MD Books

The mother-daughter duo of Marisa Weiss, doctor, and Isabel Friedman, college student, works perfectly together to offer practical and medical advice on how to take care of our breasts. From puffy nipples to different breast sizes, Weiss answers every girl's question in an easy-to-understand format. Friedman offers side comments in the teenage vernacular creating a style that converts an often embarrassing subject into one we can even discuss with friends and relatives. Especially since that's where we got our own peculiar breast style in the first place. Weiss tells us that if we start developing slowly and wish our breasts were larger, we should just look at the women in our families to see what ours will probably look like by the time we're 25 or 30 years old.

Worries about breast size, nipple changes, normal lumps, bras, and breast cancer may disappear after reading this book. The authors reassure us what to look for, how to react, and who to call when we're not sure if our breasts are healthy. They also cover self-image, teasing, padded and push-up bras, how to maximize our breasts or how to minimize them.

A book I could have used when I was a teenager, I'm definitely going to buy a few copies for the special "girls" in my life.

by Susan M. Andrus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I have a tween daughter. So, as I read Taking Care of Your Girls, I hoped to find out what I should tell her, what she might want to know, and honestly, I thought that I might learn some stuff about breast health, too, which is more on my mind as I near forty.

It didn't really teach me much that I need to know at my age. It's not that kind of book. This book is formatted in the way that I believe is best for non-fiction books for or about tweens and teens: It is full of quotes and questions from the target group, and it is written by a mother-daughter team -- breast-health doctor Marisa C. Weiss and her college daughter Isabel Friedman. It's the perfect combination. Weiss gives the facts straight and Weiss fills them in with a real girl's reaction to the facts by sharing her own stories, those of her younger cousin, or those of the many girls who were interviewed for this book.

Topics covered include

* breast development
* breast size and shape (diagrams included!)
* noticing and checking from breast changes
* stretch marks, breakouts, and rashes
* self-image and teasing
* bras
* dress to express
* and even padded bras and surgery to change your size

In reading this book, you won't learn about the best diet to ward off breast cancer (although it does mention general diet and lifestyle facts that reduce the risk), or when exactly you should get that baseline mammogram, but if you have a daughter from age eight or nine on up through young adult, you will find out what she is wondering about her breasts. After reading it yourself, you can pass it on to her to read, or share with her in bits and chunks.

I have two teenage daughters and was recently diagnosis with breast cancer. I am very open about my pre-menopausal disease with my daughters and also about my sister's pre-menopausal breast cancer diagnosis which was almost 12 years ago. As my daughters watch me go through the healing process and chemo, they express concern for me as well is what is in store for them in the future. The book, Taking Care of Your Girls: A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens has been a tremendous catalysis in fostering discussion and replacing fear with facts. It is written in a language that is comfortable and understandable for all. I have sent this book to several of my friends with teenage daughters and they share my sentiment about this book's value for healthy and informed breast health. I would highly recommend this book to all Moms/Daughters and it was especially helpful to our family and friend during this process.

From: www.BasilAndSpice.com
Author & Book Views On A Healthy Life!

Book Review: Taking Care of Your "Girls": A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens (Three Rivers Press, 2008) by Marisa C. Weiss, M.D. and Isabel Friedman

Marisa Weiss and Isabel Friedman call themselves a breast-doctor mom and teen daughter duo. Dr. Weiss is also the co-author of Living Beyond Breast Cancer, and 7 Minutes!: How to Get the Most from Your Doctor Visit. She is the founder of Living Beyond Breast Cancer, a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, has served on the National Cancer Institute Director's Consumer Liaison Group (2000-2007), and is the founder of the nonprofit Breastcancer.org.

Taking Care of Your "Girls" is in part based on a survey of over 3,000 girls from both public and private schools, grades 6 through 12, and their mothers. Divided into 2 sections, the book includes illustrations, identification of breast parts, answers to tough questions (ex. Why do some boys get breasts?), and provides insight into the minds of teenagers through feedback from girls surveyed.

