Publisher's Synopsis
One of five children of Czech immigrants, George Jelinek was educated at Scotch College in Perth, before studying medicine at the University of Western Australia. While at school, his mother developed multiple sclerosis, and by the time he had qualified in medicine she was wheelchair bound. A few years later she took her own life, such was her suffering. George Jelinek specialised in Emergency Medicine, winning the prize in the first specialist examinations in that field in Australasia in 1986. A stellar career followed: President of the Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine, Editor of Emergency Medicine, then, in 1996, inaugural Professor in Emergency Medicine in Australasia. But at the age of 45, two years into that job, he too was diagnosed with MS. Professor Jelinek accepted the disease as a challenge, searching the medical literature and modifying his own life according to the findings: support for new, disease-modifying drugs, and sound evidence that dietary modifications and sunlight may help in controlling MS. More than a medical challenge, the disease has also led Professor Jelinek to re-assess his life, relationships and spirituality. The insights he gained, together with the dietary and lifestyle changes he prescribes, will be of benefit to thousands of people with MS and many other chronic conditions.
