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Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology
A leading neurologist recounts some of her most astonishing, challenging cases, which demonstrate how crucial the study of epilepsy has been to our understanding of the brain.
Brainstorm follows the stories of people whose medical diagnoses are so strange even their doctor struggles to know how to solve them. A man who sees cartoon characters running across the room; a girl whose world suddenly seems completely distorted, as though she were Alice in Wonderland; another who transforms into a ragdoll whenever she even thinks about moving.
The brain is the most complex structure in the universe. Neurologists must puzzle out life-changing diagnoses from the tiniest of clues, the ultimate medical detective work. In this riveting book, Suzanne O'Sullivan takes you with her as she tracks the clues of her patients' symptoms. It's a journey that will open your eyes to the unfathomable intricacies of our brains and the infinite variety of human experience.
Brainstorm follows the stories of people whose medical diagnoses are so strange even their doctor struggles to know how to solve them. A man who sees cartoon characters running across the room; a girl whose world suddenly seems completely distorted, as though she were Alice in Wonderland; another who transforms into a ragdoll whenever she even thinks about moving.
The brain is the most complex structure in the universe. Neurologists must puzzle out life-changing diagnoses from the tiniest of clues, the ultimate medical detective work. In this riveting book, Suzanne O'Sullivan takes you with her as she tracks the clues of her patients' symptoms. It's a journey that will open your eyes to the unfathomable intricacies of our brains and the infinite variety of human experience.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 30, 2018
223 people are currently reading
2694 people want to read
About the author
Suzanne O'Sullivan
8 books146 followersSuzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish neurologist working in Britain who is the winner of the 2016 Wellcome Book Prize. She won for her first book, It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness, published by Chatto & Windus in 2015. The book also won the Royal Society of Biology General Book Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
June 23, 2021
This book is about epilepsy, the title doesn't really relate to the content! But maybe if it had been entitled "Epilepsy" I wouldn't have read it and then I would have missed out on a fascinating and informative book. There are 12 chapters, each one about a different type of epilepsy and detailed through the story of a patient. This doesn't sound fascinating, but it absolutely is. I had read It's All in Your Head by Suzanne O'Sullivan before and that was a 5 star but I'd forgotten about it and thought she was a new author to me.
The author has a gift for writing of the patients as individuals who suffer from their disorder and who are complicit in the detective work of sorting out exactly what has gone wrong in their brains; they are in this together! This very human and warm style of writing reminds me of two other neurologists who were gifted authors, Oliver Sacks and Harold Klawans.
The author didn't shy away from writing of failures, where medical science couldn't restore a lawyer to his former high-powered self or even to his past personality, after a mugging assault and consequent brain damage. And most tragically, where a lovely young woman's seizures - brief seconds of no muscle tone - meant she needed to be observed all the time, one second of a carer looking away meant falling face forward into a bowl of soup, into the sea to nearly drown, onto the floor with her up to 500 one-second seizures a day and no treatment ever helping.
Grand mal, a personal experience, or viewing at least.
Petit mal, my friend's strange absences
The book made me think of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot who also suffers from epilepsy, the kind that is a religious experience, at least in my interpretation of the book. I don't think I've read any other books where epilepsy features.
So until I read the book, that was my limited exposure to epilepsy and I didn't know there were so many different variations of this disorder, not just the 12 detailed but also others briefly described. These included seizures brought on by certain kinds of music, food, and even thoughts.
All in all a very well written and interesting book made more special and enjoyable than most neurology ones because the patients were so well-described they were easy to identify with as people we might know. Recommended to people who like these pop-science books I read.
The author has a gift for writing of the patients as individuals who suffer from their disorder and who are complicit in the detective work of sorting out exactly what has gone wrong in their brains; they are in this together! This very human and warm style of writing reminds me of two other neurologists who were gifted authors, Oliver Sacks and Harold Klawans.
The author didn't shy away from writing of failures, where medical science couldn't restore a lawyer to his former high-powered self or even to his past personality, after a mugging assault and consequent brain damage. And most tragically, where a lovely young woman's seizures - brief seconds of no muscle tone - meant she needed to be observed all the time, one second of a carer looking away meant falling face forward into a bowl of soup, into the sea to nearly drown, onto the floor with her up to 500 one-second seizures a day and no treatment ever helping.
Grand mal, a personal experience, or viewing at least.