Taking Care of Your "Girls" covers:

* Breast development from before birth and into puberty (over the course of 10 years) addressing the effects of genes, hormones, nutrition on growth.
* Self examinations: when to begin, how, what to look for. Also noted here are the several types of tests physicians conduct on breasts for evaluation (really great reading, even for adults).
* Stretch marks, acne, rashes, chafing, birthmarks, yeast infections
* What's up with nipples? Hair, bumps, inverted nipples.
* Normal changes--this is an important chapter regarding lumps, cysts, pain, and thick areas, and is especially important for the growing girl to read.
* Bras: Did you know that this idea began in Greece 6500 years ago!? Learn how to fit them, what kind to purchase, and know the need for wearing one.
* Surgical breast augmentation--explained but NOT condoned.
* Fears of breast cancer are faced and addressed: only 1 in 10 breast cancer diagnoses is a result of genes, it is more common in men than in women, older women are at higher risk, testing is available for those with gene abnormalities.
* Lesser risk factors are pointed out regarding smoking, lack of exercise, alcohol consumption, diet, hormone therapy, lack of breastfeeding, late pregnancy, etc..

The authors also explain how breast cancer is discovered and treated.

Did you know that about 90% of moms would like to discuss breast health with their daughters, but only 30% have done so? And did you also know that more than 20% of girls think that breast cancer could be caused by infection, tanning, drug use, stress, breast injury, or a bruise? None of these is actually a risk factor. Dr. Weiss and Ms. Friedman write, "Few girls know how to keep their breasts healthy."

Taking Care of Your "Girls" is more than a book about girls, breast development, and health. It is a tool which mothers can use with their daughters, to pass on knowledge and the gift of womanhood from one generation to the next.

5 Stars

I was surprised at how interested my daughter was in this book. She will learn all about health issues she is curious about and I can relax about covering all those issues with her. It's like I get another adult, the book, to help tell my daughter about her upcoming entry into womanhood. I will use this book as a teacher present and as a bat mitzvah present, because other girls and other parents will love this book too.

Excellent book! With examples and composites of actual patients, Dr. McKinnon lays out what happens or doesn't happen in an adolescent's brain. I'm both a psychotherapist specializing in adolescents and the parent of two, and I found this book immensely helpful, accurate and reassuring. I recommend it to all adults with teens in their lives.

Not only is it an intelligently written and elegant resource for parents of troubled children today, "An Unchanged Mind" is a wealth of insight for "up-and-coming" generations of parents as well. Dr. McKinnon's captivating and methodical approach easily caters to all audiences, leaving the reader facing moments of intense introspection and clarity. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an engaging, informative, and original discussion of the current obstacles - and progressive solutions - affecting developmental psychology in contemporary American society.

Many of today's parents fear that their child will "fail to launch." Yet, the issues behind this phenomenon are not well-understood. Dr. McKinnon offers insight to why teens stall out, rebel, or escape rather than face growing up.

Out of concern for a struggling teen, parents seek professional help. Yet, today's insurance and managed care systems often disallow or curtail the supportive approach they truly need. The medical treatment model works with a "fix-it" mentality, yet the ills of a struggling teen are not so simple that a pill is the answer. Dr. McKinnon explains this clearly and in ways that are important.

Anyone raising children would benefit from reading this book. Dr. McKinnon offers rare insight from the world of private residential treatment. In communities, such as his, true healing occurs and the obstacles to maturity are gradually ameliorated. Parents and loved ones, gain new understanding, and can then help their children through clear limits and a relationship that is affirming of their worth. The result takes time, but what could be more important than saving a life and helping a young adult become productive for our society?

Mina Steen

This book is very well written! I have an acting out teen. This book hit home with me. The book was an easy read and I was amazed at how well the book described my teen. The early chapters and the later chapters on immaturity I found very very helpful. It gives me hope and makes me see how important recognition, and limits and boundaries are for children. I was a parent who often gave into my teen. No more, after reading this book I now more then ever see the importance of limits and boundaries to my teens maturity. I refer back to this book all the time and highly recommend this book to any parent who has an acting out teen. It definitely hit home how important recognizing your child and setting limits and boundaries are for a child to mature.An Unchanged Mind: The Problem of Immaturity in Adolescence

The author of this book, Dr McKinnon, has not just conceived of a theory concerning adolescent immaturity, but has actually put this theory into practice with great success and this book chronicles that success.
The author has not hidden his arguments behind psychological jargon, nor does he patronise the reader, making the book both highly readable and informative. Furthermore, the pragmatic approach adopted in the text will appeal to anyone frustrated by a lack of a causal explanation for symptoms of physiological disorder often absent in similar bodies of work.

