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The Year of the Intern
by Robin CookThe nurse is desperate. "Dr. Peters, the patient has stopped breathing and he doesn't have any pulse." "I'm on my way." Dr. Peters, in his fifteenth day of internship, is running again. True, he has been trained to run, through high school, the Ivy League, and a prestigious eastern medical school. Now he has run all the way to Hawaii for his year as an intern. He has run away from the pressure and competition of the mainland medical system. He is tired-tired and scared. And with good reason. After two weeks on call, his exhausted nervous system is in rebellion. Worse yet, three years of the best medical training this country has to offer have taught him too little of practical value. He knows less than a nurse about medication; his surgical knots won't hold; all his knowledge about Schwartzman reaction and other esotérica is useless in the practical hurly-burly of daily hospital life. As for the man who has stopped breathing- "What time did he die?" Peters asks the nurse. "He died when you pronounced him dead, Doctor." Some parts of Hawaii do not disappoint. The climate and the girls are joyful. But in his attempt to grow as a doctor, Peters on his own. As posstesor of a medical degree he is called "Doctor" he is a stage prop, a human mechanism holding retractors through endless operations, staring at the back of the surgeon, unable to see, to learn. On the ward, senior doctors see to it that Peters does the work-ups-fills out charts, draws blood, the "scut" work-and handles night calls. Thus Peters alternates between frustrating days and panic-filled nights. In the emergency room it is much the same. Amid the banality of common colds, backaches, and surfing lacerations, Peters delivers a baby, handles the multiple wreckage of an automobile accident, and deals as best he can with patients who need years of psychiatric care rather than a few hurried minutes with an intern.
The Yellow Demon of Fever: Fighting Disease in the Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Slave Trade
by Manuel BarciaA pathbreaking history of how participants in the slave trade influenced the growth and dissemination of medical knowledge As the slave trade brought Europeans, Africans, and Americans into contact, diseases were traded along with human lives. Manuel Barcia examines the battle waged against disease, where traders fought against loss of profits while enslaved Africans fought for survival. Although efforts to control disease and stop epidemics from spreading brought little success, the medical knowledge generated by people on both sides of the conflict contributed to momentous change in the medical cultures of the Atlantic world.
The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary
by Maoshing NiThe Neijing is one of the most important classics of Taoism, as well as the highest authority on traditional Chinese medicine. Its authorship is attributed to the great Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, who reigned during the third millennium BCE. This new translation consists of the eighty-one chapters of the section of the Neijing known as the Suwen, or "Questions of Organic and Fundamental Nature." (The other section, called the Lingshu, is a technical book on acupuncture and is not included here.) Written in the form of a discourse between Huang Di and his ministers, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine contains a wealth of knowledge, including etiology, physiology, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of disease, as well as in-depth investigation of such diverse subjects as ethics, psychology, and cosmology. All of these subjects are discussed in a holistic context that says life is not fragmented, as in the model provided by modern science, but rather that all the pieces make up an interconnected whole. By revealing the natural laws of this holistic universe, the book offers much practical advice on how to promote a long, happy, and healthy life. The original text of the Neijing presents broad concepts and is often brief with details. The translator's elucidations and interpretations, incorporated into the translation, help not only to clarify the meaning of the text but also to make it a highly readable narrative for students--as well as for everyone curious about the underlying principles of Chinese medicine.
The Yellow Flag: Quarantine and the British Mediterranean World, 1780–1860 (Global Health Histories)
by Alex Chase-LevensonUntil the middle of the nineteenth century, quarantine laws in all Western European nations mandated the detention of every inbound trader, traveller, soldier, sailor, merchant, missionary, letter, and trade good arriving from the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. Most of these quarantines occurred in large, ominous fortresses in Mediterranean port cities. Alex Chase-Levenson examines Britain's engagement with this Mediterranean border regime from multiple angles. He explores how quarantine practice laid the foundations for the state provision of public health and constituted an early example of European integration. Situated at the intersection of political, cultural, diplomatic, and medical history, The Yellow Flag captures the texture of quarantine as an experience, its power as an administrative precedent, and its novelty as an example of a continental border built from the ground up by low-level bureaucrats.