Petit mal, my friend's strange absences
The book made me think of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot who also suffers from epilepsy, the kind that is a religious experience, at least in my interpretation of the book. I don't think I've read any other books where epilepsy features.
So until I read the book, that was my limited exposure to epilepsy and I didn't know there were so many different variations of this disorder, not just the 12 detailed but also others briefly described. These included seizures brought on by certain kinds of music, food, and even thoughts.
All in all a very well written and interesting book made more special and enjoyable than most neurology ones because the patients were so well-described they were easy to identify with as people we might know. Recommended to people who like these pop-science books I read.
May 31, 2018
This is a book about epilepsy. I’m not sure why that isn’t made explicit in the title, subtitle or blurb; perhaps it’s a controversial condition, one with negative associations, or it just sounds like too technical a word. The air of mystery the subtitle tries to give is a bit misleading, then: despite the very different ways in which these dozen or so patients present, they’re all prone to seizures; the guesswork is in determining precisely what is going wrong in the brain, and where, as well as how medicines or surgery could address the fault. “There are still far more unknowns than knowns where the brain is concerned,” O’Sullivan writes; “The brain has a mind of its own,” she wryly adds later on. Epilepsy affects 600,000 people in the UK and 50 million worldwide, so it’s an important condition to know about.
Luckily, O’Sullivan’s writing has come on tremendously since her last book, It’s All in Your Head, which was absorbing though not very well written. Here she comes across as much less robotic in her dealings with patients, and the case studies are written up as full, rounded stories. One might dispute the inclusion of the “Sharon” chapter, which is about dissociative seizures: although it’s a handy link from her previous book into this one, it’s still an odd one out. Mostly, it is fascinating to see the range of behaviors seizures can be associated with: not just the stereotyped convulsing on the ground, but ominous pointing, cartoon visions of the Seven Dwarves, sudden running, cursing, fumbling around, or a total loss of muscle tone. Very enjoyable for anyone who likes medical reads.
Favorite lines:
“The practice of medicine requires the doctor to know the facts and figures of diseases and their treatments. The art of medicine follows the narrative and gives meaning and context to the patient’s story. I am drawn to my patients’ backstories.”
“In remembering something the brain may need to draw on sound, vision and smell and reconstruct the memory piece by piece from information stored in different brain areas. That is one of the reasons that memories are so unreliable. To remember something the brain must replay a pattern of neural connections that originally occurred in response to a particular event. Those connections between cells are unstable and are subject to change every time they are activated. Not every replay is the same – each risks adjusting the memory just a little.”
“We know that our thoughts and consciousness, our personalities and occupations, are inextricable from the physical reality of our brains. But, even knowing that, it sometimes feels that we can’t take the next step to what that really means. If you have a brain disease you are very vulnerable to developing a mental disorder alongside it.”
Luckily, O’Sullivan’s writing has come on tremendously since her last book, It’s All in Your Head, which was absorbing though not very well written. Here she comes across as much less robotic in her dealings with patients, and the case studies are written up as full, rounded stories. One might dispute the inclusion of the “Sharon” chapter, which is about dissociative seizures: although it’s a handy link from her previous book into this one, it’s still an odd one out. Mostly, it is fascinating to see the range of behaviors seizures can be associated with: not just the stereotyped convulsing on the ground, but ominous pointing, cartoon visions of the Seven Dwarves, sudden running, cursing, fumbling around, or a total loss of muscle tone. Very enjoyable for anyone who likes medical reads.
Favorite lines:
“The practice of medicine requires the doctor to know the facts and figures of diseases and their treatments. The art of medicine follows the narrative and gives meaning and context to the patient’s story. I am drawn to my patients’ backstories.”
“In remembering something the brain may need to draw on sound, vision and smell and reconstruct the memory piece by piece from information stored in different brain areas. That is one of the reasons that memories are so unreliable. To remember something the brain must replay a pattern of neural connections that originally occurred in response to a particular event. Those connections between cells are unstable and are subject to change every time they are activated. Not every replay is the same – each risks adjusting the memory just a little.”
“We know that our thoughts and consciousness, our personalities and occupations, are inextricable from the physical reality of our brains. But, even knowing that, it sometimes feels that we can’t take the next step to what that really means. If you have a brain disease you are very vulnerable to developing a mental disorder alongside it.”
September 4, 2019
This made me realize I’m still as passionate about neurology as I ever was 💕✨
January 27, 2019
If you hear the word "epilepsy" and the picture of someone convulsing violently comes into your mind, then you're one of the majority of people who need to read this book.
