health

Recounts a young girl's battle with a rare and deadly form of diabetes.

"After he was stabbed, Matthew Nagle, a former high school football star, made scientific history when neurosurgeons implanted a microelectrode in his brain. Using BrainGate technology, Matt could merely think about moving a computer cursor--and it moved. He controlled the lights, manipulated his prosthetic hand, turned the TV off and on, and played video games, all just by thinking. In The Man with the Bionic Brain, Dr. Jon Mukand, Matt's research physician and a specialist in rehabilitation medicine, weaves together the stories of Matt and other survivors of stroke, spinal injuries, and brain trauma; his relationship with them; and the technology that is working miracles. Advances in biomedicine are a matter of life and death for the patients, but they are often caught in the crossfire of cultural wars over the limits of science, from animal studies to the FDA, financing, and publication. In an era of wounded veterans and an aging population, The Man with the Bionic Brain provides inspiration and insight into the possibilities of technology and explores cutting-edge human research and the attendant ethical, political, social, and financial controversies. Ultimately, the book is about people with disabilities realizing their dreams of healing their damaged bodies and regaining any measure of control"--.

Psychiatry professor Kay Redfield Jamison shares the story of her relationship with her husband, scientist Richard Wyatt, and discusses what it was like to lose him to cancer and her struggles with grief following his death.

Chase recounts his unique relationship with his brother Ken, who died of AIDS at the age of thirty-seven.

Jenny Lauren shares the story of her experiences after she developed an eating disorder as an aspiring young dancer which eventually caused her small intestine to herniate, and discusses her path to healing.

Deb Butterfield discusses what it was like to grow up with diabetes, focusing on the medical treatments she tried, the emotions she felt, and the complications she endured.

The author discusses what it has been like for her to live with diabetes, which she was diagnosed with in 1972 when she was twelve-years-old, and tells how the disease impacted every aspect of her life.

Nine-year-old Michelle describes the joys, loving times, difficulties, and other special situations involved in living with her older sister Amy Emmert, who was born severely disabled with cerebral palsy.

Shares entries from the journal of Amy Mareck, a young woman diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of thirteen who fought the disease with courage and optimism for five years before she died.

Stephanie Klein recounts her experiences battling her weight as a child, including the summer she spent at fat camp, and explains how those experiences shaped every aspect of her life until she was finally able to come to terms with her size.