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(More customer reviews)Now that I am retired from 35 years as a medical doctor (Internal Medicine), I often reflect on what people believe about medicine and illness, and the process by which those beliefs change. As I approached the final years of my career I sought relief from the responsibilities of primary care by limiting my work to disability examinations on those seeking benefits from the Social Security Administration or workers compensation insurers. It was here that I finally found time, free from other distractions, to listen at length to the stories of individuals with diagnoses of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, and other problems loosely termed "functional somatic syndromes" in the medical literature. I also examined them and reviewed voluminous medical records. Dr. Barker's account of the subjective experiences of the individuals she interviewed for this book resonates with, and makes clearer, the stories that I heard and described in my reports.
In my earlier medical practice, individuals with these problems were difficult and often frustrating to care for because their needs were so great and there seemed so little to offer them from available conventional treatments. On occasion, attempts to relieve their discomfort with pain medications led to substance abuse. One faces the task of distinguishing from among persons with broad arrays of somatic symptoms those individuals who have occult organic illnesses of a more immediately threatening nature, such as cancer or multiple sclerosis. The physician must also be alert for complicating psychiatric problems and for those who simulate symptoms to achieve secondary gain. But once these other problems are excluded by medical investigation, it does not mean that "nothing is wrong," as fibromyalgia patients are often led to believe. Their testimony is often the most significant evidence of their illness, since objectively verifiable signs (verifiable by the examiner, of course) are usually lacking or inconclusive.
My educational background prior to my medical training was in engineering. Needless to say, I lacked any exposure to sociology, much less to the concept that illnesses are in part "socially constructed."I recognize now that this was not a trivial deficiency. I highly recommend this book for primary care physicians, rheumatologists, physiatrists, neurologists, and other "evidence-based" specialists likely to care for individuals with fibromyalgia.It should assist health care providers to interact not only with fibromyalgia patients, but with all sufferers from whatever cause, in a more constructive and empathetic way. Fibromyalgia sufferers will gain a more in-depth understanding of their illness, and should find themselves on stronger ground to understand and communicate with their doctors.
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More than six million Americans - most of them women - have been diagnosed with the controversial medical disorder fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Because of the absence of definitive physiological markers, a well-understood cause, or effective treatment, FMS is controversial. Many have questioned if FMS is a "real" illness or if women sufferers are modern-day hysterics. Amidst the controversy, millions of women live with their very real symptoms. Rather than taking sides in the heated FMS debate, Kristin Barker explains how FMS represents an awkward union between the practices of modern medicine and the complexity of women's pain. Using interviews with sufferers, Barker focuses on how the idea of FMS gives meaning and order to women beset by troubling symptoms, self-doubt, and public skepticism. This book offers a fresh look at a controversial diagnosis, avoids overly simplistic explanations, and empathizes with sufferers without losing sight of medicine's power over our lives.
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