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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness: Dr. Dean's Commonsense Guide for Anything That Ails You
Features:- ISBN13: 9780060577230
- Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
- Notes:
Rating:  -
As a fellow physician in the trenches of modern health care, reading any book by Dr. Dean Edell gives me hope. We live in a world gone mad with access to information (some reliable, some pure nonsense) and in a country obsessed with health, longevity, and quick miracle fixes. America's best known physician has long been a beacon of reason and rationality in the practical pursuit of better health, and his latest contribution, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Healthiness, thank goodness, is no exception.
The good doctor tackles obesity, our sex lives, cosmetic medicine, ADHD, alternative medicine, health screening and just about every other issue preoccupying the average baby boomer with fair, balanced, well-researched straight talk. This book should come as a relief to so many Americans who have found only frustration and failure in their futile search for the next quick-fix diet or the elusive Hollywood sex life.
He provides many answers to questions in these areas. But what's better, Dr Edell helps us ask the right questions in the first place. Not "how do I lose fifty pounds before my next reunion" but rather, "how can I understand this excess weight and fatigue and then realistically address it?" Not, "how can I have more sex with my spouse like the people on TV" but rather "what are the issues coming between my spouse and myself that make our sex life less satisfying for us than it could be?"
Movies, television, magazines and now the Internet marketplace have so distorted our concept of what a healthy and happy life can or should be. However, this entertaining, entirely human book (it includes hundreds of actual questions from readers/listeners) cuts through the hype and brings the media-tossed reader back to terra firma. And when it's all said and done, that's the healthiest place to be.
Both of Dr. Edell's health books are on the recommended reading list for all my patients. This is not because I agree with everything he says - I tend to be a bit more aggressive in my health screening recommendations, for example - but because his rational, logical, evidence-based approach to making health-related choices is the only one that will take the reader beyond the placebo effect in maximizing their longevity and wellbeing.
- John Corso, MD author of: Stupid Reasons People Die, An Ingenious Plot for Diffusing Deadly Diseases.
Rating:  -
As a along time sufferer of Fibromyalgia (FMS), I was horrified to see Dr. Edell haul out that old and thoroughly disproven idea that it is a psychological illness. I am a psychiatric social worker, and have had umpteen tests, all normal. Many studies have shown no more psych problems than in any pain syndrome. This illness has ruined the lives of 10 million (mostly) women in the prime of their lives. Hey Doc, read the functional MRI studies, the SPECT and PET scan studies, the cardiomyopathy studies, the cortisol stimulation studies, the somatatomedin C/growth hormone studies, and I could go on an on. It must be sheer laziness not to know the research overwhelmingly proves the reality of this illness. And while you're at it, read the World Health Organization's position paper on FMS, in which they state it is one of the three top morbidity illnesses affecting the human race. We are in enough pain and misery already without having an ignorant doctor casually trashing us in a book. This makes me wonder how many other errors are in this book. Shame on you!
Rating: -
As a mother of 2, this book will join my other more traditional health books on the book shelf. My husband and I really enjoyed the "readability" of this book. We like the family health aspect as opposed to the childrens health books we already own. Reading Dr. Edell is like getting a second opinion. We can also relate to his common sense take on things, since this is how we live our lives.
Rating: -
Name a topic. ANY topic. Type that into a search engine, and you can learn far more in a few minutes than you can from Dr. Edell's superficial treatment of too many topics in this book. Edell is a generalist, not a specialist. As such, he knows a little about almost everything, and evidently not much about anything. In fact, Dr. Edell seems to possess a gift for superficiality. (Perhaps because he has been doing his radio show for so long, since radio hosts generally tend to gloss over topics to "keep the show moving.") I've read similar books of equal length by other authors, and even though they covered just as many (or more) topics as Edell did, they managed to convey some useful, in-depth information. Dr. Edell seems to have difficulty expressing himself concisely, which explains why he can say so little in so much space.This book will likely sell well because Edell is famous and has a radio show in which he can, and does, frequently plug the book. If he were an unknown doctor, few people would read this book, and even fewer would like it. Many of you Dr. Edell fans will undoubtedly give this book five stars and rave about how good it is, not because the book is truly good (to think that, you'd have to be delusional or oblivious to other books that do a MUCH better job of educating readers), but because you like Dr. Edell. Well, so do I, because his radio show is, despite its equal superficiality, more palatable than other programs in that time slot. I purchased this book thinking that it would give Dr. Edell a forum to discuss things in more depth than he can on radio. Obviously, I was very disappointed. Edell is clearly more interested in selling books than taking the time to write something that is worthwhile to read.
Rating:  -
This is the first book of its kind I've owned, and I find that if I keep it handy, I frequently pick it up during commercials when I'm watching the news or a movie. Invariably, I come upon some helpful tidbit of healthful information that will serve my family well or maybe do nothing more than satisfy my curiosity.With its simple, to the point format, looking up specifics is easy and quick.
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