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Migraine

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Migraine

By: Oliver Sacks
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
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The many manifestations of migraine can vary dramatically from one patient to another, even within the same patient at different times. Among the most compelling and perplexing of these symptoms are the strange visual hallucinations and distortions of space, time, and body image that migraineurs sometimes experience. Portrayals of these uncanny states have found their way into many works of art, from the heavenly visions of Hildegard von Bingen to Alice in Wonderland.

Dr. Oliver Sacks argues the migraine cannot be understood simply as an illness, but must be viewed as a complex condition with a unique role to play in each individual's life.

Cover design by Cardon Webb; author photograph © Elena Seibert; cover illustration from The Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery (2005 TASCHEN GmbH, Hohenzollernring 53, D-50672 Köln).

Download the accompanying reference guide.©1992 Oliver Sacks (P)2018 Audible, Inc. Physical Illness & Disease Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
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I suffer from migraines that can last up to 4 months at a time. I love reading Oliver Sacks because I can tell he knows what he of talking about.

This book is very insightful. I probably have about 50 bookmarks saved for this audiobook. This book is worth its weight in gold.

Learning more about myself

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Despite its age, I found the wealth of information (including the numerous case descriptions) in this book useful to better understand and come to terms with my own migraines. It's amazing how much has changed since this was first published, but also how much hasn't. Be warned that Sacks liberally uses medical jargon that will probably not be super familiar for a non-medical reader. There were a couple of chapters that were so incredibly dense with (often antiquated) medical terminology I found them very difficult to absorb, but ironically the following information from the 1990 update regarding the suspected causes of migraine rendered those chapters somewhat obsolete and safely ignored. I'm pleased to have read this book, but very unlikely to re-read it.

Still Useful, Though Very Dense at Times

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Fascinating. Enthralling book by a brilliant neurologist who is also deeply compassionate & wise, and an amazing polymath. Beautifully written a polymath & has. Wonderful gentle sense of humor.

Fascinating. Author. is brilliant. A polymath . Articulate. A very compassionate & wise person. Gentle sense of humor

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It reminded me of the famous Chinese taxonomy by Jorge borges. It is well studied and compiled but still not helpful clinically and philosophically

One worst from Dr Sacks

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I am a migraine sufferer as well as a physician and this book gave me good insight from both sides. The presentations are so full of compassion and well written.

Insightful

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I have suffered from migraines off and on from the time I was about ten. I thought that this book would be insightful to me, as my migraines include visual auras, but I couldn't get past the second chapter, for fear of inducing a migraine. Do I recommend this book? It's hard to say. Oliver Sacks is a great writer and neurologist (I have read a few of his other books), but this one wasn't for me.

The power of suggestion

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Migraine is basically a text book about symptoms of migraine. There are a few things that were new and interesting to me, but basically it's a long rambling statement about the endless variety of symptoms that sufferers experience. I'm a huge fan of Oliver Sacks, but this one was fairly disappointing.

Jonathan Davis' narration was excellent.

Why is this an audio book?

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