The Puzzle Solver

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The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son
The Puzzle Solver cover.jpeg
AuthorTracie White with Ronald W. Davis
LanguageEnglish
Genre Nonfiction
Science writing
Publisher Hachette Books
Publication date
January 5, 2021
Media typeHardcover book
Pages240
ISBN 978-0-316-49250-8

The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son is a book by Tracie White with scientist Ronald W. Davis about Davis's efforts to cure his son Whitney Dafoe, who has very severemyalgic encephalomyelitis, also called chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). [1] The book was published on January 5, 2021. [2]

Contents

Publication history

The Puzzle Solver began as a work of journalism that Tracie White wrote for Stanford Medicine. [3] She expanded the work into a book (her first) in collaboration with Ronald W. Davis, a renowned scientist and one of the book's subjects. [1] It was published by Hachette on January 5, 2021. [4]

Content

Whitney Dafoe was a photographer and world traveler when at age 23, he was hospitalized on a trip to India, suffering from a stomach ailment. When he returned home, he weighed only 115 pounds and instead of recovering his health steadily declined. He was diagnosed with ME/CFS in 2011 but continued to slip until he was confined to a back room at his parents' home, unable to speak or eat without the assistance of a feeding tube. His one source of hope was his father, world renown scientist Ronald W. Davis (Dafoe shares his last name with his mother, psychologist Janet Dafoe.) Davis is a pioneer of the Human Genome Project, but soon turned all of his research to the study of ME/CFS in a race to cure Whitney and the millions of other patients like him (an estimated 2.8 million in the US have the disease and a quarter are home- or bedbound, like Dafoe, for at least part of their illness).

In 2011, Davis won the Gruber Prize for his "pioneering work in genetic engineering". He spent the $500,000 award seeding his ME/CFS research, hiring other scientists into his lab and eventually launching a foundation dedicated to the project. Through it, Davis began seeding more scientists' work on ME/CFS, developing a worldwide network to work on the disease, historically abandoned by the medical community and its major grant makers like the National Institutes of Health.

Reception

Reviews praised White’s writing as well as the book's scientific content. The Publishers Weekly review said, "The author's keen commitment to capturing Dafoe's illness and Davis's work makes for a story of heartbreak balanced with unexpected beauty. White succeeds in casting chronic fatigue syndrome in a new light in this inspirational account." [1] In Al Jazeera, Michaela Haas wrote that the book "paints an intimate portrait of Whitney's journey to diagnosis and his father's fight to find a cure." [5] In the Library Journal , Kelsy Peterson wrote, “Both tragic and uplifting, this title will be of particular interest to readers seeking more information about ME/CFS and anyone curious about medical mysteries.” [6] In Booklist, Kathleen McBroom said, "White writes with compassion and empathy, capably handling the technical aspects of current virus genome research. She underlines the crucial need for continuing exploration, especially in light of the possible connection between CFS and COVID-19, which have similar symptoms. This moving account should increase awareness and pressure for an expedited cure." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ME Association</span> UK charitable organization

The ME Association is a UK health charitable organization that provides information, advocacy, and services to persons and families affected by ME/CFS, and raises funds for research into ME/CFS. It has been reported to be one of the two largest UK charities for ME/CFS.

Brynmor Thomas John was a British Labour politician.

Sophia Mirza was a woman in the United Kingdom who had chronic fatigue syndrome listed as a contributing to her death. The inquest recorded the cause of death as "renal failure as a result of chronic fatigue syndrome". Advocacy groups such as Invest in ME and the ME Association say that Mirza's inquest result shows that ME/CFS is a neurological illness.

The Solve ME/CFS Initiative is an American nonprofit that does research and advocacy for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Long COVID, and other post-infectious diseases. Their stated mission is to assist research into ways to diagnose, treat, or cure these conditions. They also advocate for increased awareness, public funding of research, and access to medical care for patients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of ME/CFS</span> Review of the topic

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has a long history with an evolution in medical understanding, diagnoses and social perceptions.

