Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?: The Surprising Science of Pregnancy


Jena Pincott - 2011
    Lots of books tell you the basics—“the baby is the size of [insert fruit here].” But pregnant science writer Jena Pincott began to wonder just how a baby might tinker with her body—and vice versa—and chased down answers to the questions she wouldn’t ask her doctor, such as: • Does stress sharpen your baby’s mind—or dull it? • Can you predict your baby’s temperament? • Why are babies born in the darker months of the year more likely to grow up to be novelty-loving risk takers? • Are bossy, dominant women more likely to have boys? • How can the cells left behind by your baby affect you years later? This is a different kind of pregnancy book—thoughtful, fun, and filled with information you won’t find anywhere else.

The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The life of the first woman physician


Julia Boyd - 2005
    Few at the time would have disagreed with the actress Fanny Kemble's remark - "What, trust a woman doctor - never!"Yet by the time Dr Blackwell died in 1910 there were hundreds of women practising medicine on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks in no small part to her courage and determination.This is a remarkable story, and one by no means confined to medicine. It embraces slavery, the women's rights movement, the American Civil War and Elizabeth's personal tragedy (she lost an eye in Paris) - as well as a fascinating cast of characters from Abraham Lincoln to Florence Nightingale.Using a treasure trove of primary sources, the book reveals how Elizabeth Blackwell's pioneering efforts helped to fundamentally change the status of women in the West.'Julia Boyd resists the temptation to turn Blackwell into one of those old-fashioned feminist icons of the 1970s... the result is thorough and, above all, thoughtful.' - The Guardian'One can only hope that this excellent biography of an excellent doctor will help garner Blackwell the renown she has always deserved.' - New England Journal of Medicine'Julia Boyd's superb biography reveals B as a complex, tenacious and often frustrating character whose extraordinary single-mindedness changed our world.' - Victorian Geek

Undo It!: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases


Dean Ornish - 2019
    News & World Report, Dr. Ornish's Program is now covered by Medicare when offered virtually at home.Dean Ornish, M.D., has directed revolutionary research proving, for the first time, that lifestyle changes can often reverse--undo!--the progression of many of the most common and costly chronic diseases and even begin reversing aging at a cellular level.Medicare and many insurance companies now cover Dr. Ornish's lifestyle medicine program for reversing chronic disease because it consistently achieves bigger changes in lifestyle, better clinical outcomes, larger cost savings, and greater adherence than have ever been reported--based on forty years of research published in the leading peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals.Now, in this landmark book, he and Anne Ornish present a simple yet powerful new unifying theory explaining why these same lifestyle changes can reverse so many different chronic diseases and how quickly these benefits occur. They describe what it is, why it works, and how you can do it:- Eat well a whole foods, plant-based diet naturally low in fat and sugar and high in flavor. The "Ornish diet" has been rated "#1 for Heart Health" by U.S. News & World Report for eleven years since 2011. - Move more moderate exercise such as walking - Stress less including meditation and gentle yoga practices - Love more how love and intimacy transform loneliness into healingWith seventy recipes, easy-to-follow meal plans, tips for stocking your kitchen and eating out, recommended exercises, stress-reduction advice, and inspiring patient stories of life-transforming benefits--for example, several people improved so much after only nine weeks they were able to avoid a heart transplant--Undo It! empowers readers with new hope and new choices.Praise for Undo It! "The Ornishes' work is elegant and simple and deserving of a Nobel Prize, since it can change the world!"--Richard Carmona, M.D., MPH, FACS, seventeenth Surgeon General of the United States"If you want to see what medicine will be like ten years from now, read this book today."--Rita F. Redberg, M.D., editor in chief, JAMA Internal Medicine"This is one of the most important books on health ever written."--John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods Market

Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic--and How to Get Healthy Again


Steven Phillips - 2021
    What is fueling this twenty-first century pandemic?  In this eye-opening tour de force, Steven Phillips, MD, and his former patient, singer-songwriter Dana Parish, take on the medical establishment. Backed by a trove of published data, Chronic reveals striking evidence that a broad range of microbes, including the Lyme bacteria, cause a variety of recurrent conditions and autoimmune diseases. Chronic delves into the history and science behind common infections that are difficult to diagnose and treat, debunks widely held beliefs by doctors and patients alike, shows how medicine got the facts patently wrong, and provides solutions that empower readers to get their lives back. Dr. Phillips was already an internationally renowned physician specializing in complex chronic diseases when he became a patient himself. After nearly dying from his own mystery illness, he experienced firsthand the medical community’s ignorance about the pathogens that underlie a deep spectrum of chronic conditions—from fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis to depression, anxiety, and neurodegenerative disorders. Parish, too, watched her health spiral after twelve top doctors missed an underlying infection that caused heart failure and other sudden debilitating physical and psychiatric symptoms. Now, they’ve come together with a mission: to change the current model of simply treating symptoms, often with dangerous, lifelong drugs, and shift the focus to finding and curing root causes of chronic diseases that affect millions around the world.

