In Pursuit of Life: The Story of a Doctor Who Outpaced Death and Saved Himself and Others from an Incurable Disease
19.99 €
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In Pursuit of Life: The Story of a Doctor Who Outpaced Death and Saved Himself and Others from an Incurable Disease
19.99 €
The story of a man who found a new approach to treating his disease and helped not only himself but also others.
In medical school, David Feigenbaum was nicknamed "The Beast" - he was an athlete and was also known for his exceptional intellectual stamina. And then everything changed dramatically: he began to suffer from inexplicable fatigue, in a matter of weeks began to fail organs. Doctors were puzzled and could not make a diagnosis. When he regained consciousness, David prayed for a second chance: it was like a dramatic fight for overtime in soccer.
A miracle happened. David survived - but only to relapse again and again and stand on death's doorstep. As it turned out, he had a type of extremely severe and rare Castleman's disease - something between cancer and autoimmune disease. When, despite the prescription of the only drug being developed for the disease at the time, David had another relapse, he realized that at this rate, medicine was unlikely to save his life. That's why he turned his desperate hope for a cure into concrete action. Between hospitalizations, he analyzed his medical history and blood samples to find a new approach to treatment. With the help of family, friends and mentors, he reached out to other physicians and patients facing Castleman's disease and eventually developed an ambitious plan to collectively compile a list of the most promising scientific problems and recruit world-class researchers to solve them. Rather than wait for the stars to align in science, he decided to align the stars himself.
More than five years have passed since then. Dr. Feigenbaum married the girl he had loved since his college years and has seen the fruits of his hard work. The treatment he found has helped him stay in remission, and his innovative approach to organizing scientific inquiry has become a model in the field of rare disease research. Now Dr. Feigenbaum and his lab are expanding their approach to other diseases, including COVID19.
This incredible story shows what can happen when determination, love, family, faith and a happy accident come together.
In medical school, David Feigenbaum was nicknamed "The Beast" - he was an athlete and was also known for his exceptional intellectual stamina. And then everything changed dramatically: he began to suffer from inexplicable fatigue, in a matter of weeks began to fail organs. Doctors were puzzled and could not make a diagnosis. When he regained consciousness, David prayed for a second chance: it was like a dramatic fight for overtime in soccer.
A miracle happened. David survived - but only to relapse again and again and stand on death's doorstep. As it turned out, he had a type of extremely severe and rare Castleman's disease - something between cancer and autoimmune disease. When, despite the prescription of the only drug being developed for the disease at the time, David had another relapse, he realized that at this rate, medicine was unlikely to save his life. That's why he turned his desperate hope for a cure into concrete action. Between hospitalizations, he analyzed his medical history and blood samples to find a new approach to treatment. With the help of family, friends and mentors, he reached out to other physicians and patients facing Castleman's disease and eventually developed an ambitious plan to collectively compile a list of the most promising scientific problems and recruit world-class researchers to solve them. Rather than wait for the stars to align in science, he decided to align the stars himself.
More than five years have passed since then. Dr. Feigenbaum married the girl he had loved since his college years and has seen the fruits of his hard work. The treatment he found has helped him stay in remission, and his innovative approach to organizing scientific inquiry has become a model in the field of rare disease research. Now Dr. Feigenbaum and his lab are expanding their approach to other diseases, including COVID19.
This incredible story shows what can happen when determination, love, family, faith and a happy accident come together.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series The heart of medicine