For most of that time, she didn't know why. All of her trips to the ER and her daily anguish, pain, and lethargy only ever resulted in one question: How could any one person be this sick? Several drug addictions, three major hospitalizations, and over $100,000 later, she finally had a diagnosis: late-stage Lyme disease. Sick is Khakpour's arduous, emotional journey—as a woman, a writer, and a lifelong sufferer of undiagnosed health problems—through the chronic illness that perpetually left her a victim of anxiety, living a life stymied by an unknown condition.Divided by settings, Khakpour guides the reader through her illness by way of the locations that changed her course—New York, LA, New Mexico, and Germany—as she meditates on both the physical and psychological impacts of uncertainty, and the eventual challenge of accepting the diagnosis she had searched for over the course of her adult life. With candor and grace, she examines her subsequent struggles with mental illness, her addiction to the benzodiazepines prescribed by her psychiatrists, and her ever-deteriorating physical health. A story about survival, pain, and transformation, Sick is a candid, illuminating narrative of hope and uncertainty, boldly examining the deep impact of illness on one woman's life.

    The Great Pain Deception was awarded Runner-Up Finalist in "Best New Health Book" of 2012 and also honored as Finalist in "Health: Alternative Medicine."Back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, hand and foot pain, rarely come from herniated discs and joint failures. Pain, such as fibromyalgia, is a deception of the mind created by the brain to keep dark, threatening, and sad emotions from entering consciousness. The vast majority of pains and symptoms emanate from a mindbody process stemming from a personality of perfectionism. However, pain is not "in the mind" of the sufferer--and is often misrepresented as such by people who reject a mindbody process for reasons of ego and monetary gain.Symptoms inside and outside of the body are primarily the result of emotional conflict hidden within the body and outside of awareness. We live in a world of medical marvels. However, those marvels have become a double-edged sword, often creating more problems than they resolve. John Sarno, MD, at the NYU School of Medicine discovered in the 1970s that back pain was not coming from the things seen on the imaging, such as herniated discs, arthritis, stenosis, scoliosis, etc. Pain was coming from oxygen reduction through the autonomic nervous system due to elevated tension levels, but had been errantly linked to the "normal abnormalities" seen on MRIs and X-rays.Most physicians refused to believe his findings even though his success rate in healing the most troublesome of pain-cases was well above theirs. Dr. Sarno labeled the disorder TMS, or tension myoneural syndrome, currently being called The Mindbody Syndrome. Inside The Great Pain Deception Steve tells his compelling story of a 30-year battle with pain and ultimate healing after discovering Dr. Sarno's work. After Steve healed he began receiving hundreds of emails, calls, and letters, asking for his help--too many to respond to, so he decided to write his experience down in a book. After 10 years of research, Steve has conveyed an amazing testimonial of triumph over tragedy, an inspiring story of healing that is a must read if you suffer from any ailment from mild to severe. The only thing standing between good health, and healing, is ego. Pain and unpleasant symptoms serve a purpose. Disease is the report card of how happy we are; feedback of a life not lived. Symptoms are anger flowing over into the physical realm, signs of internal conflict. Pain and illness are the virtual language of the unconscious mind. When we are untrue to ourselves and needs, living by the codes and wishes of others, denying our deepest desires--symptoms then form to reveal the deeper conflict.Modern medicine is pointing us toward our bodies in the attempt to cure us through engineering the human system. These high-tech processes are often making us worse by ignoring the message that the body is trying to convey through such things as colitis, irritable bladder, fibromyalgia, skin disorders and an infinite variety of other symptoms, including cancer. This book does an excellent job of exploring the realm of mind within body--and ultimate healing.

     Stacey explores the common areas that women with Hashi's struggle: like perfectionism and self-rejection -- and common past experiences -- like abuse or injury. Stacey inspires women to look at their lives, and Hashimoto's differently, and to use this diagnosis as an opportunity for inner healing, greater happiness, and loving themselves.

    The anguished and volatile intensity associated with the artistic temperament was once thought to be a symptom of genius or eccentricity peculiar to artists, writers, and musicians. Her work, based on her study as a clinical psychologist and researcher in mood disorders, reveals that many artists subject to exalted highs and despairing lows were in fact engaged in a struggle with clinically identifiable manic-depressive illness. Jamison presents proof of the biological foundations of this disease and applies what is known about the illness to the lives and works of some of the world's greatest artists including Lord Byron, Vincent Van Gogh, and Virginia Woolf.

