
The Pain Chronicles
Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering
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Narrated by:
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Laural Merlington
Each of us will know physical pain in our lives, but none of us knows when it will come or how long it will stay. Today as much as 10 percent of the population of the United States suffers from chronic pain. It is more widespread, misdiagnosed, and undertreated than any major disease. While recent research has shown that pain produces pathological changes to the brain and spinal cord, many doctors and patients still labor under misguided cultural notions and outdated scientific dogmas that prevent proper treatment, to devastating effect.
In The Pain Chronicles, a singular and deeply humane work, Melanie Thernstrom traces conceptions of pain throughout the ages - from ancient Babylonian pain-banishing spells to modern brain imaging - to reveal the elusive, mysterious nature of pain itself. Interweaving first-person reflections on her own battle with chronic pain, incisive reportage from leading-edge pain clinics and medical research, and insights from a wide range of disciplines - science, history, religion, philosophy, anthropology, literature, and art - Thernstrom shows that when dealing with pain we are neither as advanced as we imagine nor as helpless as we may fear.
©2010 Melanie Thernstrom (P)2010 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
This Book Has Changed My Life...
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Well done.
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Some good Information
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Great for loved ones of chronic pain sufferers
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interesting book but marred by self indulgence
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objective overview of pain and it's treatment
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Super interesting
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I believe that the authors personal journey with pain enhanced, rather than detracted from the book. Often people don't think they are understood with their chronic pain. Because she had her personal journey as well as her research, she shares simple things which help, and are good to do before a diagnosis, just to prevent things from getting worse.She looked at history as well as prevailing attitudes about pain. It shows that they are linked, and stand in the way of being treated. She shared some of the most current ways of proceeding with a treatment plan; shared that while there can be a limited number of things done for chronic pain, treatment is individual in the long run.
Because of this, we come away knowing that primary care physicians are often ill-equipped to deal with chronic pain.
What did you like best about this story?
The underscoring of simple stretching and activity, even walking can have beneficial effect.Which scene was your favorite?
The amount of time she spent on the treatment with narcotics.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
When she was diagnosed.Any additional comments?
This book may not appeal to everyone. I leant it to a family member who wasn't interested in the history, and there is another reviewer who didn't like the personal part of the story.I think it all contributes to the whole. It helps us understand what we are in the middle of, when we are trying to get treated.
In Depth, Broad, yet Personal
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Tedious but informative
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Great book
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