The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, 1999 - Family & Relationships - 1288 pages
The first health guide for the era of managed care is also the only one that will never go out of date. www.health.harvard.edu/fhg offers page and index searches for updated information on every entry.

Today we all have a better chance of living a longer, healthier life than ever before -- but only if we know how to utilize the advances in medicine science has given us. Whether you depend on traditional fee-for-service health care or some form of managed care, you must make health decisions in partnership with doctors...doctors with whom you may only spend a few minutes. How can you sort out the confusing, often contradictory health information that is bombarding you daily and communicate clearly and effectively with your doctor? How can you gain access to the best care and evaluate the care you are getting?

The "Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide" answers these essential questions and many more. The first health guide written specifically to empower readers in the era of managed care, it is the culmination of 200 years of clinical care, health education, and medical research -- bringing you the expertise of more than 7,000 health professionals from some of the nation's most esteemed hospitals and research centers. In this book, they have gathered the most authoritative, comprehensive, easy-to-understand, up-to-the-minute information about the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease in every stage of life to help you:

  • Make the most of the time you spend with your doctor.

  • Decide when and if you need to see a doctor.

  • Avoid dangerous drug interactions.

  • Explore alternative treatments safely.

  • Choose wisely among treatmentoptions.

  • Access emergency and other important information easily.

  • Learn the most effective ways to prevent disease.

  • Consult with the most renowned doctors in America, including Herbert Benson, T. Berry Brazelton, Robert Coles, and Richard Ferber.

  • Receive the most current information from our Web site, which gives you free online updates.

    Harvard Medical School consists of world-renowned affiliated hospitals, clinics, and research foundations, which include:

    Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - Brigham and Women's Hospital* - Cambridge Hospital - Center for Blood Research - Children's Hospital* - Dana Farber Cancer Institute - Harvard Pilgrim Health Care - Joslin Diabetes Center* - Judge Baker Children's Center - Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary - Massachusetts General Hospital* - Massachusetts Mental Health Center - McLean Hospital - Mount Auburn Hospital - Schepens Eye Research Institute - Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital - VA Boston Healthcare System

    (*CONSISTENTLY RANKED AMONG THE 10 BEST HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES)

    Throughout its history, Harvard's doctors have made important medical breakthroughs, including: the discovery of anesthesia - the birth of brain surgery - the first human organ transplantation (Nobel Prize) - the discovery of the polio virus (Nobel Prize) - the discovery of vitamin B12 as the cure for pernicious anemia (Nobel Prize) - the discovery of how the human eye sees (Nobel Prize) - the discovery of the aspirin-a-day prevention strategy for heart disease

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    Contents

    FOREWORD
    8
    Navigating the Health Care System
    17
    Take Charge of Your Health
    31
    DIET AND NUTRITION
    39
    EXERCISE AND FITNESS
    51
    USING ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCES
    57
    CONTRACEPTION AND SAFER SEX
    69
    MEDICAL CHECKUPS AND SCREENING TESTS
    78
    CORONARY
    652
    ABNORMAL HEART RATE AND RHYTHM
    671
    DISEASES OF THE HEART MUSCLE AND LINING
    681
    DISEASES OF THE HEART VALVES
    689
    DISEASE OF THE ARTERIES AND VEINS
    698
    BLOOD DONATION AND TRANSFUSION
    711
    CANCERS OF THE BLOOD CELLS LEUKEMIAS
    724
    OTHER BLOOD DISORDERS
    734

    SAFETY AND PREVENTING INJURY
    86
    PREVENTING INFECTION
    92
    HOW YOU SPEAK AND UNDERSTAND SPEECH
    98
    HOW YOU MOVE
    104
    HOW YOU BREATHE
    110
    Contents
    112
    HOW YOU REPRODUCE
    116
    UNDERSTANDING GENETICS
    126
    GUIDE TO IMAGING
    135
    DIAGNOSTIC TESTS
    153
    GOING TO THE HOSPITAL
    163
    Symptom Charts
    171
    WOMENS SYMPTOMS
    266
    SYMPTOMS OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN
    293
    MENS SYMPTOMS
    330
    Brain and Nervous System
    337
    HEADACHE
    354
    THINKING DISORDERS
    362
    OTHER DEGENERATIVE DISEASES
    368
    SLEEP AND SLEEP PROBLEMS
    383
    Behavioral and Emotional Disorders
    391
    PERSONALITY DISORDERS
    407
    Eyes
    415
    OUTER SURFACE OF THE EYE
    427
    OTHER EYE CONDITIONS
    445
    NOSE
    460
    THROAT
    466
    COMMON DENTAL PROBLEMS
    474
    DENTAL INJURIES
    485
    PROBLEMS OF THE SALIVARY GLANDS
    491
    Lungs
    493
    ASTHMA
    505
    LUNG CANCER
    523
    SKIN
    529
    HAIR
    555
    Color Guide to Visual Diagnosis
    561
    INJURIES
    567
    FACE
    575
    SKIN
    581
    BODY SHAPING
    588
    JOINTS
    601
    MUSCLES TENDONS AND LIGAMENTS
    610
    BACK HIPS LEGS AND FEET
    618
    Heart Blood Vessels
    641
    Digestive System
    743
    STOMACH
    752
    LIVER
    758
    PANCREAS
    768
    SMALL INTESTINE
    774
    LARGE INTESTINE
    781
    RECTAL AND ANAL DISORDERS
    794
    Urinary System
    803
    KIDNEY DISEASE AND KIDNEY FAILURE
    810
    CANCER
    822
    Hormonal Disorders
    829
    THYROID GLAND DISORDERS
    844
    PARATHYROID GLAND DISORDERS
    852
    PITUITARY GLAND DISORDERS
    859
    INFECTIONS
    871
    IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASES
    894
    Infertility Pregnancy and Childbirth
    903
    PREGNANCY
    914
    COMMON DISCOMFORTS OF PREGNANCY
    923
    CHILDBIRTH
    935
    Health of Infants and Children
    945
    HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN YOUNGER
    951
    HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN OLDER
    987
    Health of Adolescents
    1021
    Health of Women
    1039
    MENOPAUSE
    1047
    BREASTS
    1053
    VULVA
    1063
    UTERUS
    1070
    OVARIES AND FALLOPIAN TUBES
    1076
    WOMEN AND VIOLENCE
    1083
    SEXUALITY
    1090
    THE AGING MALE
    1110
    Death and Dying
    1137
    AFTER DEATH
    1143
    SAFETY
    1151
    COMMON DRUG CLASSES
    1159
    DRUG INTERACTIONS CHART
    1166
    First Aid and Emergency Care
    1189
    Replaceable Parts
    1217
    BOARDCERTIFIED MEDICAL SPECIALISTS
    1227
    FEDERAL AGENCIES
    1237
    MEDICAL RECORDS SUMMARY
    1245
    Copyright

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