The "Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies: What To Do For The Most Common Health Problems" is a colorful book of simple solutions for many health problems that you can do at home. Many of them seem like common sense, but then, how common is sense sometimes? The book does not contain a bunch of medial jargon or detailed explanations of the various conditions. Rather, the book simply states problems and then provides home remedies in easy to understand language. If you are looking for more of a medical book, this one is not for you. This book is very non-medical.
Dr. Phillip Hagen and Dr. Martha Millman, both from the Mayo Clinic, are the two medical editors of the book, and their goal was to develop a simple resource that could guide health decisions, offer easy remedies to treat many problems, and possibly reduce the need to visit clinics or emergency rooms. I think they succeeded and obtained their goal, because the book is filled with reliable, practical information on more than 120 of the most common medical conditions and issues related to good health. And the book is very simple and easy. If you have a number of medical guides, you probably don't need this book.
There is a one page introduction, that explains these goals, and then provides a short bit on how the book is organized, which is basically by topics alphabetically. It makes it very easy to find what you are looking for. Then, under each topic there is a short summary that may include signs and symptoms, causes, and possible outcomes. Then there are the home remedies in another section. These describe the simple actions you can take to help prevent, treat, or manage the condition. This could be advice on diet and exercise, changing behavior, or supplements to help relieve signs and symptoms. Sometimes over-the-counter medications are recommended. There is also a small box for each entry titled "Medical Help." These tell about serious signs and symptoms and provide advice on when to contact a doctor or other health care provider and what kind of treatment you might expect. Most of these boxes are just a sentence or two.
There are two pages on medical supplies for your home at the front, and the back of the book contains a few entries on emergency care such as bleeding, CPR, choking, and heart attacks.
The book contains many nice photographs that don't necessarily relate to the diagnosis or remedy, but make the book an attractive and pleasing book to read or look through. Overall, this is a handy practical reference book to have handy when you need it. The simple and easy to understand advice may save you a lot of pain and ache, as well as money by treating common health problems yourself at home. This is especially for those that don't know much medical information, and are not looking to know much. It's for those that just want the simple basics that they can use.
Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks.
