Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Physical Illness & Disease

We know pain when we feel it. We fear it and try to avoid it. But do we know what it really is? We're currently experiencing a Renaissance in pain science. In recent years our understanding of pain has altered so radically it's fair to say that everything we thought we knew about pain is wrong. As Dr Monty Lyman reveals, we misunderstand pain - with harmful consequences.

Random House presents the audiobook edition of F*** You Cancer, written and read by Deborah James. As seen on BBC Breakfast. You are stronger than you know, more positive than you ever thought and you can still live with cancer. Whilst this book doesn’t advocate throwing everything down the kitchen sink, it will help you to navigate your feelings through the big C roller coaster, remind you that it’s okay to feel 100 different things in the space of a minute and, most importantly, show you that you can still live your life and be yourself with cancer.

So how do you flip your mind from a negative spiral into realistic and rebellious hope? How do you stop focusing on the why and realise that 'why not me' is just as valid a question? How we learn to respond to any given situation empowers us or destroys us. We have the ability in our minds to dictate our own outcomes—bad or good—and with the right skills and approach, we can be the master of our lives. How to Live When You Could Be Dead will show you how. It will awaken you to question your life as if you didn't have a tomorrow and live it in the way you want to today.

Since the dawn of humankind, mental illness has been one of our greatest causes of suffering as a species. But for the majority of our history, its causes have remained a mystery. Professor Karl Deisseroth shares his breakthrough discovery, optogenetics, a biological technique that allows us to decipher the brain's inner workings using light. With moving and revelatory stories from both personal and professional experience, he reveals what mental illnesses really are, why we suffer from them and the unexpected role they have played in our evolution.

Multiple studies have now confirmed a dramatic link between the health of our microbiome—the trillions of bacteria that live in our digestive tract—and our likelihood of getting devastating viral illnesses like COVID-19. Low-fiber diets, limited exposure to nature, and overzealous use of pharmaceuticals have messed up our microbiome, making many of us more susceptible to viruses than we naturally should be.

It has been called the worst treatment disaster in the NHS's history. But when it was first used Factor VIII was pitched as a medical miracle: a drug made from human plasma that enabled haemophiliacs to lead lives free of fear that a minor injury would prove fatal. But in the 1980s, tens of thousands of haemophiliacs began to test positive with HIV and AIDS. Their life-saving treatment Factor VIII was infected.

Here is the story of SARS-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists who study its origin, its ever-changing nature, and its capacity to kill us. David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems, and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe. He explains why this coronavirus will probably be a 'forever virus,' destined to circulate among humans and bedevil us endlessly.

Shinrin-Yoku, or forest bathing, is the practice of spending time in the forest for better health, happiness and a sense of calm. A pillar of Japanese culture for decades, Shinrin-Yoku is a way to reconnect with nature, from walking mindfully in the woods, to a break in your local park, to walking barefoot on your lawn. Forest Medicine expert Dr Qing Li's research has proven that spending time around trees (even filling your home with house plants and vaporising essential tree oils) can reduce blood pressure, lower stress, boost energy, boost immune system and even help you to lose weight.

Millions of Americans currently suffer from allergies, and the rate is growing. Climate change, globalization, air pollution, and oversanitization of the environment in the early years of life are just a few of the causes that, taken together, have introduced new allergens into our environment that are wreaking havoc and causing needless suffering. According to Dr. Clifford W. Bassett, traditional remedies focus on treating symptoms but leave allergy sufferers vulnerable to continued bouts of misery.

Up until the last ten years, we have misunderstood a fundamental aspect of human health. Although the brain and the body have always been viewed as separate entities – treated in separate hospitals – science now shows that they are intimately linked. Dr Monty Lyman explores the fascinating connection between the mind, immune system and microbiome, offering practical advice on how to stay healthy. A specialist in the cutting-edge field of immunopsychiatry, Lyman argues that we need to change the way we treat disease and the way we see ourselves.

The Human Superorganism makes a sweeping, paradigm-shifting argument. It demolishes two fundamental beliefs that have blinkered all medical thinking until very recently: 1) humans are better off as pure organisms free of foreign microbes; and 2) the human genome is the key to future medical advances. The microorganisms that we have sought to eliminate have been there for centuries, supporting our ancestors.

One in four adults sleeps badly. Sleeping pill prescriptions have increased dramatically over the last three decades, and our bookshelves and browser histories are littered with experts promising to 'fix' our insomnia. But is this so-called sleep crisis anything new? Our relationship to sleep has always been irregular and changeable, shaped by social conventions, commercial imperatives and personal psychologies. Look beneath the headlines and it seems that there is no such thing as a perfect night's sleep. Here Darian Leader reveals the history and pathology of sleeplessness.

Millions of Americans suffer from hearing loss. Faced with the cost and stigma of hearing aids, the natural human tendency is to do nothing and hope for the best, usually while pretending that nothing is wrong. In Volume Control, David Owen argues this inaction comes with a huge social cost. He demystifies the science of hearing while encouraging listeners to get the treatment they need for hearing loss and protect the hearing they still have.

Ruth's tribe are her lively children and her filmmaker husband, Simon, who has motor neurone disease and can communicate only with his eyes. Ruth's other tribe are the friends who gather at the cove in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, and regularly throw themselves into the freezing cold water just for kicks. The Tragic Wives' Swimming Club, as they jokingly call themselves, meet to cope with the extreme challenges life puts in their way, not to mention the monster waves rolling over the horizon.

How to Prevent Dementia begins with the principle that the more we know about dementia, the easier it is to prevent or delay it. A better foundation of knowledge also helps people to understand and interact thoughtfully with loved ones living with the condition. The book shows that dementias exist on a spectrum, starting with perfectly normal performance and ending at the extremes of mental dysfunction. Dr Restak also provides practical advice on how to reduce your risk of developing the condition.

"We all have trapdoors in our lives. Sometimes we jump off just in time: we defuse an argument with a joke; we swerve to prevent a traffic accident. But sometimes we are unlucky enough to be on the trapdoor when the lever is pulled. My own trapdoor was hidden in the consulting room of an Oxford neurologist." When the trapdoor opened for Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, he plummeted into a world of MRI scans, a disobedient body and the crushing unpredictability of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. But, like Alice tumbling into Wonderland, his fall did something else.

In The Complete Guide to Memory, renowned neurologist and bestselling author Dr Richard Restak distils the wisdom of an entire career into a one-stop guide to the science of memory. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, case studies, famous anecdotes and more, he offers tips and tricks for anyone who wants to strengthen their memory, protect themselves from diseases like Alzheimer's and think smarter.

ASMR to Drift Back to Sleep is a must for anyone looking to tune out the noise of the night and find comfort and relaxation in bed. Using sound-bathing and meditative techniques Emma will keep you in a hypnotic state and allow you to gently drift back to sleep. ASMR to Drift Back to Sleep is a must have for ASMR fans, beginners and those searching for deep, joyful and meditative ways to relax.

What is a dream? Why do we dream? How do our bodies and minds use dreams? These questions are the starting point for this unprecedented, astonishing study of the role and significance of dreams, from the beginning of human history. An investigation on the grand scale, encompassing literature, anthropology, religion and science, it articulates the essential place dreams occupy in human culture and how they functioned as the catalyst that compelled us to transform our earthly habitat into a human world.

In Eyes Wide Open, Isaac Lidsky draws on his experience of achieving immense success, joy, and fulfillment while losing his sight to a blinding disease to show us that it isn't external circumstances but how we perceive and respond to them that governs our reality.