Let Me Be Frank
Frank Bruno
A deeply personal story, Bruno talks about his battle with mental illness, his time inside a mental facility, the impact his illness has had on his family and his career - and his long road back to stability. Now ready to talk about the condition that devastated his world, Frank's story offers his own unique perspective on living with bipolar disorder. His fears, his triumphs and the great affection he feels for the legion of fans he has to this day. His aim is to give others hope and inspiration. "Ever since I retired, one thing has stood between me and being the man I want to be. My mind. "In the end it saw me locked up against my will and pumped full of so many drugs I didn't have the strength to stand. When I am in the grip of my bipolar disorder and the drugs are pickling my brain I am unable to stand for days. But I will always get back up. It is the only way I know."
How Doctors Think
Jerome Groopman - 2007
In that short time, many doctors decide on the likely diagnosis and best treatment. Often, decisions made this way are correct, but at crucial moments they can also be wrong -- with catastrophic consequences. In this myth-shattering book, Jerome Groopman pinpoints the forces and thought processes behind the decisions doctors make. Groopman explores why doctors err and shows when and how they can -- with our help -- avoid snap judgments, embrace uncertainty, communicate effectively, and deploy other skills that can profoundly impact our health. This book is the first to describe in detail the warning signs of erroneous medical thinking and reveal how new technologies may actually hinder accurate diagnoses. How Doctors Think offers direct, intelligent questions patients can ask their doctors to help them get back on track.Groopman draws on a wealth of research, extensive interviews with some of the country’s best doctors, and his own experiences as a doctor and as a patient. He has learned many of the lessons in this book the hard way, from his own mistakes and from errors his doctors made in treating his own debilitating medical problems.How Doctors Think reveals a profound new view of twenty-first-century medical practice, giving doctors and patients the vital information they need to make better judgments together.
The Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry: A History of Misery and Medicine
J.P. Webster - 2013
Webster as he explores the fascinating and complex history of the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry.The Quaker City and its hospitals were pioneers in the field of mental health. Yet by the end of the nineteenth century, its institutions were crowded and patients lived in shocking conditions. The mentally ill were quartered with the dangerously criminal. By 1906, the city had purchased a vast acreage of farmland incorporated into the city, and the Philadelphia Hospital dubbed its new venture Byberry City Farms. From the start, its history was riddled with corruption and committees, investigations and inquests, appropriations and abuse. Yet it is also a story of reform and redemption, of heroes and human dignity--many dedicated staff members did their best to help patients whose mental illnesses were little understood and were stigmatized by society.
Ew! Ew! Ew! (Real Stories from a Small-Town ER Book 7)
Kerry Hamm - 2016
Filled with stories about injuries sustained while patients were not thinking so clearly, sad tales that reveal the not-so-funny side of the emergency room, things I've learned after years of being in this position, and signs you work in the ER, this condensed book has just enough to tickle your funny bone and then make you cry.
It's Not A Diet: the no cravings, no willpower way to get lean and happy for good
Davinia Taylor - 2021
Forged Through Fire: A Reconstructive Surgeon's Story of Survival, Faith, and Healing
Mark D. McDonough - 2019
It also left Mark with burns on over 65 percent of his body. During a long and painful recovery, his faltering faith in God was strengthened by a remarkable near-death experience. Inspired to pursue a career as a plastic surgeon to help those who suffer as he has, McDonough has overcome numerous other adversities on his journey, including addiction and a stroke. Now he shares his incredible true story of survival and perseverance to bring hope and healing to those dealing with great physical and emotional pain.Anyone who has suffered or watched a loved one suffer from a personal trauma, disease, or loss that has tested or stolen their faith and exhausted their emotional resources will find real hope in this redemptive story.
Black Swan: The Twelve Lessons of Abandonment Recovery: Featuring, the Allegory of the Little Girl on the Rock
Susan Anderson - 1999
"Black Swan is a symbol for healing, a spirit guide for overcoming the woundedness of adandonment."Twelve lessons for healing from the loss of love, presented in an allegorical tale of a child who meets a magical black swan after she is abandoned in the forest by her father. This story within a story includes the author's own experience with loss. The book provides emotional and spiritual healing to those going through heartbreak, loss, and abandonment.
