Consumer Connections
ISSN 1535-7821 Vol. 24 No. 3 2008
Announcments
Articles
Book Reviews
- Negotiating the Special Education Maze
- Beating Lyme: Understanding and Treating this Complex and Often Misdiagnosed Disease
- It’s Different for Men: The Men’s Weight-Loss Strategy for Health, Wealth, and Sexual Vitality
- The Smart Woman’s Guide to Midlife & Beyond: A No Nonsense Approach to Staying Healthy After 50
- Jeff May’s Healthy Home Tips: A Workbook for Detecting, Diagnosing, and Eliminating Pesky Pests, Stinky Stenches, Musty Mold, and Other Aggravating Home Problems
- Move Yourself: the Cooper Clinic Medical Director’s Guide to All the Healing Benefits of Exercise (Even a Little)
- Testosterone for Life
- Arthritis: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier
- The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause
- What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope
- Dr. Weinberg’s Guide to the Best Health Resources on the Web
Publication Information
Announcments
New Consumer Health Publication
CAPHIS member Michele Spatz is pleased to announce the recent publication of her book, Answering Consumer Health Questions: the Medical Library Association Guide for Reference Librarians published by Neal-Schuman. The book explores the reference transaction from a behavioral point of view and offers appropriate responses to the many types of circumstances that librarians must deal with each day when providing health reference service. The seven chapters cover:
- Professional Practice: Understanding and Reaching Out to Consumer Health Information Seekers
- Professional Interactions: Communication Guidelines and Strategies
- Professional Ethics of Providing Health Information
- Legal Issues in Health Information Delivery
- Serving the Health Information Needs of Diverse Individuals
- The Difficult Patron
- Self-care for the Health Information Provider
Her background as MLA instructor for two consumer health CE courses, experience as director of a university medical school library, and over 16 years as a consumer health librarian for Mid-Columbia Medical Center, a rural hospital in north central Oregon , have given her a unique perspective from which to write this book. For more information, please visit: http://www.neal-schuman.com/bdetail.php?isbn=9781555706326
Submitted by: Nikki Dettmar, MSIS, NN/LM PNR, University of Washington Health Sciences Library, Seattle, WA
Basics of Searching NLM TOXNET®
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET. Classes will be held at:
New York University
Frederick Ehrman Medical Library
Carlisle Computer Classroom
550 First Avenue at East 31st Street
New York, NY 10016
This full-day class is designed to convey the basics of searching the NLM's TOXNET®, a web-based system of databases in the areas of toxicology, environmental health, and related subjects. Students learn the content and structure of files covering toxicology data, toxicology literature, toxic releases, and chemical searching and nomenclature. Among the databases highlighted are TOXLINE®, the Hazardous Substances Data Bank, the Integrated Risk Information System, the Toxic Release Inventory, and ChemIDplus. This class is for U.S. domestic searchers. There are no fees for training but students must cover their own travel and lodging. Classes are held throughout the United States. The training schedule and other details are available from the National Training Center and Clearinghouse.
TOXNET® is a free class and is awarded 6 MLA continuing education credits. http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/schedule.html#class5
Submitted by: Colette Hochstein, D.M.D., MLS (Colette@nlm.nih.gov), Division of Specialized Information Services, NLM
Articles
Update from the National Library of Medicine, Division of Specialized Information Services
The Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS, http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) creates information resources and services in toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, and HIV/AIDS. Another component of SIS, the Office of Outreach and Special Populations, seeks to improve access to quality and accurate health information by underserved and special populations. Many SIS products help to address the toxicology and environmental health information needs of the general public.
Household Products Database Now Contains 8152 Brand Name Products
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Household Products Database has been updated and now includes 8152 brand name products, 2876 ingredients, and 375 manufacturers.
