Twelve Cases: A Psychiatrist’s True Stories of Mental Illness and Addiction [and Other Human Predispositions]


Daniel Mierlak - 2018
    Daniel Mierlak, a psychiatrist for twenty-five years, on a journey to the stranger corners of human experience. Here you’ll meet: Tony, chauffeur to the fabulously rich, who overcomes crippling anxiety only to find himself descend into a homicidal rage following a botched cosmetic procedure. Amanda, hospitalized for mania, who sees a change to her medicine as an assassination attempt, and then stalks her doctor for a year after discharge. James, a schizophrenic hearing voices telling him to kill himself, whose piano playing leads to a shocking secret about his past. Psychiatric treatment is normally a private encounter and often misunderstood. In describing twelve of his most challenging cases, Dr. Mierlak brings you into his sessions, into his patients’ lives, and into the world of psychiatry. Get ready for some surprises.

Why Do People Get Ill


David Corfield - 2007
    With case studies and advice for a fitter life, this is an intriguing and thought-provoking book, one which should be read by anyone who cares about their wellbeing.

A Parkinson's Primer: An Indispensable Guide to Parkinson's Disease for Patients and Their Families


John M. Vine - 2017
    Well, I was diagnosed 24 years ago, and I still learned something new on every page.”—Michael Kinsley, Vanity Fair columnist and author of Old Age: A Beginner’s Guide Here is the book that John Vine and his wife, Joanne, wish they could have consulted when John was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease—a nontechnical, personal guide written from the patient’s perspective. Relying on his experiences over the past 12 years, John writes knowledgeably about all aspects of the disease. John also interviewed other Parkinson’s patients and their partners, whose stories and advice he includes throughout the book. “I wish we’d had John Vine’s book when my brother-in-law was diagnosed. The book is highly informative, unflinchingly honest, and reassuringly optimistic. It’s just what the doctor should have ordered.”—Cokie Roberts, best-selling author and political commentator on ABC News and NPR “John Vine details, in a compelling and accessible way, his experience with Parkinson’s disease. His book is an extraordinary guide to living successfully with Parkinson’s, and a must read for all who want to better understand the condition. Although diagnosed with Parkinson’s, my father lived an active and productive life until his death at age 94. As the book makes clear, while each patient’s journey is unique, common approaches are indispensable in treating the symptoms of the disease.”—Eric H. Holder, Jr. served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015 “John Vine has written the best primer I’ve ever read for newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients and their families. It helps them cope with the shock of diagnosis, gives them (jargon-free) the scientific basics they need to know, describes the symptoms they may experience (making clear that every case is different) and catalogs the resources available to navigate living with Parkinson’s. John humanizes the book by describing his own experience and that of 22 other patients and their partners. I’d urge every neurologist to have copies of Vine’s primer on hand to help new PD on their journey forward.”—Morton Kondracke, author of Saving Milly: Love, Politics and Parkinson’s Disease and a member of the Founders' Council of the Michael J. Fox Foundation “My husband has PD, and I devoured this book. It’s wise, wonderfully readable, and, above all, helpful. Since John Vine has PD, he speaks with great authority about the challenges, both physical and psychological. If you have Parkinson’s, live with someone who has it, or just know someone battling the disease, A Parkinson’s Primer is for you.”—Lesley Stahl, award-winning television journalist on the CBS News program 60 Minutes “This is a remarkable book describing the personal experiences of many individuals, including the author, living with Parkinson’s disease. It captures the fact that although there are many possible symptoms in this disease, each person experiences different symptoms and copes with them in various ways. The thoughtful and insightful comments and coping strategies should be helpful for persons with PD, and their partners, regardless of the stage of the disease.”—Stephen Grill, MD, PhD, Director of the Parkinson’s & Movement Disorders Center of Maryland John M. Vine is a lawyer at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, DC, where he is the senior member and former head of the firm’s employee benefits group. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2004.

