Sanjay Gupta

I can't decide if two stars is generous or just right for this book.

The idea of a novel about high powered doctors and medical mysteries/disasters is an interesting one and I think I'd like to read a good book on the subject instead of this rushed one.

I know that "Monday Mornings" is being produced as a TV show and knowing that this novel totally reads like a screenplay idea. There are tons of BIG BOLD characters with BIG BOLD traits that they keep telling us about and they are all doing BIG BOLD things! Guess what? Did we tell you that they are SUPER SMART and NEVER MAKE MISTAKES but wait? There was a mistake? NO WAY?! Not by one of our team of heros.

YAWN.

If we learned about the doctors slowly and chose who to like and dislike and then became invested in some of their stories and their patient stories (like we might be able to do over a full TV season) this would probably have really entertained me. Instead I just found it annoying. Especially in the final quarter when I was actually laughing out loud at some of the ridiculous (and completely predictable) turns in the plot. OK, as I type I am revising my review down to a single star.

Verdict: pretty terrible as a book but I am going to watch the episode of the TV I have taped to see if it's any better. I think it really does have some potential as a rival to Grey's Anatomy.… (mais)

I’ve seen Dr Gupta on CNN and even though his colleagues say a lot of tosh and only represent one side of things, everything he says is good, in my view.

In this book I found only one thing that I know to be incorrect, and I’ll just point this out to get it over with, since the rest of the book is excellent.

What is incorrect is the author’s statement that Canola oil is ok to use – it's not. It is harmful.

Here are Medical Medium Anthony William’s views on it:

Canola oil is mostly GMO at this point in time. And regardless, canola oil creates a great deal of inflammation. It is especially damaging to your digestive system. Canola oil can feed viruses, bacteria, fungus, and mold. Beyond that, canola oil has an effect similar to battery acid on the inside of your arteries, creating significant vascular damage. Canola oil is used in many restaurants and in thousands of products, often as a low- cost alternative to olive oil. If you are dealing with a mystery illness or a health condition, TRY TO AVOID CANOLA OIL AT ALL COSTS!

The author is a brain surgeon so he knows a bit about the brain.

The book deals with methods to improve your brain and the author’s children make fun of him for having written this book since he himself is apparently forgetful!

The book deals with lifestyle. “We are not doomed by the genetic cards we were dealt at birth.”

What we eat, how much we exercise, who we socialize with, what challenges we face, how well we sleep, what we do to reduce stress, are much more important to our brain health and overall wellness.

No matter your DNA, a good diet, regular exercise, not smoking, limiting alcohol, can change your destiny.

(It amazes me that all authors writing on the subject refrain from/are fearful of insisting that people should completely abstain from alcohol. In view of alcohol’s severe effects on the brain, it would be reasonable/logical to recommend complete abstinence but no-one does this because of our social/psychological dependence on alcohol.)

Healthy living can help one overcome genetic risks for heart disease, and dementia.

Part 1 deals with basic facts about the brain including myths about aging and cognitive decline and how we know the brain can remodel, rewire and grow.

Part 2 deals with the five main categories that ”encompass all the practical strategies you need to protect and heighten your brain function” - exercise and movement, sense of purpose, sleep and relaxation, nutrition and social connection.

It includes a twelve-week programme to carry out the steps the author suggests.

Part 3 deals with the challenges of diagnosing and treating brain diseases.

The book deals with “making your brain as sharp as it can be at any age”.

We learn that the hippocampus is our brain’s memory centre, at least as regards short-term memory. The cortex has to do with long-term memory.

The author deals with a dozen myths, explaining that they are myths and thus not true.

One is that older people are doomed to forget things. Another is that dementia is an inevitable consequence of old age. And older people can’t learn new things.

We use only 10% of our brains. We have all heard this many times but it is absolutely not true.

Another myth is that a crossword puzzle a day can keep the doctor away.

But crossword puzzles flex only a portion of your brain, mostly its word-finding ability, though there is value in doing word and number puzzles, including Sudoku.

Generally keeping an active mind can help reduce decline in thinking skills.