I once remember sitting in a bus when a man leaned towards me and pushed me against the window, I didn't know what's happening with him and I thought he was sleeping but it was unusual for someone sleeping to lean this much. I was angry deep inside but I didn't say anything. The man, after a minute or so, composed himself and sit in his chair without apologizing but I noticed he was profusely sweaty. I didn't give it a second thought, I just thought of him as a rude person. In retrospect, I know he was having a seizure but I haven't noticed that as he was not convulsing. Now I know he was having a tonic seizure in which his body becomes rigid.
Now, imagine someone rushing aggressively against you, punching you, saying inappropriate things, burst into your house, waking up late at night and looking towards the wall as if there's a ghost in the room. How would you think of them? Well, you need this book to get to know more about "The Sacred Disease"....
I once remember sitting in a bus when a man leaned towards me and pushed me against the window, I didn't know what's happening with him and I thought he was sleeping but it was unusual for someone sleeping to lean this much. I was angry deep inside but I didn't say anything. The man, after a minute or so, composed himself and sit in his chair without apologizing but I noticed he was profusely sweaty. I didn't give it a second thought, I just thought of him as a rude person. In retrospect, I know he was having a seizure but I haven't noticed that as he was not convulsing. Now I know he was having a tonic seizure in which his body becomes rigid.
Now, imagine someone rushing aggressively against you, punching you, saying inappropriate things, burst into your house, waking up late at night and looking towards the wall as if there's a ghost in the room. How would you think of them? Well, you need this book to get to know more about "The Sacred Disease"....
January 1, 2019
So incredibly fascinating... I was intrigued because of my own rare neurological disorder but now it seems like a common cold compared to these cases. While these are real life conditions this would definitely fall more into an entertainment category than anything close to clinical. Definitely an interesting read.
June 2, 2019
A fantastic book. Informative, thought provoking, educational. I have already read, 'It's all in the Head' which I really enjoyed which is why I decided to read this book too. I think it was even better than the first. Each chapter is about a different person and their challenges with a condition that has been diagnosed as epilepsy. It's amazing. I think that, in the twenty first century, people think that investigations give answer and yet Dr O'Sullivan is very clear that it's all in the history; listening to first hand witnesses, listening to patients and, if possible, getting video evidence. She then explains to us how, someone with such amazing functional anatomical knowledge, is able to work out precisely where in the brain the problem starts and how that can, possibly, be treated. An astounding book. Informative, educational and humbling. I really can't recommend this book highly enough.
August 18, 2019
Having devoured the authors first book I was looking forward to reading her next: as before, her writing is entirely familiar to those working in the medical field but perhaps to the lay person maybe a bit tough to decipher. While I enjoyed this book and the patients stories, I felt a little deceived just because I expected the book to cover a variety of diseases and illnesses affecting the brain. However, only epilepsy is discussed and while that is a fascinating subject for those interested in neurology, it’s not what I had anticipated.
Epilepsy is a complex and poorly understood brain disorder, and the author is an expert in her field so it was brilliant to have her stories so well defined. The author acknowledges the challenges of diagnosing the disease and planning treatments. At times the book felt a little repetitive but I still enjoyed it for the most part. Would I read her next book? Absolutely.
Epilepsy is a complex and poorly understood brain disorder, and the author is an expert in her field so it was brilliant to have her stories so well defined. The author acknowledges the challenges of diagnosing the disease and planning treatments. At times the book felt a little repetitive but I still enjoyed it for the most part. Would I read her next book? Absolutely.
May 19, 2019
O'Sullivan is a neurologist specialising in epilepsy and this second book of hers recounts some of the interesting cases she's dealt with. She comes across as a caring professional who only wants the best for her patients. I also truly learnt a lot as my only experience of epilepsy is tv dramas where they all flail about on the ground - I now know that seizures can manifest in all sorts of weird and scary ways. This is a must-read if you're interested in all things brain.
June 3, 2020
A good entertaining read on a serious topic. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes scary, but that's what life of an epileptic is. Not much systematic neurological information, but then again it's not a classbook, it's a bunch of patients' stories with some theory in addition.
December 21, 2019
On my father's side of the family, there is a troubling history with neuropathology. Epilepsy is one among them. This book elaborates on multiple ways this can appear - with our without trauma and sometimes, its just brain chemistry. Each year, my anxiety grows as if am waiting for my inevitable fate.
