Psychosocial problems appear within a medical context worldwide, and are a major burden to health. Psychosomatic Medicine: An International Primer for the Primary Care Setting takes a uniquely global approach in laying the foundations of bio psychosocial basic care (such as recognizing psychosocial and psychosomatic problems, basic counseling and collaboration with mental health specialists) and provides relevant information about the most common mental and psychosomatic problems and disorders. The scope of the book is intercultural—it addresses global cultures, subcultures living in a single country and strengthening the care given by physicians working abroad. This clinically useful book outlines best practices for diagnosing the most common bio psychosocial problems and mastering the most common communication challenges (e.g. doctor-patient conversation, breaking bad news, dealing with difficult patients, family and health systems communication and collaboration). Every chapter integrates basic theoretical background and practical skills and includes trans-culturally sensitive material, important for work with patients from different cultures. Psychosomatic Medicine: An International Primer for the Primary Care Setting serves as an excellent resource for clinicians hoping to gain and develop knowledge and skills in psychosomatic medicine.

Closely geared to general practice yet without neglecting basic theory, this book has retained so much appeal among readers .as to warrant a third edition. We assume that the work has retained its place among the leading publications on psychosomatics because it embodies our strong interest in the 'here and now' of medical practice. The timing of this thoroughly revised and enlarged edition appears opportune as psychosomatic basic care and the medicine of dialogue acquire more meaning in daily routine practice, and as the need for basic information increases. We conceive psychosomatics to be an integral part of medicine. When we speak of 'psychosomatic disorders' in this book, our premise is that somatic and psychosocial aspects play an important role in their pathogenesis and course. This notion constitutes the very basis of what is understood as psychosomatic medical treatment. Such a point of departure calls for a consistent spirit of cooperation with regard to the problems involved. This alone satisfies the initial requirement of simultaneously considering both the somatic and psychosocial aspects of health and illness.

Unlike other texts on the subject, this book aims to provide a well-integrated approach to the diagnosis and treatment of the pervasive effects of the mind/body splitting that lead to somatoform disorders.

Expands and refines the psychosomatic approach in clinical practice Psychosomatic medicine has developed methods to increase diagnostic accuracy and improve targeted therapeutic approaches in all fields of medicine. In this context, clinimetrics, the science of clinical measurements, provides unprecedented opportunities for psychosomatic assessment. This volume illustrates how this approach can be translated into everyday practice complementing and improving the medical interview. The most sensitive and reliable clinical methods are presented for evaluating specific psychosocial aspects of disease, i.e. childhood adversities, life events and chronic stress, lifestyle, sexual function, subclinical and affective disturbances, personality, illness behavior, well-being and family dynamics. Each chapter provides practical illustrations as to how crucial information can be obtained with specific methods individualized according to the patients' needs. A hyperlink is provided to a website that contains many of the instruments assessed in the volume. This book enables the reader to understand the value of the psychosomatic approach in clinical practice. It is intended to expand and refine the skills of clinicians who work in general and specialized medicine and psychiatry, whether physicians, psychologists or other health professionals.

The field of gender-specific medicine examines how normal human biology and physiology differ between men and women and how the diagnosis and treatment of disease differs as a function of gender. This revealing research covers various conditions that predominantly occur in men as well conditions that predominantly occur in women. Among the areas of greatest difference are cardiovascular disease, mood disorders, the immune system, lung cancer as a consequence of smoking, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, and infectious diseases. The Second Edition of Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine focuses on the essentials of gender-specific medicine and the current study of sex and gender differences in human physiology and pathophysiology. New section editors, new chapter authors, and new chapters have been added to reflect the most up-to-date clinical research and practice. - Offers insight into how the gender-specific risks of one organ system's disease affects the health of other organ systems - Outlines the sex-specific differences of normal anatomy and physiology - Illustrates the gender-specific features and quantifies "gender" and "sex" as risk factors across all major diseases - Qualifies and analyzes the results of new drug therapies designed with gender-specific differences in mind: ex, hormone therapy in men and women for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease - All chapters progress translationally from the basic science to the clinical applications of gender-specific therapies, drugs, or treatments - Sections on drug metabolism, aging, and meta-analysis of data incorporated into all disease-specific chapters

Psychosomatic Medicine (PM) is a rapidly developing subspecialty of psychiatry focusing on psychiatric care of patients with other medical disorders. PM practitioners strive to stay current with the latest research and practice guidelines in a burgeoning field involving complex interactions and combinations of illnesses. To address these challenges, this book provides practical instruction from PM clinicians, educators and researchers, covering core clinical concepts routinely used in practice.

A neurologist explores the very real world of psychosomatic illness. Most of us accept the way our heart flutters when we set eyes on the one we secretly admire, or the sweat on our brow as we start the presentation we do not want to give. But few of us are fully aware of how dramatic our body's reactions to emotions can sometimes be. Take Pauline, who first became ill when she was fifteen. What seemed at first to be a urinary infection became joint pain, then food intolerances, then life-threatening appendicitis. And then one day, after a routine operation, Pauline lost all the strength in her legs. Shortly after that her convulsions started. But Pauline's tests are normal; her symptoms seem to have no physical cause whatsoever. Pauline may be an extreme case, but she is by no means alone. As many as a third of men and women visiting their GP have symptoms that are medically unexplained. In most, an emotional root is suspected and yet, when it comes to a diagnosis, this is the very last thing we want to hear, and the last thing doctors want to say. In It's All in Your Head consultant neurologist Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan takes us on a journey through the very real world of psychosomatic illness. She takes us from the extreme -- from paralysis, seizures and blindness -- to more everyday problems such as tiredness and pain. Meeting her patients, she encourages us to look deep inside the human condition. There we find the secrets we are all capable of keeping from ourselves, and our age-old failure to credit the intimate and extraordinary connection between mind and body.

Ask for a definition of primary care, and you are likely to hear as many answers as there are health care professionals in your survey. Primary Care fills this gap with a detailed definition already adopted by professional organizations and praised at recent conferences. This volume makes recommendations for improving primary care, building its organization, financing, infrastructure, and knowledge baseâ€"as well as developing a way of thinking and acting for primary care clinicians. Are there enough primary care doctors? Are they merely gatekeepers? Is the traditional relationship between patient and doctor outmoded? The committee draws conclusions about these and other controversies in a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion that covers: The scope of primary care. Its philosophical underpinnings. Its value to the patient and the community. Its impact on cost, access, and quality. This volume discusses the needs of special populations, the role of the capitation method of payment, and more. Recommendations are offered for achieving a more multidisciplinary education for primary care clinicians. Research priorities are identified. Primary Care provides a forward-thinking view of primary care as it should be practiced in the new integrated health care delivery systemsâ€"important to health care clinicians and those who train and employ them, policymakers at all levels, health care managers, payers, and interested individuals.

Health is maintained by the coordinated operation of all the biological systems that make up the individual. The Introduction to Psychoneuroimmunology, Second Edition, presents an overview of what has been discovered by scientists regarding how bodily systems respond to environmental challenges and intercommunicate to sustain health. The book touches on the main findings from the current literature without being overly technical and complex. The result is a comprehensive overview of psychoneuroimmunology, which avoids oversimplification, but does not overwhelm the reader. Single authored for consistency of breadth and depth, with no redundancy of coverage between chapters Covers endocrine-immune modulation, neuro-immune modulation, and the enhancing or inhibiting processes of one or more systems on the others Expanded use of figures, tables, and text boxes

In the years following World War II the health and well-being of the nation was of primary concern to the British government. The essays in this collection examine the relationship between health and stress in post-war Britain through a series of carefully connected case studies.