The Problem of Alzheimers, Jason Karlawish
The Problem of Alzheimers, Jason Karlawish
2 Rating(s)
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The Problem of Alzheimer's
How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It

Author: Jason Karlawish

Narrator: Jonathan Todd Ross, Jason Karlawish

Unabridged: 13 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 02/23/2021


Synopsis

A definitive and compelling book on one of today's most prevalent illnesses.

In 2020, an estimated 5.8 million Americans had Alzheimer’s, and more than half a million died because of the disease and its devastating complications. 16 million caregivers are responsible for paying as much as half of the $226 billion annual costs of their care. As more people live beyond their seventies and eighties, the number of patients will rise to an estimated 13.8 million by 2050.

Part case studies, part meditation on the past, present and future of the disease, The Problem of Alzheimer's traces Alzheimer’s from its beginnings to its recognition as a crisis. While it is an unambiguous account of decades of missed opportunities and our health care systems’ failures to take action, it tells the story of the biomedical breakthroughs that may allow Alzheimer’s to finally be prevented and treated by medicine and also presents an argument for how we can live with dementia: the ways patients can reclaim their autonomy and redefine their sense of self, how families can support their loved ones, and the innovative reforms we can make as a society that would give caregivers and patients better quality of life.

Rich in science, history, and characters, The Problem of Alzheimer's takes us inside laboratories, patients' homes, caregivers’ support groups, progressive care communities, and Jason Karlawish's own practice at the Penn Memory Center. It also includes a new epilogue recounting the FDA’s surprising 2021 approval of the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, the astonishing aftermath, and how these unique events explain the enduring problem of Alzheimer’s.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mike on June 07, 2021

In the past 30 years, it seems to me that Alzheimer's disease has overtaken cancer as the most-feared disease in the modern world. In this excellent book, Jason Karlawish, an Alzheimer's specialist, explains how Alzheimer's disease, first described over a century ago, has become such a threat. Altho......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on October 28, 2021

Quite simply, this is the best book about Alzheimer's disease I have read, and I have read most of them. I am a retired neurologist with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, so I have experience with the disease from two points of view: a neurologist who cared for many patients with Alzheimer's during m......more

Goodreads review by Jan on April 29, 2021

The Problem of Alzheimer's~~ The title should've told me the 2020 book wasn't a happy one about solutions to Alzheimer's Disease. The Problem of Alzheimer's explains in rather horrific detail how the brain disease was discovered and, well, recognized, in the midst of last century. It's been mistaken......more

Goodreads review by Meredith on August 06, 2022

Soooo much to unpack here but these are the main points: 1. I really enjoyed learning about the history of Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnoses, this was something that I never learned in nursing school but probably would have been useful to know 2. There needs to be a full upheaval in the way we care f......more

Goodreads review by Aly on March 16, 2021

"The Problem of Alzheimer's" is the first book I have finished reading in 2021, and I have to say I started this year off right. It was a shock that this was the first book as I am not someone who reads medical-based non-fiction often. I don't remember what I expected it to be – maybe more slow-pace......more