Description

Millions of people live with chronic pain – everyday life is difficult and treatment is unreliable. So why is it still so poorly understood? And will there ever be a cure?

Chronic pain is one of the great public health crises of our age – virtually no one is untouched, either living with it themselves or seeing their loved ones suffer. Yet it is a topic that remains in the shadows, too often brushed aside or treated as an afterthought. Chronic: Understanding Pain is an urgent and vital answer to this silence.

In this fascinating investigation, Gillian Best seeks out researchers carrying out the cutting-edge work that could be the key to finally understanding and effectively treating this debilitating condition. Shining a light on the groundbreaking investigations being carried out around the world, Gillian searches for answers and wonders whether, one day, she may feel truly well again.

Publisher Review

Chronic is an important investigation on an overlooked topic, skilfully weaving together personal narrative with pioneering research. As 70% of people who experience chronic pain are women, this is not only a public health crisis, but a feminist call to action. * Marina Gerner, author of The Vagina Business * Gillian Best's poignant, deeply personal journey through the labyrinth of pain science offers revelatory insights into one of the most pervasive kinds of suffering. In the process, she offers tangible hope that researchers' ingenuity and determination will unravel the dark mysteries of this most common scourge of the human condition. * Charles Piller, author of Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's * A highly informative, insightful and empathetic analysis of life with chronic pain. Groundbreaking scientific findings are presented in a very digestible manner, interwoven with relatable human stories. Chronic offers a holistic and global perspective to our understanding of pain, and with that, more than a glimmer of hope for the millions who live with chronic pain every day. * Emma Simpson, author of Breaking Waves * This brave, original and encouraging book offers an insight into the many fronts on which researchers are tackling chronic pain. Here's hoping for multiple major advances. * Liz Kalaugher, author of The Elephant in the Room * Chronic: Understanding Pain changed how I think about the pain I experience myself because of Multiple Sclerosis. Gillian Best doesn't offer false promises or easy answers. Instead, she provides something far more valuable. She explains what pain actually is, where it starts, how the brain shapes it, and why it behaves so differently from person to person. This book brings together research from neurology, psychology, genetics, microbiology, and beyond, and makes the study of pain accessible without oversimplifying. I found it both enlightening and empowering, not because it claims to cure pain, but because it replaces silence and guesswork with understanding. If you live with chronic pain, or care for someone who does, this book helps you feel seen, informed, and less alone. * Ed Peppitt, author of The Beacon Bike *