    From the routine to the unexpected, How to Be a Patient is your ultimate guide to better healthcare.Let’s face it: nobody likes going to the doctor. It can be uncomfortable, nerve wracking, expensive—and that’s just for routine care! When it’s an emergency—how do you choose between the ER, Urgent Care, or waiting-until-Monday? And for everything in between, how do you get an accurate diagnosis and timely treatment when something is off? In How to Be a Patient, registered nurse and outspoken public health advocate Sana Goldberg provides readers with an honest guide to the complicated and often-intimidating medical landscape.At once a quick-reference pocket guide and a lifelong framework for approaching your healthcare, this invaluable resource empowers readers to take charge of their wellbeing. It lifts the veil on a complicated, fractured system, giving patients the tools communicate with its players and sidestep its most vexing realities. Warm and trustworthy, Goldberg’s advice is as expert as it is easy-to-understand, as she calls on years of first-hand nursing experience to help readers confront challenges, take advantage of opportunities, and maximize insurance resources while fending off hidden fees that slip by unnoticed.From setting yourself up when all is well and making the most of routine appointments, to understanding hospital culture for a more positive experience, How to Be a Patient is relevant for readers at any age. With sections including When It’s An Emergency, When It’s Chronic, When You Have to Stand Up to Insurance, and When It’s Your Person, Goldberg ensures patients have what they need in their hands to feel informed and confident as they move through the world of modern medicine.Containing glossaries of medical jargon, lists of free, essential screenings and unnecessary medical tests, as well as helpful appendices to assist patients in tracking their family history, prescriptions, and more, How to Be a Patient is a must-have book for anyone invested in their long-term health.

    On six medications and suffering constant aches, he needed to make a change. While lecturing in China, he’d heard about a remote mountainous region known as Longevity Village, a wellness Shangri-La free of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, dementia, depression, and insomnia, and where living past one hundred—in good health—is not uncommon.In the hope of understanding this incredible phenomenon, Day, a Mandarin speaker, decided to spend some time living in Longevity Village. He learned everything he could about this place and its people, and met its centenarians. His research revealed seven principles that work in tandem to create health, happiness, and longevity—rules he applied to his own life. Six months later, he’d lost thirty pounds, dropped one hundred points off his cholesterol and twenty-five points off his blood pressure, and was even cured of his acid reflux and insomnia. In 2014 he began a series of four-month support groups comprised of patients who worked together to apply the lessons of Longevity Village to their lives. Ninety-two percent of the participants were able to adhere to their plans and stay on pace to reach their health goals.

    Designed for the electronic age, the ebook features over 2600 useful links to further reading, research articles, and patient reviews. A bibliography for print publications is also included.

    Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Such experiences inevitably leave traces on minds, emotions, and even on biology. Sadly, trauma sufferers frequently pass on their stress to their partners and children. Renowned trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring—specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, mindfulness techniques, play, yoga, and other therapies. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score offers proven alternatives to drugs and talk therapy—and a way to reclaim lives.

    We take for granted that we can remember, feel emotion, navigate, empathize, and understand the world around us, but how would our lives change if these abilities were dramatically enhanced--or disappeared overnight?Helen Thomson has spent years traveling the world, tracking down incredibly rare brain disorders. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nine extraordinary people she encountered along the way. From the man who thinks he's a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them to a woman who hears music that’s not there, their experiences illustrate how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, brilliant and alarming ways.Story by remarkable story, Unthinkable takes us on an unforgettable journey through the human brain. Discover how to forge memories that never disappear, how to grow an alien limb, and how to make better decisions. Learn how to hallucinate and how to make yourself happier in a split second. Find out how to avoid getting lost, how to see more of your reality, even how exactly you can confirm you are alive. Think the unthinkable.

    You’ve done your research, but nothing makes sense. There’s so much confusion! Do you count total or net carbs? Should you eat a lot of protein or not? Is keto safe long term? What happens when you fall off the wagon?Combined, we've spent well over a decade using keto to battle our own health issues and to help thousands of patients and clients lose fat and regain their health. We’ve done the work so you don’t have to. We have the answers to what works and what doesn’t.Don’t worry, you can be successful with the ketogenic diet. You can finally lose that fat. You can take control of your brain. You can reclaim your life and restore your health. And it’s simpler than you think…

