Book picks similar to
Dangerous Doses: How Counterfeiters Are Contaminating America's Drug Supply by Katherine Eban
nonfiction
science
non-fiction
healthcare
The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Deborah Blum - 2018
Harvey Washington Wiley, who fought for change.By the end of nineteenth century, food was dangerous. Lethal, even. "Milk" might contain formaldehyde, most often used to embalm corpses. Decaying meat was preserved with both salicylic acid, a pharmaceutical chemical, and borax, a compound first identified as a cleaning product. This was not by accident; food manufacturers had rushed to embrace the rise of industrial chemistry, and were knowingly selling harmful products. Unchecked by government regulation, basic safety, or even labelling requirements, they put profit before the health of their customers. By some estimates, in New York City alone, thousands of children were killed by "embalmed milk" every year. Citizens--activists, journalists, scientists, and women's groups--began agitating for change. But even as protective measures were enacted in Europe, American corporations blocked even modest regulations. Then, in 1883, Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, a chemistry professor from Purdue University, was named chief chemist of the agriculture department, and the agency began methodically investigating food and drink fraud, even conducting shocking human tests on groups of young men who came to be known as, "The Poison Squad."Over the next thirty years, a titanic struggle took place, with the courageous and fascinating Dr. Wiley campaigning indefatigably for food safety and consumer protection. Together with a gallant cast, including the muckraking reporter Upton Sinclair, whose fiction revealed the horrific truth about the Chicago stockyards; Fannie Farmer, then the most famous cookbook author in the country; and Henry J. Heinz, one of the few food producers who actively advocated for pure food, Dr. Wiley changed history. When the landmark 1906 Food and Drug Act was finally passed, it was known across the land, as "Dr. Wiley's Law."Blum brings to life this timeless and hugely satisfying "David and Goliath" tale with righteous verve and style, driving home the moral imperative of confronting corporate greed and government corruption with a bracing clarity, which speaks resoundingly to the enormous social and political challenges we face today.
Well: What We Need to Talk about When We Talk about Health
Sandro Galea - 2019
And what do they get for it? Statistically, not much. Americans today live shorter, less healthy lives than citizens of other rich countries, and these trends show no signs of letting up.The problem, Sandro Galea argues, is that Americans focus on the wrong things when they think about health. Our national understanding of what constitutes "being well" is centered on medicine -- the lifestyles we adopt to stay healthy, and the insurance plans and prescriptions we fall back on when we're not. While all these things are important, they've not proven to be the difference between healthy and unhealthy on the large scale.Well is a radical examination of the subtle and not-so-subtle factors that determine who gets to be healthy in America. Galea shows how the country's failing health is a product of American history and character -- and how refocusing on our national health can usher enlightenment across American life and politics.
Pills, Thrills and Methadone Spills: The Adventures of a Community Pharmacist
Mr. Dispenser - 2013
People need cheering up. I have the answer. ‘Pills, Thrills and Methadone Spills: Adventures of a Community Pharmacist’ is a collection of the best blogs, tweets and anecdotes about the wonderful world of pharmacy.“If the shutter is three quarters down, then we are shut and not just vertically challenged”...“Gave me huge insight into the ‘real’ world of community pharmacy – I didn’t realise just how much pharmacists deal with on a day to day basis, so for me this was very informative, but in a reallyclever, and massively funny way!” Lucy Pitt, Marketing Manager, The Pharmacy Show“As well as being brilliantly funny, this book is a refreshingly honest view of the world of pharmacy. From student pharmacists to the fully-qualified, every chapter provides a story that the reader can relate to and enjoy.” Georgia Salter, Pharmacy Student“A well observed reflection of life in pharmacy with very funny reflections” Catherine Duggan, Royal Pharmaceutical Society"It is always fun to be reminded that pharmacists' perils and fun at the workplace are similar irrespective of which country we practise in!" Selina Hui-Hoong Wee , Pharmacist, Malaysia“A great entertaining and amusing read" Mike Holden, Chief Executive, National Pharmacy AsociationThanks to Laura Martins for her initial book cover design!
