Understanding Cosmetic Laser Surgery (Understanding Health and Sickness Series)

Dr. Langdon has written an extremely informative book. With the detail of a medical expert and scientist Dr. Langdon explains to the reader the various aspects of modern cosmetic laser procedures and laser technology. I found this book clearly written, easy to read and walked away with a deeper understanding then I expected.

I recommend this book to anybody that is interested in a better insight into cosmetic laser procedures and the options available.

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Essential Concepts for Healthy Living Update, Fifth Edition

I feel like some of the topics, although true, are not as up to date as they could be. Also, some of the chapters seem to be written from a bias perspective rather than a neutral, objective standpoint so some things were annoying to read about when you don't agree with them. Overall, it is good for anyone interested in overall health as it is very broad and outlines the basic concepts of a healthy lifestlye throughout the life cycle.

I used this book for a personal health class. It provided common-sense and practical information. It went more in-depth on some information than I expected and was satisfied with the text.

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I need this book for class. It got her the next day and the price was way less than the book store.

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Green Barbarians: Live Bravely on Your Home Planet

Some people might see the title and think this is yet another eco-book on eco-living or such. In reality, this book is about how far we have drifted from common sense health in the way we live and eat. People are clueless to what's in their food and where it comes from or even how their immune system works (public education victims). Now, if you eat better and live better, one of the results will be a better environment. I.E., if you stop using your cloest full of chemicals, your health gets better, and so does your water supply. Sandbeck may come off anti-corporate, and even though I am far from being that way, there's truth to what she says in many companies. We have fallen into the trap of letting stangers convince us into buying things we don't need and scare us into buying things that don't improve our lives. Sandbeck is concise and funny and touches on a wide variety of topics from food safety, health, corporate funny-business, child well-being and the many myths we believe. A great place to start your efforts to improve your well-being. There is a growing awareness about such things and this book is a valuable addition. For more on the topics in this book, see The Hundred-Year Lie: How to Protect Yourself from the Chemicals That Are Destroying Your Health, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eat This and Live!, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, The Maker's Diet and Bottlemania: Big Business, Local Springs, and the Battle Over America's Drinking Water.

This book contains some practical information about how to counter our current germophobic culture and how to use less toxic products and practices in our homes and daily lives. However, there are some things that are disturbing about it that allow me to only rate it as a 2-star.

For one, much of this book is repetition from the author's Green Housekeeping book, which I'd already read. Why is the author repeating the exact same things in a different/new book? If there is to be a new book, there needs to be new ideas and new information, not merely rehashing the same old stuff.

Secondly, I noticed that the author presents somewhat of a contradiction in her own personal philosophy and practices. On the one hand, she's all about the "barbaric-we're too clean; let's eat dirt" mentality... on the other hand, she recounts her own almost phobic sanitization of her own food, kitchen, etc. It's a bit of a mixed message that made me wonder, well, which is it?

Finally, the biggest problem I have with this book is the way the author totally sneaks up on the reader, lulling them into thinking the book is about healthier living, housekeeping, etc., then, at the end of the book she is suddenly advocating circumcision of our baby boys. WHAT?!?!? And she does it in a way that is very condescending to those who don't agree with this practice, including potshots at the poor spelling of those who wrote about their disagreement on a website she found. Very lame and unprofessional.

To support her position, she includes a study done on very promiscuous African men truck drivers who are apparently having sex at every truck stop and getting Aids. My own conclusion of this study wasn't that every male should undergo genital mutilation in case they end up living this kind of high risk lifestyle and want to prevent getting Aids, but that these men might want to consider better lifestyle choices.

I could go on to counter several of the authors claims about how wonderful circumcision is, but will let the reader do their own research. There is a large body of information out there about circumcision and it is widely known that it is a totally unnecessary medical procedure, except in rare cases. My point is that to advocate unnecessary and unjustified genital mutilation as a way of "cleaner/greener" living is to me (and this is my review after all) preposterous, truly barbaric, and inappropriate. To me, it really discredits the book and the author.

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Green Barbarians is another wonderful title by Ellen Sandbeck. In this book she takes a look at how the fear of various ailments and of bacteria and microbes in particular has led people (especially in western culture) to over-protect themselves into ill health.

Chapters delve into details about the body, food, kitchen, bathroom, laundry, health, pets and children.

If you have read Sandbeck's Green housekeeping you may recognize some of the info and suggestions in the chapters about food, kitchen and bathrooms, she does repeat a little of the information from that book, but overall it's not as in-depth and cleaning-centric as Green Housekeeping.

