Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A biography of one of history's most fascinating and confounding diseases--Alzheimer's--from its discovery more than 100 years ago to today's race towards a cure.
When Joseph Jebelli was twelve years old, his grandfather began acting "indefinably peculiar." He had developed Alzheimer's--the merciless and enigmatic disease that plagues people worldwide. Twenty years later, Dr. Jebelli spends his days trying to understand the illness that claimed his grandfather, and help those living with it today.
Now a seasoned expert in the field of Alzheimer's research and treatment, Jebelli presents the definitive portrait of this remarkably challenging disease. Beginning with Alois Alzheimer's discovery of the illness in 1906, IN PURSUIT OF MEMORY is a story as good as any detective novel--one that takes readers from 19th century Germany and post-war England to the jungles of Papua New Guinea and the research labs of Japan. Filled with captivating facts about the history and science of Alzheimer's, and stories of the author's own patients and their families, IN PURSUIT OF MEMORY lifts the veil from the shadowy face of history's most perplexing ailment.
Synopsis
Alzheimer's is the great global epidemic of our time, affecting millions worldwide -- there are more than 5 million people diagnosed in the US alone. And as our population ages, scientists are working against the clock to find a cure.
Neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli is among them. His beloved grandfather had Alzheimer's and now he's written the book he needed then -- a very human history of this frightening disease. But In Pursuit of Memory is also a thrilling scientific detective story that takes you behind the headlines. Jebelli's quest takes us from nineteenth-century Germany and post-war England, to the jungles of Papua New Guinea and the technological proving grounds of Japan; through America, India, China, Iceland, Sweden, and Colombia. Its heroes are scientists from around the world -- many of whom he's worked with -- and the brave patients and families who have changed the way that researchers think about the disease.
This compelling insider's account shows vividly why Jebelli feels so hopeful about a cure, but also why our best defense in the meantime is to understand the disease. In Pursuit of Memory is a clever, moving, eye-opening guide to the threat one in three of us faces now.
Synopsis
For readers of Atul Gawande, Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Henry Marsh, a riveting, gorgeously written biography of one of history's most fascinating and confounding diseases--Alzheimer's--from its discovery more than 100 years ago to today's race towards a cure. SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2017
Named "Science Book of the Month" by Bookseller
Alzheimer's is the great global epidemic of our time, affecting millions worldwide -- there are more than 5 million people diagnosed in the US alone. And as our population ages, scientists are working against the clock to find a cure.
Neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli is among them. His beloved grandfather had Alzheimer's and now he's written the book he needed then -- a very human history of this frightening disease. But In Pursuit of Memory is also a thrilling scientific detective story that takes you behind the headlines. Jebelli's quest takes us from nineteenth-century Germany and post-war England, to the jungles of Papua New Guinea and the technological proving grounds of Japan; through America, India, China, Iceland, Sweden, and Colombia. Its heroes are scientists from around the world -- many of whom he's worked with -- and the brave patients and families who have changed the way that researchers think about the disease.
This compelling insider's account shows vividly why Jebelli feels so hopeful about a cure, but also why our best defense in the meantime is to understand the disease. In Pursuit of Memory is a clever, moving, eye-opening guide to the threat one in three of us faces now.