May 11, 2018
Although it's subtitled "Detective Stories From the World of Neurology", Suzanne O'Sullivan's new book, Brainstorm, is really a series of case studies of epilepsy. "Detective stories" isn't too far off, though: all stories of diagnosis are stories of detection (this is made abundantly clear in, for instance, the structure of each episode of House; it's also maybe why Hugh Laurie's character in it has the substance abuse and anger management/personal life issues that we expect from our noir detectives; discuss.) In twelve chapters, each focusing on one of O'Sullivan's patients, we get glimpses of epilepsy symptoms that are rare, misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and sometimes not epilepsy at all. At the very least, Brainstorm is a very illuminating book about what seizures sometimes look like, and the ways in which they can be completely misinterpreted by the public. One of her patients, for instance, gets a kind of localised Tourette's; his seizures involve swearing and spitting. If he has a seizure in public, he risks not only disapproval and embarrassment, but arrest. (I wanted more of this from O'Sullivan, actually. She doesn't, for example, acknowledge that her black male patients face a much higher chance of being arrested, injured or killed for displaying abnormal social behaviour.)
There is a certain level of voyeuristic fascination in O'Sullivan's case studies that drives readerly interest. We learn about August, a bright young woman whose seizures make her compulsively bolt from rooms and across streets; Maya, an elderly Nigerian woman who suffers blackouts and sometimes finds herself miles from home; Wahid, whose family paid thousands to various local healers and pastors before his condition was diagnosed not as spirit possession but as epilepsy. O'Sullivan is simultaneously compassionate and objective about each of her patients: she clearly cares for their well-being, but also strives to view the evidence as thoroughly and impartially as possible. Her notes on the development of technology used in diagnosing neurological problems - CAT scans, MRI and fMRI machines, the merits and demerits of brain surgery - are informative, detailed and accessible. Sometimes there's a slight stiffness to the prose, but she's a doctor who writes, not a professional poet, and it's a small price to pay for the rest of the book's informativeness and optimistic outlook on the future of neurology.
There is a certain level of voyeuristic fascination in O'Sullivan's case studies that drives readerly interest. We learn about August, a bright young woman whose seizures make her compulsively bolt from rooms and across streets; Maya, an elderly Nigerian woman who suffers blackouts and sometimes finds herself miles from home; Wahid, whose family paid thousands to various local healers and pastors before his condition was diagnosed not as spirit possession but as epilepsy. O'Sullivan is simultaneously compassionate and objective about each of her patients: she clearly cares for their well-being, but also strives to view the evidence as thoroughly and impartially as possible. Her notes on the development of technology used in diagnosing neurological problems - CAT scans, MRI and fMRI machines, the merits and demerits of brain surgery - are informative, detailed and accessible. Sometimes there's a slight stiffness to the prose, but she's a doctor who writes, not a professional poet, and it's a small price to pay for the rest of the book's informativeness and optimistic outlook on the future of neurology.
November 21, 2018
4.5
Absolutely fascinating read
Witten by a neurologist, this book dives into the lives of many patients who have been diagnosed with epilepsy. I very quickly discovered I know nothing about epilepsy. I found O'Sullivan's writing draws readers in with her descriptions of her patients' lives, symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments. I was shocked to learn of the variety of ways epilepsy manifests itself. O'Sullivan carries her captivating writing style into her informative explanations as well. She explains the scientific side of the disease, as far as scientists have yet discovered about the infinitely complex human brain. She breaks down her explanations to a level that even someone as scientifically illiterate as I am can grasp and learn from.
Absolutely fascinating read
Witten by a neurologist, this book dives into the lives of many patients who have been diagnosed with epilepsy. I very quickly discovered I know nothing about epilepsy. I found O'Sullivan's writing draws readers in with her descriptions of her patients' lives, symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments. I was shocked to learn of the variety of ways epilepsy manifests itself. O'Sullivan carries her captivating writing style into her informative explanations as well. She explains the scientific side of the disease, as far as scientists have yet discovered about the infinitely complex human brain. She breaks down her explanations to a level that even someone as scientifically illiterate as I am can grasp and learn from.
January 16, 2022
This book simply consists of descriptions of the symptoms of patients with epilepsy: these patients are several of the author’s; she is a neurologist.
