Book Review: A Molecule Away from Madness by Sara Manning Peskin

By Danielle Szewc

Many of us are affected by degenerative cognitive disease and mental illness, whether it be a family member or a friend. We also know that DNA, proteins, and vitamins are essential to life. However, a single DNA base pair mutation, a misfolded protein, or the lack of a specific vitamin can impair the brain’s natural functions and cause Alzheimer’s and other degenerative cognitive ailments that affect those we care about.

As a reader who has always been deeply fascinated by neurology and molecular biology, Sarah Manning Peskin's A Molecule Away from Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain hits the mark on what it set out to be—a narrative that a simple change in or lack of essential molecules can lead to molecular dissonance along with personal and familial struggles.

Peskin, an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, compellingly writes about the medical and biological factors involved in degenerative cognitive diseases. She divides the book into three distinct areas: mutations in DNA, misfolded or misaligned proteins, and the presence or lack of small molecules such as vitamins and environmental toxins. She relays the history of medicine, and molecular biology in an eloquent fashion while detailing the problems that the doctors and biologists of the time faced while trying to determine the causes of these degenerative diseases, some of whom even faced embarrassment by peers.

A Molecule Away from Madness skillfully and artfully explains scientific processes in an easy-to-understand manner and is an impeccable read for those new to the subject or those who are knowledgeable and would like to know more from a humanized case study perspective. I enjoyed the fast-paced writing style of the woven stories of each disease—outlines from a patient and family perspective which moved into the historical and scientific perspective of discovery, experimentation, and application. Peskin writes in an easy-to-follow manner and has anecdotal humor. Those who have read Oliver Sack’s books are sure to enjoy A Molecule Away from Madness.

Thank you, NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Carriers by Anne Skomorowsky

By Danielle Szewc

Many genetic disorders follow typical Mendelian genetics—where a person affected by the disease requires two copies of the mutated gene in order to display the disorder, and carriers are those with a single mutated gene displaying no signs or symptoms. However, Fragile X syndrome, a disorder that is caused by variants in genes on the X chromosome and that is the most common single-gene cause of autism, may also cause associated conditions in carriers.

In The Carriers: What the Fragile X Gene Reveals About Family, Heredity, and Scientific Discovery, Anne Skomorowsky, a psychiatrist and clinical instructor, focuses on the premutation carriers, specifically the mothers of Fragile X syndrome children and their family history. She provides a thorough look into the history of medical knowledge and the family lineage of the carriers of Fragile X syndrome, as well as the socio-economic situations and associated disorders that are seen in carriers.

Skomorowsky offers a glimpse into the lives of those living with Fragile X syndrome. She weaves personal accounts into the book along with biomedical evidence and history to create an informative narrative that highlights how little is known about this genetic disorder. However, the writing style may be better for those who have a background and education in biomolecular, genetic, or medical sciences, or a family who is affected by the mutation and would like a further view into the lives of others who are affected.

Still, the writing should not be classified into a scientific reference piece and when reading should be looked at as familial case studies and a single viewpoint on the subject. It is more of a narrative approach that gives insight on family heritage rather than a complete guide to understanding all that is associated with Fragile X syndrome and its carriers. The Carriers: What the Fragile X Gene Reveals About Family, Heredity, and Scientific Discovery is a niche book that currently fills a void in the literature surrounding this syndrome, and it should be considered a stepping stone on the path to learning more.

Thank you, NetGalley and Columbia University Press, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe by Dr. Bonnie Henry and Lynn Henry

By Danielle Szewc

Two years later and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic is still raw for many people, groups, and nations affected by the novel SARS-COV-2 virus. Dr. Bonnie Henry and Lynn Henry’s Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe offers a new perspective into the daily decisions and behind-the-scenes of the public health measures taken in the early weeks of the pandemic in Canada: “There’s science, and there’s emotion. The scientific facts are one thing; the social choices and consequences are another. We need to consider both.” 

Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe: Four Weeks that Shaped a Pandemic is divided into three sections: “Part I: Be Kind” focuses on the week of March 12, 2020, starting with the events in China upon the release of the news of the novel coronavirus on December 26, 2019. “Part II: Be Calm” transitions to the week of March 17, 2020, and the beginning of the Canadian pandemic measures to flatten the curve. Finally, “Part III: Be Safe” focuses on the end of March and April 2020, and the future of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Each part is sectioned into two narratives, one from the perspective of Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Colombia’s provincial health officer, and one from Lynn Henry, Dr. Henry’s sister and close confidant during the early weeks of the pandemic. Dr. Henry’s perspective is filled with the reflections of her previous work on the SARS pandemic in 2003 and the Ebola virus outbreaks in 2001, along with optimism in scientific advancements, scientific policy, and public health measures. Lynn Henry adds to the narrative with both a personal and a professional understanding of Dr. Henry’s decisions and actions during the first four weeks of the pandemic in Canada. 