In addition, 1634 products are now linked to the complete Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
The Household Products Database is a consumer guide that provides information on the potential health effects of chemicals contained in more than 6,000 common household products used inside and around the home. This resource helps scientists and consumers learn about ingredients in brand-name products. http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov
NLM TOXLINE Users Can Link Directly to Specific Document Ordering Pages for EPA TSCA Inventory Reports
National Library of Medicine TOXLINE users can now link directly to EPA TSCA Inventory reports via NTIS. Linking on the ordering information in the TOXLINE record will take users to the NTIS ordering page for a given report. The Toxic Substance Control Act Test Submission database, TSCATS, was developed for EPA. It is a central system for the collection, maintenance, and dissemination of information on unpublished technical reports submitted by industry to EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). http://www.syrres.com/Esc/tscats_info.htm
To locate all TSCATS records in TOXLINE, enter “TSCATS” into the TOXLINE search box, or select the TSCATS subset from TOXLINE “Limits” (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?toxadv.htm). The NTIS ordering interface link can be found under the “Order Information” field of TOXLINE TSCATS records.
The TOXLINE database (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?TOXLINE) is the National Library of Medicine (NLM) bibliographic database for toxicology, a varied science encompassing many disciplines. TOXLINE records provide bibliographic information covering the biochemical, pharmacological, physiological, and toxicological effects of drugs and other chemicals. The database contains over 3 million bibliographic citations, most with abstracts and/or indexing terms and CAS Registry Numbers. TOXLINE references are drawn from various sources and organized into component sub-files which are usually searched together, but which may also be used to limit searches.
TOXLINE covers much of the standard journal literature in toxicology (which it obtains form PubMed), complemented with references from an assortment of specialized journals and other sources.
TOXMAP: Improved User Interface, Updated Mortality Data, Hospital Locations
TOXMAP (http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov) now includes several interface improvements, updated mortality data (2001-2005), and names and locations of hospitals when the map is zoomed to the most detailed level.
Other recent changes include:
- Ability to view TRI facilities reporting releases in a particular TRI year, similar to TRI chemical releases
- Inclusion of links to TRI state fact sheets from EPA
- Ability to zoom to US national parks via "Zoom to a Place"
- Ability to toggle on and off the "auto-zoom" behavior in the main Search page
- PubMed RSS feed
- Section 508 compliance improvements
TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov) of the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) (http://www.nlm.nih.gov) that uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Toxics Release Inventory and Superfund Program.
TOXMAP Flyer Available
A link is now available on TOXMAP to a 2-page (front and back) color flyer summarizing some of the resource’s features.
http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/home/TOXMAP%20Brochure.pdf
ToxMystery Now Has Spanish Home Page
ToxMystery, the National Library of Medicine interactive learning site for kids, now has a home page in Spanish, http://toxmystery.nlm.nih.gov/espanol.html.
The new home page allows users to start the game in Spanish, with Toxie the Cat helping them to explore the site's "house of hazards." Gamers can move between Spanish and English by selecting the language tab in the upper right of the page.
An illustrated glossary of the words used in ToxMystery has also been added to the Teacher's Resource page. The glossary is available in Spanish from the "Para maestros" section. The glossary can also be found at http://toxmystery.nlm.nih.gov/tmglosario.pdf (Spanish) and http://toxmystery.nlm.nih.gov/tmglossary_eng.pdf (English).
Virtual Tox Town
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has re-created Tox Town in a virtual world in an effort to expand the concept of Web-based Tox Town from a 2-D environment to a 3-D experience. Tox Town is an online interactive guide to commonly encountered toxic substances, your health, and the environment. The Web version of Tox Town helps users explore a Port, Town, City, Farm, or US-Mexico Border community to identify common environmental hazards. Please visit Tox Town on the Web: http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/ .
The Web-based version of Tox Town allows for limited interactivity with chemicals and locations. By using a virtual world such as Second Life, NLM is able to give a 3-D interaction that can be similar to a real life experience. Virtual worlds also offer the opportunity for several avatars to interact with each other and the environment. Virtual Tox Town is experimental and NLM will explore the capabilities of virtual worlds for outreach, training/education, and collaboration. Please visit Virtual Tox Town in Second Life. (You will need to download the Second Life application and create an account which is free.)
Submitted by: Colette Hochstein, D.M.D., MLS (Colette@nlm.nih.gov), Division of Specialized Information Services, NLM
Book Reviews
Anderson, Winifred, Stephen Chitwood, Deidre Hayden, and Cherie Takemoto. Negotiating the Special Education Maze. Woodbine House, 2008. 305p. index. ISBN 978-1-890627-46-1. $21.95.