The Yin and Yang of Climate Crisis
by Brendan KellyThe first book to marry western environmentalism with Chinese medicine, The Yin and Yang of Climate Crisis illustrates the many ways that our personal well-being and climate health are vitally connected. Brendan Kelly demonstrates that crises such as melting ice caps, dying forests, and devastating floods are symptoms of deeper issues, both within us as individuals and within our culture. Informed by Kelly's experience as a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, this passionate discussion reveals that the current life-threatening severity of climate change speaks to the level of imbalance that exists in the people and institutions responsible for the crisis. Considering issues such as loss of life from increasingly severe storms, stress on farmers from rapidly changing weather, and increasing rates of disease, this book goes on to present hopeful, deep-reaching personal and societal remedies to treat the underlying causes of climate change and to restore our own health. The Yin and Yang of Climate Crisis blends the external focus of environmentalism--western science, policy issues, regulations--with the internal focus of Chinese medicine--personal health, balancing Qi, diet--to present a holistic view of our interrelationship with the planet. Kelly provides a deeper look at how we've gotten to this place of climate destabilization and ways to treat both the symptoms and their root causes. Looking through the lens of Chinese medicine, we are better able to understand that the severity of climate destabilization speaks to deeper philosophical and spiritual issues and provides an opportunity to address our own personal and collective imbalances. With his unique perspective and far-reaching perceptions, Kelly encourages us to translate the reality of our warming planet into an opportunity to ask bigger and deeper questions, including who we are, what we're here to do, and what promotes health and healing.
The Yoga Engineer's Manual: The Anatomy and Mechanics of a Sustainable Practice
by Richelle Ricard, LMTAn innovative yoga manual for teachers, trainers, and advanced students—craft a safer, more effective yoga practice informed by anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics.Supplemented with more than 100 illustrations and photos, The Yoga Engineer&’s Manual makes yoga anatomy simple, clear, and accessible. With tips, tools, and practical advice for on-the-mat applications, this essential resource is written for yoga teachers and practitioners of all traditions. It offers a step-by-step, layer-by-layer examination of the connection between our physical and energetic bodies, their activation through finding one&’s best personal alignment, and methods for utilizing asana practice to explore the deeper nature of the Self. To experience the full benefits of yoga, author and yoga teacher trainer Richelle Ricard explains that we need to start with understanding the body: its mechanics, physiology, and our own individual strengths and limitations. Too often, outdated yoga modalities and rote memorization fail trainers and students with a one-size-fits-all approach. The Yoga Engineer&’s Manual introduces the functional anatomy, postures, asanas, and yoga-classroom skills that teachers need to confidently lead safeand effective classes that work for all students. Ricard also includes exercises, study guides, and supplemental materials for an interactive and continuous learning experience.
The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine (Second Revised & Enlarged Edition)
by David Frawley Vasant LadFor the first time, here is a detailed explanation and classification of herbs, using the ancient system of Ayurveda. More than 270 herbs are listed, with 108 herbs explained in detail. Included are many of the most commonly used western herbs with a profound Ayurvedic perspective. Important Chinese and special Ayurvedic herbs are introduced. Beautiful diagrams and charts, as well as detailed glossaries, appendices and index are included.
The Yokohama System for Reporting Endometrial Cytology: Definitions, Criteria, and Explanatory Notes
by Yasuo Hirai Franco FulcinitiThis book describes a standardized method for classifying and reporting invasive endometrial malignancies via direct endometrial sampling. Featuring a wealth of color illustrations, it provides specific diagnostic categories and cytomorphologic criteria to promote uniform and reliable diagnoses. It also describes the history of directly sampled endometrial cytology, reviews the sampling techniques and algorithmic approach, discusses specimen adequacy, and outlines challenges for the future. The Yokohama System for Reporting Endometrial Cytology – Definitions, Criteria and Explanatory Notes offers a valuable resource for researchers at clinical cytopathological laboratories around the world whose work involves gynecological cytology, oncology, pathology, and cytopathology. It will also appeal to researchers in the fields of cytotechnology, basic science, pathology and related industries, medical residents and clinicians.