The symptoms are generally extremely strange and dramatic; sometimes it is not at first clear that the patient has epilepsy at all.
The author is very honest about admitting her uncertainty about her patients’ diagnoses and how often she has no clue about what is wrong with them.
Wahid is 25 and has strange attacks that wake him at night. He sits up, grunts, points at the wall, and looks scared.
Cherylin wakes in peculiar places, with no idea how she got there, She is fearful and disorientated.
She counts and shouts numbers.
Wahid and Cherylin both have what are called focal seizures but they come from different areas of the brain.
Most seizures last at most a few minutes.
Amy feels as though she’s sliding downhill, and that she’s sucked down the road. These types of fits are called Alice in Wonderland experiences by the medical community.
And in fact Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, may well have suffered from epilepsy, He had two episodes of loss of consciousness that may have been due to epilepsy.
After being told that there was a possibility he could be fired from his job as school janitor, Donal had his first attack.
He saw little men about a foot tall run from behind a plant pot to a filing cabinet. They looked like the seven dwarfs, seven small brightly coloured men. What he saw was “”very, very real”, but he realizes that he is seeing things: they are cartoon characters.
Donal’s MRI scan and EEG were normal, as with many, perhaps most, of the author’s epileptic patients.
The author places her patients in the epilepsy centre where they can be observed by being videoed around the clock. Most patients stay for five days, some stay for two weeks.
Every video telemetry patient wears a minimum of 5 electrodes on their head.
Donal’s cartoon visitors may have been a memory, or perhaps he conjured them from his imagination.
His seizures went away with medication.
Maya has had epilepsy since she was ten years old. Her only experience of her seizures is waking up from them. Sometimes she finds herself lying on the ground, or misses some time.
She “just loses it for a while”. She’s just not there. But sometimes she falls over and stops breathing.
Maya had tried six different tablets, but the best they did was reduce the number of attacks.
Some drugs have horrendous side effects.
Surgeons removed a piece of Maya’s brain, and she is now totally free of seizures.
We are given details of several of the author’s patients. Some got cured, some didn’t and one died.
Scientific details are given regarding which parts of the brain are involved. All the cases diverge from each other.
The solutions to the seizures are first and foremost drugs, but also surgery, though this is generally a final option, as the risks are severe, since anything can happen as a result of brain surgery.
The book is well-written and fascinating since all the cases are different and mostly have strange/dramatic symptoms.
I previously had a boyfriend with epilepsy (which resulted from brain surgery at an early age). He took strong medicine but still had fits. I advised him to take a B-complex pill together with magnesium, which greatly reduced the number of his seizures, though he continued to take his medicine.
This was how I knew that magnesium might work for me, when I myself later had psycho-motor seizures.
My seizures happened when on the point of sleep. When falling sleep on the train on my way home from work I heard loud bangs as though bombs were being thrown on the train, but I was the only one that heard them. One time in bed, I saw fire coming from the wall, but since I had recently moved into the flat, I thought that this must be due to a fault in the electrical installations. Once the whole inside of my brain was lit up.
I did not consult a doctor but began to take a strong magnesium tablet together with a strong B-vitamin complex pill. The seizures continued so I consulted a naturopath who advised me to double the amount of magnesium I took, which I did; consequently the seizures stopped.
This was years go; today the only thing remaining of the seizures is a few clicks every night when I’m on the point of falling asleep; they seem to come from a bedside lamp or another electrical installation.
However, since magnesium and B-vitamins worked for my boyfriend and later myself, I am sure they might work for others. The author, being a doctor, of course, apparently had no knowledge of the effectiveness of magnesium and/or B-vitamins, (I believe it is B6 that is the crucial B-vitamin, but B-vitamins should not be taken separately, as this might create an extra need for the other B-vitamins not taken.)
But since drugs are so potentially harmful, in my view it would be beneficial to try natural supplements first. Note that I am not suggesting that people stop taking their medication.
To sum up, this is the only book I’ve read about epilepsy and I found it fascinating to read about the various forms of fits, including hallucinations. I recommend that you read the book
The symptoms are generally extremely strange and dramatic; sometimes it is not at first clear that the patient has epilepsy at all.
The author is very honest about admitting her uncertainty about her patients’ diagnoses and how often she has no clue about what is wrong with them.
Wahid is 25 and has strange attacks that wake him at night. He sits up, grunts, points at the wall, and looks scared.
Cherylin wakes in peculiar places, with no idea how she got there, She is fearful and disorientated.
