The Memory Clinic

Book excerpt: Dr. Tiffany Chow offers knowledge and hope for an illness where there is, as yet, no cure. "This book is a summary of what I've learned through my research or from my colleagues about prevention and management of dementia," says the empathetic doctor. "Even where there is a family history of Alzheimer's disease, people at risk can do things to prevent its onset or progression." Through her grandmother Ah Quan, born in 1906 in Hawaii of Chinese ancestry, Chow has a genetic legacy of Alzheimer's disease. Comparing her life with her grandmother's, she probes what she and other women can do to mitigate the impact of genetics through nutrition, exercise, and through the concepts of cerebral reserve and brain plasticity. But it is in her front-line role managing the suffering caused by dementia and aiding caregivers where Chow's compassionate voice is most inspiring. The Memory Clinic is instructive and reassuring, and is a fascinating guide through the mysterious twists of the brain.