THE BOOK OF HEALTH: A Complete Guide to Making Health Last a Lifetime

An epidemiologic approach to improving personal health--solid, massive, authoritative. Public health experts have long been naming the major disease-causers (and fighting them on a population-wide scale); here, they are explained--in two sections, lifestyle and environment--along with measures that individuals can take to combat them. The Foundation has rounded up all the current, medically-approved information on improvements we can make in the way we live; these are set out for nutrition, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, fitness, family planning, stress, dental hygiene, and safety--with, in each case, the accumulated evidence on why we should make the changes. For environmental problems, the emphasis is necessarily different; but while the causes of the problems don't rest with individuals, we still need to know where the US stands with regard to pollution, noise, radiation, infectious diseases, occupational health, and health legislation--and to what extent we can protect ourselves. The book as a whole is clear and understandable, if too detailed for those just seeking a fix-it program (try, instead, the Strang series); but it would be valuable as a family reference.