Vitamin D Revolution
Soram Khalsa - 2009
Illnesses such as influenza, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and coronary heart disease have also been connected to a lack of this vitamin. Until not too long ago, not getting enough Vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) was only associated with rickets, the childhood bone disease. Now, Soram Khalsa, M.D., sheds new light on the power of this long-forgotten vitamin. He reveals how to recognize signs of Vitamin D deficiency, which has reached epidemic proportions in North America, and then shares insights from his Beverly Hills medical practice, where he normalizes his own patients’ Vitamin D levels for their optimal health.
A Healing Touch: True Stories of Life, Death, and Hospice
Richard Russo - 2008
These writers recount intensely personal and profoundly moving end-of-life accounts that cover a wide spectrum of human experience. All six authors are donating their royalties to a Maine hospice; Down East will also donate 10 percent of proceeds to the same cause.
Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood
Rose George - 2018
It is a waste product and a commodity pricier than oil. It can save lives and transmit deadly infections. Each one of us has roughly nine pints of it, yet many don’t even know their own blood type. And for all its ubiquity, the few tablespoons of blood discharged by 800 million women are still regarded as taboo; menstruation is perhaps the single most demonized biological event.Rose George, author of The Big Necessity, is renowned for her intrepid work on topics that are invisible but vitally important. In Nine Pints, she takes us from ancient practices of bloodletting to modern “hemovigilance” teams that track blood-borne diseases. She introduces Janet Vaughan, who set up the world’s first system of mass blood donation during the Blitz, and Arunachalam Muruganantham, known as “Menstrual Man” for his work on sanitary pads for developing countries. She probes the lucrative business of plasma transfusions, in which the U.S. is known as the “OPEC of plasma.” And she looks to the future, as researchers seek to bring synthetic blood to a hospital near you.Spanning science and politics, stories and global epidemics, Nine Pints reveals our life's blood in an entirely new light.
Medical Mysteries: From the Bizarre to the Deadly . . . The Cases That Have Baffled Doctors
Ann Reynolds - 2009
A man's body is so overwhelmed by a wart infection that his face, body, hands, and feet all look as if they're growing bark and roots.A unusual spinal trauma that only affects first time surfers that can turn an active young person into a paraplegic in a matter of hours.A disorder of the eardrum that turns a person's ability to hear inwards, so that the movement of eyeballs in their sockets sounds like a passing subway car.An inherited disorder that gives the afflicted a fatal case of insomnia."Medical Mysteries" takes on these and many more unusual and rare medical ailments in this collection that is sure to mystify and inspire readers.
America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System
Steven Brill - 2015
It’s a fly-on-the-wall account of the titanic fight to pass a 961-page law aimed at fixing America’s largest, most dysfunctional industry. It’s a penetrating chronicle of how the profiteering that Brill first identified in his trailblazing Time magazine cover story continues, despite Obamacare. And it is the first complete, inside account of how President Obama persevered to push through the law, but then failed to deal with the staff incompetence and turf wars that crippled its implementation. But by chance America’s Bitter Pill ends up being much more—because as Brill was completing this book, he had to undergo urgent open-heart surgery. Thus, this also becomes the story of how one patient who thinks he knows everything about healthcare “policy” rethinks it from a hospital gurney—and combines that insight with his brilliant reporting. The result: a surprising new vision of how we can fix American healthcare so that it stops draining the bank accounts of our families and our businesses, and the federal treasury. Praise for America’s Bitter Pill
“A tour de force . . . a comprehensive and suitably furious guide to the political landscape of American healthcare . . . persuasive, shocking.”—The New York Times “An energetic, picaresque, narrative explanation of much of what has happened in the last seven years of health policy . . . [Brill] has pulled off something extraordinary.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“A thunderous indictment of what Brill refers to as the ‘toxicity of our profiteer-dominated healthcare system.’ ”—Los Angeles Times “A sweeping and spirited new book [that] chronicles the surprisingly juicy tale of reform.”—The Daily Beast “One of the most important books of our time.”—Walter Isaacson “Superb . . . Brill has achieved the seemingly impossible—written an exciting book about the American health system.”—The New York Review of Books
The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics
Richard Davenport-Hines - 2001
Richard Davenport-Hines, an eminent, prize-winning historian, uncovers the centrality of drug abuse in our modern industrial society, from the drug habits of Charles Dickens and John F. Kennedy to today's $400 billion annual worldwide trade in illicit drugs (the same volume as the oil industry). A vivid portrayal of the people and events that have shaped the history of narcotics, The Pursuit of Oblivion reveals that, contrary to the assumption underlying current drug policies, our need to escape reality and our body's need for physical pleasure are both ineradicable aspects of our humanity, unchangeable by government initiative.