Treatment of ME/CFS is variable and uncertain, and the condition is primarily managed rather than cured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Controversies related to ME/CFS</span>

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is an illness with a long history of controversy. Some professionals within the medical community do not recognize ME/CFS as a genuine condition, nor is there agreement on its prevalence. There has been much disagreement over the pathophysiology of chronic fatigue syndrome, how it should be diagnosed, and how to treat it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinical descriptions of ME/CFS</span> Review of the topic

Clinical descriptions of ME/CFS vary. Different groups have produced sets of diagnostic criteria that share many similarities. The biggest differences between criteria are whether post-exertional malaise (PEM) is required, and the number of symptoms needed. The pathology of ME/CFS is unknown, and it can be a difficult condition to diagnose because there is no standard test, many symptoms are non-specific, and because doctors and patients may be unfamiliar with post-exertional malaise. Subgroup analysis suggests that, depending on the applied definition, CFS may represent a variety of conditions rather than a single disease entity.

The Lightning Process (LP) is a three-day personal training programme developed and trademarked by British osteopath Phil Parker. It makes unsubstantiated claims to be beneficial for various conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and chronic pain.

Patricia A. Fennell is the chief executive officer of Albany Health Management Associates. She is a clinician, research scientist, educator, and author specializing in chronic illness, chronic and post-viral syndromes, trauma, forensics, hospice, global health care concerns, autoimmune and post-viral disease, clinical education, and training.

Graded exercise therapy (GET) is a programme of physical activity that starts very slowly and gradually increases over time, intended as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome. Most public health bodies, including the CDC and NICE, consider it ineffective, and its safety is disputed. However, GET still enjoys support among a minority of clinicians and organizations.

David Sheffield Bell is an American physician who has done extensive research on the clinical aspects of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). He has also conducted evaluations and research in pediatric ME/CFS and written numerous articles about the condition.

Daniel Peterson is an American physician in private practice in the state of Nevada, and has been described as a "pioneer" in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). He graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York, in 1976 and was an intern and resident at the University of Utah Medical Center from 1976 to 1979. In 1979, he became a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is president of Sierra Internal Medicine of Incline Village, established in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Wessely</span> British psychiatrist

Sir Simon Charles Wessely is a British psychiatrist. He is Regius Professor of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and head of its department of psychological medicine, vice dean for academic psychiatry, teaching and training at the Institute of Psychiatry, as well as Director of the King's Centre for Military Health Research. He is also honorary consultant psychiatrist at King's College Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital, as well as civilian consultant advisor in psychiatry to the British Army. He was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to military healthcare and to psychological medicine. From 2014 to 2017, he was the elected president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome</span> Medical condition

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating long-term medical condition. People with ME/CFS experience lengthy flare-ups of the illness following relatively minor physical or mental activity. This is known as post-exertional malaise (PEM) and is the hallmark symptom of the illness. Other core symptoms are a greatly reduced ability to do tasks that were previously routine, severe fatigue, and sleep disturbances. The baseline fatigue in ME/CFS does not improve much with rest. Orthostatic intolerance, memory and concentration problems, and chronic pain are common. About a quarter of people with ME/CFS are severely affected and unable to leave their bed or home.

Ronald Wayne "Ron" Davis is professor of biochemistry and genetics, and director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center at Stanford University. Davis is a researcher in biotechnology and molecular genetics, particularly active in human and yeast genomics and the development of new technologies in genomics, with over 30 biotechnology patents. In 2013, it was said of Davis that "A substantial number of the major genetic advances of the past 20 years can be traced back to Davis in some way."

Rosamund Vallings is a medical doctor, known as one of the leading authorities on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post-exertional malaise</span> Worsening of symptoms with activity

Post-exertional malaise (PEM), sometimes referred to as post-exertional symptom exacerbation (PESE), is a worsening of symptoms that occurs after minimal exertion. It is the hallmark symptom of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and common in long COVID. PEM is often severe enough to be disabling, and is triggered by ordinary activities that healthy people tolerate. Typically, it begins 12–48 hours after the activity that triggers it, and lasts for days, but this is highly variable and may persist much longer. Management of PEM is symptom-based, and patients are recommended to pace their activities to avoid triggering PEM.

The Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) is a US-based charity that funds research into the illnesses myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and long COVID.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Puzzle Solver". Publishers Weekly. November 18, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  2. Tucker, Reed (2021-01-02). "A scientist proved chronic fatigue syndrome is real — after his son was devastated by it". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  3. White, Tracie. "The puzzle solver". Stanford Medicine. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  4. "THE PUZZLE SOLVER". Kirkus Reviews. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. Haas, Michaela. "A geneticist's biggest challenge: Curing his own son". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  6. Peterson, Kelsy (January 1, 2021). "The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness That Stole His Son". Library Journal. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  7. McBroom, Kathleen. "The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son." The Booklist , vol. 117, no. 9, 2021, pp. 22. Via ProQuest.