Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness: Dr. Dean's Commonsense Guide for Anything That Ails You [Hardcover]

Dean Edell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2003

Dr. Dean Edell is your guide through the media hype, direct to the bottom line. Whether you're interested in advice on sex health, arthritis, or how to spot medical myths, you will see why millions of Americans have come to revere Dr. Dean. His refreshingly candid health talk on radio and television, and in the bestselling Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, is just like Grandma's advice: practical and enlivened with a strong dose of opinion.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness is a comprehensive medical resource for the whole family, applying Dr. Dean's practical health philosophies to today's most pressing health topics -- from attention deficit hyper-activity disorder to obesity, depression, and the effectiveness of alternative medicines. This book features more than 500 questions and answers from Dr. Dean's popular radio show, plus quizzes, symptom checklists, Web links, and recommended reading.

You'll also find plenty of often-surprising facts, debunked "truths," and critical details from the latest medical research. This is thebook you'll want on your nightstand, for your family's good health.

Dr. Dean has answered more than 50,000 questions on the air in the lasttwenty-five years. In Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness, he encourages readers to take charge of their own health with their most powerful weapons -- common sense and a dose of skepticism -- saving time, money, and especially anxiety.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Popular media doc Dean Edell, M.D., is at the top of his game here, offering wit and wisdom on all things health related. Are you wondering which wrinkle treatments work? Where on the body there has never been a report of cancer? Whether men notice cellulite? What to do about LSD flashbacks, 30 years later? Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness treats an array of popular health topics, with chapters on obesity, sex, alternative medicine, children, aging, "the business of beauty," and more. Edell loosely follows the successful formula of his radio program, using Q&A format to impart facts, perspective, and often a spirited opinion (e.g. "Doctors will get off their pedestals when patients get off their knees" and "Sex is the most available and direct route to ecstasy that we know"), and includes Web resources. You'll learn about a battery of diseases, conditions, and procedures, as diverse as depression, cancer, anorexia (there's a heart-breaking question from a 5'2" 21-year-old who weighs 70 pounds and wants to weigh 60 pounds), infertility, and herbal medicines. The book is so engrossing that you'll want to read it even if you're not looking for something specific. Edell, a radio doctor for 25 years, currently has eight million listeners. Highly recommended for Edell fans and for folks who haven't discovered him yet. --Joan Price

From Publishers Weekly

Edell, author of Eat, Drink and Be Merry, presents relaxed and practical advice familiar to the millions of people who have watched him on TV or listened to him on radio. Changes in the health care system can make it difficult for patients to get the treatment they want: Edell offers advice to them and also addresses the many advances in scientific research such as hormone therapy and cancer that can be confusing to physicians, let alone patients. The book is organized in general subject areas-including sex, women's issues, children, alternative medicine, aging and addiction-that feature a short introduction, resource list and q&as. These sections are logical, although there are occasional entries that seem almost trivial, compared to more serious issues. For example, Edell answers the question of whether "eating seaweed makes your hair grow thicker." Overall, however, the questions Edell fields are very specific and relevant to many, and cover a wide range of topics. It's unlikely that this volume will replace the many other health titles, but it is a useful reference, especially for advice on nutrition and alternative medicine
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (December 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060577231
• ISBN-13: 978-0060577230
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,915,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reliable Answers to Questions about Health Care, December 24, 2003

By 

Samuel Homola (Panama City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness: Dr. Dean's Commonsense Guide for Anything That Ails You (Hardcover)

Dr. Edell's new book is packed with good advice for those of us who want truthful answers to questions about health care. His encyclopedic knowledge, based on the best available science, is combined with reason and common sense in a way that every reader can understand and appreciate. Best of all, he pulls no punches in exposing pseudoscientific "alternative" healing methods that contaminate good health care and pose a threat to the health and well being of consumers. I highly recommend this book for persons who want a complete, interesting reference book that provides reliable health information in an easy-to-read question-and-answer format that allows readers to pick and choose topics that interest them most.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear, topical, organized well, and witty - very useful, December 25, 2003

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness: Dr. Dean's Commonsense Guide for Anything That Ails You (Hardcover)

There are several things I really like about this book:

1) To me the most important thing is that this book is not sensationalistic or seeking to palm of unproven treatments for this or that. Dr. Edell seeks to give sound medical advice in a commonsense manner that is based on science rather than anecdote or wish.

2) The style of the book is in a tried and true question and answer format. The questions are relevant to people's present concerns and the answers are to the point, clear, and at times quite witty which adds to the enjoyment of reading the book. There are also little side boxes throughout the book that bust various myths or provide quick insights into topics in the popular media.

3) It is organized in sections that make finding what you are interested in reading about easy to find.

4) The book is loaded with websites and places to go for further sound information on various topics.

I am a person that thinks most of what is written about health should be shredded and recycled as soon as possible and preferably not printed in the first place. However, this is a terrific book that I would gladly hand to anyone looking to read about any of the topics it includes. You will have to make your own conclusions about the advice Dr. Edell gives, but I found this book to be useful and convincing.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than what I expected, December 29, 2003

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness: Dr. Dean's Commonsense Guide for Anything That Ails You (Hardcover)

I like this book. Even though I dislike talk shows and switch the radio channel when Dr. Edell is on. It was the first chapter that made me want to read the rest of the book. Sure most people know why they or other people are F A T. But Dr. Edell goes a step further and answers honest questions with honest answers that are devoid of PC nonsense. Although I admit I winced with his Alternative medicine chapter, because there are east-west or traditional and eastern medicine trained physicians like Dr Andrew Weil whom I respect and recommend. Overall the book is good and has more good than bad in it. So read it and take what is helpful and ignore the rest.