October 2023 MBR The Health/Medicine Shelf

The Health/Medicine Shelf

The Knowledge
Dr. Nighat Arif
Cassell
c/o Octopus Books
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781783255733, $26.99, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-female-health-menstruation-menopause/dp/1783255730

Synopsis: With the publication of "The Knowledge: Your guide to female health - from menstruation to the menopause", celebrated GP Dr Nighat Arif brings women's health to the forefront in this extensive medical guidebook designed to help women (and the men who love them) better understand each of the three key stages of a woman's life: the puberty years, the fertility years and the peri/menopausal years.

Every step of the way, Dr Nighat will help you get to know the female body by explaining what is normal, what to expect, how to care for yourself and when to seek help. "The Knowledge" tackles many important topics: from the help available for people with conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome to the symptoms of heart disease to look out for in women.

"The Knowledge" is for everyone and encompasses all experiences, including the perspectives of women of color, people of all abilities and cultures, and the transgender community to ensure that all groups affected by female health concerns are a part of vital conversations.

Simply stated and true, "The Knowledge" is a life-saving book for all genders, ages and communities. From the young preteen hoping to understand their first period, to the couple experiencing fertility issues, to the single father raising teenage daughters, to the person unknowingly experiencing early signs of gynaecological cancer: this book is an indispensable asset for us all.

Critique: Enhanced for the non-specialist general reader with the inclusion of an informative Introduction, an eight page Glossary, a six page listing of Resources, and a five page Index, "The Knowledge: Your guide to female health - from menstruation to the menopause" is comprehensive, well written, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation. While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), "The Knowledge: Your guide to female health - from menstruation to the menopause" is strongly recommended as a core addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Women's Health & Medicine collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Nighat Arif is a GP specialising in women's health and family planning with over 16 years of experience in the NHS and private practice. She is based in Buckinghamshire and is able to consult fluently with patients in Urdu and Punjabi. Dr Nighat is a medical educator and provides teaching to local trainee GPs as well as at national and international conferences. Dr Nighat was nominated for the National Bevan Prize for Health and Wellbeing to acknowledge her exceptional commitment to advancing wellbeing in her community. Dr Nighat has worked to raise awareness on menopause and women's healthcare in Black and Asian women, she presented her clinical work at the 'Menopause in the Workplace' Parliamentary committee hearing. She has also worked with Team Halo, a United Nation (UN) initiative to bring an end to the pandemic and presented at the G7 Global Vaccine Confidence Summit that led to her being awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Science at London City University for Women's Health, Public Health and Inclusion. (https://osdhealthcare.co.uk/our-experts/expert/dr-nighat-arif)

Digital Radiography in Practice, second edition
Quinn B. Carroll, M.Ed., R.T. (R)
Charles C. Thomas, Publisher
https://www.ccthomas.com
9780398094126, $45.95 PB / $45.95 ebook, 232pp

https://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398094126

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Radiography-Practice-Quinn-Carroll/dp/0398094128

Synopsis: This newly expanded and updated second edition of "Digital Radiography in Practice" is intended to provide medical radiography programs with an economical textbook that focuses on the practical aspects of digital radiography. In this new edition by digital radiography expert Quinn B. Carroll (and with content developed in close collaboration with the medical physics community and several reviewers), this is the most accurate information on digital imaging available.

In this new edition, the terminology has been updated throughout the textbook to conform with the most recent revisions of the ASRT Radiography Curriculum Guide and the ARRT Radiography Content Specifications. Several new illustrations and helpful tables have been developed to clarify digital concepts.

A new table, Operator Adjustments to Digital Image Qualities and Their Primary Controls, beautifully summarizes the effects of leveling, windowing, equalization, edge enhancement, smoothing and noise reduction, while related text reduces dozens of different manufacturers' terms to these basic operations in the table.

Material on medical digital fluoroscopy and imaging informatics has been updated, with a continued emphasis on practical application and clinically useful information. Extensive support materials, including slides correlated to a student workbook, labs, comprehensive question banks and answer keys, have all been updated and improved.