The Yoruba Traditional Healers of Nigeria
by Mary AdeksonThis work examines the counseling approaches and techniques used by Yoruba traditional healers of Nigeria. It also describes the functions performed by Yoruba traditional healers when they work within the Yoruba cultural milieu. The information elicited from Yoruba traditional healers through videotape and interviews was analyzed by a Nigerian woma
The Young Adult Hip in Sport
by Fares S. HaddadThis book focuses on the problems seen in the adult hip in sport including pre arthritic inflammatory, non inflammatory, and degenerative causes of hip pain. It particularly focuses on our rapidly evolving understanding and treatment of joint preserving surgery. In this book experts in the field discuss the anatomy, diagnosis, investigation and pathophysiology of young adult hip disease with a particular focus on the sporting population. Sports Medicine is now a specialty in its own right. Worldwide, hip and groin pain in elite sport is an unresolved issue . This is an area that has expanded dramatically in the last 5 years and hip arthroscopy as a procedure has arrived in a big way with numbers increasing exponentially and the inception of the ISHA (International Society for Hip Arthroscopy).
The Young Coyote: Garven Wilsonhulme's Way to Success—No Quarter Asked and None Given
by Carl DouglassThe Young Coyote tells the hard-hitting story of a boy from Cipher, Arizona who is expected to be a zero just like his town. He has no intention of fitting into that conventional wisdom and fights with his fists and his mind to get up and out of his straitened circumstances. He makes it to Stanford University with a pugnacious attitude where he meets snobbery and prejudice. At Stanford, he finds out that his real fight is just beginning. Garven Wilsonhulme will succeed at any cost.
The Young Female Athlete
by Cynthia J. Stein Kathryn E. Ackerman Andrea StraccioliniUtilizing a multidisciplinary approach and drawing on the experience of experts in their respective fields, this unique book presents and discusses an array of topics relevant to the ever-growing population of pediatric, adolescent and young adult female athletes. Each topic is clearly defined and includes epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and future directions. Opening chapters discuss growth and development, sports nutrition, resistance training, and psychological considerations for the young female athlete, with a chapter focusing on the female athlete triad. Later chapters present injuries and management strategies common to the young female athlete, such as overuse injuries, spondylolysis, hip and ACL injuries, concussion, and cardiovascular complications. The concluding chapter considers the benefits of physical activity for chronic disease prevention later in life. The Young Female Athlete provides useful, up-to-date information for any practitioner treating this active population, encouraging sports participation with fitness, injury prevention, personal growth, and long-term health.
The Young Neurosurgeon: Lessons from My Patients (Literature and Medicine Series)
by Paul Edward KaloostianIn the ER, the OR, and in the waiting room where the doctors deliver heart stopping news to the families of their patients, a neurosurgeon&’s apprenticeship is arduous. This memoir of the day-to-day experiences of a resident in neurosurgery at one of the nation&’s busiest trauma centers provides a rare window into the training of the doctors who open patients&’ skulls and operate on their brains and spinal cords. Paul Kaloostian&’s intimate account describes both the lifesaving feats and tragic failures that are the daily ups and downs of twenty-firstcentury neurosurgery. Kaloostian shares the lessons of humility, faith, and compassion that were often more important than the surgical expertise he acquired in the operating room.
The Young Tennis Player
by Alexis C. Colvin James N. GladstonePresenting a multidisciplinary approach to the prevention and management of injuries to young tennis players, this unique book considers multiple factors contributing to the increasing numbers of such sports-related injuries, such as increased young athlete participation in tennis, the pre-professionalization of younger players and misconceptions surrounding treating children in the same manner as adults. Beginning with the essentials for developing tennis players and their physical and mental growth with the sport, the text then turns to prevention and management techniques and strategies covering the upper and lower extremities, shoulder and elbow, hip and knee, and spine, as well as other acute medical conditions. Further consideration is given to proper nutrition, strength and conditioning, and rehabilitation and return to play. Edited by clinicians directly involved in the care of young tennis players and including contributions from physical therapists, nutritionists, sports psychologists, and physicians, it is an invaluable and comprehensive resource for any professional seeing and treating young tennis players.
