• Examines the experiences of those who have survived comas• Demonstrates how a key element of the brain is switched off by coma-inducing sedatives, allowing the mind to break free from the body• Shares proven alternatives to medically-induced coma that are safer for treating critically ill patients and kinder for the patients and their familiesEvery day around the world, thousands of people are placed in medically-induced comas. For some coma survivors, the experie...

This text provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of acute brain dysfunction in the critically ill. The book covers the basic pathophysiology of delirium, epidemiology, risk factors, outcomes associated with delirium, prevention and treatment of delirium, and challenges and techniques for improving delirium awareness.Written by experts in the field, Delirium: Acute Brain Dysfunction in the Critically Ill is a valuable resource for clinicians and practitioners t...

Delirium is a common clinical problem in critical care patients, with up to 80% of patients experiencing at least one episode during their time on a critical care unit. It is associated with significantly adverse outcomes for patients, including death and long-term cognitive impairment equivalent to at least a mild dementia. This clinical handbook explains why delirium goes unrecognised in most ICUs and describes simple tools the bedside clinician can use to detect it, even in the ventilat...

The fully updated second edition of this popular handbook concisely summarises all current knowledge about delirium in critically ill patients and describes simple tools the bedside clinician can use to prevent, diagnose and manage delirium. Chapters discuss new developments in assessing risk and diagnosis, crucial discoveries regarding delirium and long-term cognitive outcomes, and dangers of sedation and death. Updated management advice reflects new evidence about antipsychotics and deli...

Brain dysfunction is a major clinical problem in intensive care, with potentially debilitating long-term consequences for post-ICU patients of any age. The resulting extended length of stay in the ICU and post-discharge cognitive dysfunction are now recognized as major healthcare burdens. This comprehensive clinical text provides intensivists and neurologists with a practical review of the pathophysiology of brain dysfunction and a thorough account of the diagnostic and therapeutic options...

• Examines the experiences of those who have survived comas• Demonstrates how a key element of the brain is switched off by coma-inducing sedatives, allowing the mind to break free from the body• Shares proven alternatives to medically-induced coma that are safer for treating critically ill patients and kinder for the patients and their familiesEvery day around the world, thousands of people are placed in medically-induced comas. For some coma survivors, the experie...

**Over 100,000 sold!The world's leading expert on near-death experiences reveals his journey toward rethinking the nature of death, life, and the continuity of consciousness.**Cases of remarkable experiences on the threshold of death have been reported since ancient times, and are described today by 10% of people whose hearts stop. The medical world has generally ignored these “near-death experiences,” dismissing them as “tricks of the brain” or wishful thinking. But after ...

From the award-winning, groundbreaking author of A Brief History of Anxiety...Yours and Mine comes a touching, exhilarating, challenging exploration of the inexplicable gleamings of another world many of us experience, in life, in grief, and near death.Sparked by extraordinary experiences that occurred in her family when her father and her sister both died in 2008, Patricia Pearson was launched on a journey of investigation into what she calls "a curious sort of modern und...

Drawing on a 5-year clinical study of near-death experiences, a doctor presents riveting patient stories to explore how NDEs can empower us and society as a whole.By trying to pathologize NDEs, are we missing out on what they can tell us about life?Dr. Penny Sartori is a registered nurse who began researching Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) in 1995 after one of her long-term intensive care patients begged her to let him die in peace. Inspired...

A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CRITICS’ TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR“In its loving, fierce specificity, this book on how to die is also a blessedly saccharine-free guide for how to live” (The New York Times).Former NEA fellow and Pushcart Prize-winning writer Sallie Tisdale offers a lyrical, thought-provoking, yet practical perspective on death and dying in Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them). Informed ...

Where does our sense of self originate? What happens to “us” after our body perishes? Can the mind exist without the body? These questions have engendered considerable debate throughout history and have led successive cultures to develop beliefs about human nature, immortality and the afterlife. Over the last several centuries, scientists working under the presumption that matter is all that exists have concluded that consciousness can simply be reduced to a collection of nerve cells in th...

An “obsessive, mystical, terrifying” exploration of the shadowy world of the anesthetized mind—and what it can teach us about the nature of memory and consciousness (New Yorker).Features fascinating insights from real-life doctors and patients—“a must-read for anyone who woke from surgery and couldn’t remember anything about the experience” (Signature Reads).First there’s the injection, then the countdown—and next thing yo...