reporting that loss of synapses in the brain, rather than loss of brain volume, accounts for the majority of cases of the dementia that can accompany Alzheimer's. While there is no cure for the disease, Ingram observes that social, intellectual, and physical activities have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of developing the disease, and he discusses promising drugs, such as citalopram, that may stop the growth of plaque. Ingram's first-rate medical writing makes this excellent history a must-read.
