Consumer Health: A Guide To Intelligent Decisions (Paperback)

~ (Author), William London (Author), Robert Baratz (Author), Manfred Kroger (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This new edition of the most comprehensive text available in the field continues to provide a vast amount of information to enable consumers to make wise choices regarding health products and services. It offers a panoramic view of the health marketplace, while explaining the scientific methods that are essential for validating claims about how products and services affect health.

About the Author

Stephen Barrett, M.D., a retired psychiatrist who resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has achieved national renown as an author, editor, and consumer advocate. In addition to heading Quackwatch, Inc., he is Vice-President and Director of Internet Operations of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF); a scientific advisor to the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH); and a Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). IN 1984, he received an FDA Commissioner's Special Citation Award for Public Service in fighting nutrition quackery. In 1986, he was awarded honorary membership in the American Diabetic Association. From 1987 through 1989, he taught health education at The Pennsylvania State University. In 2001 he received the Distinguished Service to Health Education Award from the American Association for Health Education. He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in Medicine and Health Care, and Who's Who in the World.

William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H., is Associate Professor in the College of Science and Health and current Chair of the Dept. of General Studies at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. He is also the Associate Editor of Consumer Health Digest, cohost of the Credential Watch Web site, a CSICOP consultant, a Quackwatch advisor, and a contributing editor to The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and Aberrant Medical Practices. He was an associate professor at Kent State University where, for 10 years, he taught health-education courses, including consumer health. During this period he co-founded and served as the first President of the National Council Against Health Fraud’s Ohio Division. He has also been: President of NCAHF;Faculty Mentor in the School of Health and Human Services of Walden University;Professor of Health Sciences at Touro University International; Associate Professor of Health Care Management and Director of the Graduate Program in Health Care Management, College of St. Elizabeth; Director of Public Health of the American Council on Science and Health; Director of Communications at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health;and Executive Director of RAP, Inc., a private nonprofit mental health and senior citizens service agency in Genesee County, New York.

Robert S. Maratz, M.D., D.D.S., Ph.D., is an internist, dentist, and researcher who resides in Newton, Massachusetts. The founder of four companies, he has also served as medical director for two others in the medical device and pharmaceutical industry. He has been involved with issues regarding the safety and proper use of drugs and biomaterials since 1980. He has served on the medical and dental faculties of Northwestern and Tufts universities. Currently, he serves on the faculty of Boston University School of Medicine, having initially been appointed in 1976. His broad knowledge of interactions of materials and the body has been sought by numerous licensing boards, regulatory agencies, universities, government agencies, insurance companies, and professional associations. He is also an expert in medical database application and analyses.

Dr. Baratz has worked for more than 20 years in dental and medical practice for private, public, and government entities, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, The Daughters of Charity, and the Harvard Community Health Plan. He has also worked for the Agency for International Development. Currently he is President and Medical Director of South Shore Health Center in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he practices general and occupational medicine. He also serves as NCAHF President; a scientific advisor to ACSH; President of International Medical Consultation Services, Inc., of Newton, Massachusetts; and Medical Director of Skin Systems, Inc., of Peabody, Massachusetts. In 1992, the American Dental Association gave him a Presidential Citation for his work in advancing oral public health. He has been listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who in Science and Engineering.

Manfred Kroger, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and Society at The Pennsylvania State University, where he has won several teaching awards. He also serves as associate editor of the Journal of Food Science, an ACSH scientific advisor, a technical editor for Prometheus Books, and a science communicator for the Institute of Food Technologists. He has conducted research in analytical chemistry (pesticide residues), food composition, fermented milk products, and dairy processing technology. Even though retired, he remains professionally active at Penn State and nationally and internationally. His university courses included food laws and regulations, toxicology, introductory food science, dairy technology, and a very popular university-wide general education course entitled "Food Facts and Fads". His other professional activities include lecturing at public and professional meetings, expert testimony in court and at government hearings, and translation of German writings. In 1999 he was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. In 2003, he served as the editor of the Proceedings of the 12th World Congress of Food Science and Technology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 8 edition (March 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072972238
• ISBN-13: 978-0072972238
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #504,610 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars BEWARE:Textbook contains dated information, May 22, 2005

By	Patricia L. McDiarmid (Wilbraham, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Consumer Health: A Guide to Intelligent Decisions with PowerWeb: Health and Human Performance (Paperback)

I have been using this textbook for four semesters with undergraduates obtaining a minor in health education and am frustrated with the information that is outdated and full of errors. I will no longer be using the text in my courses. The food pyramid is wrong, exercise theories are incorrect, etc. My exercise science majors this past semester were disgusted with the mistakes.

Pat
Assistant Professor Health Education
Massachusetts Private College

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Save your money and health, August 29, 2009

By	Paulo Buchsbaum "pop-rock lover" (Rio, Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a libel against the alternative medicine and similar. It worth each penny. Strongly research based. Believes who wants to believe. It could be a little more concise.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Textbook or Polemic?, December 1, 2008

By	Andrew W. Saul (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I taught health science for the State University of New York, I "inherited" the use of this textbook from the previous instructor's syllabus. It is a strikingly poor textbook. My students (mostly college sophomores and juniors, without a heavy-duty scientific background) rapidly detected what they saw as the book's paternal attitude, its anti-vitamin bias, and its factual errors as easily as I could. Fortunately, there are many other good consumer health and nutrition texts out there. In my opinion, just about any one of them is several steps up from "Consumer Health: A Guide To Intelligent Decisions." Instructors, before you order this on for your class, preview a copy carefully and see for yourself. As for me, yes, I still have my copy on hand . . . to use to demonstrate just how unscientific and politicized a textbook can actually be. Most students are considerably smarter than this book's authors seem to think they are. And thank heaven for that.