It is also a myth that you are dominated by either your right or left brain.

Also, brain damage is not always permanent. In the hippocampus there’s a reservoir of neural stem cells that are continually replenished and can differentiate into brain neurons.

Exercise is not only good for the body; it’s even better for the brain.

The connection between physical fitness and brain fitness is “clear, direct, and powerful”.

Movement helps to increase, repair, and maintain brain cells.

Picking up a new hobby like painting or learning a new language can strengthen the brain.

Poor sleep can lead to impaired memory and chronic stress can impair your ability to learn and adapt to new situations.

We have evidence to show that consuming certain foods such as cold-water fish, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds and fibrous whole fruits and vegetables, while limiting certain other foods (those high in sugar, and trans fatty acids) can help avoid memory and brain decline.

Having a diverse social network can improve our brain’s plasticity and help preserve our cognitive abilities.

Factors related to brain decline are linked to physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, smoking, social isolation, poor sleep, lack of mentally stimulating activities and misuse of alcohol.”

Being inactive, regardless of your weight, is twice as deadly as being obese The author says ”Sitting is the new smoking”. “Prolonged sitting – more than eight hours a day with zero physical activity – can kill you or lead to an early death”.

But if you’re active, even those few minutes in motion will counter the effects of prolonged sitting.

“Men and women aged forty-five to seventy-nine who are physically active, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, do not smoke, and consume alcohol moderately have an average one-fourth the risk of death a given year than people with unhealthy habits.”

Active aging involves more than moving your body. You also need to move your brain.

There’s a chapter about sleep and relaxation,

We also learn that what’s good for the heart is good for the brain.

Preventing Alzheimer’s is within our grasp, and it starts with how we fuel our bodies.

A combination of healthy foods will help “secure the brain against assault” and it's never too early to begin.

The typical Western diet, high in salt, sugar, excess calories, and saturated fats, is not brain-friendly.

A plant-based diet rich in a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly berries and green leafy vegetables, is assocaited with better brain health.

In 2018 more than a third of us ate fast food daily. “At least one meal day (came) from a pizza box or drive-through.”

Aim for seven different–coloured foods (real food) every day.

The more fruits and vegetables we consume, the more likely we are to rate our brain health higher.

Of those who say they don’t eat any vegetables, fewer than half (49 percent) consider their brain health as excellent or very good.

People with high blood sugar have a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar.

Artificial sugars are not the answer. The human body can’t naturally digest these. They affect gut bacteria in ways that lead to metabolic disfunction, such as insulin resistance and diabetes “contributing to the same overweight and obesity epidemic for which they were marketed to provide a solution”.

These harmful sugar subsitutes are, for example, aspartame, saccharine and sucralose.

As we age, our ability to perceive thirst diminishes. This may be why dehydration is common in older people.

Dehydration often leads to cognitive problems in older people.

We are told of the importance of omega-3 fatty acids and it is suggested that we get them from fatty fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines.

Studies have shown that taking too much fish oil can have negative side-effects such as higher blood sugar levels, increased risk of bleeding, etc.

Space does not permit me to write more about this valuable book. So I will content myself by again highly recommending it as a great overall source of dietary and other information that is not limited to the brain.… (mais)

Important central point: pace Trumpers (I’m free! I’m free to infect people! Pandemic doesn’t matter to me, nor does my granny’s early and needlessly painful death!) and conspiracy theorists (the aliens who shot JFK are at it again, and probably the pope is involved, and the Roman Empire, spreading their lies!), the advice of qualified medical scientists, use masks, follow up to date social distancing restrictions, take the vaccine, are necessary and appropriate. Fighting the pandemic is the necessary and appropriate responsibility of medical science and the government.

Stereotypical conservative talking points:

During his term of office George W. Bush tried to prepare for future pandemics

China’s militaristic dictatorship tried to hush up the virus

Stereotypical liberal talking points:

People of color in the US suffered disproportionately from the pandemic

Trump was a terrible leader

Many other democratic highly developed countries had a more effective pandemic response

—What in France they might call the “yellow jackets” (anti-centrist, any crazy person as long as they’re…. Cray cray all day day!) might be against medical science and other realities of modern life, but the reality is, whatever the limitations of doctors and their knowledge bound and limited by the human condition, we cannot find a more meaningful life by begrudging others their ability to help us, and to help us not unwittingly infect and harm others.

