Cheating Death – Sanjay Gupta
From Sanjay Gupta, the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing Life comes a fascinating exploration of the thin and ever-blurring line between life and death – Cheating Death
A 12-week old unborn baby with a fatal heart defect; a skier drowned for an hour in a frozen Norwegian lake; a comatose brain surgery victim; a teenager with four rapidly expanding brain tumors. Prognosis? Twenty years ago all would have been left for dead. But incredible new advances in the sciences of human survival have now changed that, and each of these would-be fatalities is not only alive, but leading a healthy, productive life today.
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
In Cheating Death, Dr Sanjay Gupta chronicles the emerging science behind these medical miracles, made possible by a new breed of doctors who refuse to accept that any life is ‘lost’ and the almost daily scientific breakthroughs in the field. Drawing on the case files in the rapidly evolving science of survival, and his unprecedented access to breaking news in this field from around the globe, Dr Gupta explains the latest technological developments that are changing our understanding of the human body’s own survival capabilities, and our definition of the very boundaries of the beginning and end of human life. Dr Gupta not only shares these deeply personal stories of triumph, but insights into the remarkable discoveries that are making them possible.
High-profile physician-journalist Gupta — a medical reporter for CNN and columnist for Time who declined President Obama’s nomination to be surgeon general — knows a great story when he hears one, and in this collection he rolls out extraordinarily harrowing and inspiring tales from the annals of they-ought-to-be-dead … it’s beyond comforting to know there are doctors who simply refuse to quit a brave but ultimately losing battle to wrestle control over death.’
(Booklist (starred review)) ‘Dr. Gupta has masterfully woven compelling human stories and medical drama that intersect that narrow line separating life from death. The brave doctors who courageously defy conventional wisdom and embrace bold science and the human condition will have you cheering and shaking your head in amazement.’
Nancy L. Snyderman, M.D., NBC News Chief Medical Editor; Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pennsylvania ‘Sanjay Gupta melds dramatic stories of people on the cusp of death rescued by life-saving advances. This book deeply touches the heart and enlightens the mind.’
Jerome Groopman, M.D., Recanati Professor, Harvard Medical School, Author of How Doctors Think
Links and Further Reading
- Watch Dr Sanjay Gupta discuss Cheating Death
Read this book? – Leave a comment or review below.
Related posts:
- 2 Comments
- Tags: 9781921640100, Sanjay Gupta
Brain Surgery News: Cheating Death – Sanjay Gupta | BookOffers.com.au: A 12-week old unborn .. http://bit.ly/ZJBb
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
ReplyIn the book, on his TV show, and in interviews promoting the book, Gupta is unmistakably confusing coma, persistant vegetative state, and brain death. He’s clearly linking his stories of recovery from vegetative state with brain death and organ procurement for transplantation. Brain death is an entirely separate condition from both persistant vegetative state, and coma. Mark Ragucci was never declared brain dead. (See: http://www.nyuhjd.org/rusk/news/articles/11_23_ragucci.html). The NIH (www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/coma/coma.htm), and many other institions and organizations concerned with medical information, take pains to inform the public that there is a big difference. When a family is informed of a declaration of brain death they shouldn’t have to feel that medical professionals are conspiring and failing to save their loved one. Yet Gupta seems determined to convince the public that brain death is just vegetative state, and that medical professionals are just reluctant to help the “brain dead”.
ReplyBrain death is misrepresented on pages 140 and 142. An example of Gupta misrepresenting brain death in promoting the book is in the Fresh Air transcript: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=113681104
There are many more.