A World without Cancer: The Making of a New Cure and the Real Promise of Prevention
Margaret I. Cuomo - 2012
Margaret I. Cuomo is inspired to seek out new strategies for waging a smarter war on cancer.This year, about 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and more than 1,500 people will die "per day." We've been asked to accept the disappointing strategy to "manage cancer as a chronic disease." We've allowed pharmaceutical companies to position cancer drugs that extend life by just weeks and may cost $100,000 for a single course of treatment as breakthroughs. Where is the bold leadership that will transform our system from treatment to prevention? Have we forgotten the mission of the National Cancer Act of 1971 to "conquer cancer"?Through an analysis of more than 40 years of medical evidence and interviews with the top cancer researchers, drug company executives, and health policy advisers, Dr. Cuomo reveals intriguing answers to these questions. She shows us how all cancer stakeholders--the pharmaceutical industry, the government, physicians, and concerned Americans--can change the way we view and fight cancer in this country.
Dementia: The One-Stop Guide: Practical advice for families, professionals, and people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
June Andrews - 2015
Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the dementia of parents, partners, siblings or friends. And as much of the world struggles with an aging population, dementia is set to become ever more of a challenge for societies and individuals.But still, most people who are diagnosed, or who are dealing with the diagnosis of a loved one, feel as though they are alone. Dementia: The One-Stop Guide aims to fill this gap, providing practical information and support for living with, or caring for, dementia.With clear and sensible information about recognising symptoms, getting help, managing financially, staying at home, treatment, being a carer and staying positive, this guide will help those with dementia and their families to make sure that they can stay well and happy as long as possible.
My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing "Slow Medicine," the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones
Dennis Mccullough - 2008
And though we are rewarded with more time with the people we love, we are also faced with new sets of complications—more diseases, more disability, more need for support and careful judgments. Yet while our health care system may help people live to an older age, it doesn't perform so well when decline eventually sets in. We want to do the best thing but are overwhelmed with the staggering choices we face.Geriatrician Dennis McCullough has spent his life helping families to cope with their parents' aging and eventual final passage, experiences he faced with his own mother. In this comforting and much-needed book, he recommends a new approach, which he terms "Slow Medicine."Shaped by common sense and kindness, grounded in traditional medicine yet receptive to alternative therapies, Slow Medicine advocates for careful anticipatory "attending" to an elder's changing needs rather than waiting for crises that force acute medical interventions—an approach that improves the quality of elders' extended late lives without bankrupting their families financially or emotionally. As Dr. McCullough argues, we need to learn that time and kindness are sometimes more important and humane at these late stages than state-of-the-art medical interventions.My Mother, Your Mother will help you learn how to:—form an early and strong partnership with your parents and siblings;—strategize on connecting with doctors and other care providers;—navigate medical crises;—create a committed Advocacy Team;—reach out with greater empathy and awareness; and—face the end-of-life time with confidence and skill.Although taking care of those who have always cared for us is not an easily navigated time of life, My Mother, Your Mother will help you and your family to prepare for this complex journey. This is not a plan for getting ready to die; it is a plan for understanding, for caring, and for helping those you love live well during their final years. And the time to start is now.
Chronic Condition: Why Canada's Health Care System Needs To Be Dragged Into The 21c
Jeffrey Simpson - 2012
Touch it and you die. Every politician knows this truism, which is why no one wants to debate it. Privately, many of them understand that the health care system, which costs about $200 billion a year in public and private money, cannot continue as it is—increasingly ill-adapted to an aging population with public costs growing faster than government revenues. In Chronic Condition, Jeffrey Simpson meets health care head on and explores the only four options we have to end this growing crisis: cuts in spending, tax increases, privatization, and reaping savings through increased efficiency. He examines the tenets of the Medicare system that Canadians cling to so passionately. Here, he finds that many other countries have more extensive public health systems, and Canadian health care produces only average value for money. In fact, our rigid system for some health care needs and a costly system for other needs—drugs, dentistry, and home care—is really the worst of both worlds. Chronic Condition breaks the silence about the huge changes and real choices that Canadians face.
Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America
Nortin M. Hadler - 2008
Although necessary health care should be available to all who need it, he says, the current health-care debate assumes that everyone requires massive amounts of expensive care to stay healthy. Hadler urges that before we commit to paying for whatever pharmaceutical companies and the medical establishment tell us we need, American consumers need to adopt an attitude of skepticism and arm themselves with enough information to make some of their own decisions about what care is truly necessary. Each chapter of Worried Sick is an object lesson regarding the uses and abuses of a particular type of treatment, such as mammography, colorectal screening, statin drugs, or coronary stents. For consumers and medical professionals interested in understanding the scientific basis for Hadler's arguments, each topical chapter has an accompanying source chapter in which Hadler discusses the medical literature and studies that inform his critique. According to Hadler, a major stumbling block to rational health-care policy in the United States is contention over the very concept of what constitutes good health. By learning to distinguish good medical advice from persuasive medical marketing, consumers can make better decisions about their personal health and use that wisdom to inform their perspectives on health-policy issues.