One is left feeling that this maturity model may have implications on a sociological scale, there being all too many examples outside the realm of troubled adolescents, of groups lacking empathy towards outsiders and selfish concrete reasoning, particularly in the domain of foreign policy and organised religion. Furthermore, the book comes at a time when it is interesting to look at the traits, associated with immature adolescents in the book, of gross narcissism and inability to forecast into the future, and similar behaviour on an individual and macro scale that many believe took a strong part in instigating the current global financial crisis.

Finally, the reader is left with a feeling of hope on finishing the book. Dr McKinnon's model has been used to help many adolescents out of immaturity and on to lead more fulfilling lives. So aside from just being interesting, this book is also highly inspirational.

This is a series that continues to improve and reward the reader. Leonard Chang is writing some of the best current detective fiction now available in these books. And it doesn't hurt that he's also able to address issues of race and alienation at the same time. _Underkill_ brings back reluctant investigator Allan Choice to look into the apparently accidental death of his girlfriend's younger brother. The investigation takes Choice into the underground rave scene and competition between ecstasy dealers, which may have had something to do with the death. At the same time, Allan's relationship with his girlfriend, Linda, seems to be unravelling and try as he might, he can't figure out how to prevent it. This is an excellent, fast-paced mystery that left me wanting more--Bring on Book #3!

Korean-American executive protection expert Allen Choice has doubts about his failing romance with Hispanic reporter Linda Maldonaldo while concerned with his weak business. The adrenaline that fueled the beginning of his relationship with Linda (see OVER THE SHOULDER) is gone along with the thrill. The lack of executive protection clients in the Bay area has forced Allen to accept sleazy sleuthing that he knows is way below his skill level, but allows him to eat.

Adding to his depression is his feelings of guilt for not being there when Linda's brother died in a drug-related car crash. To ease his remorse Allen travels to Malibu to be there for his girlfriend. Already feeling like a fish out of water, instead of finding a family mourning a tragedy, Allen walks into a nasty Internet child pornography venture that could leave him as the next accident victim.

Readers who took delight in Allen's first tale will enjoy this story, but will quickly realize that it is not quite on a level with its predecessor. Perhaps it is the change of location, but Allen seems out of place in Malibu because he fits so well in San Francisco. Still readers will appreciate his self-deprecating doubts about himself and Linda, and enjoy his latest investigation just not the first choice.

Harriet Klausner

Wow. I was up all night reading this. I loved Over the Shoulder, and found Underkill to be equally engrossing. Chang does an incredible job of writing literary fiction (his use of language is just gorgeous) that's propelled by a real, page-turner plot. I wish more books combined being this well-written with being this suspenseful.

Choice makes a great reluctant protagonist, and his thoughtful, candid narration is enough to make this book worth reading by itself (even without the raves, car chases, and gun fights!).

This series is turning out to be one of the best and most interesting ones I've read, and I've read a lot of them. I love Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane and Sue Grafton and a bunch of others, and this one definitely ranks up there because Allen Choice is a very realized and intriguing character. I was trying to tell a friend about this series and found it hard to describe because it's so centered on the character instead of just the mystery. It's almost like this is a regular novel about an investigator and so there's naturally a mystery because it's his job, but it's not about the mystery...it's about the guy himself. The writing is awesome.

I'm a literature grad student, and I've had the opportunity to follow Chang's writing for some time now. His first two novels were clearly attempts to delineate the racial dynamics in America (Asian/African American as well as class issues), and with this Allen Choice series he seems to be trying to write about Korean Americans in a similar but almost subterranean way. He is writing about an Americanized Korean American man as a Private Investigator, a man who looks into the grit of American lives (Korean American lives in Over the Shoulder, and now the L.A. Underground and ecstasy scene in Underkill) all the while investigating his own life, both external and internal life. Allen Choice has no ethnic or racial ties--he's afloat and alone. He actually has NO ties (familial or relationship), which on some level echoes Chang's previous novels. The archetype of the PI is the isolated man, and here Allen Choice is isolated on so many levels it's dizzying, because family, race, profession, and now relationships have served to separate him from conventional society. Chang has taken the model of the PI and used this to exploit his other themes of alienation. This takes not only mystery fiction but Asian American fiction to new levels. I highly recommend this series for readers looking for exciting, well-written stories with a bit more substance than the usual genre entertainments.

