Healthy reading
Provided by: Sun MediaWritten by: MARILYN LINTON -- Toronto Sun
Oct. 15, 2006
Breast cancer, hot flashes top new fall book releases
Knowledge is power, though every year at this time I mourn the trees that have been sacrificed in the name of health information.
This fall I'm especially fond of the following - all of which manage to be so reliable and readable that they may never get to linger on your bookshelf:
Best for your breast: Breast cancer books abound, but I would recommend two from the current crop, both of which have been revised from earlier versions: What You Need to Know About Breast Cancer: Diagnosis, Treatment and Beyond is written by Pat Kelly, a Canadian breast cancer survivor and activist, and oncologist Dr. Mark Levine. It aims to educate and support women during diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Kelly is an excellent resource on the subject; having had breast cancer herself in 1987, she also founded several Canadian grass roots breast cancer organizations.
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Learn the facts of flu life: Every fall, this little three letter word grows in importance and this year is no exception. Experts say a potentially dangerous pandemic influenza is overdue and that when it hits it will surely kill many of us and cripple our workplaces and health systems. Now two Canadian doctors, Vincent Lam and Colin Lee, have written The Flu Pandemic and You, a survival guide to both pandemic influenza and the hype surrounding it. I didn't think I could stomach yet another book or article on the subject, but this one is comprehensive yet concise and provides an excellent reference to help us understand the flu landscape, which is ever shifting round the world. SARS, the co-authors write, was essentially a "dry run" that illustrated how things might be managed should a pandemic sweep through our country. Not only does the book provide information on pandemic flu and how it spreads, but it also explains the connections between the bird flu, human flu and pandemic flu. After reading its historical references, its chapters on prevention, and its outline of Canada's current pandemic response plan, you're nothing if not prepared for one of the greatest threats of our age when (not if) it hits.
Our bodies, our hot flashes: When Our Bodies, Ourselves, the groundbreaking book about women's health, was published 36 years ago the women who wrote it were mostly in their 20s and the word "menopause" was not even mentioned. Now the editors of the classic women's health bible offer a 350-page book that promises to help readers navigate the murky waters of menopause transition. Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause, by The Boston Women's Health Book Collective, is a smart guide that may even tell you more than you want to know about the subject (few women would use a magnifying glass to better see any changes in their vulva, for example.) But the book offers excellent counsel on everything from hot flashes to insomnia, from memory to osteoporosis, from heart disease to mood swings. Ever practical, the editors provide plenty of tips, including how to keep a bladder diary.
Can we talk? Studies show that we have a high interest in alternative medicine despite whatever misgivings medical doctors might have about the healing powers of acupuncture, yoga, or a dozen other complementary therapies. Dr. Ron Hoffman's How to Talk with Your Doctor could help us communicate more effectively with our MD when it comes to holistic health care. One chapter even provides scripts that might help doctors and patients talk more openly about integrative medicine, and Hoffman, who is a doc as well as an holistic expert, provides practice tips for docs to help them to be more sensitive and respectful of patients' choices. Tip: Avoid words like "quackery" - they demean patients' intelligence and undermine their freedom, says Hoffman who also deciphers "doctorese" for readers.
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