F*ck That Cape: The Grown Woman's Unapologetic Guide to Putting Herself First


Jennifer Arnise - 2018
    You’ll never read another self-help book ever again. The narrative around being strong has been a crown of thorns for African American women since shewe were brought to this country as slaves. Being smart and clever and efficient was a matter of life and death. Now in present time, being a smart, educated and successful African American woman doesn't determine if we live or die but it often creates an isolating and lonely world because more times than not she is we are hustling to prove herour worth to everyone. You’ve been accommodating all your life. You’ve been willing to set aside your own interests, needs and desires “for the greater good.” You’ve been playing the sacrificial lamb on the altar selflessness for far too long. It’s time to stop trying to be everyone’s hero, putting the needs of others above your own. It is making you miserable and you know it. Deep within you, you know your Superwoman complex leaves a bad taste in your mouth more often than not, leaving you feeling exhausted, unfulfilled, alone and angry at the world… and at the people you love. All your life you’ve been told to be a tough, strong, self-reliant, inscrutable Black woman without a chink in her armor, without an ounce of weakness, so you plod on, isolated and lonely because you’re not being true to yourself. You’re suffering, and whether you’re complaining or not. It’s time to stop. With soul-baring stories and anecdotes from her own life, Jennifer gives a detailed account of her journey to healing and shows you how stop “Caping” and begin to have a more compassionate view of yourself and begin making yourself the number one priority in your life and trust your own instincts and abilities without having to compromise to please anyone else. F*ck That Cape is a book that will show you how to trust your inner voice and intuition, a natural talent that we’ve crushed underneath the weight of societal expectations. Here’s what you’re going to learn in this no-fluff, definitive guide to self-care: • How to go from meeting everyone else's needs to getting your own needs met first • Figuring out what you really want, firmly asking for it and getting it without being an asshole • How to build an awesome support system of people that encourage you and boost your confidence • How to give yourself permission to relentlessly pursue your dreams and live the life you've always wanted • Why you should stop trying to please and make everyone happy and practical steps to go about it • …and much more! Deeply insightful, intuitive and even life changing, F*ck that Cape is the ultimate blueprint to crafting your life the way you want it. On your own terms.

Preemie: Lessons in Love, Life, and Motherhood


Kasey Mathews - 2012
    But what seemed a perfect life was shattered when she went into labor four months early, delivering her one-pound, eleven-ounce daughter, Andie.The first time Kasey was wheeled into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), nothing prepared her for what she saw: a tiny, fragile baby in a tangle of tubes and wires. All at once, Kasey was confronted with a new and terrifying reality that would test the limits of love, family, and motherhood.In this riveting, honest, and often humorous memoir, Preemie chronicles the journey of one tiny baby’s tenacious struggle to hold on to life and the mother who ultimately grew with her. From hospital waiting rooms to the offices of alternative practitioners, from ski slopes to Symphony Hall, Kasey tries to make meaning of her daughter’s birth and eventually comes to learn that gifts come in all sizes and all forms, and sometimes... right on time.

A Statin Nation - Damaging Millions in a Brave New Post-Health World


Malcolm Kendrick - 2018
    Dr Kendrick, a well-known statin sceptic and author of the bestselling The Great Cholesterol Con, has returned to the diet-heart-cholesterol battlefield to warn that people are being conned.In relaxed and humorous style, he lifts the rock to allow the reader to peer underneath. He points out that statins, even in high-risk individuals, increase life expectancy by a mere four days after five years of treatment. Yet adverse effects have been swept under the carpet by researchers who are closely tied to the industry.The way to avoid heart disease, and strokes, is simple - but, as this riveting book shows, it has nothing to do with lowering cholesterol levels.

Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology


Deirdre Cooper Owens - 2017
    It is also no secret that these nineteenth-century gynecologists performed experimental caesarean sections, ovariotomies, and obstetric fistula repairs primarily on poor and powerless women. Medical Bondage breaks new ground by exploring how and why physicians denied these women their full humanity yet valued them as "medical superbodies" highly suited for medical experimentation.In Medical Bondage, Cooper Owens examines a wide range of scientific literature and less formal communications in which gynecologists created and disseminated medical fictions about their patients, such as their belief that black enslaved women could withstand pain better than white "ladies." Even as they were advancing medicine, these doctors were legitimizing, for decades to come, groundless theories related to whiteness and blackness, men and women, and the inferiority of other races or nationalities. Medical Bondage moves between southern plantations and northern urban centers to reveal how nineteenth-century American ideas about race, health, and status influenced doctor-patient relationships in sites of healing like slave cabins, medical colleges, and hospitals. It also retells the story of black enslaved women and of Irish immigrant women from the perspective of these exploited groups and thus restores for us a picture of their lives.