It's clearly written, very informative, and enjoyable to read besides. I learned a lot from this book. I learned there are many more things to see and do in Washington than I knew. It's an invaluable planning aid, since I now know which sites will bore our son and which he will enjoy. The book also gives ideas on how children can have educational fun in our capital, tips on getting around, and more.

This book makes seeing Washington so easy and painless. The sights are grouped according to location, so you know what you can see together in a short amount of time. I discovered gems in Washington that I never knew existed! And just when the kids are getting cranky and hungry, there is a list of good places to eat. The directions by metro are very helpful and well done. I highly recommend this book to natives and visitors alike!

Washington, D.C. is the most unique city in the world. Whether you are visiting the area or live there, one cannot possibly know the wealth of information found in Washington, D.C. with Kids. I grew up in the area, but I have lived away for more than twenty years. Without this guide, I would have difficutly finding the places I want to see when I am back. I wish there had been such a book when my kids were younger. It's always such a challenge finding entertaining and worthwhile activities when on family trips. Imagine showing up in a city and having a resource that gives you a map, a subway map, addresses of places, times of operation, and even suggestions for meals! This book even indicates which venues are appropriate for various age groups. All of that and more is found in this superb volume. It's a "must have" for anyone planning a visit to Washington, D.C.

This is the only EDUCATIONAL guide to Washington, DC with kids -- and is now available in its 2nd Edition, published by Fodor's.
The second edition completely updates the sites and the restaurants and the recommendations -- based on input from readers as well as extensive research by the authors.
Washington, D.C. with Kids, 2nd Edition (Fodor's) is available on the Web and through all major bookstores!
HIGHLY recommended by its readers!

I found this book easy to read, full of useful and fun information. I have recommended to friends that do not have children and are planning a trip to the nation's capitol.
The information is interesting and concise. The book is well-written and includes many interesting and little known bits of information, as well as the more typical tourist spots.

I've got a library full of books about bipolar in children, but this is now my favorite and the first one I consult when questions arise. When I read this book for the first time, I immediately realized that Dr. Pavluri understands, better than anyone else I've encountered, what it is like to live with and love a child who suffers from early-onset bipolar disorder. Her commitment, compassion and genius really come through. In particular, I found that the book contains lots of specifics-- e.g., a treatment algorithm and specific examples of how and when to talk to (or not talk to) your child. She clearly understands the difficulty that many of us have getting our friends and family to understand and support our efforts on behalf of our children. In fact, I have prepared an information sheet for such people, which includes several excerpts from the book related to discipline ("Johnny never has any problems when he's with me. You just need to show him who's in charge.") and variable symptom presentation ("If she can keep it together at school, then she can keep it together at home.") This book is so fabulous that it makes me wish we lived in Chicago and could work with Dr. Pavluri in person.

This book is a must have for anyone dealing with a bipolar child. From diagnosis to medications to discipline to school - it covers everything!! My 12 year old daughter was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 2 years ago, with the help of this book we are able to go to her psychiatrist with knowledge and are better able to understand how to help her best.

This is a GREAT book. My eight year old son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, so I own many books on the subject. "What Works for Bipolar Kids" is now one of my two favorites. Dr. Pavuluri discusses many different subjects, including medications, which is very helpful. I wish I lived in Chicago so that maybe my son would have the privelege of being one of her patients. Lots of wisdom, knowledge, and compassion were used in the writing of this book!

WOW! This book is amazing! It is a must read. Dr. Pavuluri really understands what it is like. I felt like she was talking to me. I strongly encourage you to buy this book.

Applying adult criteria to diagnose children with the Bipolar Disorder is an injustice to the children and their parents. This book provides an excellent resource for parents and counselors to develop a foundation to learn about childhood bipolar disorder. The book provides interventions that may be used with children. It also addresses parental-child relationship and dynamics. This book is a foundational book to begin to learn about the childhood bipolar disorder and opens the door of hope for the child's future.

