Breath from salt
Bijal P. Trivedi
Overall Rating : 5/5
Summary
The story begins with the birth of little Joey. Born to a happily married couple in New York. His family was doing well financially, his father a well-rounded and respected businessman, little Joey had a privileged life ahead of him. But, he was born with a genetic disease, cystic fibrosis. It did not help that the doctors could not diagnose him correctly at first due to the symptoms being hard to categorise. The opening is already quite grim, add to that the fact that the life expectancy was in the single digit years of age at the time. Trivedi follows the story of Joey, and the numerous doctors and families who were affected by cystic fibrosis both before and after him. It is a suspenseful read as the stakes are high, the families and their doctors always painfully aware of how less time they have for a miracle drug to appear. But it takes years, often decades for that to happen, too late for them. And it cannot just appear without someone or something pushing for it to happen. That is exactly what the author chronicles in the book, the family and doctor driven research on cystic fibrosis, which ultimately led to pharmaceutical companies taking note of it, despite the small patient population. Ultimately, it is a book of triumph over the disease through the zeal and effort of the many families, doctors and researchers behind it.
My take
Though the size of the book is rather daunting, I found myself flipping through it with ease due to the masterful storytelling, and my approaching library deadline. I found the writing style to be a perfect blend between scientific and social aspects of the story. Although towards the end it focused heavily on the pharmaceutical companies and their race to drug discovery, politics- it still turned out to be a great read.
Why you should read it
If you are interested in genetic diseases, drug discovery in general or are curious about them then you will definitely enjoy this book. If you or a loved one are suffering from cystic fibrosis then you will find this a highly informative read about the history of the disease and the key players in its growth in terms of public awareness and drug development.