Negotiating the Special Education Maze is the 4th edition of this classic guide targeted primarily at parents of children with disabilities. Of the authors, Anderson and Chitwood are the founders, Hayden is a former director, and Takemoto is the present Executive Director of the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC) in Alexandria, Virginia. Both Chitwood and Takemoto are parents of special needs children. The premise of the book is that “parents are their child’s first and best advocate.” The view of parents as equal partners in the education of their children was a novel idea when Negotiating the Special Education Maze was first printed in 1982 after passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now the Individuals with Disabilities Act or IDEA).
The book is written in a style that empowers parents to be active participants in their child’s education. The first chapter explains the six principles of IDEA and then moves on to cover people and procedures, how to observe your child, and how to be an advocate for your child. Also included are chapters on what happens when your child leaves the public school system and what your legal rights are if disagreements occur. Many chapters end with useful “What You Can Do Now” checklists for parents. Special easy-to-use forms are also included. For example, the People and Procedure chapter includes a chart on which to record names and contact information of people involved in your child’s education while The Individualized Education Program Meeting chapter includes checklists of what parents need to do before, during, and after such meetings. A glossary of special education terms and a comprehensive list of additional resources are included at the end of the book. Recommended for consumer health libraries, although many parents will find it so useful that they may want to purchase a personal copy.
Reviewed by: Donna J. McCloskey, MLIS, Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville Health Information Center, Huntersville, NC
Bean, Constance A., with Lesley Ann Fein, MD, MPH. Beating Lyme : Understanding and Treating this Complex and often Misdiagnosed Disease. AMACOM, 2008. 286 p. index. ISBN 0-8144-0944-x. $15.95.
Constance Bean has a Master’s in Public Health, authored six health-related books and is a Lyme disease sufferer. Beating Lyme chronicles her experience with this debilitating and misunderstood disease. Assisted by physician, Fein, Bean outlines the frustrating diagnostic process, myriad symptoms, dismissive physicians and conflicting treatments that she encountered in finding help for her disease. Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that can transmit the infectious organism, Borrelia burgdorferi into human blood stream affecting the nervous system, lymphatic channels and can invade the brain. Symptoms include rash, fever, headache, muscle pain and joint swelling. Onset of infection can be early or late, and laboratory tests are often inconclusive.
Much of Beating Lyme discusses the controversy in the medical community about how to diagnose and treat Lyme disease. Bean, herself, was diagnosed with arthritis, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. She cites statistics from the Lyme Disease Association that for patients with chronic Lyme disease, it often takes several years and an average of twelve to twenty-four visits to physicians to obtain a proper diagnosis.
The politics of Lyme disease are discussed by analyzing the guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and how physicians are divided over the diagnosis and treatment. Bean presents state and congressional testimony and cases where physicians are reprimanded by State Medical Boards for over-treating Lyme patients with antibiotics. Considerable detail is spent on describing the types and limits of diagnostic laboratory tests and the new awareness among elected officials that more research and guidelines need to be developed to help Lyme Disease patients.
Beating Lyme includes an appendix of symptoms, resources for local contacts and a reading list. This book is a well-written summary of a potentially debilitating illness that needs further research and understanding. Written for the consumer, this book is a good choice for public and consumer health libraries, particularly where Lyme disease is prevalent.
Reviewed by: Christine W. Allen, MSLS, AHIP, Munson Community Health Library, Traverse City, MI
Brooker, Harvey. It’s Different for Men: The Men’s Weight-Loss Strategy for Health, Wealth, and Sexual Vitality. Wiley, 2008. 196 p. Index. ISBN 978-0-470-15391-8. $27.95.
