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WHAT'S MAKING OUR CHILDREN SICK?

HOW INDUSTRIAL FOOD IS CAUSING AN EPIDEMIC OF CHRONIC ILLNESS, AND WHAT PARENTS (AND DOCTORS) CAN DO ABOUT IT

An accessible read with a title designed to catch the attention of worried mothers and a message that will be vigorously...

Medical professionals join the debate over the safety of our food supply with the claim that toxic foods are causing hard-to-diagnose chronic health problems in children.

Pediatrician Perro, former director of the pediatric emergency department at New York’s Metropolitan Hospital and attending physician at Oakland Children’s Hospital, and Adams (Vice Chair, Medical Anthropology/Univ. of California, San Francisco; Metrics: What Counts in Global Health, 2016, etc.) team up to document this phenomenon and to argue that the solution is a new model of eco-medicine that promotes the treatment value of healthy food. Genetically modified foods come in for especially close scrutiny. Perro’s practice provides clinical case studies illustrating the many health problems of children—allergies, asthma, rashes, gastrointestinal issues, autoimmune disorders, and cognitive malfunction—that frustrated parents have brought to her attention and that she has successfully treated. The authors also delve into the rise of agrochemical technologies and the current practices of industrial food production, especially with regard to GMO crops. They explore what biomedical sciences are beginning to learn about the connection between pesticides and organ systems, and they question the effectiveness of American Medical Association guidelines for medical practice, which they assert do not reflect scientific information. Physicians, they write, must think beyond the pill. The eco-medicine model calls for a recognition that our internal ecosystems can only be as healthy as our external environmental ecosystems. In their demand for a revolution in our food production system, as well as in our medical approach to chronic disorders, the authors acknowledge the need for scientists, educators, politicians, health professionals, and farmers to become involved, but they single out mothers as powerful agents of change.

An accessible read with a title designed to catch the attention of worried mothers and a message that will be vigorously challenged by a host of agribusiness and pharmaceutical industry spokespeople and segments of the medical profession.

Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-60358-757-0

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Chelsea Green

Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017

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COURAGE BEYOND THE GAME

THE FREDDIE STEINMARK STORY

A superb work that paints the resilient athlete as a fierce competitor and an unforgettable sportsman.

Heartfelt biography of a Texas football star whose life was cut short by cancer.

Inspired by interviews with coaches, teammates and friends and a 1971 autobiography, award-winning sportswriter Dent (Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football, 2007, etc.) tracks Freddie Joe Steinmark’s early years and burgeoning career with the Texas Longhorns. From his childhood in 1950s Denver, Colo., Steinmark’s interest in sports flourished, carefully groomed and profoundly encouraged by his father, a self-made athlete turned cop who’d sacrificed a professional baseball career to raise his son. “A small child with fragile bones” yet dubbed “a born winner” by early mentors, Steinmark’s diminutive stature proved a surprisingly suitable match for his steely, fearless determination on the field. Dent budgets his narrative wisely, proffering equal parts sports achievement and personal accomplishment in tracing his subject’s incremental ascent to greatness as he earned the admiration of fellow teammates like star quarterback Roger Behler. As the Longhorns’ “golden boy” key safety, the “155-pound peach-fuzz kid” exhibited drive and tireless perseverance on the gridiron, making him a respected letterman under Coach Darrell Royal. However, soon after a game-saving field performance, Steinmark suffered a crushing blow when he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bone cancer that would eventually claim his life at 22. Dent also includes the story of Steinmark’s shyly romantic courtship of high-school sweetheart Linda Wheeler, an intensive love that endured throughout their tenure together at the University of Texas. The author also bolsters the biography with a fond foreword from current Texas head coach Mack Brown, who, to this day, continues to memorialize Steinmark’s legacy by bringing his photograph along to the team’s away-games.

A superb work that paints the resilient athlete as a fierce competitor and an unforgettable sportsman.

Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-312-65285-2

Page Count: 307

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: June 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011

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HEALING OUR VILLAGE

A SELF-CARE GUIDE TO DIABETES CONTROL

Authoritative and, most helpfully, accessible.

Self-help guide for diabetes sufferers, mostly in question-and-answer format, with an emphasis on helping racial and ethnic minority diabetics.

Coleman is a pharmacist with a doctorate in her specialty, Gavin a Ph.D. and M.D. Aside from acknowledgments and a foreword signed by Gavin alone, their voices and expertise are indistinguishable, offering lucid, simple solutions for diabetes patients. Gavin relates watching his great-grandmother endure debilitating pain as a result of diabetes while he visited her as a youngster. He remembers hearing adults mention that sugar killed her, and he wondered how something that tasted sweet could cause so much harm. As an adult, he realized that his great-grandmother's affliction could be controlled through treatment. The authors focus on Type 2 diabetes, the most common form in minority populations. An estimated 18.2 million Americans are diabetic, with perhaps 5 million unaware of their situation. About 11 percent of U.S. diabetics are African-American, and about 8 percent are Latino. The question-and-answer format begins with an overview section about diabetes, with an emphasis on risk factors. Section Two covers management of the disease, including nutrition, exercise, blood-testing, oral medications and insulin use. In addition, the authors continually recommend smoking cessation, as well as instructing patients on the readiness of self-treatment. Section Three explains the complications—high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease—that could arise if the condition remains untreated or treated ineffectively. The questions in all of the sections are worded simply, and the answers are usually free of medical jargon. Though the sudden shifts in tone and voice are occasionally jarring, the writing remains clear enough to distill the facts. The real downside here, though: patronizing, laughable illustrations that degrade the overall product.

Authoritative and, most helpfully, accessible.

Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2004

ISBN: 0-9746948-0-0

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 27, 2010

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