Curing Cancer with Carrots
Ann Cameron - 2014
Since then, others with a variety of cancers have reported similar successes. Cameron wanted to find out why such an apparently simple cancer cure--just carrots--works. Based on her extensive reading in scientific journals focused on nutrition and cancer, her ground-breaking book describes the details of the carrot treatment and the scientific evidence for its power. In this book, she shares little-known research that is revolutionizing scientific thinking about cancer and how to treat it. The research comes from the exciting new field of epigenetics--the study of how chemical switching mechanisms in our bodies change the expression of our genes. Our environment, the foods we eat, and the way we live can silence pro-cancer genes or turn them on, set anti-cancer genes on alert or turn them off. Genes aren't our destiny. Neither is cancer. Cancer develops when the body loses its ability to recognize and eliminate rogue cells--cells that take over the body if they don't quit dividing. In some cases--probably many--carrots can restore the body's natural power to regulate growth and kill defective cells. The scientific information in this book could be a life-saver and a beacon of hope for you or someone you know. Equally helpful, it offers the practical knowledge Cameron gained from her journey through cancer and back to health--how to use the internet to research proposed treatments and the quality of hospitals and doctors; how to reduce the cost of cancer care; and how to arrive at individual treatment decisions that are best for you.
Fatty Liver You Can Reverse It
Thomas Eanelli - 2010
This book provides effective and proven solutions to heal fatty liver.A new book from Dr Sandra Cabot and Dr Thomas Eanelli explains how to reverse fatty liver and restore your health.Can you imagine a world in which fatty liver will be as huge a public health concern as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes?Fatty liver disease is the most common type of liver disease seen in the world today.Dr. Cabot tells us that reversing fatty liver disease is not only an effective method of losing weight, but can also greatly reduce the most common diseases of today - namely diabetes, heart disease and cancer.Dr. Thomas Eanelli describes his battle with his own liver disease and food addiction in the section of the book, Confessions of a Fat Man. His fight for survival takes him on a journey - both physical and mental - to find his inner power and physical health.Well known American doctor, Thomas Eanelli, meets an Aussie doctor, Dr. Cabot, through her little green book The Liver Cleansing Diet. After searching through university medical libraries and visiting numerous liver specialists and surgeons and finding no real answers, Dr. Eanelli discovered that the liver could be healed without drugs or surgery - luckily the information in this little green book was the catalyst that would inspire him to go on and heal himself thus avoiding potentially dangerous surgery.Dr. Sandra Cabot has devoted her career to helping people heal themselves from this potentially fatal yet still under reported disease.Dr. Thomas Eanelli's courage has enabled him to "come out of the refrigerator" to share his tale so others may be saved.What sets this book apart from others is that rather than bravado and bragging by a set of new age gurus, Cabot and Eanelli instead forge an instant connection with their readers by their honesty and empathy when confronting the imperfections of dieting, especially where food addictions are concerned.This book may become one of the most timely and important health narratives in years.Dr Cabot tells us that the development of fatty liver is often silent and insidious but is the reason why many people feel unwell and/or continue to gain weight.Could this be happening to you?
Food Allergies and Food Intolerance: The Complete Guide to Their Identification and Treatment
Jonathan Brostoff - 1998
• Explains how sensitivity to foods is responsible for many chronic and misdiagnosed ailments such as migraines, sinus problems, and persistent fatigue. • Includes a step-by-step process for identifying food allergies and intolerances and reshaping your diet for better health. Many people suffer from chronic, unexplained health problems--migraine headaches, poor digestion, recurring sinus symptoms, aching muscles and joints, persistent fatigue--whose causes remain elusive, even to doctors. When conventional tests fail to provide a clear-cut diagnosis, doctors often suggest that these symptoms are due to stress or anxiety, but now Jonathan Brostoff and Linda Gamlin demonstrate that quite often food allergies and food intolerance are the true culprits in these situations. The authors provide clear explanations of the causes of, as well as the differences between, food allergies and food intolerance and offer numerous case studies on problems all too familiar to many readers. More important, they provide much-needed solutions and treatments for these problems. Along with a wealth of illustrations and charts, Food Allergies and Food Intolerance includes an invaluable step-by-step process for diagnosing food intolerance with a three-stage elimination diet and a system of gradual food reintroduction. A must for anyone who suspects a chronic condition may be linked to dietary sensitivity, Food Allergies and Food Intolerance supplies information that often results in dramatic and long-lasting improvement in people's health and in their lives.