Healing the Brain

by Curt Freed, Simon LeVay

In May 1995, neurologist Curt Freed began one of the most dramatic experiments in the history of the attempt to treat sufferers of Parkinson's disease by grafting human stem cells into their brains.

Of the forty patients who volunteered for Freed's new treatment, half underwent authentic surgery. The other half, who had received placebo surgery, felt their last hope dissolve into bitter frustration. But the hardest road lay ahead for those who had been given the highly experimental procedure. Healing the Brain captures the emotional events that unfolded in the months afterward as Freed, his researchers, and their courageous, desperate patients awaited the outcome and witnessed a moral debate unfolding across the nation over embryonic stem-cell medicine. Would the brain regenerate itself or reject the new cells? This pioneering team was willing to take perilous risks to find out.

Healing the Brain is a moving, fascinating narrative about discovery and disillusionment, conflict and compassion, suffering and -- for some -- amazing success.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 13, 1957

Reviews

[Gita · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title makes it seem that is a dry medical book but it is quite contrary to that. This was one of a series of books I read when my father was diagnosed with Parkinsons. I had to understand the disease if I could - but one gets the real picture about a disease on living with it. No book can explain any disease and give you the right amount of fear or ease required to deal with the illness.

This book is a very fast read - I learnt a quite a bit about medical trials in surgery - the equivalent of drug trials with placebos. The surgery involved is with stem cells and regenerated the brain cells - the dying which causes parkinsons. The patients involved in the trial are followed and it becomes a personal journey as one reads along.

The initial part of the book is also interesting with how they found a re-creatable way to induce parkinsons. A good read and a fast read.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in high school and at the time it was strange yet informative. In 2000s stem cells were the rage in science and this book covered a application of those stem cells in recovering from a neurodegenerative disorder.
The author discusses the history of parkinsons, levo dopa as a treatment for parkinsons, and a risky yet novel approach this book to transplant stem cells in the brain to ameliorate motor deficits caused by Parkinsons.
This book documents the procedures individuals underwent and the success rate for invasive interventions for Parkinsons using stem cells.

[Daria · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my bioethics class!! Ask me about it!