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Cheating Death
by
Sanjay Gupta
SAVING LIVES AGAINST ALL ODDS
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 patient...a teenager with four rapidly expanding tumors. Twenty years ago all of them would have been given up for dead-with no realistic hope for their survival. But today, thanks to incredible new advances ...more
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 patient...a teenager with four rapidly expanding tumors. Twenty years ago all of them would have been given up for dead-with no realistic hope for their survival. But today, thanks to incredible new advances ...more
Hardcover, Large Print, 416 pages
Published
October 12th 2009
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published September 22nd 2009)
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Cheating Death by Sanjay Gupta, M.D. would be considered science fiction if the stories were not true. The dramatic vignettes include: a skier submerged in icy waters for over an hour without a pulse; a man with an invariably lethal brain tumor who lives to celebrate the thirteenth anniversary of his diagnosis; and a “hopeless” neurological patient who returns to his medical practice. These “medical miracles” occurred in large part due to the interruption of the death domino chain. As Gupta exp...more
Cheating Death is an easy to read, fascinating book that looks at how doctors are blurring the line between death and life, sometimes to restore life in cases that seemed hopeless. Sanjay Gupta, as you probably know, is a neurosurgeon and a medical correspondent for CNN. He writes in a way that makes it clear he is knowledgeable, but also makes his knowledge clear to lay people. He tells us about research that has shown that cooling the body can make it more resistant to loss of oxygenation--and...more
Read by the author and an interesting read. Extreme cases of mending severely damaged people, in utero surgery, etc. etc. Dramatic and provocative discussion of the gray area between life and death. He says that the heart stopping is just the beginning of death. Talks about the experimental search for slowing time on the battlefield, with a stroke victim, heart attack victim, trauma victim etc, to allow effective treatment.
I couldn't help wondering about the immense cost of many...more
I couldn't help wondering about the immense cost of many...more
I remember reading Sanjay Gupta's writing in my creative nonfiction classes and being really impressed with him. He has amazing skill at making topics in the medical field accessible and really interesting to the average person like me, whose eyes usually glaze over at the slightest medical-sounding words.
This book, where Gupta looks into the great advances that are happening throughout the medical community in cheating death, really fascinated me. Treatments that seem like they have ...more
This book, where Gupta looks into the great advances that are happening throughout the medical community in cheating death, really fascinated me. Treatments that seem like they have ...more
Sanjay Gupta shares stories of patients that had fallen within that gray zone where they are "neither truly dead or actually alive," and have subsequently benefited from good luck and medical expertise and recovered to lead productive lives.
I found the book fascinating. The clear and detailed descriptions of the medical cases and discoveries were riveting in and of themselves. For instance, learning how hypothermia can slow down the effect of lack of oxygen caused by a stro...more
I found the book fascinating. The clear and detailed descriptions of the medical cases and discoveries were riveting in and of themselves. For instance, learning how hypothermia can slow down the effect of lack of oxygen caused by a stro...more
I loved this book. I don't read a lot of non-fiction, so when I do select a NF book it is because it has been highly recommended and/or regarding a subject I am interested in. I read about this book in a book review column of some magazine (don't recall which one) while sitting in the critical care surgery waiting room at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. My mom had major surgery on 10/13/09 to repair an ascending aortic aneurysm and heart valves. The surgeon told us that in ord...more
I enjoyed reading this book, and learned some valuable things. Most practical:
I now know that if ever I need to give CPR to anyone, I should just do the heart palpitations and skip the mouth-to-mouth. Turns out patients have a better survival rate that way. Most mind-bending: There isn't really a "line" between life and death. Death is a process, a chain reaction in a body when too much goes wrong. And the process CAN be reversed, if it hasn't gone too far. Most surpris...more
I now know that if ever I need to give CPR to anyone, I should just do the heart palpitations and skip the mouth-to-mouth. Turns out patients have a better survival rate that way. Most mind-bending: There isn't really a "line" between life and death. Death is a process, a chain reaction in a body when too much goes wrong. And the process CAN be reversed, if it hasn't gone too far. Most surpris...more
Dr. Gupta takes his readers on a wild ride through modern medical science. I learned so much from this book! It was interesting, fast-paced, informative, but also held a certain amount of adventure and suspense as Gupta tells stories and relates interviews with people who have had amazing experiences with life and death—and in-between. Prepare to have your mind boggled with modern day science written in easy-to-understand and easy-to-follow prose.
Audio review: The audio-book was read...more
Audio review: The audio-book was read...more
Dr. Gupta writes in a knowledgeable, albeit clinical and sometimes dry, tone about patients who have been saved from the brink of death. Gupta narrates each medical miracle and then describes proposed reforms to the medical profession. These proposed reforms are simple, cheap, and often obvious – in the vein of Malcolm Gladwell. However, Gupta’s dry prose and digressive narration often obscure rather than elucidate these proposed reforms. In addition, there is a strange chapter in the book about...more
I thought that this book was a fascinating look at promising medical interventions with gripping real-life modern "miracles" used as examples. I especially enjoyed the first couple of chapters which focused on the use of medically induced hypothermia to slow down brain injury following cardiac arrest and strokes, and also on new information regarding the relative futility of CPR and simple measures that, if used instead, could save many lives of those suffering from cardiac arrest. T...more
Fascinating stories of patients and doctors who won't give up. Great lines like this from Chapter Seven's "What is a Miracle?" -- " The story I am about to tell you is one I think of every time I walk into a patient's room as a neurosurgeon. It is a story I remember when I am about to tell a patient the worst news of all." Lots of unbelievable stories with tantalizing lead-in's like the previous one, all told with a personal passion and quest for answers by Dr. Gupta. Hope is...more
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The author, Sanjay Gupta, is a practicing neurosurgeon & associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital & assistant professor at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. He is a columnist for Time Magazine & chief medical correspondent at CNN.
