The Emperor of All Maladies
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“The Emperor of All Maladies” enables you to know Cancer better
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Apr 29, 2011 02:05AM
It’s the knowledge of the disease that helps a lot for the medication purpose, and “The Emperor of All Maladies” lets you have a detailed idea of the disease of concern, called Cancer. RightBooks.In has brought this utility book for you, and click www.rightbooks.in/product_details.asp... to have it.
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This was one of Kindle's books to sample; had to buy it and couldn't put it down. I was blown away by this book; the history of the disease, the early fundraising efforts and their heroes, and the doctors/scientists who are in the trenches day after day, month after month, year after year, continuing their research to find the causes, successful treatments and hopefully someday a cure. Some chapters do get rather technical for those of us who do not have a medical background, but still so worth the read.
When I was a kid way back in the 1960's, people used to talk about cancer in hushed tones - it was akin to a death sentence. Today too many people I know have cancer in one or other of its forms.I bought the book to get to know the disease better, but, though the book is wonderfully written and easy to read, I am no closer to understanding cancer or its causes.
To Shaik, neither are a lot of researchers and drs. any closer to understanding some cancers. However, I learned that through many years of research and discovery (not to mention the huge financial support for that work), they now do understand some cancers. We now know that there is a genetic component to some cancers, we now know that there are chemicals, products, and environmental conditions that will enhance the chance of developing a cancer, and we now know that early detection can produce a cure in some cancers. There are still those cancers that puzzle and confound researchers but the work continues to eventually find a cure for all. That I did learn from "Maladies."
Hi Kathy!Thank you for sharing.
This was hands down the best non-fiction I ever read. The sheer volume of facts and figures kept me learning. All the Biology that I learnt in school came screaming back at me. Siddhartha has to be the best chronicler of our times. I was dumbfounded to learn that 'cancer' is such a vague term given to a sea of diseases. Radical Mastectomy is one regretful of a 'cure'. I was exasperated to learn of nicotene- the easiest, readily available carcinogen. Thanks to cigarette barons and their lobbying, humankind still consumes this malady directly or indirectly. So many things to talk about this one. I could go on forever...
I read the book a few months ago, so I can't remember exactly everything I had read. I saw this discussion on this board and couldn't help adding my two cents. I know no one in my life who has read this book, so it's nice to find people who have.I also loved this book. I felt it was like a mystery or a detective novel.
What I found fascinating was how little attention and money our society and science has put on prevention and so much attention on cure. I think it is an example of our belief that we should be able to do, eat, and drink whatever we want, but not think about the consequences.
I found it frustrating that science has not come up with a definite cause of most of the various cancers. Yes, nicotine causes cancer, but there are still many people who never smoke but get cancer. Then there are people who smoke their whole lives and never get cancer. It's partly genetic, but I don't believe that it is all genetic. There is something in the environment that triggers a gene to turn on or not turn on. What is it in the environment that leads to breast cancer.
@pupukat, it was like a mystery or a detective but only non-fiction. Thank-you! It absolutely grips and spellbinds you.
What I got from this book is that conventional medicine is nowhere near to finding the answer. The more they deconstruct cancer the further away the cure becomes - and yet a complete refusal to look at the holistic options. If I had cancer this book would be severly disheartening.
@Jonathan, true! It doesn't include the warmest of hopes and 'cures'. The author does sound cynical at times. I guess that's exactly what cancer does to us! I would still say that the end was nonetheless very matter of fact.
This book is important precisely because it is written by an oncologist - and he says that the cure for cancer is not even on the horizon - which is what the people arguing for alternative approaches have been saying all the time - if you want to read a book that gives a more positive picture of cancer cure possibilities I would have to suggest the Cancer: The Complete Recovery Guides (out soon in one volume as The Cancer Survivor's Bible) - but naturally I am biased as I am the author.
Jonathan wrote: "This book is important precisely because it is written by an oncologist - and he says that the cure for cancer is not even on the horizon - which is what the people arguing for alternative approach..."Okie. Now I understand where you are coming from :D
I have lost people in my family to Cancer too. I perfectly understand the pain and trauma one goes thru when discovered a loved one afftected with cancer. Here is a thought though strictly personal. At the place I grew up we never had proper infrastructure to treat cancer (or for that matter malaria). People do go for a lot of the 'alternative' treatments. I am not sure what they actually do but I know few of them who did recover. We called them 'miracles'.
