Scoliosis successful management of diseases causing spinal deformity, many patients suffered from scoliosis with no known cause. The unknown cause was eventually determined to be idiopathic scoliosis. Alfred Shands Jr., an orthopedic surgeon, discovered that two percent of patients had non-disease related scoliosis. Idiopathic scoliosis, also known as the "cancer of orthopedic surgery", was determined to be dangerous because there was no current treatment. The condition needed to be detected in patients promptly so treatment could be developed in time to halt its progression. As a result, schools made it mandatory for students to have screenings for scoliosis. Early on, set
The Gifts of the Body the patients and the caregiver. The book contains ten short stories, the titles of each being associated with "gifts" which are various functions of the body, both physical and emotional: sweat, wholeness, tears, skin, hunger, mobility, death, speech, sight, hope, and mourning. The caregiver experiences each "gift", as he/she deals with patients who have AIDS, showing the different shared relationships in each case. Each patient is a distinct case, differing in terms of age, financial situation, attitude toward the illness etc., showing the reader that this disease affects all types of people. The book is written in the "no-frills style"