This author is the leader in Bartonella, Babesia and chronic Lyme disease issues that fail routine doxycycline given for EXACTLY 40,200 minutes (4 weeks) and IV "forever" care.

I can only find this author doing anything practical and complete in the last decade. This infection seems to cause psychiatric troubles, mess up Lyme treatment, and many other things. A contribution to the human race.

I tried to save my money and got the discount black and white. It was OK.

I also learned from the book I still had Bartonella because the treatments were junk. I looked for Bartonella books and none are around.

My two grand kids were diagnosed from these 40 new exam findings and the labs showed they had it! That is sure new.

If you can afford it go with color. I think the author tried to offer a discounted version, and it just ended up folks could not appreciate this was such new information.

Diagnosis from a 3 minute exam is really quite fascinating and born out in my family.

wow....a picture is worth a thousand words. i'm positive for lymes...my pc doc left off the bartonella but i have many of the bartonella "rashes"...finally a doctor who gets it. my 4YO is profoundly delayed...i got very sick when i got pregnant, my rhuematologist/obgyn/pc medical charts read classis lymes...but it was incorrectly ruled out. i would recount my difficult pregnancy....not one doc at CHOP, NYU, MT Sinai all the NJ specialists could connect the dots....even with a positive IgM 23 band 4 years ago. It is shocking--lymes/bartonella is endemic where i live...this is a great book, and this doctor's website is fabulous if you have fallen through every medical crack in the system.

When I became sick as a result of Lyme disease and its most common co-infections; bartonella, babesia, and ehrlichia--I wanted a book that would address in-depth ALL of these infections. I could not find one. So when Dr. James Schaller released a book on Babesia, I was elated. Finally, a physician had published information on an epidemic infection that remains virtually unknown in medicine. This book helped me tremendously to understand what I needed to do to treat my Babesia.

Now, Dr. Schaller has done it again with Bartonella, perhaps an even less understood infection, but which, like Babesia, is an epidemic in the United States and extremely dangerous if left untreated. I am awestruck by the fact that Dr. Schaller has been the ONLY physician to write an up-to-date book on these widespread, pernicious infections, but I am grateful that he has done so! I can only imagine how his work is going to help many to overcome these oft-misdiagnosed, but important infections.

What I really appreciate about Dr. Schaller's books, in addition to the plethora of information found therein, is that he writes in an easy-to-understand language, and uses drawings and photos to illustrate his points. This book is no exception. When it comes to trying to understand how bartonella affects the body, or what a bartonella rash looks like, photos are an extremely helpful aid, and especially for the really sick who have trouble assimilating information via lengthy explanations.

I am well-read in the areas of Lyme disease and its co-infections, and yet by reading this book I realized how much still I didn't know, including the lesser-known ways in which Bartonella is transmitted--how it can be identified, and finally, treated. Cutting-edge solutions that have been published nowhere else are presented, providing the reader with new weapons against an infection that is notoriously difficult to treat. Whether or not you have Bartonella, I would recommend reading this book, because, chances are, someone you know has the infection; they just don't know it yet. Also, it is vital to know how to avoid contracting the infection, since it is so deceptively easy to catch.

Finally, Dr. Schaller always manages to inject a bit of humor into his books, and this one is no exception. It makes his work interesting to read, and gives the reader hope. As Dr. Schaller's other books, I highly recommend this one for an enlightening glimpse into the world of tick and other insect-borne infections.

My practice is in neurosurgery, but dive medicine is taking up more and more of my time. This is an excellent review of all the pertinent physiology, pathology, and treatments for diving related illness. It builds very nicely on the prior editions. A great resource for dive medical officers, as well as serious divers wanting to build their knowledge base.

There is no doubt that this is a comprehensive and clear introduction into diving medicine. It certainly dealt very well with all of the questions that I had regarding both the Pathophysiology of Diving Medicine and also some of the practical considerations arising from these. Additionally I am sure that this book would be suitable for those without formal Medical training who wish to further their knowledge in this field. My only reservation is that the layout of the book appears very dated. The black-and-white pictures and diagrams could be made so much more engaging and more clear if they were brightened up a little. This is a criticism which could be aimed at many books outside of the main general Undergraduate texts, however just because a situation is widely tolerated it does not mean a publisher shouldn't try a bit harder to make a better product, especially when the content is absolutely first class as it undoubtedly is in this case.

