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The Brain Behind Pain

Exploring the Mind-Body Connection

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Explores the important role of the brain in both the experience of pain and its resolution.

Pain is a product of the brain, which announces it after being warned by a small army of nocioceptors stationed throughout the body, always on alert for any threat to the overall system. But there can be glitches in that process. Chronic pain often occurs when the brain "remembers" pain, even though the condition that caused it may have been dealt with and resolved. Still, pain is misunderstood by many, including both sufferers and the physicians they seek out to treat it. In recent years, though, new light has been shed on just what causes pain, how it is experienced in the body, how it can go haywire, and how it can be resolved. Pain may no longer be just a symptom of some other malady. In some cases, it becomes a condition all to itself.

Here, Dr. Akhtar Purvez, a seasoned physician dedicated to the study and treatment of pain, offers a comprehensive view of how chronic pain is felt, transmitted, and modified by the nerves and the brain. He explores the interplay of the physiological, anatomical, and emotional aspects of pain in addition to the mental health aspects, cultural differences, and the role of addiction in pain sufferers. Alongside this enlightening overview, Dr. Purvez provides hope to readers as he details ways of treating pain and the new approaches that are becoming available. We all experience physical pain at some point in our lives, but no longer does it have to rule our lives or impact our functioning or overall wellness if we can find the right ways to understand and treat it. This work is the starting point.

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    • Library Journal

      Starred review from October 14, 2022

      Pain physician Purvez (Managing Chronic Pain in an Age of Addiction) paints a comprehensive picture of the connection between the brain and pain. Purvez has treated patients with chronic pain for more than 20 years and shares his expertise in an accessible and engaging way. Purvez argues that people's individual responses to pain-management treatments vary significantly, as do individual genetics, thus Western medicine's current one-treatment-fits-all approach to pain doesn't work. He's hopeful that new research will enable people with chronic pain to receive individualized treatment plans and effective therapies that are less addictive than current narcotic drugs. Purvez's book also contextualizes the issue of pain management by examining humanity's historical and contemporary understandings of physical pain and analyzing the present-day pain management culture in Western medicine. One chapter to note is the one in which Mudhasir Bashir, a psychiatrist, adds the illuminating perspective that mental illness can influence a person's perception of pain. VERDICT Backed by research, which is cited in a comprehensive bibliography, Purvez's book is highly recommended for clinicians seeking to better understand how to help their patients and for general readers whose own lives have been impacted by pain.--Mason Bennett

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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  • English

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