Breast Cancer Husband: How to Help Your Wife (and Yourself) During Diagnosis, Treatment and Beyond


Marc Silver - 2004
    He searched in vain for a book that would give him the information and advice he so desperately sought. Now this award-winning journalist has compiled just the kind of emotionally supportive and useful resource that he wished he had been able to consult-to give men the tools they need to help their wives, their families, and themselves through this scary, uncertain time.In his years as a consumer journalist and veteran of the News You Can Use staff at U.S. News & World Report, Marc Silver learned what kind of information and advice on medical crises readers found most valuable. He draws on that experience as he covers in depth all the issues couples coping with breast cancer will have to face during diagnosis, treatment, and beyond. Highlights include: - The shared experiences of other breast cancer husbands- Guidance from top cancer doctors in the country- Advice on when, how, and what to tell your young children- Tips on coping with radiation and chemotherapy - A candid discussion of sex and intimacy following breast cancer surgeryMore than 200,000 women are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. At last, with this book, the men who love them have a road map to help them through a difficult and unprecedented journey.

The Gift of Pets: Stories Only a Vet Could Tell


Bruce R. Coston - 2012
    Coston continues to work at his own veterinary practice in Virginia, meeting adorable pets and their loving and quirky owners every day. These include Precious the parrot, remarkably friendly and unafraid for a bird, Dahmun, or “Mountain of Love,” the Bull Mastiff, named by his linguist owner in a language he created, and Greco the beagle shepherd mix, who likes to eat rocks because he is too macho to chew on toys, his Greek owner insists. In stories ranging from humorous to heartfelt to tragic, this book makes a lovely gift for any animal lover.

Hormonal: The Hidden Intelligence of Hormones -- How They Drive Desire, Shape Relationships, Influence Our Choices, and Make Us Wiser


Martie Haselton - 2018
    With fresh insight, Martie Haselton explains how the fertility cycle has evolved over millions of years into a fine-tuned signaling system. Among the fascinating findings: During ovulation, women's attractiveness peaks because their "mate search effort" is turned on. Their walking gait, voice, skin condition, and dance moves are more alluring, and they wear more revealing clothes. They also tend to shop more. Being on the Pill affects women's preferences in men, and PMS may have evolved to get rid of boyfriends with unfit sperm. The research is provocative, but Haselton also presents practical advice for women to use their hormonal cycles to their advantage, helping them achieve success in their relationships, careers, and lives. Groundbreaking and counter-intuitive, HORMONAL will empower women everywhere to embrace their biology.

A Headache in the Pelvis: A New Understanding and Treatment for Prostatitis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes


David Wise - 2001
    The 4th edition enlarges the scope of the book to specifically address the Stanford Protocol for women'ss pelvic pain and includes a large illustrated section on the method of pelvic floor trigger point release. It also includes details of Paradoxical Relaxation for conditions of pelvic pain that affect women.