I shall definitely read The Cancer Survivor's Bible! Thank-you!
as a, so far, stage IV cancer survivor, im looking forward to reading your book.
It's an empowering book. For some of us, knowledge is the key to dispelling fear and Emperor is a wonderful incision through the dark veil of cancer.Wow, that turned a little bit wordy there.
Great book, really helped me to understand.
Nan, what's your story? Are you cancer free right now or still stage 4? In my book I tell the stories of a number of people who are now cancer free who were told they were no longer treatable by their doctors.
This book was absolutely fantastic. It opened my eyes about cancer, the eye opener was the fact that cancer is so much more common than it was even 300 years ago and that the possible reason is because humans are living longer with the improvements of medicine and medical science. Cancer is like a self-distruct mechanism to prevent humans from living to long. I could not put this book down and read it in two days, I recommend everyone to read it whether or not cancer is affecting your life.
Duane. It's certainly true that people are living slightly longer than say 150 years ago - but if we discount the women who died in childbirth and the children who died young then the longevity difference is not huge. Cancer has grown from a 1 in 20 probability in 1920 to a 1 in 6 probability in 1960 to a 1 in 2 probability now. That isn't happening because we're living longer.
Jonathan wrote: "Nan, what's your story? Are you cancer free right now or still stage 4? In my book I tell the stories of a number of people who are now cancer free who were told they were no longer treatable by th..."I was told I had about a three% chance of surviving five years..and here is has been..five years. Remission is what they tell me. the cancer went to my lung three years ago..but its all good. living life to its fullest, happy, getting married in a few weeks! Life is good. thanks for asking.
Nan! Wishing you lots of good luck! Get married and be happy always!
Without a doubt, the best book on this subject written. The author personalizes cancer so it becomes an enemy with many faces, wars fought and lost, reputations made and broken. The writer is also uncommonly gifted. This is not just a laymans book on cancer. It is a great suspense novel as well.
Jonathan wrote: "Duane. It's certainly true that people are living slightly longer than say 150 years ago - but if we discount the women who died in childbirth and the children who died young then the longevity dif..."I was actually commenting on a topic brought up in the book by the author who was actually discussing the longevity compared to the 1500-1600 time frame when if you made it to 40-45 years old you were considered an old man. Mukherjee points out that back then people rarely lived old enough for cancers to actually become an issue, not to say that cancer didn't exist but that many of the cancers we associate with old age today where quite rare in the middle ages.
Cancer touches us all in one way or another. "The Emperor of All Maladies" is a fantastic book that not only informs about the disease and its treatments and history but really makes you think. It really illustrates how crude modern treatments methods really are. It is often a tossup whether the cancer or the patient is affected the most. That being said, the survival rates are so much better than even say ten years ago.
I don't know cancer any better after reading this book than before reading this book and I have a very slight medical background. The only thing I discern is that the earlier it is diagnosed, the better your chances -- which I already knew. And, our modern day treatments can sometimes (and sometimes not) cause remissions -- which I already know. Cancer still has the upper hand.
A brilliant and compassionate book. Mukherjee does not hold his punches though "Cancer, we have discovered, is stitched into our genome." and "One of the most provocative examples of a cancer cell's behaviour, inexplicably by the activation of any single gene or pathway, is its IMMORTALITY" and "The question then will not be if we will encounter this immortal illness in or lives, but when."Mukherjee writes beautifully. He seems to have a morbid and yet fascinated respect for cancer. This is a history book, a medical book and as some one said earlier a book of suspense and high drama. Highly recommended.
I was able to hear the author speak at a conference, and he is an equally engaging speaker on the topic. I also had the the great honor to hear Dr. Brian Druker (maker of Gleevec), and his passion and energy to find cures is astounding. Sun Tzu said in The Art of War, "If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." For me, this book was a step closer in understanding the enemy, cancer. One of the best parts of this book, besides it's compassion and humanity as stated by others, is the Selective Bibiography in the back. Mukherjee is obviously a gifted writer, but I would argue he gives us the most by demonstrating the effects of prodigious reading and study of the subject. To me, that was the whole point. We must know cancer, and we must understand cancer first. Though the road ahead is daunting, I'm hopeful in the successes we have had: Herceptin, Gleevec, smoking-cessation. If we continue in these type of successes, I think the book suggests, we can have a different view of cancer, a more positive outlook.