She counts and shouts numbers.
Wahid and Cherylin both have what are called focal seizures but they come from different areas of the brain.
Most seizures last at most a few minutes.
Amy feels as though she’s sliding downhill, and that she’s sucked down the road. These types of fits are called Alice in Wonderland experiences by the medical community.
And in fact Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, may well have suffered from epilepsy, He had two episodes of loss of consciousness that may have been due to epilepsy.
After being told that there was a possibility he could be fired from his job as school janitor, Donal had his first attack.
He saw little men about a foot tall run from behind a plant pot to a filing cabinet. They looked like the seven dwarfs, seven small brightly coloured men. What he saw was “”very, very real”, but he realizes that he is seeing things: they are cartoon characters.
Donal’s MRI scan and EEG were normal, as with many, perhaps most, of the author’s epileptic patients.
The author places her patients in the epilepsy centre where they can be observed by being videoed around the clock. Most patients stay for five days, some stay for two weeks.
Every video telemetry patient wears a minimum of 5 electrodes on their head.
Donal’s cartoon visitors may have been a memory, or perhaps he conjured them from his imagination.
His seizures went away with medication.
Maya has had epilepsy since she was ten years old. Her only experience of her seizures is waking up from them. Sometimes she finds herself lying on the ground, or misses some time.
She “just loses it for a while”. She’s just not there. But sometimes she falls over and stops breathing.
Maya had tried six different tablets, but the best they did was reduce the number of attacks.
Some drugs have horrendous side effects.
Surgeons removed a piece of Maya’s brain, and she is now totally free of seizures.
We are given details of several of the author’s patients. Some got cured, some didn’t and one died.
Scientific details are given regarding which parts of the brain are involved. All the cases diverge from each other.
The solutions to the seizures are first and foremost drugs, but also surgery, though this is generally a final option, as the risks are severe, since anything can happen as a result of brain surgery.
The book is well-written and fascinating since all the cases are different and mostly have strange/dramatic symptoms.
I previously had a boyfriend with epilepsy (which resulted from brain surgery at an early age). He took strong medicine but still had fits. I advised him to take a B-complex pill together with magnesium, which greatly reduced the number of his seizures, though he continued to take his medicine.
This was how I knew that magnesium might work for me, when I myself later had psycho-motor seizures.
My seizures happened when on the point of sleep. When falling sleep on the train on my way home from work I heard loud bangs as though bombs were being thrown on the train, but I was the only one that heard them. One time in bed, I saw fire coming from the wall, but since I had recently moved into the flat, I thought that this must be due to a fault in the electrical installations. Once the whole inside of my brain was lit up.
I did not consult a doctor but began to take a strong magnesium tablet together with a strong B-vitamin complex pill. The seizures continued so I consulted a naturopath who advised me to double the amount of magnesium I took, which I did; consequently the seizures stopped.
This was years go; today the only thing remaining of the seizures is a few clicks every night when I’m on the point of falling asleep; they seem to come from a bedside lamp or another electrical installation.
However, since magnesium and B-vitamins worked for my boyfriend and later myself, I am sure they might work for others. The author, being a doctor, of course, apparently had no knowledge of the effectiveness of magnesium and/or B-vitamins, (I believe it is B6 that is the crucial B-vitamin, but B-vitamins should not be taken separately, as this might create an extra need for the other B-vitamins not taken.)
But since drugs are so potentially harmful, in my view it would be beneficial to try natural supplements first. Note that I am not suggesting that people stop taking their medication.
To sum up, this is the only book I’ve read about epilepsy and I found it fascinating to read about the various forms of fits, including hallucinations. I recommend that you read the book
February 3, 2021
As much as I enjoyed reading the book and the various cases in it, I must admit that it took me a while to adjust to it. Adjust in the sense, understand that although the title of the book says Detective Stories from the World of Neurology, the book is only about cases pertaining to epilepsy. Once you make your peace with that, you are set.
The cases are an interesting lot. Epilepsy has multiple causes and can manifest itself in different ways. The easiest bit about the disease is, perhaps its deduction. From then on, it's an uphill task. Neurology drugs as it is are known to have a narrow therapeutic index. Not all drugs are effective; it's like having a unique lock to which there are only a handful keys available. The cases are a mixed bag in terms of result. The open endings in some might leave you wanting, imagine how the case is with patients who have to live with it, day in and day out.