With all the recent attention to obesity in America (and with all the money to be made, apparently, from weight loss programs), it seems odd that so few programs have focused on the peculiar aspects of weight loss in men. Perhaps, as this Canadian author and weight-loss consultant suggests in this work based on his “One80” program, the social and environmental obstacles to weight loss in men are almost as discouraging as the costs to their health and well-being in men who are overweight. Those obstacles include such features of American life as “man-size” meals focusing on too much meat and starch and too few vegetables and fruits, “Super Bowl Sunday culture,” which gatherings invariably include fat-laden entrees, junk food and alcohol, and a go-it-alone mindset among American men that does not enhance one’s chances for success if he attempts to lose weight. The costs of male obesity, according to Brooker, include not only higher risks for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and early death, but also limits on one’s success at work and socially due to the negative bias against overweight people.
Brooker, whose chapters combine a motivational speaker’s salesmanship complete with emotional cues and ample testimonials, ultimately offers a practical and nutritionally sound approach to weight loss and weight maintenance for men. While the book draws heavily on his Toronto-based program, which includes male mentors and support groups, the actual diet and recipes as presented are easy enough to follow wherever the reader lives. Although more focus might have been given to the practical aspects of daily adherence to an overweight man’s new healthy eating program, the ample discussion of his emotional needs in addressing his health and diet is appropriate and necessary. Recommended especially for men’s health collections.
Reviewed by: Kay Hogan Smith, UAB Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, Birmingham, AL
Horn, Janet., and Miller, Robin H. The Smart Woman’s Guide to Midlife & Beyond: A No Nonsense Approach to Staying Healthy After 50. New Harbinger Publications, 2008. 280p. index. ISBN 1572245565.
Authored by two experienced American female physicians, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Midlife & Beyond: A No Nonsense Approach to Staying Healthy After 50, is a comprehensive guide to health at midlife intended for women. Much of the content focuses on well-defined physical health conditions, in particular, those associated with age-related decline in function in specific body systems. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), nutrient supplements, and cancers common in women are also covered in detail. The final chapter groups together a range of less-biomedically defined topics, including mental health; addictions; violence against women; the appropriate and inappropriate uses of medications, and health maintenance.
The format of each chapter is clearly biomedical: beginning with a description of the normal function of a body system (physiology), and descriptions of well-known health conditions specific to that body system, in particular, age-associated decline, including symptomology and predisposing risks, conventional treatments and some mention of less conventional treatments, and concluding with an informal Q and A session between the authors, titled, “The Docs Chat About…” and a list of 5-10 bullet points, titled “pearls of wisdom…”.
The strengths of this publication are the clarity of the writing, the extensive clinical knowledge of the authors as well as their personal experiences as women over fifty, and the provision of health statistics and findings from recent clinical studies. As well, gender and racial differences are identified. The biomedical framework of this publication does however severely limit the coverage of social determinants of health, as well as coverage of lesser known conditions, some of which are more prevalent in women, such as autoimmune disorders. Another criticism is the lack of visual elements – diagrams and photos – to illustrate the text.
Reviewed by: Christine Marton, MSc, MISt, PhD Cand., Adjunct Instructor, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
May, Jeffrey C. and Connie L. May. Jeff May’s Healthy Home Tips: A Workbook for Detecting, Diagnosing, and Eliminating Pesky Pests, Stinky Stenches, Musty Mold, and Other Aggravating Home Problems. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. 187 p. Index. ISBN: 978-0-8018-8845-8. $16.95 [Review based on Advance Reader Copy]
Jeff May combines excellent qualifications with an easy conversational style. He is a Certified Indoor Air Quality Professional with a Master’s degree in organic chemistry from Harvard and years of operating his own company, May Indoor Air Investigations LLC. His co-author Connie May is a former English teacher and experienced author. They strive to make complex and emotional concerns understandable and empower residents to do some things themselves while guiding them when to seek expert advice and how to avoid scams and poor quality services. More than half the book deals with mold and mildew. Health concerns are paramount with content for people with allergies, asthma or environmental sensitivities at the end of each section.
Designed to be an interactive and practical guide, the book asks readers to answer questions, take notes and otherwise evaluate their situations. The thorough table of contents lets the reader go straight to problem areas. The text is generally easy to understand, but there are a lot of parenthetical explanations. Sometimes knowledge of building features is assumed, while other times the features are clearly explained. Illustrations consist of clearly labeled line drawings with the occasional black and white photo.
