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Neurodegenerative diseases, such as a stroke, Alzheimer's and dementia, are now tragically commonplace within the western world. Our brains are a strange and complex organ, and there is much to be discovered about what causes them to fail in such devastating ways.
In this book Kathleen Taylor presents the ever-developing research into the cause and cure of these life-changing conditions, focusing on insights arising from the relatively new field of neuroimmunology - the increasing recognition of the important role of the immune system in the brain. Interweaving the latest scientific ideas on neurodegenerative diseases with accounts of the devastation which illnesses affecting the brain can cause to sufferers and to anyone who cares about them, Fragile Brains is not only an important account of current research in this field, but a very personal study. As instances of dementia rise in our ageing populations, many harbour anxieties concerning the future.This book is about knowing the enemy.
1: Fragile Brains
Section 1: The Problem
2: Living well and growing old
3: Counting the costs
4: Brain disorders affect all of us
5: Discovering dementia
6: Protein problems
7: Too much amyloid
8: Transfers in?
9: How to clean your brain
Section 2: Risk Factors
10: The risk of risk factors
11: The inescapables - age, gender, and genes
12: Injury and surgery
13: Infection and Inflammation
14: Big killers
15: Consumerism, literally
16: Exercise
17: Traditional vices
18: Unhealthy environments
19: Use it or lose it
20: What are your chances?
Section 3: Mechanisms
21: The puzzle of amyloid
22: The promise of amyloid
23: Probing the frontiers
24: The end is only the beginning
Bibliography
Index
Description
Neurodegenerative diseases, such as a stroke, Alzheimer's and dementia, are now tragically commonplace within the western world. Our brains are a strange and complex organ, and there is much to be discovered about what causes them to fail in such devastating ways.
In this book Kathleen Taylor presents the ever-developing research into the cause and cure of these life-changing conditions, focusing on insights arising from the relatively new field of neuroimmunology - the increasing recognition of the important role of the immune system in the brain. Interweaving the latest scientific ideas on neurodegenerative diseases with accounts of the devastation which illnesses affecting the brain can cause to sufferers and to anyone who cares about them, Fragile Brains is not only an important account of current research in this field, but a very personal study. As instances of dementia rise in our ageing populations, many harbour anxieties concerning the future.This book is about knowing the enemy.