The Younger Next Year Back Book: The Whole-Body Plan to Conquer Back Pain Forever (Younger Next Year)
by Chris Crowley Jeremy JamesAt some point in their lives, 80% of Americans will seek expert help for back pain. It’s an epidemic, with a cost to society in medical expenses and lost productivity that is steeper than heart disease. But remember the 80% figure—that’s the astonishing cure rate at Dr. Jeremy James’s Aspen Club Back Institute. <P><P>A Doctor of Chiropractic who took that path because of his own severe injury-induced back pain, he has developed a revolutionary behavioral/whole-body approach to help sufferers heal—and often eliminate—back pain forever. Co-written with Chris Crowley, The Younger Next Year Back Book follows the alternating chapter format of the #1 New York Times bestselling Younger Next Year and other books in the series. <P><P>And just as millions of readers positively changed their lives following Harry’s Rules in Younger Next Year, the millions of back pain sufferers can find relief following Jeremy’s rules, including Stop Doing Dumb Stuff, Be Still So You Can Heal, and Stand Tall for the Long Haul. <P><P>He explains the workings of the spine and muscles, and then why back pain is almost never a disease, per se, but the result of behavior. He then shows how to change our behavior, find a neutral spine, and begin a regimen of simple exercises—with step-by-step two-color illustrations—to realign our core to virtually eliminate back pain forever. Chris Crowley, in his been-there-done-that-and-you-can-too-damnit! voice, provides all the motivation and patient perspective we need.
The Youngest Science: Notes of a Medicine-Watcher
by Lewis ThomasFrom the 1920s when he watched his father, a general practitioner who made house calls and wrote his prescriptions in Latin, to his days in medical school and beyond, Lewis Thomas saw medicine evolve from an art into a sophisticated science.
The Youngest Science: Notes of a Medicine-Watcher
by Lewis ThomasFrom the 1920s when he watched his father, a general practitioner who made housecalls and wrote his prescriptions in Latin, to his days in medical school and beyond, Lewis Thomas saw medicine evolve from an art into a sophisticated science. The Youngest Science is Dr. Thomas's account of his life in the medical profession and an inquiry into what medicine is all about--the youngest science, but one rich in possibility and promise.He chronicles his training in Boston and New York, his war career in the South Pacific, his most impassioned research projects, his work as an administrator in hospitals and medical schools, and even his experiences as a patient. Along the way, Thomas explores the complex relationships between research and practice, between words and meanings, between human error and human accomplishment, More than a magnificent autobiography, The Youngest Science is also a celebration and a warning--about the nature of medicine and about the future life of our planet.
The Zero Waste Solution: Untrashing the Planet One Community at a Time
by Paul ConnettWaste is something we all make every day but often pay little attention to. That's changing, and model programs around the globe show the many different ways a community can strive for, and achieve, zero-waste status.Scientist-turned-activist Paul Connett, a leading international figure in decades-long battles to fight pollution, has championed efforts to curtail overconsumption and keep industrial toxins out of our air and drinking water and bodies. But he&’s best known around the world for leading efforts to help communities deal with their waste in sustainable ways—in other words, to eliminate and reuse waste rather than burn it or stow it away in landfills.In The Zero Waste Solution, Connett profiles the most successful zero-waste initiatives around the world, showing activists, planners, and entrepreneurs how to re-envision their community&’s waste-handling process—by consuming less, turning organic waste into compost, recycling, reusing other waste, demanding nonwasteful product design, and creating jobs and bringing community members together in the process. The book also exposes the greenwashing behind renewed efforts to promote waste incinerators as safe, nontoxic energy suppliers, and gives detailed information on how communities can battle incineration projects that, even at their best, emit dangerous particles into the atmosphere, many of which remain unregulated or poorly regulated.An important toolkit for anyone interested in creating sustainable communities, generating secure local jobs, and keeping toxic alternatives at bay.
The Zone: A Dietary Road Map (1st Edition)
by Barry Sears Bill LawrenA revolutionary life plan to put your body in total balance for permanent weight loss. This dietary technology is the most powerful means ever discovered to help people achieve that state of optimal good health, physical performance, and mental alertness that's called the Zone. Staying in the Zone is your best defense to ward off cancer, and has a positive impact on a host of other diseases, including diabetes, arthritis, "mental" diseases like depression and alcoholism, even chronic fatigue. In fact, reaching the Zone and maintaining it should ultimately help us reach that most universal of personal goals: to live longer, healthier, and more satisfying lives. In the bargain, staying in the Zone will keep us performing at our absolute best-hour after hour, day after day, month after month-for the rest of our lives.