More pictures would have been helpful, such as a photo of a properly fitted N95 mask. Additional resources, book and product recommendations are made throughout the text and at the end of each section. Many of these were listed repeatedly. References and resources were inconsistently categorized and cited, but sufficient information was given to locate them. The major problem is too much repetition and too many cute comments. Illustrations for important reminders and warnings share equal visual emphasis with sections like “Connie’s Comments” which often added nothing to the content. This book will be most attractive to individuals as a workbook, but would also be an accessible title on home health for public libraries.
Reviewed by: Kristine M. Alpi, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Mitchell, T, Church, T and Zucker, M. Move Yourself: the Cooper Clinic Medical Director’s Guide to All the Healing Benefits of Exercise (Even a Little). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008. 258 p. ISBN: 978-0-470-04223-6 $24.95
“According to government statistics, approximately 75 percent of U.S. adults are sedentary.” For everyone who has had good intentions to get in shape but has kept putting it off, this book offers encouraging news that even moderate exercise can greatly improve your health. Dr. Tedd Mitchell of the Cooper Clinic in Dallas (founded in 1970 by Dr. Kenneth Cooper following the success of his book Aerobics), fitness research expert Dr. Tim Church, and health writer Martin Zucker provide a practical, easy-to-follow physical activity program that individuals of any age should be able to integrate into even a busy lifestyle. They offer strategies and advice emphasizing that even modest amounts of exercise can lead to improvements in strength, flexibility, weight and overall health. The program also includes developing a healthy diet and discusses the place of supplements. The information in the book is based upon the research and personal and professional experiences of the authors.
The focus of Move Yourself is to embrace an active lifestyle to develop fitness, not to concentrate on getting thin. The lengthiest section of the book provides extensive background on the healing properties of movement - how it will increase your energy level; prevent the chances of developing conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis; improve your memory, sleep, digestion and sex life; reduce aches and pains; relieve headaches; and ultimately increase your chances of living better and longer.
Three progressive action plans are described. Plan A is recommended as the starting point for sedentary individuals to ease them into physical activity in a safe, comfortable and effective way. Moderately active individuals can start with Plan B – the balance program – that includes some aerobic activity, such as waking, jogging, cycling or swimming combined with strength training and stretching exercises. Plan C – the waist removal plan - is for those who want to trim their waists and lose weight. The authors emphasize that individuals should speak to their doctor to get clearance before embarking on any of the programs. This is particularly crucial if there are any medical conditions, such as a history of heart trouble, that need to be taken into consideration. The authors have found that their “move yourself” program has lead to marked health improvements in their patients and study participants, even those sixty-five and much older who have had heart attacks or chronic illnesses.
The book provides practical suggestions for charting progress in becoming physically active. For example, using a pedometer or step counter for “real-time” data, logging your activity and comparing it to others, setting goals, and keeping a positive spin when you “miss” doing activities.
Move Yourself is recommended for consumer health information collections. It imparts medical information in a clear, conversational manner for a consumer audience, but there is medical research and experience to back up the “move yourself” programs. The appendices include a short annotated list of resources and a useful bibliography. The book makes a convincing case for the power of exercise for everyone at any age and sold me on purchasing a pedometer!
Reviewed by: Susan Murray, Consumer Health Information Service, Toronto Reference Library, Toronto, Canada
Morgentaler, Abraham. Testosterone for Life. McGraw Hill/Harvard Health Publications, 2009. 256p. References. ISBN 978-0-07-14 9480-9
Testosterone for Life is a book written for middle-aged men on how to “recharge yoursex drive, muscle mass, energy and overall health”. Itis a serious book about a serious health concern for middle-aged men. Hormone replacement in the form of pills, patches, or gels is not just a choice for women anymore. The author is a Harvard Medical School urologist and specialist in men’s health, and he has published work in New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and Journal of the American Medical Association. His area of expertise is testosterone and this book is the result of 30 years of research and clinical work.