This was a really interesting book & I was very intrigued by all the various stories, some that really stuck out are below:
Cardiologist Dr. Gordon Ewy at the Sarver Heart Center in Tucson had been doing CPR experimen...more
Just listened to Cheating Death by Sanjay Gupta. Do you know how long you can survive under water without breathing? Longer than you think. This book boldly goes into the gray zone between life and death to shine the bright light of science where few have the courage to look. Sanjay Gupta offers some very interesting research results and amazing survival stories about our bodies and their ability to recover from accidents and injury if given the right care. But this care has only recently been d...more
Another interesting medical read. Dr. Gupta explores some of the newest technology and practices that are helping to save lives. I liked reading about specific cases, such as the woman who was under water for two hours and clinically dead, yet survived. I especially liked that chapter titled "What is a Miracle?" The thoughts explored there are the heart of the debate between science and faith. The author draws no conclusion, but the ideas laid out there make for interesting readin...more
An interesting read, which did get me thinking about about the individual discoveries in science that have pushed the limits of what is considered death. My three big take aways were that even after someone has a coma, the brain is capable of building new links around the holes where brain death has occurred; induced hypothermia is the way to go to keeping someone alive but not dying until you get to the hospital; and when giving CPR you should just focus on rapid chest compressions and skip th...more
This is an interesting book about scientifically proven ways to increase your outcome of living after a traumatic event such as a heart attack. Doctors everywhere really should be practicing these techniques but as with everything in this day and age it takes a long time for change to occur in health care. If you are in the medical field then this is a must read.
The jumpy organization bothered me, as did the use of anecdote over solid facts. I worry that Dr. Gupta's cherry picked stories will lead to wasted time, money, and useless heartache as people try to emulate the book's subjects and cheat death as well. Good thing he's not our surgeon general.
Still, solid writing and storytelling
Still, solid writing and storytelling
This was an easy to read medical book with fascinating stories of people that would have died without trying new protocols to save lives. No longer in certain instances will a medical person say - they have been without oxygen for too long a time. I found the stories very exciting - like a new book has been written about saving lives.
This book opened my eyes to some amazing and interesting techniques being used in the medical field right now! This book is an easy read, yet it is full of so many amazing stories about survival that you will have to keep reading to see where it is all going. I think my favorite was using hypothermia to slow the body processes down enough to extend the amount of time to help save a person.
This book reminds me of a dramatic episode of House - minus the snark and somewhat sketchy diagnoses. In this case, that's a good thing. I was enthralled reading about parts of the cutting edge of medicine that save lives against formerly terrible odds, and the doctors that push for new life saving techniques against all opposition.
The book is fairly short, and a quick read. Highly recommended if you're into interesting medical cases and brand new solutions for old problems.
The book is fairly short, and a quick read. Highly recommended if you're into interesting medical cases and brand new solutions for old problems.
This book really impressed me by covering cutting-edge topics that relate not just to cheating death, but extending life. The part about CPR, and why breathing into a person's mouth actually LOWERS the chance to survive, is alone worth the price of the book.
This book is a fascinating look at new medical research concerning the biological process of death. It's very strange to realize that the line between life and death is not nearly so clear-cut as one might think, and the stories of doctors that have slowed or reversed the processes of death are amazing.
Engaging stories of successful resuscitations and the implications. Being involved in this field, it's easy for me to lose sight of how wondrous it really is. Gupta illustrates just how blurry the line between life and death has become.
This book is our book club choice, and I wasn't sure it was going to be my style, but it was actually really interesting. It's comparable to a medical version of Malcom Gladwell type books. I hope the medical community will respond to this and make better choices to be able to "cheat death."
http://bookbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/11/...
Eight chapters and many stories on cheating death through the miracle of medicine. Extensive notes at the end of the book for naysayers.
Eight chapters and many stories on cheating death through the miracle of medicine. Extensive notes at the end of the book for naysayers.
Really enjoyed learning about new developments - and freely admitted uncertainties - with an easy and engaging writing style. A bit too focused on anecdotes near the end, but overall a fascinating read.
Very interesting. Medical science is doing amazing things to allow people who under the same circumstances 10 years ago would have died. As a former colleague once commented "Science is a lot of cool stuff."
I would give the 4.5 stars if it let me. The last two chapters were not as interesting as the rest of the book but it is still worth reading if you like the genre. It was interesting to read about the variety of "deaths" people have overcome. I no longer feel that death is easy to define. This might make you revoke your DNR! or not.
I enjoyed the medical "war stories" about the modern shifting line between life and death. Sanjay Gupta's thesis got a little repetitive, but it's a good and interesting read.
This book was so good...poses provocative questions on a number of important medical/ethical/spiritual issues that relate to life and death and the very fine line that separates the two...
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Sanjay Gupta is an American physician and a contributing CNN chief health correspondent based in Atlanta, Georgia. An assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, he is also a frequent guest on the news program Anderson Cooper 360°. "Charity Hospital" won a 2006 Emmy Award...more
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“If you don't want to lose your job, you become conservative, you keep your head down," he told me. "And it's pretty unfortunate, because without the willingness to fail, the possibility for great success is eliminated. [quoted from Mark Roth]”
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“After that experience, I decided that the things that were more important to do were the things I was actually not focused on, and I wasn't focused on them because I was pretty much afraid of failing," he says. [quoted from Mark Roth]”
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