The aWAKE Project: Uniting Against the African AIDS Crisis
by Various ContributorsFive AIDS victims die every minute. What can you do to help? "Today, this very day, 5,500 Africans will die of AIDS. If this isn't emergency, what is?" -Bono (U2) The aWAKE Project is a collection of stories and essays geared toward educating and mobilizing Americans to help with the AIDS crisis in Africa. Action is needed for a continent on which five people die every minute from the deadly AIDS virus. aWAKE stands for: AIDS-Working toward Awareness, Knowledge and Engagement. Compiled of articles written by significant speakers on the AIDS issue, ranging from Nelson Mandela to Kevin Max, The aWAKE Project provides poignant stories and compelling statistics, encouraging the reader to care and even take action to battle this horrific crisis. A significant portion of the proceeds from The aWAKE Project will be donated to Jubilee 2000 and World Vision's Hope Iniative for Africa. Contributors include: Johanna McGreary, Nelson Mandela, Senator Bill Frist, Mary Graham, Desmond Tutu, Margaret Becker, Jimmy Carter, Jeffrey Sachs, Kevin Max, Jesse Helms, Kofi Annan, Out of Eden, Dikembe Mutombo, Luci Swindoll, Michael Tait, Charlie Peacock, President Olusegun Obsanjo of Nigeria, Bono, Nadine Gordimer, President George W. Bush, Danny Glover, Ambassador Rachel Gbenyon-Diggs, Mark Schoofs, Greg Barz, Paul O'Neill, Noelina Nakumisa, World Bank Report, and others. "As featured on the official U2 website."
The big squeeze: a social and political history of the controversial mammogram
by Handel ReynoldsIn 2009, an influential panel of medical experts ignited a controversy when they recommended that most women should not begin routine mammograms to screen for breast cancer until the age of fifty, reversing guidelines they had issued just seven years before when they recommended forty as the optimal age to start getting mammograms. While some praised the new recommendation as sensible given the smaller benefit women under fifty derive from mammography, many women's groups, health care advocates, and individual women saw the guidelines as privileging financial considerations over women's health and a setback to decades-long efforts to reduce the mortality rate of breast cancer.In The Big Squeeze, Dr. Handel Reynolds, a practicing radiologist, notes that this episode was only the most recent controversy in the turbulent history of mammography since its introduction in the early 1970s. In a book written for the millions of women who face the decision about whether to get a mammogram, health professionals interested in cancer screening, and public health policymakers, Reynolds shows how pivotal decisions made during mammography's initial launch made it all but inevitable that the test would be contentious. He describes how, at several key points in its history, the emphasis on mammography screening as a fundamental aspect of women's preventive health care coincided with social and political developments, from the women's movement in the early 1970s to breast cancer activism in the 1980s and '90s.At the same time, aggressive promotion of mammography made the screening tool the cornerstone of a huge new industry. Taking a balanced approach to this much-disputed issue, Reynolds addresses both the benefits and risks of mammography, charting debates, for example, that have weighed the early detection of aggressively malignant tumors against unnecessary treatments resulting from the identification of slow-growing and non-life-threatening cancers. The Big Squeeze, ultimately, helps to evaluate the ongoing public health controversies surrounding mammography and provides a clear understanding of how mammography achieved its current primacy in cancer screening.
The calcitonin gene-related peptide family
by Deborah L. Hay Ian M. DickersonThis book contains a comprehensive series of reviews on the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) family of peptides. This family of peptide hormones has a diverse and constantly expanding range of important physiologic functions, including regulation of blood calcium, vascular tension, feeding behavior and pain recognition. This volume includes chapters on: The adrenomedullin peptides and signalling Ligand binding and activation of the CGRP receptor Understanding amylin receptors The CGRP-receptor component protein The calcitonin peptide family Genetic regulation of CGRP Vascular actions of CGRP and adrenomedullin Intermedin/adrenomedullin 2 function CGRP and adrenomedullin as pain-related peptides Amylinergic control of ingestive behaviour Calcitonin receptors This book discusses their receptors, physiological and pathophysiological functions and potential as clinical targets. It will appeal to researchers who study any of these peptides and those with an interest in migraine therapy due to the involvement of CGRP in this disorder. The book is unique because it brings together research on the whole peptide family for the first time in several years. It will be a useful reference volume for researchers in this area. This book will also appeal to researchers in the broader field of bioactive peptides.
