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Breath from Salt
- A Deadly Genetic Disease, a New Era in Science, and the Patients and Families Who Changed Medicine Forever
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 20 hrs and 35 mins
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Publisher's Summary
"Elaborating on the science as well as the business behind the fight against cystic fibrosis, Trivedi captures the emotions of the families, doctors, and scientists involved in the clinical trials and their 'weeping with joy' as new drugs are approved, and shows how cystic fibrosis, once a 'death sentence,' became, for many, a manageable condition. This is a rewarding and challenging work." --Publishers Weekly
Cystic fibrosis was once a mysterious disease that killed infants and children. Now it could be the key to healing millions with genetic diseases of every type - from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to diabetes and sickle cell anemia.
In 1974, Joey O'Donnell was born with strange symptoms. His insatiable appetite, incessant vomiting, and a relentless cough - which shook his tiny, fragile body and made it difficult to draw breath - confounded doctors and caused his parents agonizing, sleepless nights. After six sickly months, his salty skin provided the critical clue: he was one of thousands of Americans with cystic fibrosis, an inherited lung disorder that would most likely kill him before his first birthday.
The gene and mutation responsible for CF were found in 1989 - discoveries that promised to lead to a cure for kids like Joey. But treatments unexpectedly failed and CF was deemed incurable. It was only after the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a grassroots organization founded by parents, formed an unprecedented partnership with a fledgling biotech company that transformative leaps in drug development were harnessed to produce groundbreaking new treatments: pills that could fix the crippled protein at the root of this deadly disease.
From science writer Bijal P. Trivedi, Breath from Salt chronicles the riveting saga of cystic fibrosis, from its ancient origins to its identification in the dank autopsy room of a hospital basement, and from the CF gene's celebrated status as one of the first human disease genes ever discovered to the groundbreaking targeted genetic therapies that now promise to cure it.
Told from the perspectives of the patients, families, physicians, scientists, and philanthropists fighting on the front lines, Breath from Salt is a remarkable story of unlikely scientific and medical firsts, of setbacks and successes, and of people who refused to give up hope - and a fascinating peek into the future of genetics and medicine.
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- Ladislav Simicek
- 23-03-23
Fascinating, sobering and gripping book
Book is based on very thorough research and tenderly written for people without any scientific background. The journey is gripping keeping you extremely engaged. The book is basically split into three stories. First story is about a history of a cystic fibrosis genetic disease and the scientists who have made great progress in fighting with it. Second story focuses on how complicated it is to run a charity for supporting uncommon diseases like CF. And third story compassionately describes lives of families affected by this terrible disease. I truly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand drug discovery as well as the history of this disease.
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- Prasad
- 11-02-21
Breathtaking and Audacious
It is a story of grit and hope.. To find a cure for majority of cystic fibrosis through venture philanthropy, high technology and highly driven and tough professionals. It connected a lot of dots for me regarding precision medicine and personalized medicine coming into vogue now.. It's technical at times (which i enjoyed) and runs like a thriller.
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- Harshal
- 02-02-21
An eye opening book
How a new disease is discovered, researched upon and an absolutely new treatment is found, all along with enormous efforts of patients families and a great network raising enormous amounts of money is an eye opener to what can be done for existing rare diseases to get a cure. A motivating read. Congratulations to the CF foundation, Vertex scientists and everyone involved in this fight against cystic fibrosis for a cure. A great book and great narration.
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