The cases are an interesting lot. Epilepsy has multiple causes and can manifest itself in different ways. The easiest bit about the disease is, perhaps its deduction. From then on, it's an uphill task. Neurology drugs as it is are known to have a narrow therapeutic index. Not all drugs are effective; it's like having a unique lock to which there are only a handful keys available. The cases are a mixed bag in terms of result. The open endings in some might leave you wanting, imagine how the case is with patients who have to live with it, day in and day out.
February 14, 2023
dios, ADORÉ este libro !! Nunca había leído libros de neurología como tal, proveniente de doctores y todo el mundillo, por lo que estaba un poco asustada sobre si iba a ser muy denso para mí. Fue todo lo contrario. Fue un libro muy fácil y entretenido de leer, habían ratos en que no podía parar de leer.
Quiero destacar algo que puede parecer muy trivial, pero que en el mundo tan egocéntrico y competitivo que es el de la medicina; y es que la doctora admite muchas dudas, temores, equivocaciones, e inseguridades que la hacen ver mucho más real h humana, y que es algo muy valioso para futuros estudiantes de medicina y neurología.
Volviendo al libro: me gustó mucho su forma de estructurarse. Quizás habría sido bueno especificar que se trataría casi únicamente de epilepsia, pues tiene una premisa que aborda la neurología como rama generalizada. A mí no me molestó en ll absoluto, pero comprendo si a otros lectores no les pase lo mismo.
Algo que adoré fue el perfecto balance entre terminología medica, su explicación y simplificación, el diálogo entre los pacientes y la doctora y su familia, y la historia del paciente en sí. Fue muy orgánico y fluido todo.
Es un libro muy fácil de leer, y sumamente interesante también. Se lo recomiendo a cualquiera que tenga un mínimo interés en saber de estas cosas, pues no se aburrirá ni se sentirá perdido entre tanta terminología.
Y bueno, siempre se siente linda esa llama de pasión en mí que se enciende ante la neurología. Este libro sólo la reforzó y eso me encanta <3
Quiero destacar algo que puede parecer muy trivial, pero que en el mundo tan egocéntrico y competitivo que es el de la medicina; y es que la doctora admite muchas dudas, temores, equivocaciones, e inseguridades que la hacen ver mucho más real h humana, y que es algo muy valioso para futuros estudiantes de medicina y neurología.
Volviendo al libro: me gustó mucho su forma de estructurarse. Quizás habría sido bueno especificar que se trataría casi únicamente de epilepsia, pues tiene una premisa que aborda la neurología como rama generalizada. A mí no me molestó en ll absoluto, pero comprendo si a otros lectores no les pase lo mismo.
Algo que adoré fue el perfecto balance entre terminología medica, su explicación y simplificación, el diálogo entre los pacientes y la doctora y su familia, y la historia del paciente en sí. Fue muy orgánico y fluido todo.
Es un libro muy fácil de leer, y sumamente interesante también. Se lo recomiendo a cualquiera que tenga un mínimo interés en saber de estas cosas, pues no se aburrirá ni se sentirá perdido entre tanta terminología.
Y bueno, siempre se siente linda esa llama de pasión en mí que se enciende ante la neurología. Este libro sólo la reforzó y eso me encanta <3
March 2, 2019
Sullivan has culled stories from her years working with neurology patients and compiled a powerhouse of a book dealing with the mysteries of the human brain.
She has heard it all in her years of practicing medicine: cartoon characters appearing, rag doll attributes, visitations, goosebumps, etc. So many of these symptoms are due to the brain and how it functions. The study of epilepsy gave a lot of clues as to the root of the symptoms, and as follow-up and lots of research showed, never take your brain for granted. It rules your body.
She has heard it all in her years of practicing medicine: cartoon characters appearing, rag doll attributes, visitations, goosebumps, etc. So many of these symptoms are due to the brain and how it functions. The study of epilepsy gave a lot of clues as to the root of the symptoms, and as follow-up and lots of research showed, never take your brain for granted. It rules your body.
January 13, 2019
This is a must read for any epileptic or anyone interested in epilepsy. It is the first book I have ever found that tells the story of what is like to be epileptic and have epilepsy and it does it amazingly well as I can attest having epilepsy myself. In addition, the doctor who wrote this book does a fantastic job explaining the subject she is writing about in clear ways that the average person who knows nothing about neurology can understand. I think this book should be required reading for neurologists, both those who are studying to become doctors and those who already are.