This book really gives you some insight into some of the ridiculous things that people do that are completely unnecessary and some of the long-forgotten practices that might still be of contemporary use. A lot of the books value come from the condensed results of various research articles and applications that point to surprising results. Especially in the chapter on health where she includes discussion on treating various human ailments with other organisms (biotherapy) like intestinal worms. The bibliography is impressive and the book seems to be very well researched. Also has an effective index for looking up choice statistics or wanting to gross out your roommate with a verbatim reading.

In addition to the informative aspects of this book I also found it highly entertaining. This book had me laughing out loud and reading choice bits to my fiance more than any other recent book. The wit that Sandbeck writes with is indispensable, and though it doesn't take away from the gravity of some of the statements made in this book, it does make them a little easier to face.

Highly recommended, amusing and informative, what more could you ask for?

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Interesting ideas presented. Some (informatively) infuriatingie. food production and corporations, and plenty of useful tips/reminders/wake-up calls for life. A quick easy read, that may whet your appetite for meatier texts and ideas.

While I really wanted to like this book, and did agree with most of the ideas she presented I have a few criticism:

Though there does seem to be an extensive bibliography listing the multiple scientific studies referenced throughout the book, footnotes would have been incredibly helpful. It was difficult to tell at times what was scientifically based and what was just from her own advice formed from opinions and experiences.

I completely agree with the review below about the last section/lecture on male circumcision that comes completely out of nowhere. Stating several incomplete studies and not mentioning anything about safe sex education, she strongly advocates genital mutilation. Though she states at the end of the rant she just wants to help the reader make an informed decisionshe is obviously very pro-circumcision, with only one side presented. That section unfortunately completely overshadowed the earlier parts of the book and made me question the objectivity of some of her previous assertions.

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I picked this book up for a buck at a local bookstore blowout. It's a decent read, and covers many different topics. Some of this I have heard/read before, some was new. The book doesnt give us a "green way" of living, but more so is an attempt to have us question the choices we make in product selection. Much of the book discusses our fears of germs which the writer presents as unfounded. Overall, the book does lack some focus, as the topics vary widely with no disernable goal. While it may be worth a read, and possibly worth adding to your "eco bookshelf' I dont think i would have been happy if I paid full price. I would chalk this one up to a decent pic in the green theme, but far from the best out there.

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Living with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Guide to Maximizing Brain Health and Reducing Risk of Demen

PROS pulls together much MCI information, including strategies for improvement, and differences from dementia: *****

CONS too academic and detailed to be a self-help book for MCI patient; seriously lacking list of resources, print too small: ** or ***

This is a great book for those dealing with people who have MCI. A tremendous amount of information is collected here. Many other books (and support groups like the Alzheimer's Association) give MCI only minor attention and primarily deal with dementia. Instead, this book squarely addresses MCI itself, its characteristics (and differences from dementia), how it is diagnosed, questions to ask the doctor, strategies for coping and improving the life of the MCI patient, and so forth. It nicely clarified many aspects of this diagnosis, and I really appreciate having all of this information pulled together in one spot. High points and summaries are extracted and boxed (along with little vignettes), which is really helpful to the reader.

The biggest problem with this book is that the people who need it the most, MCI patients themselves, won't be able to deal with the textbook academic style of most of this book. Someone who is diagnosed with MCI has very little out there addressed to them specifically. They are caught in the territory between between normal aging, and dementia, which most information sources address. So this book supplies a tremendous resource, but because of the academic style, more for the family members of the MCI patient and for professionals who treat them.

I was really excited about this book when I read about it in the NY Times a few days ago, and immediately ordered it and read it cover-to-cover the day it arrived. The online preview of the book made it seem like it would be a great book to hand directly to my MCI family member (who is a DIY type who is refusing to avail herself of other help that is out there). I especially noticed Section Three of the book which has a number of chapters with proven improvement strategies, steps the patient can take to make a real difference. By chance the "Surprise Me!" pages missed all the dry academic discussions, so I hadn't realized that much of this book is written in medical journal style.

