[.ca] Take Care Of Yourself 7E: The Complete Illustrated Guide ... (ISBN 0738203068)

From Amazon.com:
"In our quest for a symptom-free existence, we make millions of unnecessary visits to doctors--as many as 70% of all visits are for new problems," write the authors, both physicians. "For every type of problem, there are some instances in which you should decide to see the doctor and some in which you should not." How do you decide? That's where Take Care of Yourself comes in. Here's how it works. When you have a new medical problem, first read the emergency signs in the "Emergencies" chapter to see if you need to get medical attention pronto. If not (and most medical situations are not emergencies), look up your main complaint or symptom. There you find a decision flow chart that asks you yes/no questions, and your answers direct you to a probable cause and either medical care or home treatment. If home treatment is appropriate, you get an explanation of what to do, what not to do, and when to see your doctor if the problem doesn't go away. If a doctor's visit is recommended, you learn what to expect when you get there. There's not much detail on any one topic: one and one-half to two pages on each of more than 175 health problems (large and small), including charts and illustrations. But it's a handy guide and a good first step when it's essential to know what to do quickly, and for that reason several major HMOs distribute it to their members. Because good health habits help you avoid medical problems, you get a brief guide to getting started with exercise, good nutrition, smoking cessation, alcohol moderation, weight control, avoiding injury, and professional prevention (checkups, screening, early treatment, etc.). It's also an interesting to read in a Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook kind of way--who knows when you might need to know how to pull out a tick, or release trapped blood under a nail using a heated paper clip and pliers? --Joan Price

Take Care of Yourself by Vickery et al.:
This work has a variety of symptoms to known disease processes during childhood, adulthood and old age. Strategies to deal with stress/strain, chest pain, eye problems, digestion and the urinary tract are set forth in detail throughout the book. Urinary tract infections may be treated initially by drinking more fluids ; such as water and juices i.e. cranberry. The author distinguishes between home treatment and instances when a physician must be called to deal with more serious symptoms. Simple wounds can be soaked and cleaned with warm water for short periods. Larger wounds take longer to heal and require a physician's intervention. This work is perfect for immediate interventions until definitive improvement is seen or a physician becomes available. It should be in every personal health library.

Highly Useful (Refers to Sixth Edition):
My father is a 79-year-old retiree from a major automobile manufacturer, and his former employer sent this book to all its retirees. My father finds it extremely useful. He often uses it, not instead of going to the doctor, but the day before doing so. He tracks down his symptoms in this well-organized book, and then is able to better discuss his concerns with the doctor. The book does not try to replace a doctor, and most of the handy diagnostic flow-charts have several endpoints labeled with "Call your physician". Another way this book can be useful is just after a doctor visit, when you can get clear explanations of whatever the physician diagnosed. This book also contains good basic health maintenance and healthy living advice. We have the Sixth Edition and use it often.

Essential health care reference:
We've used this reference extensively for over 20 years to figure out when a particular problem requires professional medical attention (urgent or otherwise) and when there may be an effective home treatment. We first started using it at the urging of our family doctor. When we use it before making an appointment, our doctor knows that we're well informed and prepared to make efficient use of our time with him. Now that our son is away at college, we've gotten him his own copy.

A lightweight and easy to read self-care medical book.:
Even though the cover claims that the book is 'The Complete Illustrated Guide to Medical Self-Care', there are better books that you can purchase for a few dollars more that meet the claim. It is very easy to read and not intimidating at all like the other medical self-care books. That is probably why this book is so popular. I was given this copy free by my HMO a long time back and I have found it valuable enough to keep it for all these years. Anytime I experience some symptoms of bad health, I refer to this book first to see if I can find a quick solution. Only if I can't find it in this book, do I pull out my other two books - 'The Merck Manual of Medical Information' and 'The American Medical Association Family Medical Guide' which are absolutely the best in the field. There is a very good section on preventive health care at the beginning of the book followed by 1-2 page descriptions of 175+ symptoms and home treatment advice. For each symptom, there is a simple flow chart that is easy to follow in case you are experiencing that symptom. The flow chart will lead you through possible causes of the symptom and what to do about it. The especially useful feature of this flow chart technique is the focus on when to apply home treatment and when to see a doctor. My family and I have always been interested in treating medical problems at home if possible before getting the medical establishments involved. This book helped us try to treat basic symptoms at home more effectively without fear of making a mistake. I am not sure if I would recommend the purchase of this book, but if you receive a questionaire from your HMO that promises to mail you this book for filling out the form, I would say 'go for it'. I definitely recommend buying one of the following two books for home self-care - The Merck Manual of Medical Information and The American Medical Association Family Medical Guide. If in doubt, all of these books strongly advice you to seek a medical professional's assistance. Bottom line - I don't think it hurts to have a couple of self-care books that arm you with knowledge about basic health related problems and maybe even appease your hypochondriac side.

You should have this book:
This book is a consumer's guide to staying out of the doctor's office. The authors' goals are to help ordinary people recognize when they need to seek a doctor's help, and when they can get along fine without a doctor. The book mostly focuses on symptoms and common injuries. As a reader, you say to yourself, "I have a rash," or "My daughter has a sore throat." Then you look up the symptoms in the index, which points you to a short 2 page article about what might be the possible causes and likely outcomes of your problem. Each short article includes a flowchart with questions that help you determine whether you should apply home treatment, make an appointment with a doctor, or head for the emergency room. The articles also describe what kinds of home treatments are effective, and what you can expect if you decide to see the doctor. Naturally, this book can't substitute for proper medical care. It is quite limited, for instance, on descriptions of formal medical diagnoses- -in general, it is not a good source for patient information if your doctor says you're sick with a disease that you've never heard of. On the other hand, it does an excellent job of letting you know when you need to see a doctor, and when you don't. The language is very non-technical and easy for ordinary people to understand. My aunt, a nurse practitioner, gave me a copy of this book when I first went away to college since I would be making decisions about when to seek medical care on my own for the first time. Since then, I've used the book innumerable times, and it is one of the very few that I take with me when I move from place to place.