A Nation in Pain-Healing Our Biggest Health Problem

Abstract

In A Nation in Pain, Foreman offers a sweeping, deeply researched account of the chronic pain crisis, from neurobiology to public policy, and presents to practical solutions that are within our grasp today. Drawing on both her personal experience with chronic pain and her background as an award-winning health journalist, she guides us through recent scientific discoveries, including genetic susceptibility to pain; gender disparities in pain conditions and treatments, perhaps linked linked to estrogen; the problem of undertreated pain in children; the emerging role of the immune system in pain; advances in traditional treatments such as surgery and drugs; and fair-minded assessments of the effectiveness of alternative remedies, including marijuana, acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic care. The real magic bullet, Foreman writes, is exercise.--Publisher. The enormity of the problem -- What is pain, anyway? -- The genetics of pain -- Gender and pain -- Children in pain -- The mind-body in pain -- Opioid wars : part I -- Opioid wars : part II -- How the immune system cranks up pain -- Marijuana : the weed america loves to hate -- Beyond opioids : western medicine -- Beyond opioids : complementary and alternative medicine -- Exercise : the real magic bullet -- The way forward.