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Valley of forgetting : Alzheimer's families and the search for a cure / Jennie Erin Smith.

Summary:

"The riveting account of a community from the remote mountains of Colombia whose rare and fatal genetic mutation is unlocking the secrets of Alzheimer's disease. In the 1980s, a neurologist named Francisco Lopera traveled on horseback into the mountains seeking families with symptoms of dementia. For centuries, residents of certain villages near Medellín had suffered memory loss as they reached middle age, going on to die in their fifties. Lopera discovered that a unique genetic mutation was causing their rare hereditary form of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Over the next forty years of working with the "paisa mutation" kindred, he went on to build a world-class research program in a region beset by violence and poverty. In Valley of Forgetting, Jennie Erin Smith brings readers into the clinic, the laboratories, and the Medellín trial center where Lopera's patients receive an experimental drug to see if Alzheimer's can be averted. She chronicles the lives of people who care for sick parents, spouses,and siblings, all while struggling to keep their own dreams afloat. These Colombian families have donated hundreds of their loved ones' brains to science and subjected themselves to invasive testing to help uncover how Alzheimer's develops and whether it can be stopped. Findings from this unprecedented effort could hold the key to understanding and treating the disease, though it is unclear what, if anything, the families will receive in return. Smith's immersive storytelling brings this complex drama to life, inviting readers on a scientific journey that is as deeply moving as it is engrossing"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780525536079
  • ISBN: 0525536078
  • Physical Description: 376 pages ; 24 cm
  • Publisher: New York : Riverhead Books, [2025]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-366) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Curious Doctors -- Las Familias -- Resilience.
Subject: Restrepo Lopera, Francisco, 1951-2024.
Alzheimer's disease.

Available copies

  • 13 of 19 copies available at NC Cardinal.
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Carteret County Public Library. (Show)

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 19 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Down East 362.196 SMITH (Text) 34208900246314 Adult New Nonfiction Available -
Albemarle Main Library 362.196 Smi (Text) STAN1848267 Adult New Nonfiction On order -
Albert Carlton - Cashiers Community Library 362.1968 S (Text) 39493110138387 Adult New Nonfiction Available -
Bordeaux Library 362.1968 SMI (Text) 31781069092771 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Columbus Library ONORDER (Text) POLK23312011362195 On Order On order -
Donald A. Bonner Rowland Library 362.1968 SMITH (Text) 34510000714954 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Donald A. Bonner Rowland Library 362.1968 SMITH (Text) 34510000714962 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Farmville Public Library 362.196 SMI (Text) 23900000103111 Adult New Nonfiction Available -
G.V. Barbee, Sr. Library 362.196 SMI (Text) 31420621437782 Adult New Nonfiction Available -
Hudson (Fontana) 362.196 SMI (Text) 39493108970908 Adult New Nonfiction Available -