Pain Management

A practical guide to the methodology and application of anxiety management skills. The reader can use it to select the best and most appropriate strategies for each individual client from the variety of approaches that are described and explained. The book is sufficiently detailed to give the reader a basic understanding of the underlying theories; it is therefore useful both for the hard-pressed practitioner who needs a quick reference and for the student who needs a revision tool or study guide. New chapters include assessment and evaluation; working in community settings; stress mangaement techniques for therapists.

Mosby's COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE is the only comprehensive book on complementary medicine set up in a true textbook format. It covers the history, philosophy, and mechanisms of complementary medicine and alternative therapies, and includes a thorough review of the clinically controlled trials, indications and contraindications of each therapy. It is the only research-based textbook to present a comprehensive, encyclopedic look at alternative medicine. All sections are complete within the discipline addressed and have been reviewed by experts in each particular field.

This long-awaited revision of what has now become the classic text in medical anthropology contains a wealth of new material on subjects as diverse as aging, creativity, and ideology. Originally cited in American Anthropologist as "must reading for all medical anthropologists, physicians, advanced medical anthropology students and advanced medical students," this new edition should prove twice as valuable. It is both a comprehensive introduction to the rapidly growing field of medical anthropology and a state-of-the-art reference work. The authors bring new perspectives to our understanding of both Western and non-Western medicine, from the biochemical and physiological aspects of health care in preindustrialized cultures to cultural and ideological factors inherent in past and present Western medical care. New chapters focus on ethnobotany, placebo and pain, shamanism, and psychiatry.

Approximately 20,000 new cases of childhood cancer are diagnosed each year. Until now, the families who receive this devastating news have had no one volume to turn to for up-to-date information, clear answers, and authoritative resource recommendations. To meet this need, clinicians and scientists at the world-famous St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have compiled the most comprehensive and compassionate family reference available. From practical matters, such as what tests to expect during diagnosis, treatment options for each kind of cancer, and the value and availability of clinical trials, to the emotional needs of children battling cancer and coping with life afterward, this invaluable guide will offer immeasurable comfort to parents and patients facing the family crisis of childhood cancer.

This is a revised and expanded edition of a classic in palliative medicine, originally pulished in 1991. With three new chapters and a new preface summarizing the progress in the area of pain management, this is a must-have for those in palliative medicine and hospice care. The obligation of physicians to relieve human suffering stretches back into antiquity. But what exactly is suffering? One patient with metastatic cancer of the stomach, from which he knew he would shortly die, said he was not suffering. Another, someone who had been operated on for a minor problem - in little pain and not seemingly distressed, said that even coming into the hospital had been a source of pain and suffering. With such varied responses to the problem of suffering, inevitable questions arise. Is it the doctor's responsbility to treat the disease or the patient? What is the relationship between suffering and the goals of medicine? According to Dr Eric Cassell these are cruical questions, but unfortunately have remained only queries void of adequate solutions. It is time for the sick person, Cassell believes, to be not merely an important concern for physicians but the central focus of medicine. With this in mind, Cassell argues for an understanding of what changes should be made in order to successfully treat the sick while alleviating suffering, and how to actually go about making these changes with the methods and training techniques firmly rooted in the doctor's relationship with the patient. Dr Cassell offers an incisive critique of the approach of modern medicine. Drawing on a number of evocative patient narratives, he writes that the goal of medicine must be to treat an individual's suffering, and not just the disease. In addition, Cassell's thoughtful and incisive argument will appeal to psychologists and psychiatrists interested in the nature of pain and suffering.

Two medical experts offer a handbook for people coping with chronic pain and suffering and for those who seek to understand and support them. 19 illustrations.