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The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries
Berkley
March 2010
On Sale: March 2, 2010
304 pages ISBN: 0425225704 EAN: 9780425225707 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Another fascinating foray into medical history from the
author of The American Plague In 1918, a world war was raging, and a lethal strain of
influenza was circling the globe. In the midst of all this
death, a bizarre disease appeared in Europe. Eventually
known as encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness, it
would spread across the world, leaving millions dead or
locked in institutions. Then, in 1927, it would disappear as suddenly as it had
arrived-or so the doctors at first thought. Asleep, set in 1920s and '30s New York, follows a group of
neurologists through hospitals and insane asylums as they
try to solve this worldwide epidemic. The symptoms could include not only unending sleep but
dangerous insomnia, facial tics, catatonia, Parkinson's, and
even violent insanity. Molly Caldwell Crosby, acclaimed
author of The American Plague, explores the frightening
history of this forgotten disease- and details the frantic
effort to conquer it before it strikes again.
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