The author explains in chapters 1-5 how men can recognize the symptoms of low testosterone, the importance of testosterone in relation to overall health, the challenges to acceptance of testosterone therapy as a mainstream medical treatment, and the benefits of therapy. In chapter 8, the author clearly discusses the risks, side effects, and necessary medical monitoring. Two chapters discuss testosterone and prostate cancer. The book is very easy to read, with a Q&A section at the end of each chapter, which helps the reader digest each section before moving on to the next chapter. Dr. Morgantaler shares positive stories about his patients and how “T therapy” has helped them with a variety of symptoms to feel more energetic, vigorous, and alive, and have more interest in sex and improved sexual performance.
My favorite part of the book is where the author describes doing some of his research in the basement of the Countway Library, Harvard Medical School's ‘incredible archive of medical literature’ where bound volumes of august journals such as The Lancet date back to the 1800s. It was here that the author made his major discovery there is no basis to the assertion that testosterone caused greater growth of prostate cancer.
There are several other consumer health books on this topic, such as “The Testosterone Syndrome”, “The Testosterone Factor”, “The Andropause Mystery”, “Hormone Use in Menopause and Male Andropause” and “Super T”. Most of this book focuses on helping men who might have low testosterone recognize their symptoms, learn how to have the diagnosis made, and obtain treatment. The key question of the long-term health benefits to having normal testosterone levels has yet to be answered, but the author says the short answer is a qualified yes, and he has the research to back it up.
Reviewed by: Theresa Johnson, MLIS, Sutter Resource Library, Sacramento, CA
Schwarz, Sally Peterman. Arthritis: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier. Demos
Health, 2008. 176p. index. ISBN 978-1-932603-67-5. $16.95
Sally Schwarz, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1979, is the author of a nationally syndicated column, “Making life easier.” This is her third book in this format of 300 tips, the two previous covered Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease. Some of the tips in this book are useful to anyone living with chronic illness, but many are tailored specifically to Arthritis. The tips are divided among eight subject areas that include: Managing medical issues, In your home, Managing mealtime madness, Looking good/feeling better, and Getting out and about. A nine page index aids in navigating among the over 400 tips in the book. Although there is some overlap of ideas between the different chapters, the list of resources combined with all the tips gathers a lot of useful information into one handy resource. Given the number of arthritis sufferers this is a good purchase for a Consumer Health Collection.
Reviewed by: Rene L. Brown, Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, Williamsburg, VA
Seaman, Barbara, and Eldridge, June. The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause. Simon & Schuster, 2008. 460p. appendix. ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-7678. ISBN 10: 0-7432-7678-7. $26.95.
Using references from many current studies and journal articles, Barbara Seaman and Laura Eldridge logically lead their readers through the maze of menopause and beyond. Seaman, author of several notable women’s health books, including Lovely Me, For Women Only, and Free and Female has been recognized by the Library of Congress as “the author who raised sexism in health care as a worldwide issue.” Eldridge is Seaman’s longtime associate and co-authored their books The Body Politic and The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women
The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause, organized into four sections, flows logically from one topic to the next. For example, the first section called “Are you going through menopause?” establishes the definition of menopause and how it can manifest itself in a woman’s mind and body. The authors explain the multi-faceted findings of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a longitudinal study that began in 1991 and involved over 160,000 participants.
In section two, the authors discuss the various kinds of hormone therapy and how they evolved; section three presents the overall effect menopause can have on memory, skin, heart disease, and how thyroid disease can present itself as menopause; section four is entitled “meno-politics,” and offers interesting perspectives on cultural perceptions of menopause.
The authors use well-organized charts throughout the book to summarize and simplify major points of their discussion. One such chart, for example, describes the various kinds of hormone therapies. The appendix offers readers a “crash course in the basics of health literacy,” providing valuable information regarding the existing kinds of medical studies women may encounter. The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause is well referenced, well organized, clearly written and interesting. It would be a valuable addition to a consumer health library collection.
Reviewed by: Marie Becker, MLS, St. Joseph Hospital Health Sciences Library, Kokomo, IN.
Silver, Julie K. Ed. What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope, 2008. American Cancer Society. 288p. ISBN 978-1-6044-3004-2 $17.95.
