Decoding Darkness: The Search For The Genetic Causes Of Alzheimer's Disease - Softcover

Tanzi, Rudolph E.; Parson, Ann B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0738205265 ISBN 13: 9780738205267

Publisher: Basic Books, 2001

Synopsis

Working from the intriguing hypothesis that Alzheimer's dementia is the result of a renegade protein-beta amyloid-Tanzi and others set out to find the gene responsible for its production. Decoding Darkness takes us deep into the minds and far-flung labs of many a prominent researcher, offering an intimate view of the high stakes of molecular genetics, the revolution that propels it, the obstacles that threaten to derail it, and the families whose lives are so dependent upon it. Tanzi and Parson ultimately reveal that Alzheimer's, like heart disease, may be effectively treated-even prevented.

About this title

Review:

Alzheimer's disease, a fatal, annihilating brain disorder, affects millions of men and women around the world. In the United States alone, perhaps one in five persons aged 75 or older suffers from it, though hundreds of thousands of younger people also bear the condition.

Despite its ubiquity, the malady was, until recently, considered a "backwater disease" to which little research attention (and funding) was paid. Advances in gene research, some spearheaded by neurologist Rudolph Tanzi, have led to a new understanding of the causes of Alzheimer's disease, and new possibilities for its cure. In this well-written account of that research, Tanzi and journalist-co-author Ann Parson examine the role of amyloid neuritic plaque, "mucked-up, misfolded protein that fibrilizes and forms rock-hard aggregates that the body can't get rid of." This plaque occurs in humans and certain other carnivorous species (including bears and dogs), and it appears to play a role in neurologic disorders of several kinds. Tanzi reports on recent studies in the use of cholesterol-reducing drugs in lessening levels of "brain dirt," as well as on research that suggests that cardiovascular exercise and a diet low in animal fats can benefit the brain as well as the body. He even cautiously hints that the conquest of Alzheimer's may occur in the very near future. For the time being, his book provides a thoughtful portrait of the illness and of the scholars and scientists who have devoted their lives to combating it. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Rudolph E. Tanzi is Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital's Genetics and Aging Unit.

Science journalist Ann B. Parson is co-author, with Isaac Schiff, M.D., of Menopause, and until recently taught in Boston University's graduate program in science and journalism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0738205265
• ISBN 13: 9780738205267
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304