Red Light Therapy: Miracle Medicine
Mark Sloan
This 6x #1 Bestselling book Red Light Therapy: Miracle Medicine brings you everything you've ever wanted to know about near-infrared and red light therapy in one concise, simple and complete guide.What You Will Learn:- What is red light therapy?- How it works?- History of Red Light Therapy- An in depth look at how red light therapy heals- A to Z list of diseases and conditions its scientifically proven to treat- Questions and Answers- BONUS #1: Includes the FREE audiobook of Red Light Therapy: Miracle Medicine- BONUS #2: Free Red Light Therapy Dose Guide- BONUS #3: Includes FREE coupon for an infrared and red light therapy device- Backed by over 270 scientific and clinical studiesWhatever your disease or condition, there is probably nobody who cannot benefit significantly from near-infrared and red light therapy.
CBD-Rich Hemp Oil - Cannabinoid Nursing 101: Cannabis Medicine is Back
Tina Rappaport - 2014
Although it has a long history, the recent discovery (1992) of the body's widespread endocannabinoid system (ECS) has thrust cannabis back into the limelight again as a viable medicine. In 2012 over 2.5 million prescriptions were written for medical marijuana in the United States. CBD and THC are both cannabinoids found in cannabis. However, while THC produces a “high” in the user, CBD does not. And now legal CBD-rich hemp oil is available over-the-counter in all 50 states, without a prescription. It was discovered that the Hemp Family of plants (cannabis, marijuana) is loaded with cannabinoids that stimulate our ECS receptor sites. These sites are found in the brain, organs, glands, connective tissue and immune cells and plays regulatory roles in many physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood and memory. The primary purpose of this system revolves around maintaining balance in the body. Cannabinoids found in all varieties of cannabis work in harmony with the cannabinoids we naturally produce when our system is functioning properly. It is now coming to light that we may very well be “Endocannabinoid Deficient” and supplementing with Cannabidiol, known as CBD, may provide just what we’re missing to restore optimum health. The health benefits of cannabidiol (CBD) from natural hemp oil is this book's primary focus. It explores the similarities, differences, uses and benefits of hemp, cannabis and medical marijuana along with the interplay of THC and CBD. Their 480 other components are also discussed, such as terpenoids, flavonoids, enzymes, vitamins, etc. Make no mistake about it, the endocannabinoid system, although newly discovered, is just as important as any other bodily system, like the muscular, cardiac, circulatory or digestive system. The ECS requires its own specialized medicine as found in the Hemp Family of plants, which is also known as cannabis, and which includes all strains of marijuana. Here is a list of conditions known and/or being researched that may be helped by cannabinoid therapeutics and supplementation: Acne ADD/ADHD Addiction AIDS ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) Alzheimer’s Anorexia Antibiotic Resistance Anxiety Atherosclerosis Arthritis Asthma Autism Bipolar Cancer Colitis/Crohn’s Depression Diabetes Endocrine Disorders Epilepsy/Seizure Fibromyalgia Glaucoma Heart Disease Huntington’s Inflammation Irritable Bowel Kidney Disease Liver Disease Metabolic Syndrome Migraine Mood Disorders Motion Sickness Multiple Sclerosis Nausea Neurodegeneration Neuropathic Pain Obesity OCD Osteoporosis Parkinson’s Prion/Mad Cow Disease PTSD Rheumatism Schizophrenia Sickle Cell Anemia Skin Conditions Sleep Disorders Spinal Cord Injury Stress Stroke/TBI 10% of the proceeds from sales of this book will be donated to the American Cannabis Nurses Association in an effort to bring together nurses, to share, integrate and one day certify nurses in the science of endocannabinoid therapeutics in nursing practice.
Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Health Promotion Programs: A Primer
James F. McKenzie - 1992
The Fifth Edition features updated information throughout, including new theories and models such as the Healthy Action Process Approach (HAPA) and the Community Readiness Model (CRM), sections on grant writing and preparing a budget, real-life examples of marketing principles and processes, and a new classification system for evaluation approaches and designs. Health Education, Health Promotion, Health Educators, and Program Planning, Models for Program Planning in Health Promotion, Starting the Planning Process, Assessing Needs, Measurement, Measures, Measurement Instruments and Sampling, Mission Statement, Goals, and Objectives, Theories and Models Commonly Used for Health Promotion Interventions, Interventions, Community Organizing and Community Building, Identification and Allocation of Resources, Marketing: Making Sure Programs Respond to Wants and Needs of Consumers, Implementation: Strategies and Associated Concerns, Evaluation: An Overview, Evaluation Approaches and Designs, Data Analysis and Reporting. Intended for those interested in learning the basics of planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs
The Setpoint Diet: The 21-Day Program to Permanently Change What Your Body "Wants" to Weigh
Jonathan Bailor - 2018
Your body fights to keep you within a range of about 15 pounds -- also known as your "setpoint weight." New research reveals that you can lower your setpoint and end that battle for good by focusing on the quality of calories you eat, not the quantity. With The Setpoint Diet, you will reprogram your body with a 21-day plan to rev up your metabolism, eliminate inflammation, heal your hormones, repair your gut, and get your body working like that of a naturally thin person -- permanently. The Setpoint Diet is a lower-carb menu that focuses on specific anti-inflammatory whole foods, including tons of produce, nutritious proteins, and therapeutic fats. Its creator, Jonathan Bailor, founded SANESolution, a weight loss company that has reached millions of people. Proven to help you lose weight naturally and maintain it, The SetpointDiet is your new blueprint for healthy living.
The Gift of Caring: Saving Our Parents from the Perils of Modern Healthcare
Marcy Cottrell Houle - 2015
Powerful Medicines: The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs
Jerry Lewis Avorn - 2004
Jerry Avorn has some sobering news. Drawing on more than twenty-five years of patient care, teaching, and research at Harvard Medical School, he shares his firsthand experience of the wide gap in our knowledge of the effectiveness of one medication as compared to another. In Powerful Medicines, he reminds us that every pill we take represents a delicate compromise between the promise of healing, the risk of side effects, and an increasingly daunting price. The stakes on each front grow higher every year as new drugs with impressive power, worrisome side effects, and troubling costs are introduced.This is a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at issues that affect everyone: our shortage of data comparing the worth of similar drugs for the same condition; alarming lapses in the detection of lethal side effects; the underuse of life-saving medications; lavish marketing campaigns that influence what doctors prescribe; and the resulting upward spiral of costs that places vital drugs beyond the reach of many Americans.In this engagingly written book, Dr. Avorn asks questions that will interest every consumer: How can a product judged safe by the Food and Drug Administration turn out to have unexpectedly lethal side effects? Why has the nation’s drug bill been growing at nearly 20 percent per year? How can physicians and patients pick the best medication in its class? How do doctors actually make their prescribing decisions, and why do those decisions sometimes go wrong? Why do so many Americans suffer preventable illnesses and deaths that proper drug use could have averted? How can the nation gain control over its escalating drug budget without resorting to rationing or draconian governmental controls?Using clinical case histories taken from his own work as a practitioner, researcher, and advocate, Dr. Avorn demonstrates the impressive power of the well-conceived prescription as well as the debacles that can result when medications are misused. He describes an innovative program that employs the pharmaceutical industry’s own marketing techniques to reduce use of some of the most overprescribed and overpriced products. Powerful Medicines offers timely and practical advice on how the nation can improve its drug-approval process, and how patients can work with doctors to make sure their prescriptions are safe, effective, and as affordable as possible. This is a passionate and provocative call for action as well as a compelling work of clear-headed science.From the Hardcover edition.