Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Son's plea to let his mother go. "By promoting longevity and technologically inhibiting death, we have created a new biological status held by an ever-growing part of the nation, a no-exit state nearly as remote from life as death"
"Half a century after the first wave of lawsuits were filed for illnesses linked to exposure to asbestos and 40 years after new regulation curtailed use of the mineral, the asbestos-litigation business is booming"
"Phoenix is a mecca for America's elderly, who are attracted by the year-round sun. It is also a kind of capital of the forgetful and the confused. Not coincidentally, Phoenix is pioneering the way dementia sufferers are treated"
Cancer survivor's meditation on pain. "I’m feeling nigh unto death, driven half-mad by a nasogastric tube running up my nose and down my throat, pumping a bilious green froth of stomach acid and half-digested goop out of my belly"
Will Lautzenheiser caught a rare infection that shut down his lungs, kidneys, heart. He told the doctors to do whatever was necessary to save his life. So they cut off his arms and his legs. This is his story. (h/t @michaelgoldberg)
Why American health insurers don't want new customers with pre-existing conditions. Customers are usually already pretty well informed about the likely cost of their treament. Probably better informed than the insurer
Some neurological illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis, may be caused by viruses transmitted within the human genome. If true, that's relatively good news, because viral diseases are more susceptible to prevention or cure
On chemotherapy. Much improved. "I doubt anyone’s ever going to enjoy chemo, but it’s a long way from the horror show of childhood memory. I supposed I’d emerge from the place feeling awful. But I emerged looking for a fight"
History and geography of the HIV/Aids epidemic. Virus passed from monkey to human in southeastern Cameroon around 1900, just in time to be brought to Kinshasa, where it could thrive, along new geography of colonial trade routes
Foundation builds daisy chains of kidney donors. You get one for your spouse or child, you give one of your own to another recipient. "The most worrisome risk was that donors would renege once their loved ones received kidneys"
A story about wrestling and wrestlers. So far, so unpromising. And then there's the unattractive frat boy violence on page one. But it develops into the most moving account of confronting adversity you'll read in a long time
"We now have the potential to banish genes that kill us, make us susceptible to cancer, heart disease, depression, addictions, obesity, and to select those that may make us healthier, stronger, more intelligent." But should we?
