Medicine
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Brain Fables The Hidden History of Neurodegenerative Diseases and a Blueprint to Conquer Them
Alberto Espay
University of Cincinnati
Benjamin Stecher
Educational Consultant and Healthcare Advocate
Description An estimated 80 million people live with a neurodegenerative disease. That number is expected to increase rapidly as populations age, lifespans increase, and exposure to toxins rises. Despite decades of research and billions in funding, there are no medications that can slow, much less stop, the progress of these diseases. This is because diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s do not exist in biology. Yet, hundreds of clinical trials around the world are examining the potential of single therapies in thousands of people sharing one of these labels. Compounding the problem, these therapies were developed on evidence from models that do not come close to capturing the complexity of these diseases in the affected humans. These practices must end. Brain Fables is a call to refocus on understanding living and aging to create the personalized treatments each affected individual desperately needs.
Key Features • The combined narrative of an acclaimed neurodegenerative disease researcher and an expert patient advocate ensures this neverbefore-told important story appeals to both professional and lay audiences with an interest in brain health • Lived-experience commentary from a patient living with Parkinson’s provides an insight into the uncertainty and lack of information after a diagnosis, and offers reassurance to other patients about what lies ahead • A wakeup call to the scientific community and society, the authors present evidence-based arguments on how and why we must reimagine and treat neurodegenerative diseases in a convincing and engaging narrative
Contents Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. The shaky six and the ‘second reality’; 2. Pieces of a puzzle?; 3. Disease ‘redefinition’: a tough pill to swallow; 4. Disease subtypes: the promise and the fallacy; 5. Protein paradox; 6. The fault in our models; 7. Biomarkers: the promise and the fallacy; 8. Lessons from oncology; 9. Symptomatic vs. disease-modifying therapies;
Additional Information Level: General readers, medical specialists/consultants July 2020 234 x 156 mm 174pp 35 b/w illus. 7 tables 978-1-108-74462-1 Paperback £14.99 / US$19.95
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10. The hypothesis that refuses to die; 11. Our living dissonance; 12. The scientific and lay narratives; 13. Challenges viewed from afar; 14. The moonshot: population-based studies of aging; 15. Predictions for the 2020s and beyond; Epilogue. ‘When will we have a cure for Parkinson’s disease?’; Note added at press time; References; Index.
