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American Medical Association Family Medical Guide » (4th Edition, Revised and Updated)

Book cover image of American Medical Association Family Medical Guide by American Medical Association

Authors: American Medical Association
ISBN-13: 9780471269113, ISBN-10: 0471269115
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
Date Published: August 2004
Edition: 4th Edition, Revised and Updated

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Author Biography: American Medical Association

For more than 150 years, the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION has been the leading group of medical experts in the United States and one of the most respected health-related organizations in the world. Its publications include the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) as well as popular patient guidebooks such as the American Medical Association Complete Guide to Men’s Health, American Medical Association Guide to Home Caregiving, and American Medical Association Guide to Talking to Your Doctor, all from Wiley.

Book Synopsis

The American Medical Association is the nation’s premier health authority–the organization both patients and doctors look to for state-of-the-art medical information and guidance. Since its first publication in 1982, the American Medical Association Family Medical Guide has been the gold standard of home medical references for American families. The book’s first three editions have sold well in excess of 2 million copies. Now, with this updated Fourth Edition, the nation’s #1 health authority has completely revised its flagship guide for the first time in a decade.

This major, long-awaited revision–almost 50 percent longer than the previous edition–is brimming with up-to-date information and new features that make the book even easier to use. It offers authoritative guidance on hundreds of diseases as well as the latest tests, treatments, procedures, and drugs, and it provides new or greatly expanded coverage of weight loss, preventive health, infertility, pregnancy and childbirth, learning disabilities, genetic testing, home caregiving, and first aid, among other topics. It includes revised symptoms flowcharts, helpful Q&As, first-person case histories, 64 full-color pages including spreads on important health topics, and hundreds of new illustrations and photographs. The guide is divided into six user-friendly sections:

Part One: What You Should Know: Information to Keep You Healthy is a new four-color 32-page section that highlights the most important health issues including heart disease, cancer, osteoarthritis, and nutrition; provides tips for quitting smoking and staying healthy as you age; and presents a fully illustrated primer on genetics.

Part Two: Your Healthy Body features new chapters on topics such as diet and health, exercise and fitness, losing weight, reducing stress, staying safe, preventing violence, and complementary and alternative medicine. There’s also a full-color section on preventive health care.

Part Three: First Aid and Home Caregiving describes first-aid techniques and procedures and gives step-by-step advice on how to provide quality home care for a family member who is ill, disabled, or recovering from surgery.

Part Four: What Are Your Symptoms? features a revised version of the AMA’s highly popular diagnostic flowcharts, which guide you from specific symptoms through a series of questions to help you decide whether to treat yourself, make a doctor’s appointment, or get immediate medical attention.

Part Five: Health Issues Throughout Life is an all-new section that covers children’s health, adolescent health, sexuality, infertility, pregnancy and childbirth, and dying and death.

Part Six: Diseases, Disorders, and Other Problems covers all the body systems, featuring essential advice on hundreds of disorders of the heart and circulation, the brain and nervous system, the respiratory system, the digestive system, the immune system, the urinary tract, and the male and female reproductive systems. This part also covers hormonal disorders; emotional and mental health; cosmetic surgery; infections; behavioral disorders; genetic disorders; disorders of the bones, muscles, and joints; and problems with the ears, eyes, skin, and teeth.

Complete with descriptions of the 200 most frequently prescribed drugs and a glossary of common medical terms, the American Medical Association Family Medical Guide is an essential health reference every family needs.

Publishers Weekly

Medical "bibles" go out of date quickly. Diseases don't change, but our understanding of them does. So a new volume of a standard guide for the nonphysician is certainly welcome. What's perhaps most gratifying about this updated reference is that, based on new understanding of how much regular people can do to keep body and mind whole, it advises readers to take an active approach. For those already suffering a particular medical condition-and the book covers a great deal of territory, from blood to heart to brain diseases-this volume will serve as a source of real understanding. Armed with the basics, patients may be less embarrassed to ask more of their physicians or surgeons. The authors acknowledge the benefits of yoga and meditation (which they call the relaxation response) and offer a rundown of homeopathic medicine. Other new additions include expanded coverage of genetic testing, learning disabilities, ADD and stem cell transplants. The authors discuss sexually transmitted diseases, sexual orientation, contraception and abortion with forthrightness. Self-help charts that will supposedly lead readers from symptom to diagnosis are a kind of maze game and will keep hypochondriacs busy for hours. This is a well-organized volume, considering the amount of information it covers. By educating patients, the book may be as much a help to physicians as it is to their charges. Photos, illus. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents

Pt. 1What you should know : information to keep you healthy1
Pt. 2Your healthy body33
1Diet and health35
2Exercise, fitness, and health45
3A healthy weight51
4Reducing stress55
5Staying safe61
6Preventing violence79
7Complementary and alternative medicine85
8Preventive health care129
Pt. 3First aid and home caregiving151
1First aid153
2Home caregiving181
Pt. 4What are your symptoms?201
Pt. 5Health issues throughout life371
1Children's health373
2Adolescent health447
3Sexuality465
4Infertility493
5Pregnancy and childbirth503
6Dying and death543
Pt. 6Diseases, disorders, and other problems553
1Disorders of the heart and circulation555
2Blood disorders609
3Disorders of the respiratory system631
4Disorders of the brain and nervous system665
5Behavioral, emotional, and mental disorders709
6Disorders of the digestive system741
7Disorders of the urinary tract801
8Disorders of the male reproductive system823
9Disorders of the female reproductive system843
10Hormonal disorders883
11Disorders of the immune system907
12Infections and infestations933
13Genetic disorders951
14Disorders of the bones, muscles, and joints975
15Disorders of the ear1011
16Eye disorders1027
17Disorders of the skin, hair, and nails1057
18Cosmetic surgery1079
19Teeth and gums1099

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