12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent advice to help you to avoid hearing those awful words ..., May 8, 2007
This review is from: Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time: Practical Advice For Preventing Cancer (Paperback)
In the introduction, the author says she wrote this book because she wants you to "be prepared" before the siren blows, announcing the disaster.
Say this out loud: One in every two American men and one out of every three American women will get cancer over the course of their lifetime (pg. 1). Now does the author have your attention?
Quoting from the British Cancer Control Society, "...treating disease is enormously profitable, preventing disease is not."
If far more money is spent to treat than prevent, and physicians are restricted by managed care--now is the time for us to know more and advocate for our own health. Other money issues concern how our food is produced (what is put on our plants to increase yield and what animals are fed to grow faster).
As consumers we will spend whatever is needed to treat illness, but we do not spend time and money to educate ourselves about avoiding the disease in the first place. And yet ... "80-95% of cancers that have a environmental component, only one third are due to smoking."
However: "One thousands Americans stop smoking every day--by dying." (Author unknown)
Chapter 2 starts with 25 questions--and now I AM concerned because I answered yes to too many--and my ignorance is showing. You may feel the same when you answer them.
The authors left no cancer-causing stone unturned. Through charts, graphs, lists, recipes and action suggestions, you will understand your body and your environment--and how what you eat and drink and do can affect your health. The back of the book has worksheets, very helpful appendices, a carcinogen list, references and index so you can find things easily.
Author Lynne Eldridge, M.D. is a medical doctor who has studied human exposure to pesticide and has practiced family medicine with an emphasis on prevention. David Borgeson has a Masters in epidemiology and is a practicing physical therapist that emphasizes health promotion.
The authors have asked us to make many changes in our lives to live longer and cancer free--and some are easy and some will be hard. They do not want us to become overwhelmed and do nothing--just start with what you can change today.
Armchair Interviews says: The contents can--and should frighten you into action and change. Maybe then you will never have to hear the words: You have cancer!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Useful steps to prevent cancer, December 20, 2007
This review is from: Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time: Practical Advice For Preventing Cancer (Paperback)
Paranoia would be a perfectly logical response to this cancer-prevention book. You might be tempted to rifle through your medicine cabinet and laundry room shelves, disposing of any product that isn't vinegar, baking soda or bottled water. You may never use an air freshener again or allow another French fry to pass between your lips. In fact, Dr. Lynne Eldridge and her brother, epidemiologist David Borgeson, warn against becoming fanatical in attempting to reduce carcinogenic threats in your environment. But they aren't apologetic about presenting a wealth of valuable information that could help prolong your life. The authors admit that links between certain chemicals and cancers are inconclusive, and they judge the medical establishment pretty harshly. Then they present the most current information based on studies and statistics, and leave it to you to accept or reject their recommendations. We recommend this book in the belief that much of what the authors cover makes sense. Don't get scared; get busy.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Reader-Friendly Cancer Prevention Book I've Ever Read, December 15, 2007
This review is from: Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time: Practical Advice For Preventing Cancer (Paperback)
Dr. Lynne Eldridge and David Borgeson have written an authoritative, good-humored and remarkably practical book on how people can alter their lifestyles and add years to their lives. "Avoiding Cancer: One Day at a Time" is about do-able prevention, and sets a needed example for American health care, where research and resources disproportionately address diagnosis and treatment to the neglect of keeping people healthy in the first place. This is an easy read, loaded with practical information - from everyday environmental hazards, to avoidance of carcinogenic lifestyle choices, to a deep and useful discussion of preventive nutrition. And there is a terrific "Avoiding Cancer Recipe Collection" which could be expanded into a book of its own. In sum, the best reader-friendly cancer prevention book I've ever read.
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