Scoliosis axis of a person's spine. In the diagnostic sense, it is defined as a spinal curvature of more than 10° to the right or left as the examiner faces the person, i.e. in the coronal plane. Scoliosis has been described as a biomechanical deformity, the progression of which depends on asymmetric forces otherwise known as the Hueter-Volkmann Law. The traditional medical management of scoliosis is complex and is determined by the severity of the curvature and skeletal maturity, which together help predict the likelihood of progression. The conventional options for children and adolescents are: For adults, treatment usually focuses on
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"