Unfortunately, this book can't decide what audience it is addressing. Some parts of the book are directly addressed to MCI patients themselves, e.g. "The previous section showed that exercise can improve cognitive functioning, increase the size and activity of *your* brain, and reduce dementia risk" (p. 254, emphasis added). However, the style and content of most of the book seems written for clinicians and academic journals. For example, they discuss various proposals for how MCI should be classified in the DSM-V. Frankly, patients and family members won't care about where MCI appears in the DSM. And in talking about whether specific individual nutrients help (in the section addressed to the MCI patient), they spend 20 lines of academic blather about randomized controlled trials, outcome measures, etc. (too much copying and pasting?). This level of discussion is way too detailed for the cognitively struggling MCI patient, when the authors just should have simply stated the conclusion: Eat a variety of foods, because so far, in spite of numerous well-controlled studies, there is no scientific evidence showing that there are any wonder nutrients to help with MCI. (p. 221).

Additionally, they did a less than half-hearted attempt to compile a list of "Memory Intervention Programs" (p. 152-153). It is misleadingly brief: only three in Canada, one in the US, and one in Germany; with a branch in Hong Kong. They should either make a serious attempt at assembling an accurate and more complete list, or they should not have included such an incomplete list at all. The effect is to make the reader feel rather hopeless about program availability, when this is not the case: In reality, there are many more Memory Training and Memory Care programs in medical centers in N. America. For example, they omitted the Memory Training program at UCLA (which has been licensed in several additional locations across the US). Other possible places to look for useful programs: the Alz Assn Community Resource Finder site for "Early Stage Programs", or perhaps NIH's Alzheimer's Disease Centers (listed in Jean Carper's book 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's and Age-Related Memory Loss. (p.299) [ETA Oct 3, 2012]

Finally, on my laptop screen, the font of the book preview is larger and more comfortable to read than in the actual printed book. So while I feel my MCI family member could easily read what I saw on the screen, the printed book is a less approachable smaller-print experience, that will be harder for many to read comfortably (ymmv). Since this book is ostensibly written for older people who have more problems with smaller print, this is an puzzling choice.

I really hope they (or someone else) writes a good non-babyish self-help book addressed to intelligent MCI patients themselves, that they take all the content of Section Three along with clarifying portions of the earlier parts, throw away all the academic prose, and produce something that will be genuinely helpful to MCI patients. For myself, I'm going to go through this book again and underline the most cogent portions, before passing it on, to make it more readable for my intended recipient.

p.s. There is evidence of hasty editing:

The URL given in the preface (for updates and a few worksheets) doesn't work, but you can access the (minimal) worksheets by googling "livingwithmci pdf site:baycrest.org" [as of this writing 10/3/2012]. [The URL is working now! ETA 10/25/2012]

The vignette in box 1.5 is about "Carlos", but when the text discusses that example, they talk about "Tom".

I'm a neuropsychologist and purchased this book to screen for patients. It has great information for patients and families in simple, easy to understand language.

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The Healing Home: Practical Ways to Harmonize Your Home and Energize Your Spirit

The Healing Home Book is at long last a book that gives the reader easy to follow, effective practices to create a home filled with peace, light, happiness and love.

Based on the Native Tradition of the Medicine Wheel, it allows the reader to pin-point areas of disharmony and resolve them using the power of tested and tried methods based on years of experience by the author.

Learning to deal with ley lines and water lines without disturbing the harmony of the Earth is as important as clearing stuck emotional and spiritual energies within the living space in an effective and safe way.

The second part of the book gives beautiful ways of re-connecting to the source and creating balance within ourselves, so we are well prepared and able to redress the balance within our living and working space.

I would recommend this book to everyone who is aware of the importance of balance and harmony in the space that we inhabit, so that they can create for themselves a life filled with happiness, peace, abundance and health.

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Collard Green Curves: A fat girl’s Journey from Childhood Obesity to Healthy Livin

I enjoyed everything about this book raised by grandmother a single women who took care of me and my siblings cousins aunts and uncles along with who ever came along I was taught too take care of my self never to depend on anyone. Now I am wife and mother of three struggling too keep my marriage together I know sees why we struggling I have in the back mine I always need to be prepared to play that role of mom and dad even though my husband is right there I have trust issue not so much as if he cheat but anything can happen death sickness or just one day he don't won't the life style anymore reading this book open my eyes too the fact that I need open my heart and let my guard down I also need to focus on a better relationships with God and eating healthy and living healthy. Shot out to Miss Bowick

Book was easy to read, very personal, and speaks directly to minority women raised in a home where food means love. Great work and I recommend it to all women who are looking to transform themselves mind, body, and spirit. Best stories to read during ties of self-change are personal stories from women who have been there...and I def recommend this one to women of all ages.

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