The Alarming History of Medicine: Amusing Anecdotes from Hippocrates to Heart Transplants


Richard Gordon - 1993
    Using hilarious stories, based on actual facts, Richard Gordon shows that most of the monumental discoveries were originally accidents.A must-read for hypochondriacs, doctors, medical students, and anyone fascinated by the world of medicine, The Alarming History of Medicine is clever, revealing--and all true.

The Angina Monologues: stories of surgery for broken hearts


Samer Nashef - 2019
    Nashef tells heart-stopping stories of transplants, bypasses, coronary artery repair, and cardiac arrest. He also delivers humane advice about medical realities rarely observed: the futility of obsessing over diet, the necessity of calculating risks, the role of decision making, the resilience of doctor and patient alike, and the threadbare brilliance of the NHS.Nashef is a magnificently warm and likeable doctor and writer; and he has the best imaginable bedside manner.

How to Be a Patient: The Essential Guide to Navigating the World of Modern Medicine


Sana Goldberg - 2019
    From the routine to the unexpected, How to Be a Patient is your ultimate guide to better healthcare.Let’s face it: nobody likes going to the doctor. It can be uncomfortable, nerve wracking, expensive—and that’s just for routine care! When it’s an emergency—how do you choose between the ER, Urgent Care, or waiting-until-Monday? And for everything in between, how do you get an accurate diagnosis and timely treatment when something is off? In How to Be a Patient, registered nurse and outspoken public health advocate Sana Goldberg provides readers with an honest guide to the complicated and often-intimidating medical landscape.At once a quick-reference pocket guide and a lifelong framework for approaching your healthcare, this invaluable resource empowers readers to take charge of their wellbeing. It lifts the veil on a complicated, fractured system, giving patients the tools communicate with its players and sidestep its most vexing realities. Warm and trustworthy, Goldberg’s advice is as expert as it is easy-to-understand, as she calls on years of first-hand nursing experience to help readers confront challenges, take advantage of opportunities, and maximize insurance resources while fending off hidden fees that slip by unnoticed.From setting yourself up when all is well and making the most of routine appointments, to understanding hospital culture for a more positive experience, How to Be a Patient is relevant for readers at any age. With sections including When It’s An Emergency, When It’s Chronic, When You Have to Stand Up to Insurance, and When It’s Your Person, Goldberg ensures patients have what they need in their hands to feel informed and confident as they move through the world of modern medicine.Containing glossaries of medical jargon, lists of free, essential screenings and unnecessary medical tests, as well as helpful appendices to assist patients in tracking their family history, prescriptions, and more, How to Be a Patient is a must-have book for anyone invested in their long-term health.

The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing; Log Cabin Building; Mountain Crafts and Foods; Planting by the Signs; Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing


Eliot Wigginton - 1972
    This is the original book compilation of Foxfire material which introduces Aunt Arie and her contemporaries and includes log cabin building, hog dressing, snake lore, mountain crafts and food, and "other affairs of plain living."

Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love


Thomas Maier - 2009
    This critically acclaimed biography offers an unprecedented look at William Masters and Virginia Johnson, their pioneering studies on intimacy, and their lasting impact on the love lives of today's men and women.

Breakthrough!: How the 10 Greatest Discoveries in Medicine Saved Millions and Changed Our View of the World


Jon Queijo - 2010
    What happened, how it happened, and what it means to you today. A colorful cast of characters whose discoveries were often driven not only by personal tragedy, curiosity, and hard work, but petty bickering, dumb luck, and a healthy dose of humor. For anyone interested in science, medicine, and beyond... Why are you alive right now? Chances are, you owe your life to one of the remarkable medical discoveries in this book. Maybe it was vaccines. Or antibiotics. Or X-rays. Revolutionary medical breakthroughs like these haven’t just changed the way we treat disease, they’ve transformed how we understand ourselves and the world we live in. In Breakthrough!, Jon Queijo tells the hidden stories behind 10 of history’s most amazing medical discoveries. This isn’t dry history: These are life-and-death mysteries uncovered, tales of passionate, often-mocked individuals who stood their ground and were proven right. From germs to genetics, the ancient Hippocrates to the cutting edge, these are stories that have changed the world—and, quite likely, saved your life.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma


Bessel van der Kolk - 2014
    Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Such experiences inevitably leave traces on minds, emotions, and even on biology. Sadly, trauma sufferers frequently pass on their stress to their partners and children. Renowned trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring—specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, mindfulness techniques, play, yoga, and other therapies. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score offers proven alternatives to drugs and talk therapy—and a way to reclaim lives.