October 16, 2022
I did not expect this book to be solely about epilepsy, and might not have read it if I knew that. But I'm glad I did. The book has a few stories about the more usual types of epilepsy, but more about the ones that are difficult to diagnose and treat. The stories about patients are fascinating. The author includes some technical information on how each of the cases and/or treatments work, in easy-to-understand but not dumbed down words. I enjoyed reading the book and learned a fair amount.
August 8, 2023
I found the description a bit misleading. All of the cases are about epilepsy and the author tells you so at the outset. So while the book was interesting and while there might have been detective work involved to reach the epilepsy diagnosis for these people, for the reader there is no big mystery to be uncovered.
January 3, 2021
Even though the book has some witty insights on treating the mind/brain, the feeling of hopelessness about (un)available cures for people suffering from disease of the brain, but most of the times the text resembled of a user manual for refridgerator
Read
October 23, 2019Deffo not for me. Too conversational, not enough detail.
November 5, 2019
Fascinating. Definitely not for the WebMD self-diagnosis-ers out there! But another reminder of how much I nerd out on brain science.
June 8, 2023
Biased coz brains r cool 😎
July 26, 2024
An interesting look at brain science and epilepsy, written by a specialist in the field. The author presents numerous case studies that illustrates the wide range of manifestations of epilepsy and how difficult it can be to diagnose and treat. She interspersed the case studies with descriptions of the science of the brain (in an interesting accessible way).
December 28, 2023
Boże jakie to było ciekawe!!
July 16, 2022
All about relatable things 🥲
April 12, 2018
To say this is a fascinating book about sezures does not really do this book justice. This, however, is what it is. The neurologist author more than demonstrates her art of interpreting illness. The patients whose symptoms we meet are fascinating and through O'Sullivan's interpretive storytelling we are reminded that medicine is very far from black and white (full of grey matter?)
Progress on understanding the brain is happening but barely off the starting blocks compared to other fields of medicine. This makes the "detective stories" sing. O'Sullivan appears to be the place of last resort, the cold case queen. She writes in compulsive detail about her holistic delvings, the brain is who we are and a clinician who accepts the shortcomings and blanks in her science seems a safe pair of hands to me.
Progress on understanding the brain is happening but barely off the starting blocks compared to other fields of medicine. This makes the "detective stories" sing. O'Sullivan appears to be the place of last resort, the cold case queen. She writes in compulsive detail about her holistic delvings, the brain is who we are and a clinician who accepts the shortcomings and blanks in her science seems a safe pair of hands to me.
March 2, 2019
If I ever have a brain disease, I want Suzanne O'Sullivan to be my neurologist. She treats PEOPLE, not diseases. She is an incredibly skilled detective and figures out what is wrong with her patients by listening to their stories. It is this talent, more than all the fancy technology and tests, which helps her to figure out what is wrong with her patients. I had no idea that epilepsy can produce such bizarre symptoms (e.g. seeing the seven cartoon dwarfs run across the room, suddenly getting up and running, shouting out "fuck off" and spitting). With amazing empathy and compassion, Dr. O'Sullivan does everything she can to make accurate diagnoses and provide the best treatment possible for her patients. Unfortunately, brain disease is extremely complex and not everyone can be helped. However, Dr. O'Sullivan's efforts always seem to be appreciated. All doctors could learn from her example.
October 27, 2020
Very delayed on writing a review on this!
This book fascinated me. As part of my university degree I did a module on physiology and anatomy, and the complexities of the brain amazed me. All those feelings came back with this and I'm left kind of hypnotised.
Well explained and I appreciate O'Sullivan not dumbing it down.
This book fascinated me. As part of my university degree I did a module on physiology and anatomy, and the complexities of the brain amazed me. All those feelings came back with this and I'm left kind of hypnotised.
Well explained and I appreciate O'Sullivan not dumbing it down.
January 7, 2021
Interesting read!
This book really expanded my knowledge about epilepsy, and the technical terms were explained well so I felt like I understood some of the symptoms of epilepsy and the brain regions/functions that can be affected.
It was fascinating to read about the brain, and the different ways epilepsy can affect people.
This book really expanded my knowledge about epilepsy, and the technical terms were explained well so I felt like I understood some of the symptoms of epilepsy and the brain regions/functions that can be affected.
It was fascinating to read about the brain, and the different ways epilepsy can affect people.
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