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THE THERAPIST PSYCHOLOGIST BOOK STORE
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The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine By Michael Gershon ( Harper Paperbacks )
Release Date: 1999-12-01
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List Price: $14.00
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Product Description
Dr. Michael Gershon has devoted his career to understanding the human bowel (the stomach, esophagus, small intestine, and colon). His thirty years of research have led to an extraordinary rediscovery: nerve cells in the gut that act as a brain. This "second brain" can control our gut all by itself. Our two brains -- the one in our head and the one in our bowel -- must cooperate. If they do not, then there is chaos in the gut and misery in the head -- everything from "butterflies" to cramps, from diarrhea to constipation. Dr. Gershon's work has led to radical new understandings about a wide range of gastrointestinal problems including gastroenteritis, nervous stomach, and irritable bowel syndrome. The Second Brain represents a quantum leap in medical knowledge and is already benefiting patients whose symptoms were previously dismissed as neurotic or "it's all in your head."
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the science of digestion ( tomeco )
This book describes the author's research into the function of the digestive system, with emphasis on the amazing complexity of its neural control, which operates largely independent of the central nervous system (and independent of our consciousness as well). The book is very thorough, taking you through the gut step by step from one end to the other. There are some abstruse technical parts, but overall the book can be followed by the layman without too much difficulty. The paperback version is a real bargain in terms of the information you get.
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 The history of enteric nervous system research
This book narrates the developmental research on the enteric nervous system. It has a lot of specialized information for its 314 pages, narrating in detail most of the steps that lead to the current ideas. The explanations include basic concepts as well as more complex ones, and covers the subject extensively, including genetics and embriology. It does so in a very illustrative and clear manner. There is also a long list of "who's who and who did what" in the various researches. There is a special focus in Hirschsprung's disease. It is interesting to see how medical research develops, the dead ends, the opposite views that become cooperative explanations, the surprises that lead to new routes, the renewal of old observations.
It is not a book for those who search treatment for their personal health problems. Personally, I was expecting a little more information concerning gut functioning and mood, but that is just me. The book is very well written, interesting, but prepare yourself for a big load of detailed information.
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disappointing ( assaflavie )
I started reading this book after The Colbert Report plugged it (IIRC) as kind of a joke about "thinking with your gut". I was curios to learn about this other nervous system that you don't really hear much about; how it's independent of the central nervous system (in ways), and how similar chemicals and processes operate on both.
So here's the good part: the first few chapters are a very educational review of how our guts work. This part I found very illuminating and interesting, and it's too bad it ended so quickly.
Now, the bad. Once Gershon starts talking about his own research and advances in his field in general it just becomes incredibly tedious. I also found it distracting when the author repeatedly makes comments against "cruel" experiments in animals (not _his_ experiments of course, which are, supposedly, a real treat to the subjects).
So the first few chapters give you information at 90mph, and then rest is a slow 2mph trek through recent research in excruciating detail.
The biggest disappointment, however, is the fact that the book just doesn't deliver on its title. A "groundbreaking new understanding of nervous disorders of the stomach" made me expect cool revelations about how the gut can actually suffer nervous disorders similar to those in the brain - i.e. "depressed gut syndrome", or "stomach madness". None of that. What a gip! So big whoop, Serotonin also plays a big part in the gut. That's essential 70% of the book right there.
Read it if you're looking for an introduction to the bowls (though I'm guessing there are better introductions out there). That part of the book I thoroughly enjoyed. Just know it gets boring very quickly and doesn't improve until the end.
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Interesting book ( drdavid62 )
This book is very comprehensive and well written. It is probably too technical for the average reader although anyone with a science or medical background should be fine. The discussion of the various research techniques and findings build up a complete view of the current state of research in the field of neurogastroenterology. A reader looking for a simple solution to their irritable bowel syndrome will be disappointed.
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 Step-by-step research overview
I'm extremly glad I've read this book before attending medical school. The author provides a textbook quality overview of the enteric nervous system in so many pages without boring or confusing the reader in the slightest bit. I loved this book and wish there were more neurobiologist authors out there like him.
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Addiction