After perusing the textbooks of diving medicine, this continues to be a gold standard in the literature. Readers should note it does not compete with the 2003 Bennett and Elliott's Physiology and Medicine of Diving. B&E is more a physiology of normal persons while diving and is geared to being as factually driven as possible. Bove focuses on medical issues and the physiology that makes it happen, with substantial discussion on diagnosis and treatment of diving illnesses and of ill people [Diabetics, Asthmatics etc.] who wish to dive. There is an amount of cross over between both text, but Bove's expert opinion approach fills the many gaps of facts in B&E. You MUST own both texts to cover the field in toto.

Tip: You can read Bove very quickly by reading the last paragraph or sentence in each section, it summarizes the whole block of text very succinctly.

I previously reviewed the 3rd Edition, just received the 4th, and after a cover to cover dissection must applaud its extensively updated chapters notably cardiology, decompression science, treatments and diagnoses, updated appendix on Diabetes mellitus and diving. More focus is made on hydrostatic pressure spikes in the reduction of bubble formation, data that although present in the 3rd Edition, did not get as much emphasis. The timeliness of the updates is in tune with the zeitgeist for bubble decompression models used in technical diving gaining momentum since Year 2000 [VPM and RGBM.]

The quality of the book's hardbound production has diminished, as the rugged linen-type cover binding, extant in the past WB Saunders Editions, has been replaced by a glossy paper overlay on cardboard, reflecting a new philosophy of the books publishers, Elsevier, and of WB Saunders to a fading trademark. The print itself seems sharp, and appears more like a laser printer output on 'economy' mode. The cover binding is hastily pasted in my edition, compared to the meticulous tight binding, and near flawless lines of the 3rd Edition. There are over a 100 new pages in this edition. Bookmaking, a dying art!

The editing is superb, near typo free, to this reviewer at this time, compare against typos present in 2003 B&E and the 2000 NOAA Diving Manual. Inconsequential, but reflects the rigor by which Dr. Bove put into crafting this textbook.

My favorite diving medicine textbook. If you like the no-nonsense format of the NOAA Diving Manual, Bove too, shoots from the hip. Bove is best in the hands of medical professionals, as brevity in some discussion presumes a background in medical care. Focusing on medical professionals may limit its audience, but astute readers anywhere may appreciate its directness, as a distillation, its strong spirit. Diving Medicine is a MUST for any physician treating civilian divers, and its format makes for quick reference for primary care gives who occassionally encounter divers with medical issues.

I read this book cover to cover before taking Medical Boards in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine. I enjoyed the experience greatly, and passed the Boards. It is well-organized and easy to read if you have at least a diving background. I am a pulmonary and critical care specialist (and diver) and found it very straight-forward. I recommend reading this book in conjunction with the US Navy Diving Manual which is available through .... in print (but I prefer the CD ROM published by the Navy and others). We keep these references at our hyperbaric unit at UCLA where we have already done 4 Table VI treatments this week.

I am an attending physician in Emergency Medicine, and through residency and even today, I have used this reference more than any other. It is a must have for anyone in the field. It would be extremely helpful for anyone in primary care as well

This is an excellent book. As an ER resident, I have found this book to be invaluable in helping me to understand the procedures that I am trying to learn. This text also does more than just explain how to do the procedures; it also gives plenty of background on the underlying disease processes, the indications for the procedure, etc.
I would also mention that, even though this text is geared toward ER...I think any physician who performs a wide variety of procedures from suturing to intubating to IV access to chest tubes may find this book to be quite useful. Would definitely recommend this book and refer to it quite often myself.

This book lays out everything you need to know in a concise, easy to follow format. If only it wasnt so friggin gigantic. So whether you need to run to the office to brush up on a procedure you havent attempted since your second year of residency or you need something heavy to bash the hell out of a Ganglion cyst (please dont actually do that), this is a great tool.

I've purchased every edition of this invaluable resource. I do work in a busy, high-acuity ED, but also consider this if you're a family doc in a rural area where you might be called upon to perform a life saving procedure that you haven't seen since residency. Now if they'd just publish a pocket PC edition.......

