Health Recent Picks
October and November 2009
The underlined title links will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.
Living well with hypothyroidism : what your doctor doesn't tell you ... that you need to know, by Mary J. Shomon. (2005)
"As many as one in eight women have a thyroid condition. In Living Well with Hypothyroidism, Mary Shomon outlines the most common of these - too little thyroid hormones in the body. Weight gain, depression, fatigue, and what patients call "brain fog, Brillo hair, and prune skin" result. Because the symptoms of hypothyroidism mimic so many other conditions - chronic fatigue, PMS, clinical depression - it can be very tricky to diagnose, especially since patients with HMOs may not get the thorough testing they need. Shomon knows of what she speaks: she's a health writer and thyroid patient herself. She also manages a thyroid Web site and writes a newsletter on hypothyroidism. In Living Well, she offers an extensively researched guide to this complex condition. She covers conventional, alternative, and late-breaking approaches to treatment..." (Amazon)
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy : distinctive features , by Rebecca Crane. (2009)
"Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is increasingly used in therapeutic practice. It encourages clients to process experience without judgement as it arises, helping them to change their relationship with challenging thoughts and feelings, and accept that, even though difficult things may happen, it is possible to work with these in new ways. This book provides a basis for understanding the key theoretical and practical features of MBCT. Focusing on a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy programme that is offered in a group context to those who are vulnerable to depressive relapses, the text is divided into 30 distinctive features that characterise the approach. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Distinctive Features provides a concise, straightforward summary for professionals and trainees in the field. Its easy-to-use format will appeal to both experienced practitioners and newcomers with an interest in MBCT." (Amazon)
Listening to depression : how understanding your pain can heal your life, by Lara Honos-Webb. (c2006)
"New Way of Thinking About Depression. What does it really mean to be depressed? You know depression as a collection of symptoms-fatigue, listlessness, feelings of worthlessness-and the source of more than a little pain. But depression is also a signal that something in your life is wrong and needs to be healed. Too often, though, we try to cut off or numb our feelings of depression instead of listening carefully to what they are telling us about our lives. This book offers insightful ways to reframe depression as a gift that can help you transform your life for the better. Each chapter discusses a different aspect of depression as positive opportunity for growth or change. Depression can be the start of a reorientation in life, a step in the search for meaning, or a chance for letting go of hurtful aspects of the self. It can also be a chance to deal with grief and loss and learn to expand your potential. The book concludes with a section of advice about when it is important to defend against depression and how best to go about it when the need arises." (Amazon)
Delivered from distraction : getting the most out of life with attention deficit disorder, by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey. (2004)
"As Hallowell and Ratey point out, "attention deficit disorder" is a highly misleading description of an intriguing kind of mind. Original, charismatic, energetic, often brilliant, people with ADD have extraordinary talents and gifts embedded in their highly charged but easily distracted minds. Tailored expressly to ADD learning styles and attention spans, Delivered from Distraction provides accessible, engaging discussions of every aspect of the condition, from diagnosis to finding the proper treatment regime." (Amazon)
The enzyme factor, by Hiromi Shinya. ( c2007)
"In "The Enzyme Factor", Dr. Hiromi Shinya presents his research, grounded in his 45 years of medical practice in the United States and Japan. This research supports the idea of a miracle enzyme out of which all the enzymes the body needs are produced. He suggests cancer and other diseases occur when this key enzyme is depleted and cannot properly do its job. In this book he clearly shows how what we eat affects that key. Dr. Shinya's science is clearly explained and easy to understand. The suggestions for diet and lifestyle based on this science are simple and easy to follow. Even those who think they know everything about how to eat right will be surprised when they discover what is really healthy. This simple health regime has led hundreds of his patients, many suffering from cancer and other life-threatening diseases, to perfect health." (Amazon)
Living with gluten intolerance, by Jane Feinmann. (2009)
"Gluten intolerance is poorly understood by doctors and frequently misdiagnosed, for example as irritable bowel disorder. This book gives clear information on both coeliac disease and gluten intolerance, explains how they differ from other digestive disorders, and looks at possible treatments as well as self-help measures." (Amazon)
A portrait of the brain, by Adam Zeman. (c2009)
"In this compelling book, neurologist Adam Zeman tells the stories of patients with a variety of neurological disorders, some familiar (epilepsy, chronic fatigue, stroke, memory loss) and others relatively mysterious (narcolepsy, chronic deja vu, compulsive fidgeting, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). Chapter by chapter, the author reveals the various levels of the brain, from the atom to the mind, and explores what happens when workings at each level go awry. Zeman requires of his readers no special knowledge of medicine or science, yet he takes us to the very frontiers of current scientific knowledge and elucidates the workings of the brain in astonishing detail." (Amazon)
The body broken : a memoir , by Lynne Greenberg. (c2009)
"In the tradition of William Styron's tour de force Darkness Visible, The Body Broken is a gorgeously told and intensely moving account of one woman's extraordinary odyssey into a life of chronic pain - and of the unyielding resilience of the human spirit" (Amazon)
Touched with fire : manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament, by Kay Redfield Jamison. (c1993)
"From the author of the New York Times bestseller, An Unquiet Mind, Touched with Fire is an authoritative look at the relationship between manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament. Psychiatrist Jamison advocates a restrained, humanistic approach to treatment that does not "cure" the disorder at the expense of artistic inspiration." (Amazon)
Managing your child's food allergies : the complete Australian guide for parents, by Alison Orman with Preeti Joshi. (2009).
The yipping tiger and other tales from the neuropsychiatric clinic, by Perminder Sachdev. (2009).
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