Mind-Body Medicine: The New Science of Optimal Health


Jason M. Satterfield - 2013
    While it’seasy to see that stress affects health and well-being, or that your blood pressure rises when you’re angry, cutting-edge research shows that the mind-body connection goes much further.Numerous studies on the brain’s interaction with the body demonstrate that health is directly affected by our social environments, socioeconomic status, culture, behaviors, relationships, psychological states, and habits of mind, among many factors. Current mind-body science reveals facts such as these: As few as eight weeks of mindfulness meditation can meaningfully boost your immune system. Extreme stress and low social support increase the risk of breast cancer by a factor of 9. Contact with nature is correlated with numerous positive health outcomes, including improved attention for children, reduced stress, and enhanced work performance. Chronic hostility portends calcification of the coronary arteries, even in young people. Expressive writing by patients is correlated with improved outcomes for both asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.Mind-body medicine—working in tandem with traditional medical practice—makes use of a large spectrum of psychological, physical, and behavioral treatments, drawn from many disciplines, in an approach to health care that aims to treat the whole person. It provides highly effective resources for preventing and treating a wide range of medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, stress, cancer, and depression—as well as for fostering the ultimate goals of health care: truly optimal and lasting physical health, and emotional and psychological well-being.A knowledge of this exciting field offers you critical understanding of the state of the art of health care and a significant new direction in medicine. But beyond valuable knowledge, a grounding in mind-body medicine gives you numerous practical, empowering tools for your own health care, as well as that of your family—tools that can make a profound difference for healthful, vibrant living.In Mind-Body Medicine: The New Science of Optimal Health, you’ll study this subject in compelling depth, with the expert guidance of Professor Jason M. Satterfield of the University of California, San Francisco. These 36 eye-opening lectures offer you a comprehensive overview of the field, providing rigorous answers to the questions of what makes us sick, what makes us well, and what we can do about it.You’ll look closely at the anatomical and biological systems through which what is “outside” in the environment gets “inside” to affect our minds and bodies. You’ll also examine recent research on subjects ranging from the impact our emotions and psychology have on health to the crucial roles that social, cultural, and behavioral factors play. And you’ll learn about effective mind-body treatments for numerous common medical conditions and diseases.Finally, you’ll finish the course with a toolbox of ideas and interventions for your personal wellness goals, empowering you to partner more effectively with your medical providers and maximize your own health.A Remarkable New Context for Health Care Professor Satterfield, a highly respected professor of clinical medicine and a specialist on the intersection of psychological factors and physical health, brings to the table his deep knowledge of mind-body science and extensive clinical experience in its application.In the course’s opening, he introduces you to the model of “biopsychosocial medicine,” which looks at the relationship between biological, psychological, and social factors in health.In studying how the biopsychosocial model is applied in modern medicine, you delve into these core subject areas:Biological pathways:You first investigate the anatomy and physiology of four biological systems through which the “outside” gets “in.” By reviewing a detailed study of the autonomic nervous system and the neuroendocrine system, discover how the brain activates the body’s two stress-response systems, and how these systems crucially affect health and well-being. Learn also about the physiology of immune function and the effects of stress on immune response and healing. Study the mechanisms of genetics as well as fascinating research indicating that your behavior can alter your genetic material, for better or worse—changes that can be passed on to future generations.Psychological factors in health: In the course of nine lectures, you look in depth at the critical ways in which psychology affects the body. Learn how negative emotional states such as anger and hostility can influence both the onset and progression of disease, and how positive emotions aid substantially in healing and wellness. Study how cognition—the ways in which we think and process our experiences—affects emotional states and behavior. Drawing from cognitive and other behavioral therapies, learn effective techniques for reshaping thinking, emotions, and behavior. Review evidence that certain personality types may be predisposed to conditions such as cardiovascular disease and depression, and learn how we can compensate for risk-carrying personality traits by working with cognitions and emotions. Investigate the neuroscience of behavior and the important effects of our behaviors on both disease and disease prevention. Look at stress as an integration of biological, cognitive, and social factors, and see how we can approach stress response and coping as a developmental skill. Social and ecological factors: You also study the important effects on health of factors such as culture, identity, socioeconomic status, social support, communities, and public health policy. Examine the studied correlations of income to health, education level to longevity, and ethnicity to susceptibility to disease, and consider how we can use this knowledge to benefit both individual and public health. Review research linking social support to health in many medical conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, and pregnancy; and do a detailed assessment to evaluate and strengthen your own social support network. Investigate how spiritual affiliations and practices have distinct physical benefits, such as reducing blood pressure, cortisol, and inflammation; improving lipid profiles and cardiovascular health; and extending life expectancy. Assess how physical environments affect health, how national and local culture impacts health-related behaviors, and how public initiatives can create healthier behaviors, environments, and communities.Tools and Strategies for Optimal WellnessBuilding on the biopsychosocial model, you study mind-body treatments for common conditions such as cardiovascular disease, stress, cancer, obesity, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.Here, you learn about specific practices and interventions that you can use in your own health care program, such as these. Stress management: For both personal and occupational stress, learn about a spectrum of stress management approaches, from cognitive restructuring and perspective shifting to meditation, breathing techniques, relaxation training, and the learnable skill of resilience. Strategies for successful behavior change: With reference to concerns such as lifestyle change, weight management, and disease prevention, study the leading models of effective behavior change, as well as specific approaches such as the strategies of motivational interviewing, the four key elements of change, and the internal skills of self-regulation. Heart disease—prevention and treatment: Survey psychosocial interventions for heart disease, including a range of behavior change approaches, stress and emotion management, somatic quieting, social connection, and dramatic evidence that cardiac disease can be reversed through lifestyle change. Treatment of pain: Study mind-body factors in pain experience, and learn about treatments including cognitive and behavior change, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and biofeedback. Fatigue, headaches, insomnia: Investigate the variety of medical conditions that show no clear organic cause, such as chronic fatigue, tension headaches, and sleep disorders; and review effective psychological, physical, and behavioral approaches to treatment.Professor Satterfield’s teaching combines an extraordinary breadth of knowledge, clear and accessible explanations of the science involved, and a highly compassionate approach to patient care. He enriches the lectures with stories and case studies of patients in treatment for stress, heart conditions, insomnia, trauma, and other health challenges, showing you what mind-body medicine looks like in clinical practice and how you can integrate its lessons into your health program and daily life.With the knowledge and tools you’ll learn in Mind-Body Medicine: The New Science of Optimal Health, you can begin your own biopsychosocial assessment, identify your strengths and challenges in partnership with your medical providers, and take authentic steps toward your fullest physical and mental wellness.

