"Back pain afflicts more than 3 in 4 adults and costs Americans over $100 billion every year. While most people recover quickly, the disabilities suffered by people who don't generate the vast majority of the costs and heartache. Talking Back offers people disabled by chronic back pain personal strategies for recovering active lives and wellness"--

"In 2020, a surge of long-haul COVID-19 patients came to Drs. Jobson and Morgan's clinics and one thing was clear to them: We have seen this before. The pattern was strikingly similar to other long conditions: fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, post-infectious syndromes, and autoimmune diseases. And that is because long illnesses manifest in similar ways. They follow patterns in the body as the result of inflammation, trauma, and...

Lily is chronically ill, but while her parents are welcoming a new baby she sneaks home from her grandmother's house and, aided by animal friends, combats the demons who have moved in. Lily is used to hospitals—she’s spent more time in them than out of them thanks to her recent health issues. But when her mother goes into labor, her parents drop her off at her grandmother’s house and rush to the hospital without her. Lily doesn’t want the...

"Transformative practices from the beloved bestseller. In 2001, Toni Bernhard got sick and, to her and her partner's bewilderment, stayed that way. As they faced the confusion, frustration, and despair of a life with sudden limitations-a life that was vastly different from the one they'd thought they'd have together-Toni had to learn how to be sick. In this book, Toni shares the practices she outlined to the reader in her bestselling classic How to...

"A landmark exploration of one of the most consequential and mysterious issues of our time: the rise of chronic illness and autoimmune diseases. A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: these are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. Renowned writer Meghan O'Rourke delivers a revelatory investigation into this elusive category of "invisible"...

In the past century, the leading causes of death around the world have shifted from infectious diseases to long-term chronic illnesses. What's killing us today isn't so much flu or tuberculosis, but heart disease and cancer. In fact, more than 1.2 million Americans die from these two diseases each year. Paradoxically, these chronic diseases are a consequence of living longer than ever. But even if we're living longer, are we living better? The overwhelming...

Plagues and parasites have played a central role in world affairs, shaping the evolution of the modern state, the growth of cities, and the disparate fortunes of national economies. This book tells that story, but it is not about the resurgence of pestilence. It is the story of its decline. For the first time in recorded history, virus, bacteria, and other infectious diseases are not the leading cause of death or disability in any region of the world....

Millions of people are suffering from chronic illnesses that, unbeknownst to them, are the result of exposure to environmental toxins and infectious agents such as mold and Borrelia, which causes Lyme disease. Millions. Because the symptoms of these illnesses are so varied and unusual, many of these individuals have sought medical care only to be dismissed, as if what they are experiencing is "in their head." Many (if not most) have tried to tough...