Dr. Akhtar Purvez, a pain physician, researcher and pain advocate, provides an authoritative account of issues related to chronic pain and addiction. He reviews the cause and effects of the opioid crisis. He considers how we approach pain from cultural, biological, and medical perspectives and discusses the latest minimally invasive, interventional approaches like advanced nerve blocks and ablation procedures, and neuromodulation techniques like peripheral nerve, spinal cord, and brain stimulation. The issue of medications and marijuana are reviewed as he walks readers through the process of assessing pain, finding a doctor who can treat it and benefits of physical therapy and psychological help. He discusses the principles of coping with chronic pain and future of pain management. Anyone suffering with pain or helping someone who is will find here a ready resource that offers hope and understanding. Table of Contents: Introduction: A Long Way from Kashmir Chapter One: Medications that Heal--and Kill Chapter Two: The Opiod Epidemic that is Killing Us Chapter Three: On Addiction Management Chapter Four: A Mystery and a Prize Chapter Five: Complex Nature of Chronic Pain Chapter Six: Culture of Pain Chapter Seven: The Stigma of Pain Chapter Eight: Chronic Pain and Depression Chapter Nine: Obesity and Chronic Pain Chapter Ten: Finding the Right Specialist Chapter Eleven: Searching for the Cause of Pain Chapter Twelve: Fibromyalgia Gets Real Chapter Thirteen: Other Pain Conditions Chapter Fourteen: Getting Moving--Exercise and Physical Therapy Chapter Fifteen: Interventional Pain Management Chapter Sixteen Alternative Management Options Chapter Seventeen: Marijuana--The Mystery Drug Chapter Eighteen: Pain in the Courtroom Chapter Nineteen: Co-existing with Pain Chapter Twenty: Toward a Painless Future About the Author: Akhtar Purvez, MD, is a pain physician, researcher and pain advocate who works and lives in Virginia. He was clinical adjunct professor at Lincoln Memorial University, Tennessee and has been involved in training physician assistants, medical students, residents, fellows, and other physicians in pain management and addiction-related issues. He supports a rational pain policy, evidence -based training, and ethical research. He writes, speaks on these issues on radio and television including on local ABC and NBC. He has numerous scientific papers to his credit, in addition to a chapter on pain management in The American College of Physicians (ACP) Manual of Critical Care.
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