Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide

These days, when you only get to see your physician for 10 minutes after waiting several weeks for an appointment, you are often forced to get your information somewhere else. Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide will do what your doctor can't: answer your questions for hours on end. This richly packed compendium offers more than a thousand pages of health information compiled from the expertise of 7,000 physicians and researchers. Whether you're figuring out what your symptoms might mean, researching a disease, looking up a medication, learning about a body part or function, or formulating questions to ask your doctor, you can find the medical knowledge here--and in simple, lay person's language.

The diagnosis section, in flow-chart form will undoubtedly be useful. On identifying a symptom, a series of "yes" or "no" questions follows--where the pain is located, when it occurs, what makes it worse, and other related symptoms, for example. Each answer leads to another question and/or to an action that should be taken, with cross-references to pages containing more information about specific conditions. Very clear and well organised! The "Colour Guide to Visual Diagnosis" provides close-up colour photos of various skin infections, cancerous growths, fungal infections, insect infestations and other conditions. The book also has chapters on lifestyle changes that will enhance health, such as nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation and safe sex. Added bonuses are sections on eldercare, death and dying, drug interactions and emergency care. This book is a treasure and a bargain! --Joan Price