This book reads like a bedside companion – chock full of survivors’ insight into, as the title clearly states, what helped get them through their cancer. A cancer diagnosis is always frightening and as any cancer patient will tell you – it’s a solitary journey. I know because I, too, am a cancer survivor. Yet, as any cancer survivor will also tell you, there are acts of kindness and personal adjustments both large and small throughout the course of diagnosis, treatment and beyond that ease the fear and soften the arduous journey.
What Helped Get Me Through is a compilation of survivors’ tips gleaned from more than 300 surveys the editor, Julie Silver, M.D. (herself a cancer survivor) conducted. Here, cancer patients share what worked and what didn’t, on everything from how they nurtured themselves, to how family and friends made a difference, to balancing work and family, to what they wish they’d known at diagnosis and more.
It’s human nature that in crisis, we seek to connect with others who are like us and who understand what we are going through. Cancer patients will connect with this book because the contributors are survivors and they get it. Like someone’s diary – the survivors’ comments are compelling and deeply personal. Cancer is as much a battle of the mind as it is of the body. What Helped Get Me Through provides comfort and companionship because it is grounded in the sage experience of others who have fought so hard and lived to tell about it.
People from all walks of life and faith journeys are represented in the survivors’ comments highlighted here, so cancer patients are likely to find on these pages someone whose point of view resonates with them. Loved ones of cancer patients will benefit from reading survivors’ perspectives of how they can provide meaningful support during such a difficult time.
Dr. Silver is a breast cancer survivor, award-winning author and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. A staff member of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in the Lance Armstrong Foundation Survivorship Clinic specializing in cancer rehabilitation, she received the Lane Adams Quality of Life Award by the American Cancer Society in 2006. This book is highly recommended for all libraries serving cancer patients and their loved ones.
Note: I reviewed the uncorrected manuscript edition of What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope.
Reviewed by: Michele A. Spatz, Planetree Health Resource Center of Mid-Columbia Medical Center, The Dalles, Oregon.
Weinberg, Harlan R. MD. Dr. Weinberg’s Guide to the Best Health Resources on the Web. Harper Collins Publishers, 2008. 276 p.
ISBN 978-0-06-137336-7. $14.95
Written by a practicing critical care physician, this book is designed to assist consumers who are searching for health care information on the Internet who have difficulty differentiating between reliable and non-reliable information. Conspicuously absent in this book are directions of how to access a website for authenticity, reliability, relevance and currency of information. In fact, the only information listed is the author’s list of websites for different types of medical conditions.
The contents are divided into general health topics followed by an alphabetical listing of health care topics which is not all inclusive. Dr. Weinberg has chosen many topics that are currently in the medical news; including ADD, autism, cross cultural care, and genetics. Of note is that the first two sites listed under general health resources are UptoDate and eMedicine, both of which have a decidedly more academic focus than do MedlinePlus or other easy to read, graphically rich resources for consumers. Many medical journals are also cited as resources for consumers for health information on specialty topics.
Although this physician had the intention of listing his favorite choices, I feel that with a consultation with a medical librarian that he could have better outlined how to find reliable health related websites and better researched the importance of health literacy to consumer understanding of information that is being sought. In addition, an index of topics included Google, Ask.com, and other proprietary sites.
Reviewed by: Carol Ann Attwood, MLS, AHIP, MPH, RN, C, Patient and Health Education Library, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ.
Publication Information
Statement
Consumer Connections (ISSN 1535-7821) is the newsletter of the Consumer and Patient Information Section of the Medical Library Association. It is published on the CAPHIS website quarterly. Notification of publication is sent via the CAPHIS listserv. CAPHIS is the largest section of the Medical Library Association.
Newsletter articles and book reviews are copyrighted; please contact the editor for reprint permission.
Submissions
Please submit items for Consumer Connections during the third quarter for publication in the following quarter.
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For publication newsletter issue |
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| March | April-June |
| June | July-September |
| September | October-December |
| December | January-March |
Please send submissions in electronic format to the editors:
| Joey Nicholson | Nikki Dettmar |
| e-mail: jnicholson@nyam.org | e-mail: snydern@u.washington.edu |
| Telephone: (212) 822-7355 | Telephone: (206)543-3409 |
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