As an ER PA I find this large text full of many procedures useful in emergency medicine. However, by todays standards the B&W pictures and drawings are very dated. An alternative worth considering; with better pictures and detailed descriptions would be: Emergency Medicine Procedures by Eric Reichman and Robert Simon.

The book presents an excellent review of the subject. It is geared for the practitioners, primarily non-MDs. Manualized approach is helpful.

Finally, a book on CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) for the rest of us! Everyone who deals with bipolar disorder will find Basco's work very helpful. I've read many books on CBT, including those by Ellis and his students -- they have great ideas, but they are not so easy to put into practice if you are cycling through the mood swings of manic depression. Basco customizes the CBT approach for bipolar and explains the process clearly. Multiple studies have shown this approach's usefulness. If you and your health care provider prefer a cognitive approach to help manage your bipolar symptoms, this book (now in paperback) is your best resource.

Having very little first hand experience with bipolar, this book really gave me a thorough understanding of the disorder and extremely useful clinical information for treatment plan development. I haven't found another source that is a comprehensive as this work. The treatment recommendations are simply awesome! Just wish there were more resources like this one. Excellent book!

The intended audience for this book are therapists, but the information is laid out in language that is accessible to the lay reader. It gives a very informative overview of what is involved and expected in cognitive-behavioral therapy in particular for those suffering from bipolar disorder. As a patient, I found it useful to read, even though it is not a self-help book. There is a workbook by Dr. Basco for people with bipolar disorder which is a self-help book that is very useful. I would recommend the workbook first for patients, followed by this book if they want to learn more.

I find the information very informative from a clinical side and I'd highly recommend it.

A Young Surgeon joins forces with the twentieth century's boldest industrialist in "Courage to Heal". Paul Bernstein, MD lends his medical expertise to his this medical thriller novel set in the Great Depression of one determined doctor to provide the best medical care he could in the face of a paranoid government. Enthralling from the first page to the last, it's highly recommended for fiction fans in general and any community library fiction shelves.

(Disclaimer: I am a former colleague of the author, and worked in the Kaiser Permanente system for most of my career).

Having been a Permanente physician since the days when we were close to being "persona non grata" in the local medical community, I was somewhat familiar with the history of the Medical group, but Paul Bernstein has made its humble beginnings spring from the page with a living and exciting narrative that takes the reader into the very soul of Sydney Garfield, whose name I knew as our founder, but not much else about him. Henry Kaiser is also brought into the mix as a larger-than-life industrialist who believed in what Garfield was doing and provided the capital and know-how to build the prepaid system that spans the country today---though still heavily weighted on the West Coast. I heartily recommend this book to anyone trying to fathom today's health care controversy. When you finish this book, pick up "Overtreated" by Shannon Brownlee, for a fascinating look at what has happened to American medicine, and suggestions for reform. Not surprisingly, she holds Kaiser up as an example of how things could work. And Sydney Garfield is the reason. Good work, Paul!

Who would suspect that a book about the creation of an HMO could be so captivating? I started reading at bedtime and just couldn't stop. The author skillfully weaves together fact and fiction, vividly describing scenes and characters, keeping the reader constantly in suspense. The historical images of the times before, during and after WWII are particularly striking to those of us too young to remember things like the polio epidemic. The plot conflict about health insurance is as timely now as it was then, with millions of Americans still without coverage.
This is my favorite kind of book: it is great reading for entertainment alone, and informative and thought-provoking at the same time!

This is a fictionalized account of the creation of Kaiser Permanente, the granddaddy of HMOs. Dr. Bernstein has told a fascinating story of its creation and successful rise in the face of resistance from the medical establishment. Highly recommended.

The courage to heal reads more like an adventure than a biography. Sidney Garfield, like all great pioneers, is single-minded in his quest to bring affordable health care to the people. I found it interesting to see how the concept of prepaid medicine evolved and particularly the resistance they met from the medical establishment. I particularly enjoyed the historical setting in the thirties, forties and fifties. Bernstein brings us into the dramas of medical emergencies. We get a glimpse into what that world was like when polio was rampant and antibiotics were still a novelty. This book seems particularly relevant today with so many people without access to medical care due to deficiencies of the fee for service system. I recommend this book highly.