Customer Reviews

A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body

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This book is a highly readable journey ranging from intensely personal experiences and explanations of the underpinnings of childhood medical ailments. Dr. Sanghavi explains case studies like a master storyteller, so that the reader learns experientially, which is much more enjoyable than perusing a dry textbook. It is not a comprehensive handbook of what ails children, nor is it meant to be. But it does give insight on a wide variety of medical conditions that may affect your child or the children of friends and family. Besides being appealing to any parent, this book will appeal to those who are fascinated by the function of the human body, what life would be like as a pediatrician, and current thinking on a variety of medical debates, including homeopathic medicine, medical opinion and knowledge in the courtroom, and prenatal care. This book is an educational and touching way to see life through the eyes of a thoughtful and academic pediatrician.

A fabulous book. As a father and the husband of a doctor, I have a keen interest in the subject of this book. Dr. Sanghavi writes with such enthusiasm, compassion and lack of ego that the layperson is drawn into the often confusing and exclusive world of medicine. His historical references, which back up or explain a current case, are fascinating. I hope this will not be the only time we hear from Dr. Sanghavi.

As an undergraduate interested in pediatrics but without an extensive knowledge of the body as of yet, this book was absolutely wonderful. Dr. Sanghavi provides a frank, honest view of children's health that I couldn't put down. Wonderful book.

I'm not a doctor but I am the mother of a child and I found this book hard to put down. The author did a terrific job of packaging very clinical information in a compelling and readable book. The stories of his personal and professional experiences really bring the book to life. It's a must for every parent.

This book is a great read and I reccommend this to anyone in the medical field and for anyone with a child. You don't need any medical knowledge to understand the book as everything is made for the layperson to understand. I loved the book!

This book provides a wonderful overview of each body systems and then tells the story of children with different health concerns. The explanations of how different organs function are easy to understand and provide context to the stories that follow.

One of the things I like best is that Dr. Sanghavi does not make himself into a hero or know-it-all. He expresses a genuine interest in and acknowledgement of the individuality of each child.

My only complaint is that it seems a little unfair that Dr. Sanghavi can be so gifted as both a physician AND a writer!

It's an easy and interesting read. Awesome inside look at some of the cases encountered by a pediatrician-- DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT!

You have an opportunity to sit down with the very best in pediatrics and have him discuss with you his profession, the workings of the body and his takes on life. The author must be an a extraordinary individual who is obviously striving for to be the best in the profession.

I gained an education and was moved by the cases presented and the author's beautiful words; and walked away with a more profound appreciation of the Creator of the World and a new prespective on life.

Although Darshak Sanghavi seems like an intelligent doctor with impressive credentials, I would heed caution to some of the advice he offers. In various publications and this book Darshak gives medical advice that he has no right giving. He often states things as fact when it is really just personal opinion and has even gone as far as to referring to studies without doing his due diligence.

I wanted this book when I was pregnant with my 3rd child- a step by step guide through the child's body. The chapters included are Lungs, Heart, Blood, Bones, Brain, Skin, Gonads, Guts. Each chapter includes a nice discussion of how the organ or set of organs, are supposed to function and a few case studies on what can go wrong with them.

Darshak Sanghavi strikes me as a very intelligent, compassionate and caring pediatrician. He attended Harvard Medical School and trained at Boston's Children's Hospital. Generally only the most successful of students have those opportunities. Darshak attends summer camps for kids with cancers and makes his way to a Navajo reservation to practice pediatrics- presumably his education was paid in part because of an agreement to work in underserved areas. Over the course of the book, he talks about the extra time he spends with his young patients, making them comfortable and explaining their illnesses to their parents. Noble goals, all in all.

Unfortunately, the author misses a crucial chapter when he fails to include Immunology, and he apparently hasn't read the American Academy of Pediatrics Statement on the Use of Human Milk. This statement includes over 100 references, citing the need for human babies to receive their mother's milk for at least the first 6 months of life.

Why is this significant? In his chapter on Blood, a child undergoes a bone marrow transplant. It has been well documented that organ transplants are more successful if the recipient was breastfed as a child. It would have been useful to see mention of this fact. No one expects their child to have an organ transplant, but I think all mothers would do whatever they could to ensure that the child survives one. Sadly, this child didn't.

I'm not sure if Darshak really likes seeing mothers parent instinctively or naturally. The same chapter opens with the only account of a homebirth in the book and leads to the case of a child with hemorrhagic disease of the newborn or HDN. Homebirths are safer than hospital births and the outcomes for the baby are much better when the child is born at home. I don't find it coincidental that the author chose this family to illustrate a very rare condition that could happen in the hospital as well as at home. After all, any mother can decline the Vitamin K injection for her baby.

The chapter on Bones includes a lengthy review of a child abuse case and a discussion on medical findings in abuse. Artificially fed infants are at greater risk of being abused by their parents than are breastfed babies. Pediatricians need to let parents know that their job as parents will be more stressful when they bottle feed their baby rather than breastfeeding. In the case study in the book, it was a nanny who abused the child, not the parent, but it is an important piece of information that parents need to know.

In Guts, a small, but important piece of information is left out. The chapter includes an 8 year old girl who is diagnosed with Insulin Dependant Diabetes Mellitis (IDDM) and we read that "no preventable risk factors have been identified". Had Dr. Sanghavi read the literature published in the Lancet, among other journals, he would have learned that early introduction to cow's milk is a significant risk factor in developing IDDM. Most infant formulas are cow's milk based, therefore, most infants not breastfed have early cow's milk exposure. If parents are given that knowledge, that is an easily prevented risk factor. Why did this pediatrician fail to give it in this easily read form?

The infant who is dehydrated at the beginning of this same chapter is also a breastfed (all one word, no hyphen) baby. Rarely do breastfed babies suffer diarrhea, rarely do mothers have a hard time keeping up with their child's needs. Human milk is a very effective oral rehydration therapy, and in most cases, it is a fantastic, free option. The case study would have been more believable had the child been a formula fed child, as they are significantly more likely to suffer early rotovirus infections than a naturally fed baby.

Immunology is a very important part of anyone's organism. A chapter that includes the many ways in which the infant humans immune system is unfinished at birth and how species specific milk completes the immune system is sorely lacking. Parents need to know that the live antibodies and macrophages are present in the milk of the mother. Formula is a dead substance from an animal intent on building muscle mass- human milk grows fantastic brains and healthy immune systems. Why wasn't that chapter written for this otherwise well written book?

I think I read the main reason in the last two pages, after the physician's first child is born. He tells little about the birth, but it was obviously not a homebirth. Then he writes about his son's first night, when he and his wife "took turns feeding him". Clearly, he has failed to understand that there are risks to not breastfeeding and he and his wife are willingly taking risks with their child's health. That is a sad decision they have made for this baby because of the risks to him and because of the example they are setting for their patients and for readers of this book. Parents and children deserve better than that from this skilled author and physician.