…. Other thoughts: Although I’m glad that we have important doctors and important people to manage the pandemic for me, (and apparently they managed it better for me than for my Black and Latino peers), I am struck by how little I, as a private ordinary person, can know or change about a pandemic. Thus, although I’m glad I eventually read this book as an overview of important ideas like, “sometimes the unexpected happens”, for example, I’m glad that I didn’t follow the great majority of the COVID journalism at the time, (although I obeyed the rules imposed for my and others’ benefit), and if it ever happens again I’ll try to incorporate a few new things like 12 step zoom meetings (going to college, no, I hate college), and working on my chess game, but fundamentally it would (I assume) be the same—at least in so far as even unexpected events can’t make me want to become a shallow, unorganized news junkie. “Factoid, five o’clock!” Somebody needs to organize these factoids into a book so that I can understand and (lol) catalog.

…. I’m glad I got the vaccine, even if I know I can’t do battle with the anti-vaxx crowd. (Sorry Sanjay.) People don’t respect me, thus limiting efforts to influence and convert. I’d be like Paul in prison. “Almost thou persuadest me to take the vaccine, but, I don’t know…. Oh, I know what it is. You have no money.” Although that’s funny because it’s like, Fauci’s probably rich! Somebody get the garrote and let’s set up an ambush! —You’ve got to have the appropriate amount of money, not too much or too little, like, more than me, but in the same town as me.

But if doctors started taking social psych classes because of this, that would be a good thing. “No one I know would believe it unless it came from a reputable source! What influence could junky stuff have in such a nice place like this?”

—enter interesting summation of my borderlands wanderings here

…. Re: general health (I can’t breathe! I’m obese!)

I have this social fear of weighing less than the absolute maximum I can weigh without going overweight (174), because I’m afraid that people will think I look anorexic or something, and I’m not even a girl.

…. I can’t imagine what COVID would have been like if I had been actively schizophrenic (symptomatic). You’re delusional—you think it’s all a reflection of what you’re thinking, even world events, and reality isn’t real; it’s just a poker game that God plays with the Devil, that I anxiously hover over and watch.

I don’t know if anybody’s telling those stories, schizophrenic delusions in the time of the coronavirus, but I would not have liked living it. I didn’t even like having my whole social world collapse into just conversations with surly teenagers over the college zoom meetings—sorry teenagers, yeah, I would not have liked the whole “want to meet people” time of my life to happen when being indoors with other people was impossible, even before I totally lost my mind…. Although it seems like college is divided into the academics with a bad attitude towards everyone and everything, and the lazy drunkards, so fuck that place. Expensive, toxic mental health drain, lol. Keep writing books, guys! I love you from a distance! From a great, distance!

…. Although I never did find someone, bonding and even communication itself can be difficult for me, everyday interpersonal stuff, so I think that’s Always plagued my school career, even in high school, or actually even as a youngster. (My brother is the one who seems to be good with people, and he’s certainly the one with a degree from a good school, not me. I don’t like people, really—I mean, I love people, but they frustrate me. I can deal with up to one other person at a time, with an unspecified cap on non-alone time…. Incidentally there probably were many people more bothered by the pandemic than me, with my personality, but it was just so damn long, such an extreme experience.)

But it is crazy, you know.

—Pleasure or status?
—Um…. Truth? Humility? Service?
—*laughs*

Although I know that not all of our doctors are Nazis, health disparities notwithstanding.

…. I talk too much, but, just to be dramatic, and to provide balance, (youth/age), never forget that the Nazis didn’t like the majority of old people who are old and weak, only the minority who are old and fabulously rich.

I’ve taken to calling normal people who happen to be named “Donald”, “Dee”, in my reviews, so. (Yes, I’m crazy. But the world—the world is crazier.)… (mais)