The Underdogs


Melissa Fay Greene - 2016
    Karen did this, and Ben, a German shepherd, dragged her back into life. “How many people are stranded like I was,” she wondered, “who would lead productive lives if only they had a dog?”A thousand state-of-the-art dogs later, Karen Shirk’s service dog academy, 4 Paws for Ability, is restoring broken children and their families to life. Long shunned by scientists as a man made, synthetic species, and oft- referred to as “Man’s Best Friend” almost patronizingly, dogs are finally paid respectful attention by a new generation of neuroscientists and animal behaviorists. Melissa Fay Greene weaves the latest scientific discoveries about our co-evolution with dogs with Karen’s story and a few exquisitely rendered stories of suffering children and their heartbroken families. Written with characteristic insight, humanity, humor, and irrepressible joy, what could have been merely touching is a penetrating, compassionate exploration of larger questions: about our attachment to dogs, what constitutes a productive life, and what can be accomplished with unconditional love.

A Practical Wedding: Creative Ideas for a Beautiful, Affordable, and Stress-free Celebration


Meg Keene - 2019
    After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover:The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning)How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partnerDIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy?How to communicate decisions to your familyWhy that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth itWedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.

Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals


Temple Grandin - 2009
    Now she builds on those insights to show us how to give our animals the best and happiest life—on their terms, not ours.It’s usually easy to pinpoint the cause of physical pain in animals, but to know what is causing them emotional distress is much harder. rawing on the latest research and her own work,Grandin identifies the core emotional needs of animals. Then she explains how to fulfill them for dogs and cats, horses, farm animals, and zoo animals.Whether it’s how to make the healthiest environment for the dog you must leave alone most of the day, how to keep pigs from being bored, or how to know if the lion pacing in the zoo is miserable or just exercising, Grandin teaches us to challenge our assumptions about animal contentment and honor our bond with our fellow creatures.Animals Make Us Human is the culmination of almost thirty years of research, experimentation, and experience.This is essential reading for anyone who’s ever owned, cared for, or simply cared about an animal.

Bitten: True Medical Stories of Bites and Stings


Pamela Nagami - 2004
    And we all have stories.The bite attacks that Pamela Nagami, M.D., has chosen to write about in Bitten take place in big cities, small towns, and remote villages around the world and throughout history, locales as familiar as New York or Hollywood, or exotic as Africa, the Middle East, or Indonesia. They include a six-year-old girl who descended into weeks of extreme lassitude from a tick bite; a diabetic in the West Indies who awoke to find a rat eating two of his toes; a California man who developed "flesh-eating strep" following a penile bite; and more.With reports from medical journals, case histories, colleagues, and her own twenty-five-year career as a practicing physician and infectious diseases specialist, Pamela Nagami offers readers intrigued by infection, disease, and mesmerized by creatures in the wild a compulsively readable narrative that is entertaining, sometimes disturbing, and always engrossing.

