In the Kingdom of the Sick: A Social History of Chronic Illness in America - Softcover

Edwards, Laurie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1620406284 ISBN 13: 9781620406281

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2014

Synopsis

Thirty years ago, Susan Sontag famously wrote, “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and the kingdom of the sick . . . Sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.” More than 133 million Americans now live with chronic illness, accounting for nearly three quarters of all health care dollars and untold pain, disability, and heartbreak. Patients with diseases as varied as HIV, cancer, or type 2 diabetes have been stigmatized, accused of causing their preventable illnesses through their lifestyle choices. People with irritable bowel syndrome and female patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have been told their symptoms were due to anxiety; and millions of people with chronic pain have faced skepticism from physicians and the public alike. What The Noonday Demon did for people suffering from depression, Laurie Edwards does for those who are chronically ill, championing their cause and giving voice to their lament.

About this title

About the Author

Laurie Edwards teaches science writing at Northeastern University. She has several chronic illnesses and is a vocal proponent for chronic illness issues. Her blog www.achronicdose.com receives several thousand monthly visitors and is endorsed on 180 medical blogs. Edwards is the author of Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties, named one of 2008's Best Consumer Health Books by Library Journal. She lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The scariest revelation for anyone with a chronic illness is the realization that it isn’t going to go away. Ever. Edwards, a health and science writer, recalls endless doctor and hospital visits when she was a child. As an adult with lung and autoimmune diseases, her visits continue. But she is not alone. According to Edwards, almost 130 million Americans suffer with some kind of chronic illness. Her book is a hybrid, a combination of research, literature, and personal stories from patients. Edwards addresses such important issues as the long-standing gender biases in the treatment and diagnosis of pain, how technology will change the doctor-patient relationship and empower patients, and the implications of what it means to be sick. She discusses what the ancients thought about the nature of disease, patient rights and medical ethics from the 1950s to the ’70s, disability rights and the chronically ill, the women’s health movement, the early HIV–AIDS movement, chronic fatigue syndrome, prevention and the stigma of chronic disease, and chronic disease and health-care reform. An indispensable book for anyone with or concerned about chronic disease, and everyone interested in the health professions. --June Sawyers

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1620406284
• ISBN 13: 9781620406281
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256