Canada’s bestselling science writer illuminates the mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease, one of the most puzzling and debilitating conditions of the modern era

It is a wicked illness that robs its victims of their memories, their ability to think clearly and, ultimately, their lives. For centuries, those afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease have been forced to suffer its devastating effects while family members sit by, watching their loved ones disappear a little more each day, until the person they used to know is gone forever. The disease was first described by pioneering German neurologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906. One hundred years and a great deal of scientific effort later, much more is known about Alzheimer’s, but it still affects millions around the world, and there is no cure in sight.

In The End of Memory, award-winning science writer Jay Ingram charts the history of the disease from before it was noted by Alois Alzheimer right through to the twenty-first century, as researchers continue to search for a cure. In the spirit of Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies, this book is for those who want to find out the truth about an affliction that courses through families and, in some cases, inexplicably affects people early in their lives.

JAY INGRAM was the host of Discovery Channel Canada’s Daily Planet from its first episode until June 2011. Prior to joining Discovery, Ingram hosted CBC Radio’s national science show Quirks & Quarks. He has received the Sandford Fleming Award from the Royal Canadian Institute, the Royal Society of Canada’s McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science and the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. He is the recipient of the 2015 Walter C. Alvarez Award from the American Medical Writers Association. He is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Alberta, has received five honorary doctorates and is a member of the Order of Canada. He has written fourteen books, including the bestselling Theatre of the Mind and Fatal Flaws.

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