"Tuesday morning, I spent an hour with a neurologist trying to figure out why I kept tripping over my feet. He pushed and pulled on my legs, whacked me with a reflex hammer and shone a light so deep into my eyes I thought it might illuminate the wall behind my head. That afternoon, I drove home and ordered a new backpacking tent." Pain is an unforgiving equalizer--forget social status, race or gender. For people suffering from chronic pain, "real life" can get lost among endless appointments, diagnoses, prescriptions and medical bills. Living a life beyond mere survival becomes as big a battle as fighting the pain itself. Drawing on her experiences as both a patient and a health-care professional, the author candidly describes her sudden transition from a healthy, active lifestyle to years of learning to live with debilitating pain.

This book sets out to restore the concept of healing to its place within and beyond pain medicine, in chapters authored by keynote speakers to the British Pain Society's Philosophy and Ethics Special Interest Group. Exploring psychological, spiritual and creative approaches, contributors reflect on therapeutic avenues ranging from the deliberate use of the placebo response and the importance of a caring relationship between patient and practitioner, to the use of knitting as a therapeutic tool. Barriers to the flow of healing such as practitioners' careless use of language and cultural attitudes are identified and contrasted with the need to understand the first-person perspectives of people who are suffering. This book will provide hope and inspiration both to people who have become disillusioned with conventional medical approaches to the relief of their pain, and to health professionals sadly aware of the frequent inadequacy of their efforts to help them.

Using repeated sets of exercises meant to relax and desensitize the mind, autogenic training equips patients to deal with chronic conditions such as anxiety disorders, recurring pain and stress. Patients learn how to gain control over their symptoms and improve coping to reduce suffering. This expanded edition presents practitioners with a concise exploration of autogenic technique and its clinical use for patients, especially in treating those suffering from chronic pain syndrome and disrupted sleep.

Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) is now recognized as one of the most common forms of dementia in individuals under age 65, second only to Alzheimer's. Shedding light on a little known brain disease, this volume examines FTD from a few angles, beginning with the author's insightful memoir of her husband's struggle with FTD and its impact on their family. Detailed background information on the disease is provided along with discussion of related issues, and information on how to minimize the chances of becoming a victim.

Breathing is so fundamental to life that the brain is hardwired so that when breathing is compromised for any reason, nothing else matters. Shortness of breath is an attention-getter, but when breathing problems become frequent, help is needed. Health care providers are there to help and prescribe medication that brings temporary relief, but many patients leave with unanswered questions about more permanent, long-lasting treatments or cures. This book guides respiratory patients toward having the most productive relationships with their doctors. A respiratory therapist (RRT), the author uses decades of clinical experience to outline how patients can be more active participants in their own medical care. With a better understanding of the right questions, more beneficial discussions with doctors will help fine-tune every individual's medical care plan.

With the recent discovery that amyloid beta protein, the cause of plaques in Alzheimer's disease, is an antimicrobial peptide produced in response to infection, many researchers are focusing on the role infection plays in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Brain studies have also identified a number of different viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa in the postmortem brain specimens of Alzheimer's patients. Infection (particularly chronic, latent and persistent infections) causes an immune response that leads to inflammation and brain cell degeneration, which are characteristic features of Alzheimer's disease. Sources of infection in Alzheimer's disease vary from childhood infections to gut microbes that find their way into the brain as a result of aging, leaky gut syndrome, and increased permeability of the blood brain barrier. Studies and ongoing clinical trials show that treatment of viral and bacterial infections, as well as restoring a healthy balance to the gut microbiome, can reduce disease risk and improve symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease. This book serves as an introduction to the human microbiome and the role that infection plays in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The first of its kind, this guidebook provides an overview of clinical holistic interventions for mental-health practitioners. Submissions from 21 contributors examine the validity of different methods and provide information on credentialed training and licensure requirements necessary for legal and ethical practice. Chapters covering a range of healing modalities describe the populations and disorders for which the intervention is most effective, as well as the risks involved, and present research on the effectiveness of treatment, with step-by-step sample clinical sessions.

As Americans and citizens of other industrializing countries began to enjoy lives of increasing affluence and ease during the first half of the 20th century, a rising tide of heart attacks and strokes displaced infectious diseases as the leading cause of death, killing millions in the United States and throughout the world. Although cardiovascular disease remains serious and widespread, the significant decline of per capita deaths is one of the greatest accomplishments of modern public health and medicine. Death rates from heart attack and stroke have fallen dramatically by 80% in the past 50 years -- the progress has been hard won by a combination of basic and applied laboratory research, broad and far-reaching epidemiological studies by physicians, scientists, and public health experts. Cardiovascular disease is no longer viewed as an as an inevitable feature of the natural course of aging, and complacency has given way to hope. This book focuses on developments that influenced the rise and decline of cardiovascular mortality since 1900, but also includes insider insights from the author, a 42-year NIH employee.

“This is a fresh take on the American road story, filled with people and ideas we rarely get to see onstage…It offers two seriously rich roles for women, each with important things worth singing about…Miss You Like Hell is a powerful example of what musicals do best: explore the unprotected border where individual needs and social issues intermix.” —Jesse Green, New York Times A troubled teenager and her estranged mother—an undocumented Mexican immigrant on the verge of deportation—embark on a road trip and strive to mend their frayed relationship along the way. Combined with the musical talent of Erin McKeown, Hudes artfully crafts a story of the barriers and the bonds of family, while also addressing the complexities of immigration in today’s America.

Chronic pain includes many types of conditions from a variety of causes. This book is designed to help those suffering from chronic pain learn to better manage pain so they can get on with living a satisfying, fulfilling life. This resource stresses four concepts: each person with chronic pain is unique, and there is no one treatment or approach that is right for everybody; there are many things people with chronic pain can do to feel better and become more active and involved in life; with knowledge and experimentation, each individual is the best judge of which self-management tools and techniques are best for him or her; and, the responsibility for managing chronic pain on a daily basis rests with the individual and no one else. Acknowledging that overcoming chronic pain is a daily challenge, this workbook provides readers with the tools to overcome that test. A Moving Easy Program CD, which offers a set of easy-to-follow exercises that can be performed at home, is also included.