The end of medicine as we know it - and why your health has a future
by Harald H.H.W. SchmidtMedicine itself is sick. We hardly understand any disease and therefore need to chronically treat symptoms but not the causes. Consequently, drugs and other therapies help only very few patients; yet we are pumping more and more money into our healthcare system without any added value.Thus, the internationally renowned physician researcher, Harald Schmidt, predicts the end of medicine as we know it. On a positive note, digitization will radically change healthcare and lead to one of the greatest socioeconomic revolutions of mankind. He is one of the pioneers of "systems medicine", a complete redefinition of what we actually call a "disease", how we organize medicine and how we use Big Data to heal rather than treat, to prevent rather than cure. In this book the author first proves the deep crisis of medicine, but describes how medicine will become more precise, more uniform, safer and, surprisingly, also more affordable. Making a diagnosis will be taken over by artificial intelligence. Current, mainly organ-based medical specialists, disciplines and hospital departments will disappear. Physicians will become patient coaches working in interdisciplinary teams with pharmacists, physiotherapists, nutritionists, etc. and relieved of their workload. Illnesses, including cancer, will be prevented or cured in a precise manner. We will become 100 years and older. Health care spending will shift from chronic treatment of diseases to prevention and health maintenance, thereby dramatically reducing overall costs. Health will become a common good. But Harald Schmidt also warns that those who are not open to digitization will not benefit from these advances and will be left behind. Anyone who wants to benefit from the revolution of medicine must have a digital twin. Is this futurism? No, each of us can have his or her personal genome sequenced, microbiome analyzed, keep an electronic health record. The future has begun.Schmidt convincingly explains the limitations in the current practice of medicine and the need for big data and a systems approach. Prof. Ferid Murad MD, PhD, Nobel Laureate in Medicine 1998, USA Network Medicine, a new discipline that offers a network-based understanding of the cell and disease, is unavoidable if we wish to translate the advances in genomics into cures. Professor Harald Schmidt, a prominent expert in this space, offers the first coherent treatment of the topic, explaining the potential of a network-based perspective of human disease. Prof. Albert-László Barabási, Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USAVisionary, provocative, and full of insights. Professor Schmidt gives a unique and authoritative perspective to the past, present and future of medical science and clinical practice. And all presented in such an inimitable style. Prof. Robert F.W. Moulds, MBBS PhD FRACP, Former Dean Royal Melbourne Hospital Clinical School, Australia
The knowledge of experience: Exploring epistemic diversity in digital health, participatory medicine, and environmental research
by Dana MahrThis book explores the role of social and epistemic diversity in science, technology, and medicine in the 21st century. It argues that most contemporary endeavours to democratize science are epistemically conservative. Using illustrative case studies, Dr Dana Mahr shows how epistemic diversity can contribute to a renewal of the production of scientific knowledge. Her exploration of online self-help cultures, radical feminist health movements, and grassroots environmentalism in Thailand emphasize that “experiential knowledge“ and “performativity“ are important epistemic strategies for marginalized social groups to critically engage with institutionalized knowledge.
The mRNA Metabolism in Human Disease (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology #1157)
by Luísa RomãoThe eukaryotic gene expression pathway involves a number of interlinked steps, with messenger RNA (mRNA) being the key intermediate. The precursor mRNA is transcribed from DNA, processed by removal of introns and addition of the cap structure and the poly(A) tail. The mature mRNA is then exported to the cytoplasm where it is translated into protein and finally degraded. In this process, mRNA is associated with RNA-binding proteins forming ribonucleoprotein complexes, whose protein content evolves throughout the lifetime of the mRNA. While the complexity of eukaryotic gene expression allows the production of proteins to be controlled at many levels, it also makes the process vulnerable to errors. Although eukaryotic cells have evolved elaborate mRNA quality control mechanisms that ensure the fidelity of gene expression, some defects are not detected, thus affecting mRNA metabolism. This condition plays a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of several disease processes, such as neurodegeneration and oncogenesis. Besides, exciting recent data have shown that cellular RNAs can be modified post-transcriptionally via dynamic and reversible chemical modifications, the so-called epitranscriptome. These modifications can alter mRNA structure, being able to modulate different steps of the mRNA metabolism that can be associated with various human diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and cancer. This book provides a collection of novel studies and hypotheses aimed to define the pathophysiological consequences of altered mRNA metabolism events in human cells, and is written for a wide spectrum of readers in the field of gene expression regulation. The last chapter highlights how the discovery of disease-causing defects (or modifications) in mRNA can provide a variety of therapeutic targets that can be used for the development of new RNA-based therapeutics. Hopefully, it may also contribute to inspire the drug-developing scientific community.