Dumping Iron: How to Ditch This Secret Killer and Reclaim Your Health


P.D. Mangan - 2016
    The accumulation of excess iron in the body, a condition that affects perhaps the majority of adults, leads to much higher risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and shorter lifespan. Dumping Iron shows how to measure your iron levels, what the test numbers mean, and how to go about lowering iron if necessary. Humans are adapted to a low-iron environment, so once iron is in our bodies, it virtually never goes away. Our new, high-iron environment leads to iron accumulation, and to ill health and early death. Iron is the secret killer that no one is telling you about. Finally, in Dumping Iron, the scientific and medical data that indicts iron is assembled in one place. What the experts say about Dumping Iron: “Dumping Iron by P. D. Mangan is a must read by anybody interested in maintaining optimal health, including those in the medical field. Iron overload is an exceedingly common malady in the population and it is easily diagnosed, but it is under-addressed. It leads to heart disease, diabetes, cancer and numerous other chronic and debilitating illnesses. The good news is that iron excess can be prevented and readily treated, which results in a decreased risk of many diseases and improvement in overall health and vitality. Dumping Iron clearly tells us how to achieve these goals.” — Luca Mascitelli, M.D., Lieutenant Colonel, Italian Army, and author of numerous scientific papers on iron and health. “In Dumping Iron, Dennis Mangan has provided the reader access to a massive scientific data pool linking body iron overload to major diseases of mankind… I submit that Dumping Iron should be required reading in science and nutrition for high school and above. The ultimate triumph of Dumping Iron might be an informed public that will increasingly access ferritin test screening, and health care providers better prepared to interpret tests of iron status, particularly the ferritin level. Acknowledgment of risks of iron overload and proper product labeling might lead to reduced public iron intoxication and improved population health to a degree that would be no less than monumental!” — Leo Zacharski, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College. Dr. Zacharski has written extensively on the connection between iron and disease, and has conducted clinical trials of lowering iron. “Iron has been compared to fire. A small amount of fire is quite useful in our stoves and furnaces. But when fire is ravaging the contents and walls of our home… BEWARE. In this informative book, Dennis Mangan makes clear the devastation that can be caused by excessive/misplaced iron in the tissues and walls of our bodies. We learn that for essentially all diseases — infections, cancers, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, gout, osteoporosis, cardiovascular ills, and more — that the iron burden is a dangerous risk factor. But equally important, the author describes a variety of well tested methods that are readily available to neutralize the iron peril. Adoption of even a few of these methods can remarkably decrease iron-catalyzed disease episodes, enhance well being, and, not least, increase longevity.” — E. D. Weinberg, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Biology at Indiana University, and the author of over 140 scientific papers, many of them on the role of iron in disease.

The Psychology of Women [With Free 4-Month Subscription to Online Library]


Margaret W. Matlin - 1986
    Appropriate for students from a wide variety of backgrounds, this comprehensive book captures women's own experiences through direct quotations and an emphasis on empirical research. Known for her balance of scholarship and readability, as well as for her inclusion of women from diverse backgrounds, Margaret Matlin continues to lead the way for the Psychology of Women course. Matlin has meticulously updated this edition to reflect the most current research, and continues to exhibit a genuine interest in and understanding of the students for whom the book is written. Her text includes a chapter on old age, and discussions of topics such as welfare issues, pregnancy and women's retirement, which are central in many women's lives, but not consistently covered in other texts.

Red Blanket: An uncensored memoir that reveals the underbelly of surgical training


John Harch - 2020
    

Compared to Who?: A Proven Path to Improve Your Body Image


Heather Creekmore - 2017
    See your body image struggles as issues of the heart--then find freedom from body insecurity using five biblically rooted steps!

What I Wish I Knew about Nursing: Real Advice from Real Nurses on How To Deeply Care for Patients While Still Caring For Yourself


Allie Wilson - 2011
    

Waking Up Blind Lawsuits Over Eye Surgery


Tom Harbin - 2009
    The shocking story of blinded eyes, and the medical school that allowed it.

Your Best Body at 40+: The 4-Week Plan to Get Back in Shape-and Stay Fit Forever!


Jeff Csatari - 2009
    Revolutionary new science shows that you can build and maintain your best body ever--and outlive, outwit, and outlast men half your age—if you tap into the special powers of you in your prime.That's why we've created Your Best Body at 40+, your step-by-step guide to meaningful and lasting changes that will sculpt your body and prepare you for the prime of your life.Looking and feeling 10 years younger is within your grasp! Here's what you can expect to gain in as little as 4 weeks:• You will build muscle and lose up to 15 pounds of flab. We'll tell you why it's easier now than ever!• You will strip away stress and reduce your risk for age-related health problems. High cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure--they're preventable, even reversible, say our experts!• You will look trimmer in your face and waist within 12 days! Just get to know the 10 foods you should eat every day.• You will feel energetic and athletic, and you'll look better than you did in your 30s. All it will cost you is 20 to 30 minutes a day!• You will have the best sex of your life, and more of it! Discover the secret sexual powers of the 40+ male body and how to unleash yours!• You will be happier, achieve greater success, and sleep more restfully than you ever imagined! Employ the mind-centering breathing trick before every important moment.Packed with tons of useful advice; no-gym, no-crunches workouts; tasty recipes with fat-fighting superfoods; plus a troubleshooter's reference guide to body maintenance and repair, Your Best Body at 40+ is the ultimate handbook for reinventing your life.

Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank


Randi Hutter Epstein - 2010
    The birth gurus of ancient times told newlyweds that simultaneous orgasms were necessary for conception and that during pregnancy a woman should drink red wine but not too much and have sex but not too frequently. Over the last one hundred years, depending on the latest prevailing advice, women have taken morphine, practiced Lamaze, relied on ultrasound images, sampled fertility drugs, and shopped at sperm banks.In Get Me Out, the insatiably curious Randi Hutter Epstein journeys through history, fads, and fables, and to the fringe of science, where audacious researchers have gone to extreme measures to get healthy babies out of mothers. Here is an entertaining must-read—and an enlightening celebration of human life.