    Alongside this lifestyle, depression rates have skyrocketed: approximately 1 in 4 Americans will suffer from major depression at some point in their lives. Where have we gone wrong? Dr. Stephen Ilardi sheds light on our current predicament and reminds us: our bodies were never designed for the sleep-deprived, poorly nourished, frenzied pace of twenty-first century life. In fact, our genes have changed very little since the days of our hunter-gatherer ancestors and are still building, in effect, Stone Age bodies. Herein lies the key to breaking the cycle of depression.Inspired by the extraordinary resilience of aboriginal groups like the Kaluli of Papua New Guinea (who rarely suffer from depression), Dr. Ilardi prescribes an easy-to-follow, clinically proven program that harks back to what our bodies were originally made for-and need. Here you can find the road back to lasting health by integrating the following 6 elements into your life: an omega-3 rich diet; exercise; plenty of natural sunlight; ample sleep; social connections; and participation in meaningful tasks that leave little time for negative thoughts-all things that our ancestors had in abundance.Already, The Depression Cure program has delivered dramatic results, helping even those who have failed to respond to traditional medications. Interweaving the stories of many who have fought-and won-the battle against this debilitating illness, this groundbreaking book can illuminate the path to lifting the fog once and for all for you or a loved one.

    Longer training, ever more advanced technologies—neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

    But it’s harder to understand why we can't seem to stop eating—even when we know better. When we want so badly to say "no," why do we continue to reach for food? Dr. David Kessler, the dynamic former FDA commissioner who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, now reveals how the food industry has hijacked the brains of millions of Americans. The result? America’s number-one public health issue. Dr. Kessler cracks the code of overeating by explaining how our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat, and salt. Food manufacturers create products by manipulating these ingredients to stimulate our appetites, setting in motion a cycle of desire and consumption that ends with a nation of overeaters. The End of Overeating explains for the first time why it is exceptionally difficult to resist certain foods and why it’s so easy to overindulge. Dr. Kessler met with top scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders. The End of Overeating uncovers the shocking facts about how we lost control over our eating habits—and how we can get it back. Dr. Kessler presents groundbreaking research, along with what is sure to be a controversial view inside the industry that continues to feed a nation of overeaters—from popular brand manufacturers to advertisers, chain restaurants, and fast food franchises. For the millions of people struggling with weight as well as for those of us who simply don't understand why we can't seem to stop eating our favorite foods, Dr. Kessler’s cutting-edge investigation offers new insights and helpful tools to help us find a solution. There has never been a more thorough, compelling, or in-depth analysis of why we eat the way we do.

    One half, boosted by dazzling high technology, shows brilliant results in handling acute diseases and emergencies. The other half, dealing with chronic degenerative conditions, is lagging behind, unable to offer more than symptomatic treatment for the most widespread distressing conditions ranging from cancer, heart disease and hypertension to diabetes, arthritis and morbid obesity. It is assumed that these and other "diseases of modern civilization" are both inevitable and incurable.Healing the Gerson Way: Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases contradicts all such assumptions. As a complete guide to the theory and practice of Gerson Therapy, developed over 80 years ago by Dr. Max Gerson, MD (1881-1959), it shows that the increasingly denatured, nutritionally empty, toxic modern diet is the main cause of today's worsening health crisis. This book offers the solution in the form of a brilliant, precision-built nutritional program that eliminates the underlying causes of disease, leading to lasting cures. This program is best know for its success in curing many types of cancer, but it also has an excellent track record with a large number of other degenerative conditions. These days, cancer researchers all over the world produce results that mirror one or another of Dr. Gerson's discoveries, developed over many years of clinical practice. Unfortunately, such partial insights are of little use. The Gerson Therapy, as a proven method of healing, contains them all — and more. It is up to the individual, who wants to improve or regain his or her health and make use of it.

    She interviewed doctors, scientists, nutritionists, and a host of other experts, and shared what she’d learned—and what she wished she’d known twenty years earlier.Now Cameron continues the journey she began, opening a conversation with her peers on an essential topic that that for too long has been taboo in our society: the aging female body. In The Longevity Book, she shares the latest scientific research on how and why we age, synthesizing insights from top medical experts and with her own thoughts, opinions, and experiences.The Longevity Book explores what history, biology, neuroscience, and the women’s health movement can teach us about maintaining optimal health as we transition from our thirties to midlife. From understanding how growing older impacts various bodily systems to the biological differences in the way aging effects men and women; the latest science on telomeres and slowing the rate of cognitive decline to how meditation heals us and why love, friendship, and laughter matter for health, The Longevity Book offers an all-encompassing, holistic look at how the female body ages—and what we can all do to age better.Without sugarcoating the hard facts—a sixty-year-old body is different than a thirty-five-year-old body, no matter how much yoga you do—or romanticizing the upside—wisdom comes with age, if you live your life wisely—Cameron offers women a compassionate, informative, and intimate tour through the next stage of life.