Great book. I lost my dad, as well as other family members, to cancer. This book opened my ideas and helped me to better understand a disease whose mysteries we may never completely understand. Well written, intelligent yet accessible to the layman, this book is the definitive work on cancer, in my opinion.
Tall wrote: "Great book. I lost my dad, as well as other family members, to cancer. This book opened my ideas and helped me to better understand a disease whose mysteries we may never completely understand. Wel..."We will completely understand cancer by the end of 21st century. I am sure ... :)
I can remember my mother talking on the phone about "metastasis" and always in a whisper or hushed tones. I finally figured out that she was referring to cancer.This is an exceptional book and I was equally impressed with the compassion that Dr. Sid showed toward his patients. He has found the right balance of empathy and distance. He seems most interested in research which is wonderful for the world as a whole but a definite loss to patients who may not get to benefit from his direct care.
I picked up this book with a strange feeling of apprehension/fear. Cancer is one word which can send shivers down anyones spine. I am not an exception. Nevertheless I managed to read the book. The Pulitzer prize title was just too tempting.I have to admit that, coming from a non-medical background, this book is a little tough on your heart. Patients, who are termed hopeless, becoming subjects to therapies not fully understood or tested. Children with acute leukaemia. Patients succumbing to the disease inspite of disfiguring themselves. And in the end knowing that there is no cure. These things are depressing to read. But they are facts. Facts which must be read by everyone, which awakens you to see the world in a different perspective, which gives you the courage to face the disease if you have to. It's strange that I am talking about courage when I started with a feeling of depression, but thats how I ended the book. Knowing the disease in a way makes you stronger and gives you the courage to face it.
Mukherjee is brilliant in narrating this 'war' against the disease. His fluent style and flow makes it for an easy reading. I really liked the quotes at the beginning of each chapter which set the tone for things to follow. It does gets little lengthy at times, especially when dealing with 'Laskerites'. But it can just be my opinion. I highly recommend this book to everyone irrespective of whether you are affected in any way by the disease or not.
Understanding the enemy is the first step in countering it and I am sure that one day we will not only be able to counter it but prevent it as well. Kudos to all the researchers and oncologists who have spend their lives finding a cure for this disease and more importantly to all the patients who fight this disease undergoing those gruesome therapies.
Elyse...you might put his name in on You Tube. A year ago, I found several interviews and excerpts from some speeches he made on there. He is so well-spoken and completely in command of his subject...and always with a touch of compassion.
*laughing* Sometimes I wish I COULD forget...but the pleasures outweigh the problems.
Now I'm laughing...and sighing at the thought of all that water...we're in Texas and in the middle of a three-year draught! And under a wildfire warning...and water rationing...and people wonder why I read so much? (which I'd be doing even in a pool...carefully, of course)
Kranthi wrote: "I picked up this book with a strange feeling of apprehension/fear. Cancer is one word which can send shivers down anyones spine. I am not an exception. Nevertheless I managed to read the book. The ..."I found it interesting that he makes it clear that chemo can be utterly gruelling and yet for most cancers it is clearly not very successful. This is a point I made in my own book The Cancer Survivor's Bible. You really need to go beyond the conventional treatment options if you want to increase your chances of survival and recovery (without long term damage)
I have recently collaborated with Connah Broom's family to tell the story of how Connah went from aged 4 being sent home and grandparents told he was going to die soon to now, a robust 13 year old who has hardly missed a day of school through all that time and who is now very, very, very nearly cancer free. The book is The Amazing Cancer Kid and has been designed to be read by anyone 12 years old up. Very instructive. Give it to your friends!
The books I have talked about are1. The Cancer Survivor's Bible
2. The Amazing Cancer Kid
Actually, your friends could go to my website and download two free 80+ page books that might be helpful - www.fightingcancer.com
Just catching up on the dialogue here. This is also an excellent look at where we are with cancer and treatment that is more current (published in late 2013):The Cancer Chronicles: Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery
For those interested, I would highly recommend. Chemo definitely has it's problems. After all, it was first discovered as a tool in chemical warfare. However, we'll never know the countless lives extended by its use as well. The truth is, many lives have been extended, and if you travel to countries in Africa, for example, they often don't even have the option. Nor do they have the availability for medicines to control pain. That said, here's to finding chemo alternatives sooner than later!
One of the best books i read..
