Publications
APS Bulletin • Volume 15, Number 2, Spring 2005
Resource Reviews
John D. Loeser, MD, Department Editor
Chronic Pain and the Family: A New Guide
Reviewed by John D. Loeser, MD
Julie K. Silver, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2004, 166 pages, $14.00 (soft cover), ISBN 0-674-01666-1.
This concise, soft-cover book, which is part of the Harvard University Press Family Health Guides series, is aimed at intelligent lay readers. It assumes reading skills and knowledge of the medical and scientific world that are beyond the average chronic pain patient’s abilities. The writing style is friendly, and the breadth of topics covered does justice to the complex issues facing chronic pain patients. There is an appendix with useful resources, suggested readings, minimal references, and a good index.
The author has an excellent approach to the many issues confronting chronic pain patients and their families. The chapters are brief and just skim the surface of many issues. The introductory sections of the book provide a good overview of acute and chronic pain and contemporary viewpoints on pain and suffering. The discussion of medications includes an unreferenced statement that up to 20% of pain patients treated with opioids become addicted. I do not believe that there is evidence to support such a contention.
This book could be a useful addition to one’s patient library. The author clearly has experience and insights into the many problems affecting chronic pain patients and their families. Chronic pain is, as Bill Fordyce pointed out, a transdermal phenomenon.
Dr. Loeser is Professor of Neurological Surgery and Anesthesiology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Reviewer content represents the opinion of the reviewer, not APS.
Please direct your suggestions for future Resource Reviews to John D. Loeser, MD, Department Editor, at jdloeser@u.washington.edu.