Publications
APS Bulletin • Volume 9, Number 5, September/October 1999
Resource Reviews
John D. Loeser, MD, Department Editor
Numb Toes and Aching Soles: Coping with Peripheral Neuropathy
Reviewed by John D. Loeser, MD
J.A. Senneff, Med Press, San Antonio, 1999, 300 pages, $19.95 (softcover), ISBN 0-9671107-1-8, $29.95 (hardcover), ISBN 0-9671107-2-6
This book, written by a retired attorney who suffers from a painful peripheral neuropathy, is a catalog of the differential diagnoses and treatments of polyneuropathies. It is aimed at patients with peripheral neuropathy. No evaluation of either diagnostic procedures or therapy is offered. Both professional and lay sources of information are used, but the evidence for efficacy is not really assessed. A few clinical trials are reported, but even those with rigorous science are given the same weight as anecdotal case reports. The book is best characterized as a hard-copy summary of what can be found on the Internet and in other sources. It could be useful for those who have a peripheral neuropathy and an uncommunicative physician. The absence of a critical review of evidence means that the reader is given no idea of the potential utility of the treatments listed. There is an index; the print is large and easy to read. This book could be a useful addition to one’s patient library, but it will require physician input to evaluate the remedies listed.
John D. Loeser is professor of neurological surgery and anesthesiology at the University of Washington in Seattle.