Eight Dates: To keep your relationship happy, thriving and lasting


John M. Gottman - 2019
    Within 10 minutes of meeting a couple, they can predict who will stay happily together or who will split up, with 94% accuracy. Based on their findings on the ingredients to a happy, lasting love life, they have now created an easy series of eight dates, spanning:- commitment & trust - conflict resolution- intimacy & sex - fun & adventure- work & money- family values - growth & spirituality- goals & aspirationsEight Dates draws on rigorous scientific and psychological research about how we fall in love using case studies of real-life couples whose relationships have improved after committing time to each other and following the dates. Full of innovative exercises and conversation starters to explore ways to deepen each aspect of the relationship, Eight Dates is an essential resource that makes a relationship fulfilling.'Can a marriage really be understood? Yes it can. Gottman shows us how' Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink

The Other Side of Normal: How Biology Is Providing the Clues to Unlock the Secrets of Normal and Abnormal Behavior


Jordan Smoller - 2012
    Other bestselling works of neurobiology and the mind have focused on mental illness and abnormal behaviors—like the Oliver Sacks classic, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat—but The Other Side of Normal is an eye-opening, thought-provoking, utterly fascinating and totally accessible exploration of the universals of human experience. It will change forever our understanding of who we are and what makes us that way.

The Wisdom of Old Dogs: Lessons in life, love and friendship


Elli H. Radinger - 2018
    A Sunday Telegraph top 15 Christmas gift book of 2019 A dog is for life, but an old dog's wisdom is for ever. 'A truly heartwarming book - a perfect gift for any dog lover' Trisha Ashley'The Wisdom of Old Dogs is an absolute must-have' Countryside Magazine'A beautiful read that will leave dog owners and animal lovers brimming over with love and gratitude' Woman's Way Magazine Full of practical advice, uplifting stories, and scientific expertise, this book reveals how dogs can be a constant source of wisdom, comfort and love in their old age.The perfect Christmas present for anyone who treasures these wonderful animals.

Why Does My Cat Do That?


Catherine Davidson - 2008
     Presents a wide range of situations and explains them from your cat’s point of view, including how your cat sees you. Reflects the very latest thinking on cat behavior, and offers intriguing insights into your cat’s reasoning and feelings. Gives clear, practical, and entertaining advice, as well as innovative strategies for dealing with common problems.

The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas- How a Cat Brought a Family the Gift of Love


Julia Romp - 2010
    For Julia already had her hands full with her son George, who suffered from autism. Quiet and withdrawn, ten-year-old George appeared lost in his own world, upset by the slightest change in his routine and unable to make friends with other children.But George wasn’t scared by the little black-and-white visitor; instead his face lit up at the sight of him and before long George was inseparable from his new friend Ben. It was the miracle Julia had been hoping for; George began to play with Ben and create stories about their adventures together, excitedly recounting them at tea-time. For Julia, it was a magical way to communicate with her son, and Ben had made it possible. That’s why when Ben went missing Julia knew she had to do everything in her power to bring him home…Captivating, uplifting and geniunely touching, A Friend Like Ben is a remarkable true story of the extraordinary devotion and empathy between a little boy and his cat, and a mother's determination to make her son happy again."You see, Ben's not just a cat - he is George's window onto the world, the key to the door which unlocks him. Call me daft, but Ben is like my second son, so I had to find him when he went missing. Because if not, I was more scared than I can say that I would never see the light in George's eyes again. There was only one way to make sure it came back: I had to bring Ben home." ~ Julia

Conquering Fat Logic: how to overcome what we tell ourselves about diets, weight, and metabolism


Nadja Hermann - 2019
    After years of failed diets Dr Nadja Hermann weighed over 23 stone at the age of 30. All her life, she had heard and read about hundreds of reasons why diets wouldn't work for her. But when her weight started to seriously affect her health, she took a hard look at the science and realised that most of what she believed about dieting was a myth. What was more, those very myths were preventing her from losing weight.Forget clean eating, paleo, or fasting — it was conquering these elements of ‘Fat Logic’ that finally led to Hermann achieving a healthy weight. One and a half years later, she weighed 10 stone, and has maintained that weight to this day. Now, using humour, the insight she’s acquired, and a dose of science, Hermann debunks widespread lies about weight loss, and shows how it is possible to attain a healthy weight.