Rinnavation: Getting Your Best Life Ever


Lisa Rinna - 2009
    Now for the first time, the award-winning actress who captured our hearts in "Days of Our Lives" and "Melrose Place" reveals her best-kept secrets for staying fit, managing weight, looking beautiful, feeling sexy, and living the best life possible. In "Rinnavation," her guide to looking and feeling your best, you'll discover: - How Lisa got that Dancing with the Stars body- How to lose weight fast -- without counting calories- How to be "camera-ready" in just minutes- Advice for balancing work and family while also finding time to take care of yourself- Plus: Lisa's instant "lip plumper," quick-fix tanner, everyday makeup advice, hairstyling secrets, and even super-hot sex tips!As a Hollywood star, Lisa has worked with the very best stylists, trainers, and professionals in the industry. Now she shares all her insider secrets, with surprising candor, down-to-earth humor, and irresistible charm. She talks frankly about her self-esteem lows, her struggle losing baby weight, her Hollywood marriage with actor Harry Hamlin, and her never-before-told experiences with cosmetic surgery. She reveals her emotional and spiritual journey from feeling unattractive and uninspired to finding a new sense of purpose and enthusiasm. And she shows you how to dramatically improve the quality of your life -- inside and out -- by approaching it one day at a time."I firmly believe that anyone can change their life for the better," Lisa says. "You just have to make up your mind to make it happen."

My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind


Scott Stossel - 2014
    Today, it is the most common form of officially classified mental illness. Scott Stossel gracefully guides us across the terrain of an affliction that is pervasive yet too often misunderstood. Drawing on his own long-standing battle with anxiety, Stossel presents an astonishing history, at once intimate and authoritative, of the efforts to understand the condition from medical, cultural, philosophical, and experiential perspectives. He ranges from the earliest medical reports of Galen and Hippocrates, through later observations by Robert Burton and Søren Kierkegaard, to the investigations by great nineteenth-century scientists, such as Charles Darwin, William James, and Sigmund Freud, as they began to explore its sources and causes, to the latest research by neuroscientists and geneticists. Stossel reports on famous individuals who struggled with anxiety, as well as on the afflicted generations of his own family. His portrait of anxiety reveals not only the emotion’s myriad manifestations and the anguish anxiety produces but also the countless psychotherapies, medications, and other (often outlandish) treatments that have been developed to counteract it. Stossel vividly depicts anxiety’s human toll—its crippling impact, its devastating power to paralyze—while at the same time exploring how those who suffer from it find ways to manage and control it. My Age of Anxiety is learned and empathetic, humorous and inspirational, offering the reader great insight into the biological, cultural, and environmental factors that contribute to the affliction.

Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe


Andrew Spielman - 2001
    But these tiny insects, once merely a seasonal annoyance, now are capturing headlines worldwide as new information emerges about the diseases they carry, their migratory population, and their growing resistance to pesticides.Harvard professor Andrew Spielman has dedicated his life to understanding this insect, a passion that makes him the perfect guide to their amazing world and the perfect author of this lively, accessible book that offers an intriguing and horrifying mosquito-eye view of nature and man. He explains where mosquitoes breed, and how they die, showing us their natural foes and man-made enemies while explaining the myriad diseases they bring to all corners of the world. Spielman offers colorful examples of how the mosquito has insinuated itself into human history, from the defeat of Sir Francis Drake's fleet to the death of thousands of Frenchmen working on the Panama Canal to the recent widespread West Nile panic in New York City. Filled with little-known facts and illuminating anecdotes that bring this tiny being into larger focus, Mosquito offers fascinating, alarming, and convincing evidence that the sooner we get to know this little creature, the better off we'll be.

The Intellectual Devotional: Health: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Digest a Daily Dose of Wellness Wisdom


David S. Kidder - 2009
    Young, MD, to offer a year's worth of medical knowledge and wellness wisdom. Each daily dose in this infectious volume offers insight into the mysterious terrain of the human body and the factors that impact its constitution.Drawn from seven diverse categories, including lifestyle and preventive medicine; the mind; medical milestones; drugs and alternative treatments; sexuality and reproduction; diseases and ailments; and children and adolescents, these 365 entries are as informative as they are functional. From aspirin to the x-ray, headaches to Hippocrates, Viagra to influenza, The Intellectual Devotional: Health will revive the mind and rejuvenate the body. Sure to please devoted intellectuals and newcomers alike, this timely volume sheds new light on an endlessly fascinating subject: ourselves.