New Books: January 2018

The way we die now, by Seamus O’Mahony.

“We have lost the ability to deal with death. Most of our friends and beloved relations will die in a busy hospital in the care of strangers, doctors, and nurses they have known at best for a couple of weeks. They may not even know they are dying, victims of the kindly lie that there is still hope. They are unlikely to see even their family doctor in their final hours, robbed of their dignity and fed through a tube after a long series of excessive and hopeless medical interventions.

This is the starting point of Seamus O’Mahony’s The Way We Die Now, a thoughtful, moving and unforgettable book on the western way of death. Dying has never been more public, with celebrities writing detailed memoirs of their illness, but in private we have done our best to banish all thought of dying and made a good death increasingly difficult to achieve.” — Amazon

Evolution’s bite: a story of teeth, diet, and human origins, by Peter S. Ungar.

“Ungar describes how a tooth’s ‘foodprints’–distinctive patterns of microscopic wear and tear–provide telltale details about what an animal actually ate in the past. These clues, combined with groundbreaking research in paleoclimatology, demonstrate how a changing climate altered the food options available to our ancestors, what Ungar calls the biospheric buffet. When diets change, species change, and Ungar traces how diet and an unpredictable climate determined who among our ancestors was winnowed out and who survived, as well as why we transitioned from the role of forager to farmer. By sifting through the evidence–and the scars on our teeth–Ungar makes the important case for what might or might not be the most natural diet for humans.” — Amazon

Conquering Lyme disease: science bridges the great divide, by Brian A. Fallon and Jennifer Sotsky, et al.

“In this authoritative book, the Columbia University Medical Center physicians Brian Fallon and Jennifer Sotsky explain that there is much cause for optimism. The past decade’s advances in precision medicine and biotechnology are reshaping our understanding of Lyme disease and accelerating the discovery of new tools to diagnose and treat it, such that the great divide previously separating medical communities is now being bridged. Drawing on both extensive clinical experience and cutting-edge research, Fallon, Sotsky, and their colleagues present these paradigm-shifting breakthroughs. They clearly explain the immunologic, infectious, and neurologic basis of chronic symptoms and their cognitive and psychological impact, as well as current and emerging diagnostic tests, treatments, and prevention strategies. Written for the educated individual seeking to learn more, Conquering Lyme Disease gives an up-to-the-minute overview of the science that is essential for both patients and practitioners. It argues forcefully that the expanding plague of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases can be confronted successfully and may soon even be reversed.” — Amazon

 ACSM’s guidelines for exercise testing and prescription, edited by Deborah Riebe, Jonathan K. Ehrman, Gary Liguori, Meir Magal.

“ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription is the flagship title from the American College of Sports Medicine, the prestigious organization that sets the standards for the exercise profession. This critical handbook delivers scientifically based standards on exercise testing and prescription to the certification candidate, the professional, and the student. This manual gives succinct summaries of recommended procedures for exercise testing and exercise prescription in healthy and diseased patients The tenth edition reflects some crucial and exciting changes, making the content necessary for effective study and practice. New pre-exercise health screening recommendations are critical to helping more of the population begin a safe, healthy physical activity program without consulting a physician. New and expanded information on the risks of sedentary behavior, clinical exercise testing and interpretation, high intensity interval training, musculoskeletal injury risk, fitness testing protocols and norms, and an expansion of the principles of health behavior change are included. Additionally, significant reorganization of content will help you reach the information you need quickly.” — OCLC

Critical issues in healthcare policy and politics in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, edited by Ravinder Mamtani and Albert B. Lowenfels [NYMC authors].

“The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain) have made considerable efforts to boost their healthcare sectors, but despite the region’s wealth, their healthcare infrastructure and capacity still lag behind. This is now a pressing problem. Rapid changes to the environment and lifestyles of the GCC states have completely changed the health profile of the region. While major successes in combatting infectious diseases and improving standards of primary healthcare have been reflected in key health indicators, new trends have emerged. Increasingly “lifestyle” or “wealthy country” diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, have replaced the old maladies. These new challenges require highly trained and skilled healthcare workers, an environment that supports local training, state of the art diagnostic laboratories and hospitals, research production and dissemination, and knowledge acquisition to meet emerging healthcare needs. The GCC faces shortages of all of these things. This book provides a comprehensive study of the rapidly changing health profile of the region, the existing conditions of healthcare systems, and the challenges posed to healthcare management across the six states of the GCC.” — Amazon