The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, pulmonary hypertension, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachyarrhythmias/fibrillation (VT/VF) and heart failure. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death -globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year ( 31 % of all deaths worldwide ). Mechanisms implicated in the pathophysiology of CVD include autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction , vasoconstriction, and systemic inflammation. Today, several therapeutic options are available to treat heart and cardiovascular patients, mainly medical therapies targeting specific pathways in vascular biology and physiology, centered around vasoconstriction, cell proliferation, sympathetic overactivity, defective renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and ANS imbalance. Those drugs have improved the quality of life and survival of patients. On the other hand, they do not cure the disease and are associated with side effects like dry cough, flushing, peripheral edema, hyperkalemia, hypotension, and reduction of cardiac output. Despite significant advances, CVDs remain a serious, life-threatening condition and new therapeutic modalities must be pursued. Neuromodulation therapies, which is one of the upsurging fields of modern medicine, involving a wide range of specialties and a variety of disorders. It is the process of stimulation, inhibition, regulation, or therapeutic alterations of the electrical or/and chemical activities, in the central, peripheral, or autonomic nervous systems that can be directed toward reverse/prevent progression of cardiovascular disease, by using implantable or non-implantable medical devices such as pacemakers, neural stimulators or micro-infusion pumps.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment involving the induction of a seizure through the transmission of electricity in the brain. Because of exploitation movies and greatly heightened drug company promotional activities ECT was used less frequently in the 1980s and 1990s. Eventually these movies were understood as unrealistic. Now these drugs are increasingly recognized as dangers to body health. Because of recent refinements and a far better scientific understanding of the clinical procedures and mechanisms underpinning ECT, this treatment modality has seen a resurgence in use and widespread appreciation of its safety. This book is the new definitive reference on electroconvulsive and neuromodulation therapies. It comprehensively covers the scientific basis and clinical practice of ECT as well as comparisons between ECT and medication therapies including the new generation of antipsychotic drugs. It also provides readers with administrative perspectives and specific details for the management of this modality in clinical practice. The new forms of nonconvulsive electrical and magnetic brain stimulation therapy are also covered in detail, in a separate section. The chapter authors are leading scholars and clinicians.

Neuromodulation will be the first comprehensive and in-depth reference textbook covering all aspects of the rapidly growing field of neuromodulation. This book provides a complete discussion of the fundamental principles of neuromodulation and therapies applied to the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, autonomic nerves and various organs. The textbook is highly structured and organized into overarching sections that cover chronic pain, movement disorders, psychiatric disorders, epilepsy, functional electrical stimulation, cardiac, gastrointestinal, genitourinary and organ neuromodulation. The fundamental principles of electricity and infusion, neural tissue interface, biomedical engineering, neuromodulation devices, basic science, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, imaging and mechanisms are emphasized. In addition to providing details pertaining to the state-of-the-art current practice, innovative and emerging applications are discussed in specific chapters. Finally, the textbook provides specific chapters focusing on the technical aspects of the various neuromodulation procedures as well as technical specifications of various implantable devices. All of the contributors to Neuromodulation represent leading experts in the field. The editors are internationally renowned in their respective fields of neuromodulation, pain management, functional neurosurgery and biomedical engineering. Neuromodulation will be the first and foremost authoritative text on neuromodulation therapies and will establish the gold standard that defines the field for years to come.Key Features - The first comprehensive reference on the emerging field of Neuromodulation - Editors and authors include all leading figures in the field, and the leaders of the International Neuromodulation Society - Over 90 chapters on topics ranging from a layout of the fundamentals (e.g. neuroanatomy, plasticity, bioelectrical effects, infusion therapies), solutions for the biomedical engineering challenges (e.g. materials, how to preserve normal function etc.), to a rundown of the existing applications and their future promise - Over 1200 pages in splendid full color, richly illustrated - Important areas of application include: control of chronic pain delivery of drugs to the nervous system via implanted devices control of epilepsy, Parkinson, etc. functional restoration, e.g. visual, auditory, restoration after stroke, restoration of motor function after traumatic events stimulation of body organs via neural devices (incl. the heart, abdominal organs, genitourinary organs) overview over newly emerging fields - control of obesity, blood pressure, tinnitus, brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases, brain-machine interfaces

This textbook, one of the first, provides a comprehensive review of the relationship between psychiatry and legal medicine in the older population. Sections reviewing evaluation, civil and criminal topics, and numerous other areas such as risk management, will help physicians, attorneys, and other professionals in their work with the elderly.

"Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine."

Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.