Degeneration

How does one deal with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease at the age of forty-three? My Degeneration, by former Anchorage Daily News staff cartoonist Peter Dunlap-Shohl, answers the question with humor and passion, recounting the author’s attempt to come to grips with the “malicious whimsy” of this chronic, progressive, and disabling disease. This graphic novel tracks Dunlap-Shohl’s journey through depression, the worsening symptoms of the disease, the juggling of medications and their side effects, the impact on relations with family and community, and the raft of mental and physical changes wrought by the malady. My Degeneration examines the current state of Parkinson’s care, including doctor/patient relations and the repercussions of a disease that, among other things, impairs movement, can rob patients of their ability to speak or write, degrades sufferers’ ability to deal with complexity, and interferes with the sense of balance. Readers learn what it’s like to undergo a dramatic, demanding, and audacious bit of high-tech brain surgery that can mysteriously restore much of a patient’s control over symptoms. But My Degeneration is more than a Parkinson’s memoir. Dunlap-Shohl gives the person newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease the information necessary to cope with it on a day-to-day basis. He chronicles the changes that life with the disease can bring to the way one sees the world and the way one is seen by the wider community. Dunlap-Shohl imparts a realistic basis for hope—hope not only to carry on, but to enjoy a decent quality of life.

The answers for perfect teeth, unblemished skin, and pristine hair are in this book. Dr. Price was 75 years ahead of his time. In this book, he demonstrates that isolated groups of people living in accordance with Nature have the best overall physical and mental health. Diseases inflicting “modern” humans are unheard of in most of these study groups. Dr. Weston Andrew Price, DDS, was called the “Isaac Newton of Nutrition” and the “Darwin of Nutrition.” This edition of Dr. Price’s classic is modernized with the epub format. It is easier to read on smartphones and tablets. It also includes updated statistics and additional images. Dr. Price shows that illness, disease, behavior, criminality, anemia, voice, and even cheek-line, are all within the domain of Nutrition. “If civilized man is to survive, he must incorporate the fundamentals of primitive nutritional wisdom into his modern lifestyle.” —Dr. Weston A. Price, DDS

The acclaimed book on macular degeneration—now completely revised and updated with cutting edge research and the latest developments in the field. More than fifteen million Americans have age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and the disease will strike 200,000 more people this year. It is the most prevalent cause of vision loss in the western world. Dr. Lylas Mogk, the founding director of the Visual Rehabilitation and Research Center of the Henry Ford Health System, has a unique professional and personal understanding of AMD. A doctor and loving daughter of a parent with this frightening though manageable condition, Mogk here explains exactly what it is and how to limit its effect on your life. Reassuring and comprehensive—complete with illuminating first person stories of people with AMD—Macular Degeneration will help you or someone you love with information on • Reducing your risk factors • Revolutionary new technology, including laser surgery and alternative treatments • New research discoveries in nutrition—and eye-healthy recipes • The latest low-vision computer software programs • Coping with depression and frustration • Active online communities of people with macular degeneration Plus a Low Vision Living Rehab program to help you read better, see better, and live independently!

Understand the Disease and Its Treatment series. AMD affects one million Canadians, yet it is still poorly understood and causes much anxiety to those diagnosed with it: Will I go blind? Will I be able to lead a normal life? Can I be cured? This book addresses these and many other questions to help in understanding the impact of AMD in everyday life. In addition, the latest advances in AMD research are explained, as major therapeutic breakthroughs that have considerably improved the quality of life of people with AMD have been made in recent years and new treatments under development hold even more promise for the future.

Richard Soloway offers a compelling and authoritative study of the relationship of the eugenics movement to the dramatic decline in the birthrate and family size in twentieth-century Britain. Working in a tradition of hereditarian determinism which held fast to the premise that "like tends to beget like," eugenicists developed and promoted a theory of biosocial engineering through selective reproduction. Soloway shows that the appeal of eugenics to the middle and upper classes of British society was closely linked to recurring concerns about the relentless drop in fertility and the rapid spread of birth control practices from the 1870s to World War II. Demography and Degeneration considers how differing scientific and pseudoscientific theories of biological inheritance became popularized and enmeshed in the prolonged, often contentious national debate about "race suicide" and "the dwindling family." Demographic statistics demonstrated that birthrates were declining among the better-educated, most successful classes while they remained high for the poorest, least-educated portion of the population. For many people steeped in the ideas of social Darwinism, eugenicist theories made this decline all the more alarming: they feared that falling birthrates among the "better" classes signfied a racial decline and degeneration that might prevent Britain from successfully negotiating the myriad competive challenges facing the nation in the twentieth century. Although the organized eugenics movement remained small and elitist throughout most of its history, this study demonstrates how pervasive eugenic assumptions were in the middle and upper reaches of British society, at least until World War II. It also traces the important role of eugenics in the emergence of the modern family planning movement and the formulation of population policies in the interwar years.

From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower, a searching and provocative examination of the widespread institutional rot that threatens our collective future What causes rich countries to lose their way? Symptoms of decline are all around us today: slowing growth, crushing debts, increasing inequality, aging populations, antisocial behavior. But what exactly has gone wrong? The answer, Niall Ferguson argues in The Great Degeneration, is that our institutions—the intricate frameworks within which a society can flourish or fail—are degenerating. With characteristic verve and historical insight, Ferguson analyzes the causes of this stagnation and its profound consequences for the future of the West. The Great Degeneration is an incisive indictment of an era of negligence and complacency—and to arrest the breakdown of our civilization, Ferguson warns, will take heroic leadership and radical reform.

This open access book focuses on imaging of the musculoskeletal diseases. Over the last few years, there have been considerable advances in this area, driven by clinical as well as technological developments. The authors are all internationally renowned experts in their field. They are also excellent teachers, and provide didactically outstanding chapters. The book is disease-oriented and covers all relevant imaging modalities, with particular emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging. Important aspects of pediatric imaging are also included. IDKD books are completely re-written every four years. As a result, they offer a comprehensive review of the state of the art in imaging. The book is clearly structured with learning objectives, abstracts, subheadings, tables and take-home points, supported by design elements to help readers easily navigate through the text. As an IDKD book, it is particularly valuable for general radiologists, radiology residents, and interventional radiologists who want to update their diagnostic knowledge, and for clinicians interested in imaging as it relates to their specialty.