Alzheimer's disease, a haunting and harrowing ailment, is one of the world's most common causes of death. Alzheimer's lingers for years, with patients' outward appearance unaffected while their cognitive functions fade away. Patients lose the ability to work and live independently, to remember and recognize. There is still no proven way to treat Alzheimer's because its causes remain unknown.
Mind Thief is a comprehensive and engaging history of Alzheimer's that demystifies efforts to understand the disease. Beginning with the discovery of "presenile dementia" in the early twentieth century, Han Yu examines over a century of research and controversy. She presents the leading hypotheses for what causes Alzheimer's; discusses each hypothesis's tangled origins, merits, and gaps; and details their successes and failures. Yu synthesizes a vast amount of medical literature, historical studies, and media interviews, telling the gripping stories of researchers' struggles while situating science in its historical, social, and cultural contexts. Her chronicling of the trajectory of Alzheimer's research deftly balances rich scientific detail with attention to the wider implications. In narrating the attempts to find a treatment, Yu also offers a critical account of research and drug development and a consideration of the philosophy of aging. Wide-ranging and accessible, Mind Thief is an important book for all readers interested in the challenge of Alzheimer's.
Mind Thief is a comprehensive and engaging history of Alzheimer¿s that demystifies efforts to understand the disease. Beginning with the discovery of ¿presenile dementiä in the early twentieth century, Han Yu examines over a century of research and controversy.
Of immense value for both the medical community and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the subject, 'Mind Thief: The Story of Alzheimer's' is exceptionally well written and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation. Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of fifty-six pages of Notes, a fifty-four page Bibliography, and a fourteen page Index, 'Mind Thief: The Story of Alzheimer's' is an essential and core addition to community, college and university library Health/Medicine/Psychology collections in general, and Alzheimer's supplemental studies curriculums in particular.
