Do your legs tremble when you stand in place? Do you find yourself needing to sit down, so you wont fall? Then you have as many questions as I do. What is wrong with me? How do I cope with this? Is there medicine to help? What about physical therapy? What is this new brain surgery known as deep brain stimulation? Will it help me? Am I the only one to have this problem?In my twenty-two-year trek with orthostatic tremor, I have found some of the answers. A rare neurological movement ...

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CHLOË GRACE MORETZA “captivating” (The New York Times Book Review), award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is a powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move o...

"Among all the recent books on medicine, Critical Care stands alone." — Pauline Chen, author of Final Exam"A must read for anyone who wants to understand healthcare. Extraordinary." — Elizabeth Cohen, MPH, CNN Senior Medical CorrespondentCritical Care is the powerful and absorbing memoir of Theresa Brown—a regular contributor to the New York Times blog "Well"—about her experiences during the first year on the job as an oncology nurse; in ...

A look at the emotional side of medicine—the shame, fear, anger, anxiety, empathy, and even love that affect patient carePhysicians are assumed to be objective, rational beings, easily able to detach as they guide patients and families through some of life’s most challenging moments. But doctors’ emotional responses to the life-and-death dramas of everyday practice have a profound impact on medical care. And while much has been written about the minds and methods o...

**This riveting book from a bestselling author and neurosurgeon explores the unbelievable science that has saved lives and made recovery possible despite all odds."An exciting medical thriller with the compassion, hope, excitement and aspiration that define Sanjay." —Lance Armstrong, Olympic athlete**An unborn baby with a fatal heart defect. A skier submerged for an hour in a frozen Norwegian lake. A comatose brain surgery patient whom doctors have declared a "vegetable".

I have taken the time to document my exposure to dementia in the elderly solely in the hope that anyone who reads this might avoid the mistakes and missteps which I, and my family, might possibly have been able to be better informed about beforehand. My brother and I were very fortunate in that our mother had both excellent legal advice, and that she resided in a state which offered a program offering care to elder citizens. Residents in other areas of the United States often may not be af...

The acclaimed author of Carved in Sand—a veteran investigative journalist who endured persistent back pain for decades—delivers the definitive book on the subject: an essential examination of all facets of the back pain industry, exploring what works, what doesn't, what may cause harm, and how to get on the road to recovery.In her effort to manage her chronic back pain, investigative reporter Cathryn Jakobson Ramin spent years and a small fortune on a panoply of treatments...

**A brilliant transplant surgeon brings compassion and narrative drama to the fearful reality that every doctor must face: the inevitability of mortality.“Uncommonly moving ... A revealing and heartfelt book." —Atul Gawande, #1 New York bestselling author of Being Mortal**When Pauline Chen began medical school, she dreamed of saving lives. What she could not predict was how much death would be a part of her work. Almost immediately, she found herself wrest...

For readers of Being Mortal and Modern Death, an ICU and Palliative Care specialist offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest levelIn medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die.Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical care—to become an ICU physician—and imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from...

Can a body turn against itself and still find the strength to laugh?At just seven years old, Brenda Currey Lewis was an active, typical child. But in the summer of 1974, her trajectory changed forever when a sudden, baffling neurological invader took hold of her muscles. Diagnosed with generalized dystonia—a rare and debilitating movement disorder that forces muscle groups to twist, tug, and lock the body into abnormal postures—Brenda was wheelchair-bound within a single year. For ...

A palliative care doctor on the front lines of hospital care illuminates one of the most important and controversial ethical issues of our time on his quest to transform care through the end of life.It is harder to die in this country than ever before. Statistics show that the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die at home, yet many of us spend our last days fearful and in pain in a healthcare system ruled by high-tech procedures and a philosophy to "fight ...

On November 4th, 2007, I visited with my best friend to celebrate my birthday. It was a typical warm afternoon in Florida. I was surprisingly complimented with a delectable meal accompanied by Miami staple drink, Mojitos. I sat in the backyard terrace oblivious to all cares of this world, amid good company and laughter when suddenly I felt a lurch in my stomach followed by a piercing sound and the most uncomfortable, fullness sensation in my ears. The nausea wave followed suit and in secon...