Although slow and dry in some areas, both authors are detailed and well-versed in their reflections. Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe adds a forgotten aspect to the measures taken during the initial stages—and branching out to the current stages—of the pandemic: the authorities trying to guide us are human and have tough decisions to make. 

While not everyone may agree with the viewpoints expressed in this memoir, I encourage you to pick it up and try to understand that decisions made in the public health and political environment do have a very human aspect to them. 

Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Relax, Dammit! by Timothy Caulfield

By Danielle Szewc

In today’s world, misinformation is abundant, and it can be hard to create informed decisions about multiple aspects that affect our daily lives. 

Relax, Dammit! A User’s Guide to the Age of Anxiety by Timothy Caulfield is a fresh look into everyday decisions and their ‘associated’ risks. The book walks the reader through a typical series of daily actions, starting with waking up, having a morning cup of coffee, getting to work, and all that follows until going back to sleep and assesses the conventional Western outlook and the risks typically associated with these actions. Caufield cleverly uses science to expose commonly held beliefs about risk assessment related to these activities in an educational and humorous writing style. 

Caulfield, Canada’s Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, uses literature reviews and interviews with experts to contrast Western cultural and societal beliefs about the correct decisions to make in daily life and their perceived risk. While in Relax, Dammit!, Caulfield confirms that some cultural and societal beliefs just make life easier, he also concludes that they may not always be the best way to combat risk assessment and anxiety about these actions. 

Caulfield debunks multiple pseudoscience myths, such as the health benefits of unpasteurized milk as perpetrated by celebrities in the golden era of social media, and gives the reader tools on how to make daily decisions with less anxiety. He also offers a solid understanding of how multiple health-related articles seen published as clickbait, solely created for higher views and web traffic, are based on small starter studies that are primarily observational. Caufield helps the reader to understand correlation versus causation, which causes these misleading articles to be created in the first place. 

While books that may appear to be slightly controversial, as well as scientific in nature, are not everyone’s cup of tea, Timothy Caulfield has elegantly used humour to allow a wider audience to appreciate the subject material. Overall, Relax, Dammit! A User’s Guide to the Age of Anxiety is an easy and fun read to help understand how western cultural norms influence daily decisions and how society weighs the risk-benefit ratio when making decisions in a world of misinformation. 

Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: Women Talking by Miriam Toews

By Danielle Szewc

Content warning: references to sexual assault, rape, pedophilia, suicide

Women Talking by Miriam Toews gives a fictional voice to the multiple assaults of over 100 Bolivian Mennonite women who were drugged with cattle anesthetics and raped by several men from their colony from 2005 to 2009. As with the women in Bolivia, the women of Molotschna—Toews' fictional South American colony—initially believe the assaults that occurred before the novel takes place to be divine punishment by demons. The assaults are also dismissed by the colony's leader, Peters, as made-up dreams and products of the hysterical female imagination. Once the men are proven to be the assailants, Peters only has the men arrested to avoid being harmed by the vengeful women.

Toews, an ex-Mennonite herself, creates a fictional narrative of the women's two days of decision making. It secretly takes place in a hayloft while the men of the colony are posting bail for the eight men who assaulted the women. The two choices the women have are to either stay and fight the men in the colony or leave the colony and all they know forever. These eight women know they cannot do nothing and have limited time to make a life-changing decision for the women of the colony. They have asked August Epp, the only man in the colony they trust due to his past ex-communication and friendship with Ona Friesen, to record the minutes of their meeting as Mennonite women are not taught how to read or write.

Having August as the minute taker showed that there is hope and allyship in men, as well as that it was necessary for the given situation and circumstances. The women want a written record of their voices, their first act of defiance against the colony, and ownership of themselves. However, his feelings for Ona take away from this aspect as he states he is only taking the minutes since he is in love with her.

The women make difficult decisions based on their upbringing and faith—can they forgive the men so they are able to enter the Kingdom of God, and if not, where would they go as they can neither read nor write and have no knowledge of the outside world. The women make valid arguments as they struggle with their beliefs before making a final decision.

The use of the different ages and generations within the same matriarchal families adds to the principal themes of family and upbringing displayed in Toews' novel. Faith and its role in creating the idea of the submissive female is called into question as these women realize they can be the writers of their own lives. Overall, in Women Talking, Toews has expertly crafted and created a #metoo piece for women whose voices may never be fully heard.