SUGGESTED READING
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The Epstein-Barr Virus: A New Factor in the Care of Chronic Pain
Dr. Forest Tennant’s latest book looks at the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and its relationship with chronic pain. We are all carriers of EBV, which is normally harmless and dormant. But when the virus reactivates, it is carried throughout the body, damaging tissues and causing pain. Persons with chronic pain severe enough to require daily pain relief medication may have EBV reactivation as a cause of their condition and should take steps to inhibit it.
Policing Patients: Treatment and Surveillance of the Opioid Crisis
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) were launched across the country to help prevent opioid addiction and save lives. In actuality, author Elizabeth Chiarello writes that PDMP’s are “Trojan horse” surveillance tools used by law enforcement to spy on patients. PDMP’s interfere with the practice of medicine by turning doctors and pharmacists into undercover police officers — often pitting them against their own patients.
Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails
Journalist Sharyl Attkisson exposes how the pharmaceutical industry infiltrated government, academia and the news media, enabling it to put profits over people by controlling how healthcare is covered. “We exist largely in an artificial reality brought to you by the makers of the latest pill or injection,” Attkisson writes. “Invisible forces work daily to hype fears about certain illnesses, and exaggerate the supposed benefits of treatments and cures.”
Greed to Do Good: The CDC’s Disastrous War on Opioids
Dr. Charles LeBaron worked for nearly three decades as an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although not directly involved in the CDC’s opioid guideline, LeBaron recognized the disastrous consequences it had on pain patients. In this book, he gives an insider’s perspective on the CDC’s institutionalized arrogance and how its misguided strategy to reduce overdoses only made the opioid crisis worse.
Lies I Taught in Medical School
Inspired by his own health problems, Dr. Robert Lufkin wrote this book to expose the “medical lies” that contribute to chronic illness — some of which he taught as a professor at UCLA and USC. Lufkin believes pills and procedures are prescribed too often to mask symptoms, when diet and lifestyle changes can resolve many chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service
In this memoir, Dr. Anthony Fauci shares some of the highlights — and lowlights — from nearly 40 years working for the National Institutes of Health, including the crucial roles he played in fighting AIDS, the Ebola virus, SARS, anthrax and, of course, Covid-19. Fauci grew up in modest circumstances, living above his father’s Brooklyn pharmacy, to become a health advisor to seven presidents and one of the most famous doctors in world.
Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy
Dr. Sharon Malone is an OB/GYN who wrote this book to help older women deal with the complexities of aging. Often ignored or gaslighted by the healthcare system, older women may have their chronic pain and discomfort dismissed as female hysteria caused by menopause. Dr. Malone has tips to end this “normalized suffering” and empower grown women to live better, age better, and get better medical treatment.
Long Illness: A Practical Guide to Surviving, Healing and Thriving
Drs. Meghan Jobson and Juliet Morgan wrote this book to give patients and providers a better understanding of long-lasting illnesses such as autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, inflammation and Long Covid. They take a holistic approach to managing symptoms through cognitive behavioral therapy, traditional Eastern medicine, mindfulness and self-care — emphasizing that recovery is a process and not always a destination.
Doctor Bison’s Fables: An Allegory of the American Pain Refugee Crisis
Dr. Mark Ibsen uses animals as lead characters in a series of fables to convey the crisis faced by many pain sufferers in the U.S. Doctor Bison and his patient (an otter) are joined in a crowded exam room by a menagerie of other animals representing insurers, hospitals, federal health agencies, and law enforcement. All want to have a say in what Dr. Bison prescribes to his sick patient — resulting in little actual treatment for the otter.
Toxic Stress: How Stress Is Making Us Ill
Dr. Lawson Wulsin is a psychiatrist who has found that toxic stress and childhood trauma often play hidden roles in the development of heart disease, diabetes, depression and chronic illnesses in midlife. In this book, Dr. Wilsun offers practical advice and tools to recognize signs of toxic stress in our lives, and learn how to help your mind and body recover from it.
The Long Covid Reader
Author Mary Ladd shares the stories of 45 people living with Long Covid, who recount in essays and poems how COVID-19 continues to impact their lives long after their initial infections. A long-hauler herself, Ladd spent a year gathering personal stories about Long Covid in an effort to humanize the neglected suffering of millions of people who live with a mysterious chronic illness from the “world's biggest mass-disabling event.”
Chronic Pain Reset
Psychologist Afton Hassett, PysD, has compiled a list of 30 simple activities that people in pain can do to improve their lives — from mindfulness walking and paced breathing to healthy sleep habits and random acts of kindness. Perform one activity each day (in 15 minutes or less) and select the ones you like to develop a personalized pain management plan that may lessen your pain, and give your life more joy and a better sense of purpose.
The Ehlers-Danlos / Arachnoiditis Connection
Dr. Forest Tennant looks at Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) and Adhesive Arachnoiditis (AA), two intractable pain conditions that were once considered rare. While treating AA patients — including many who had invasive spinal procedures — Tennant was surprised to find that about half have EDS. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential for these patients or they risk a lifetime of pain, disability and a premature death.
Z’s Odyssey
In his sequel to “Patient Z,” author Stefan Franzen updates the personal story of a loved one with intractable pain who was unable to find effective treatment due to the crackdown on prescription opioids. He eventually found relief by taking buprenorphine, a “widely misunderstood” opioid that, when used in its purest form, can be just as potent as morphine.
Burden of Pain: A Physician's Journey through the Opioid Epidemic
Dr. Jay Joshi went to prison for prescribing opioids to an undercover DEA patient posing as a patient. Now a free man and practicing medicine again, Joshi wrote this book as a cautionary tale for both physicians and patients, explaining how he fell victim to DEA misconduct and public health policies that portray doctors as drug dealers.
Cannabis Lullaby: A Painsomniac’s Quest for a Good Night’s Sleep
Health journalist David Sharp struggled for years with chronic pain and poor sleep caused by “painsomnia.” Then he ate a brownie made with cannabis and slept like a baby. In this book, Sharp shares what he’s learned about cannabis, how to shop for it, what strains work best, how to find the right dose, and who should — or shouldn’t — use cannabis.
8 Steps to Conquer Chronic Pain: A Doctor’s Guide to Lifelong Relief
Dr. Andrea Furlan takes a holistic approach to treating chronic pain, recommending changes in lifestyle, diet, sleep and mindset. Instead of taking opioids and becoming dependent on them, she believes pain sufferers can learn how to “rewire” their brains by controlling their emotions, recharging their bodies and educating themselves about the nature of pain.
Heal Your Disc, End Your Pain
Dr. Gregory Lutz believes degenerative disc disease can be treated without drugs or surgery through the use of regenerative medicine — using a specialized concentration of a patient’s own stem cells to help heal tears inside the disc. Unlike other treatments for chronic lower back pain, which only provide temporary relief, Lutz says stem cells give long-term results.
