Customer Reviews

Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. McCredie, while on a hike with his father, witnesses his dad simply drop from sight...he fell, lost his balance. From here Mr. McCredie shares with us his research on this sense. I was hitherto unaware of the magnitude of its importance. Happily, I am not in small minded company as Aristotle, Scott writes, did not include balance in his original list of our senses. Balance's history has been facinating...sea sickness, cognitive thinking, a walk in the park, pilots' training, infants' cognitive abilities, camels, Lawrence of Arabia, Lord Nelson, war, astronauts, birds and cats,the mentally ill, and John F. Kennedy, Jr. are just a few of the people and subjects Scott connects by this sense. I am glad I read the book.

As a literary interviewer for Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, I choose Scott McCredie's book initially because his writing style is compatible with my reading style, i.e.,tell me or teach me information on almost any subject, have it reach my brain in an interesting way and do it cleanly and clearly. Scott does all the above despite my having to grapple with science.

Last year I was hospitalized with vertigo and nausea.When the tests revealed that I was not having a strokeand my symptoms persisted and I was not able to walk without falling, they diagnosed "labrynthitis" (a virus attack on the celebellum (inner ear). With the help of therapy I was able to regain my balance. This book and its detailed explanation of the three integral components of balance was both enlightening and encouraging and answered my questions as to why certain exercises were prescribed and the necessity to stimulate and challenge nerves and muscles to reawaken the intricate connections betweenparts of the body and the brain were experienced. So I advanced from a wheelchair, to a walker and then a cane, and now I can walk, run and even do the mumbo!I applaud the author for an illuminating,if somewhat dry and scholarly, book. It is well documentedand understandable to the average reader and answers the questions about balance and the possibilities of regaining it, which doctors and therapists are unable to explain. I highly recommend to all whose sense of balance is lost or compromised in any way. As Mr. Creighton points out aging may be a factor in the gradual compromiseto the sense of balance, so it goes without saying that all seniors shouldbe exposed as early as possible to an awareness of this "sense" and how to keep it. Rita LysterA grateful reader

This was a fascinating book. Mccredie makes a convincing case for including balance as a 6th sense, supporting his thesis with interesting examples from medical research, historical examples, and personal accounts. The bit about JFK Jr's plane crash attributed to a confused vestibular system was particularly good, and the other stories (the "brainport" device, for one) lent contemporary credence to his ideas. He's a great writer, and covers all the bases. I learned a lot. Highly recommended.

A "history" of balance myths, facts, research...includes narratives and personal stories. This book will introduce balance as a sense to the reader but kind of disjointed and difficult to discern what is intended. Still, worth reading if one is interested in non-excercise aspects of balance.

told in a highly readable format. Some new discoveries that may help us all in the future. Exercises that we all can use to delay loss of function. It's always fun to really discover new stuff. Well done.

but don't know who to ask or where to look. If you are looking for how-to, you would be disappointed as that is restricted to the appendix. The last few chapters shed light on research that would one day retard the atrophy of our sense of balance or technology to compensate for it. In the meantime, our only hope is to stay active and agile and be less sedentary.

This is a wonderful layman's description of how the balance system works, and about individual vestibular problems. It should be of interest to anyone with a vestibular problem, including Parkinsons, Menieres, BPV etc.Family members and friends should read it too.

This book runs only 274 pages, but the author's style reminds me of frozen mud. Getting anywhere is a slow, laborious process. It took me several weeks to get through this book.

Scott McCredie simply doesn't bring a lot of sparkle to the party.

He does, however, bring a lot of information about balance as a "lost sense" to the table. It's quite the mélange. Some first-person true stories of people with vestibular disorders, bits and pieces of the history of learning about the vestibular system which is quite fascinating. His treatment of the purported science about the vestibular system is, unfortunately, largely anecdotal, partially because there has been so little formal research in the area.

Overall, despite the shortcomings of the author's writing style - which may very well be entirely an issue of my tastes - this is an excellent book for learning about the sense of balance. It is particularly valuable to the elderly, those on the road to aging, diabetics, those with existing balance disorders and those who suffer from several other ailments.

While the author sheds light on how things like Tai Chai allegedly help develop better balance, his specific exercise instructions amount to four meager pages.

With all this criticism, I still think this is a very valuable book, especially for those who (like me) are old or close to it. Falls are dangerous to people in my age group and increasingly common. McCredie, despite his style, provides useful information and is worth reading.

Jerry

As a vertigo sufferer I appreciated the explanation of the balance mechanism.I am fascinated to think that Vincent van Gogh was a sufferer of Menieres Disease.
I enjoyed and empathized with the stories of other sufferers and will benefit from the list of exercises and activities to improve balance. The book was a good mixture of theory and stories and help yourself exercises. Vertigo makes reading rather difficult but this was a book I wanted to persevere with.

this book is a great book, even if you don't have much interest in how balance works. after you read this book you will. it talks about how the inner ear in involved in balance and what causes seasickness to humans with an extreme sense of balance.

great book, highly recommend it