Anderson Cooper The Journalist

Hi all. You’ll be happy to know that we now do a weekly book review on anything concerning social issues, politics, human rights, the news, international affairs, the media etc. We start with Sanjay’s book “Cheating Death”.

Decades ago, a comatose patient, a person who drowned, or even a patient with a deadly heart disease would have been declared dead as soon as they flat line. Doctors would not have done anything else if they seemed to have tried everything to revive these people. These are a few of the hopeless cases that even medicine cannot do anything about.

However, the question is, what if something can still be done to bring these people back to life? What if medicine can go as far as reviving someone who has been dead for hours?

Several years later, as technology advanced and more discoveries in the medical field have been made, Dr. Sanjay Gupta now reveals the science behind medical miracles that have never really been discussed. Intriguing? Perhaps this book has become one of the most talked about books of 2009 since it covers concepts that have not been completely accepted by many.

Seeing that it is argued about by a lot of readers and professionals alike, what exactly makes Cheating Death so intriguing? In the book, Dr. Sanjay Gupta basically chronicles the would-have-been fatal cases where patients survive and surprisingly able live normal lives afterward. What makes it intriguing is that the idea of reviving patients who have been declared dead even for hours can still be revived is discussed. It shows readers the human body’s extraordinary capability of survival and how far medicine can go to postpone the death of a person.

A lot of people find the book very interesting and lively. It is creatively written in a way that as if the reader is watching Discovery Health and Rescue 911 all at the same time – it is learning concepts combined with an action-filled style as real-life cases are discussed. However, this is not just the reason why people continuously talk about the book.

The idea of being able to save a person’s life who was in death’s doorstep has, indeed, fascinated and intrigued a lot of fans and critics. The concept gave hope to many readers, but also troubled others. There has been a lot of talk that Cheating Death’s concepts are misleading the readers. According to critics, the book seems to convey the idea that every deadly case can still be saved; and this belief leads people to think twice about donating organs hoping that a loved one might still be able to be revived. Also, others argue that the book is filled with medical errors. Critics point out the confusion between medical terms such as permanent vegetation, brain death, and comatose.

Despite the many clashes in opinions, it is still a personal choice whether to throw away or believe the idea of medical miracles that Dr. Sanjay Gupta wrote about in Cheating Death. There is nothing wrong about being critical, but there are indeed certain occurrences that happen yet we cannot explain – such as being revived from death. At the same time, though, there is nothing wrong with being hopeful; however, there are limitations. In the end, every one will come face to face with death and there is nothing else to be done but to let go. We are not gods, and we can only go so far in saving a person’s life.