The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide [antikvár]

FOREWORD: How to Use This Book The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide is a unique reference book that teaches you about your body in both sickness and health. Each organ system and its funetion is deseribed in depth and there are anatomically correct medical illustrations for each. The book is divided into eight parts, each one devoted to a particular facet of medicine and health. In Part One, you have a guide to the American medical system and how to use it. Questions discussed in this section include: How do you find a doctor who is right for you and your family? When do you seek a second opinion? How can you help control mushrooming medical costs? How can you help meet the medical needs of aging parents and other eiderly people? There is alsó a comprehensive guide to common medical tests which helps you determine whether a test is needed, what it involves, and what you and your doctor should learn from it. Part Two deals with medical emergencies and what you should do until the doctor comes. Lifesaving techniques like cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver for choking victims are illustrated. There is alsó a directory of hundreds of common first-aid procedures, covering everything from broken bones and cuts to electrocution, drownings, and animal bites. The chapter on poisoning lists common household poisons and alsó includes a nationwide directory of poison information centers and telephone numbers. Part Three is devoted to your body and how it works. There is a full-color atlas showing the major organ systems and a chapter on how they work in concert. Sexual and reproductive health and pregnancy and childbirth are discussed in detail, as are the major life stages from infancy through aging. Part Four is devoted to health maintenance. There are self-tests to help determine your own health quotient and discussions of lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol and substance abuse, nutrition, exercise, and stress management and their impact on your health. The largest section of the book-Part Five-is devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Each of the twenty chapters in this section covers a category of disease, ranging from cancer and heart disease to allergies and mentái and emotional disorders. Each chapter presents an overview of the particular class of disease and organ system(s) involved, followed by discussions of speciíic disorders and their diagnosis and treatment. The proper use of drugs is the focus of Part Six. The major categories of drugs are included, along with a listing of what you should include in your home medicine chest. Part Seven is a directory of resources, with listings of major health agencies, organizations, and sources of information. There is special emphasis on resources available to the disabled and people with chronic disease. Although every effort has been made to avoid medical jargon and to explain the meaning of technical terms throughout the book, Part Eight is intended to be of further use by presenting a dictionary of common medical terms. There is alsó a listing of prefixes, word roots, and suffixes to help you determine the meaning of medical terms that may not be in this dictionary. In keeping with the overall goal of this home medical guide, the appendix offers the basics of a personal medical record system for you and your family. The forms should be used to keep track of things such as major and minor illnesses, medications used, and visits to physicians, dentists, and other health-care professionals. Keeping your own medical records is becoming increasingly important in our highly mobile society and era of medical specialization. Very few of us go through life with a single family physician. It is important that you be able to give each doctor you see a detailed medical history regarding past illnesses and treatments, but very few of us can accurately remember what tests we have had done, what medications we have taken, or the details of past treatments. Whenever you visit a doctor or clinic, ask your physician to summarize any diagnosis, tests, or