Critique: Expertly organized and presented, "Digital Radiography in Practice, second edition" is ideal as a curriculum textbook and a critical asset to personal, professional, medical school, and hospital library Digital Radiography collections and Medical Radiography Program studies lists. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Digital Radiography in Practice, second edition" is also available as an eBook directly from Charles C. Thomas, Publisher ($45.95).

The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer
Dan Buettner
National Geographic Press
www.nationalgeographic.com
9781426223471, $32.50, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Blue-Zones/dp/1426223471

Synopsis: Dan Buettner has traveled the globe to uncover the best strategies for longevity, which he found in the blue zones: places around the world where higher percentages of people enjoy remarkably long, full lives.

With the publication of "The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer: Lessons From the Healthiest Places on Earth", Buettner returns to Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula; and Loma Linda, California to check in on the super-agers living in the blue zones and interprets the not-so-secret sauce of purpose, faith, community, down-time, natural movement, and plant-based eating that has powered as many as 10 additional years of healthy living in these regions. Buettner also reveals an all-new blue zone -- the first man-made blue zone yet explored.

Throughout his two decades of research, Buettner has worked with some of National Geographic's top photographers to document the healthy habits of the world's longest living communities. In this informative collection, their work punctuates Buettner's lively text, offering a beautiful tour of the blue zones.

Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout with full color images, "The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer: Lessons From the Healthiest Places on Earth" will prove to be of particular appeal and value for readers with an interest in longevity, physiology, health promoting diets. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer: Lessons From the Healthiest Places on Earth" is an extraordinary, potentially life change, and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Health/Medicine collections. It should be noted that "The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer: Lessons From the Healthiest Places on Earth" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99) to students, academia, health/medicine professionals, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.

Editorial Note: Dan Buettner (https://danbuettner.com) is the founder of Blue Zones, an organization that helps Americans live longer, healthier lives. His groundbreaking work on longevity led to his 2005 National Geographic cover story "Secrets of Living Longer" and a second, "The Search for Happiness," in 2017. Buettner has authored seven national bestsellers including: The Blue Zones Kitchen, The Blue Zones, Thrive, The Blue Zones Challenge, The Blue Zones of Happiness, and The Blue Zones Solution. He is a National Geographic Explorer.

Box of Birds
Stephen Stowers M.D.
Independently Published
9798987144206, $15.99 Paper/$2.99 ebook

https://www.amazon.com/Box-Birds-Zealand-practice-medicine/dp/B0CB9BBSWX

Box of Birds comes from a New Zealand cardiologist who reflects on the nature of his work, its moral and ethical conundrums, and how medical work and visions have gone awry in the U.S., which led him to travel to New Zealand to a better vision of medical management and efforts.

His journey from practicing in the U.S. medical system to New Zealand led to startling revelations -- not the least of which is that New Zealand has better patient outcomes, yet spends less money on healthcare.

The journey from education and internship to facing cardiology crises and learning from individual situations and corporate edicts makes for an especially intriguing memoir that delves into moral and ethical areas most physician memoirs skirt. His personal life encounters, including experiences of nature and its force, juxtapose nicely with the medical world he encounters in New Zealand to add depth to his story.

While this might give pause for thought to readers interested in medical politics and issues alone, Box of Birds isn't just about the practice of medicine. It's about the practice of life.

Especially eye-opening are revelations about medical management and physician and researcher freedoms which allow for a greater degree of creative problem-solving in New Zealand's atmosphere than in the U.S. Box of Birds thus synthesizes the final points in life, medical treatments and systems, and physician and researcher edicts to operate on strong moral and ethical grounds.

Libraries and readers interested in accounts of alternative medical systems in the world and how they compare to U.S. approaches to healthcare will find Box of Birds suitable for not just personal enlightenment, but discussion groups interested in debating medical community systems and real-world experiences that hold alternative, successful approaches.

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