The Fatal Sleep: Africa's Killer Disease That Went Undiscovered for Centuries | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Kennedy
Publisher: Luath Press Limited
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
Buy New: $18.05
You Save: $11.95 (40%)
New (22) Used (5) from $18.05
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 671025
Format: Illustrated
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 190522267X
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9781905222674
ASIN: 190522267X
Publication Date: October 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, continues to be largely neglected by the Western world and pharmaceutical companies. In this expos, Kennedy pens the true story of Africa's killer disease that had gone undiscovered for centuries and the doctors struggling to fight it.
|
| Customer Reviews:
When the cure is a bad as the disease June 16, 2008
I would like to add my enthusiastic endorsement of Dr. Peter Kennedy's book, "The Fatal Sleep." The goal of this extremely interesting and easy to read narration is "to tell the non-scientist about the history and profound importance of human African trypanosomiasis, aka sleeping sickness." Dr. Kennedy has attained his goal in a way that enlightens both the `Dark Continent' and basic science. The book begins with a description of Kenya at the turn of the millennium and flashes over 30 years back to Peter's life as a young medical student at University College London. What follows is a fantastic telling of the events that led him to Africa - 18 individual times - to establish a research program and conduct research in field stations and to become one of the world's leading clinical scientists not only treating those with the disease, but studying the trypanosome and mentoring medical students to follow in his footsteps. Reading "The Fatal Sleep" is like listening to a story told by a friend who has the time to answer your questions. Like how is life in Africa, what are copper mines, who really was David Livingstone, what is an immune system, why should we be interested in sleeping sickness, and what is the prospect for the future. Peter's command of the (real) English language paints vivid pictures; for example, driving on a rain soaked road that is no more than a memory in the drive's mind. However his description of the African night sky is especially enchanting. Dr. Kennedy's book is well worth the time and his imagery will stay with the reader forever. The Fatal Sleep is a book for all to read, enjoy and find solace that teams of dedicated doctors and scientists are diligently working for the betterment of people suffering from a disease whose cure is often fatal.
A fresh look at one of Africa's most deadly disease May 14, 2008
Dr. Kennedy's book, The Fatal Sleep, is a wonderful narrative on one of Africa's neglected diseases - African Sleeping Sickness. The disease caused by the free-swimming, single cell parasite called the African trypanosome is also arguably the most deadly of the parasitic diseases that plague humankind, including malaria. Even the treatment used to eradicate the trypanosome once it enters the brain can be fatal.
The book is highly informative and presented in a way that is understandable to the non-medical person. Highly entertaining stories of his experiences from the copper mines of Zambia to the Kenyan/Ugandan highlands and clearly written historical accounts and scientific explanations on the complexities of the parasite's life cycle between the tsetse fly vector and man or animal make this book a joy to read.
I recommend this book to anyone who has a fascination with all that is Africa, including the adventure of safari. Physicians, nurses and others in the medical field, not to mention the research scientists who study the disease will also benefit from what this book has to say.
The Sleeping Sickness - biologically fascinating ,deadly to humans and animals. November 20, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The spectrum of disease in the tropics is quite different from that elsewhere. Some of the diseases are both exotic biologically and important medically. HIV disease is a pertinent example, in which an unusual type of virus, spreading worldwide from Africa, causes an especially cruel (and frequently fatal) disease. A less well known (in the West) example is the "sleeping sickness", or African trypanosomiasis. This disease renders large parts of Africa uninhabitable for both humans and domestic animals. It is a progressive neurological disease, leading always to death in the untreated patient. Treated patients often do not fare much better.
This book is the personal story of the author, a distinguished neurovirologist who became interested in Africa after spending some time there while in medical school. It is part autobiography, part travelogue, part medical and neurologic treatise, all blended together in a harmonious way. The author supplies interesting details about conducting research in an unfamiliar environment and emphasizes the need to support and collaborate with the very considerable scientific talent already present there.
I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it.
|
|
|
