LIGHT & DEATH: undivided DOCTOR'S ...

LIGHT & DEATH: undivided DOCTOR'S FASCINATING ACCOUNT OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES according to Michael Sabom 1998, 240 pp $1299 paperback

Near death experiences (NDEs) like life after death, fascinate chiefly people and require a leap of faith. attestation of the existence of either is slim, and belief in them ofttimes relies on an individual's personal philosophy of life. The author of this main division is a cardiologist in private practice who describes himself as a Christian. He has been involved in NDE research since 1977 and has published a previous work on the subject titled Recollections of Death. That main division according to the author, "allowed no space" for considering religion when evaluating an NDE This main division documents the experiences of a number of patients who have experienced an NDE and direct the eyes at their experiences from the author's and from the patient's religious viewpoints.

The volume recounts patients' experiences of near death as they occurr during surgery cardiac catheterizations, resuscitations, and trauma conclusions The author raises questions about death and the order of succession of events that lead to it; he discusses the criteria for death and by what mode those criteria have evolved from looking for condensation upon a mirror to the more involved criteria used today. The author attempts in his final chapters to confirm that NDEs actually occur and that they are not biological or chemical neurological circumstances that can be tied to hypoxia. He is relatively felicitous at this, describing activities and affairs that patients recalled, which would require a fairly sophisticated knowledge of medicine and hospital practices not common to most patients.

The author also strives to confirm that NDEs are a confirmation of life after death, the existence of omnipotence and the presence of heaven. He has chosen a difficult task and he describes it best when he compares the proces to "nailing Jello to the wall." For those who do believe in god the father NDEs are merely confirmation of their intrinsic beliefs. For those who are skeptical, this work will hardly have the weight to convince them. What it provided for me was another precept in the value of treating patients with dignity and relate to regardless of their condition, and a reminder that medicine does not have all the answers. In that faculty of perception reading a book like this is always time well spent

This volume is available from Zondervan Publishing House, 5300 Patterson SE Grand Rapids, MI 49530

HELEN STARBUCK PASHLEY RN MA, CNOR DENVER

COPYRIGHT 1999 Association of Operating swing Nurses, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group