The Merck Manual of Medical Information, Second Edition: The World's Most Widely Used Medical Reference - Now In Everyday Language (Hardcover)

by Mark H. Beers (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The second edition of this very valuable resource has all the attributes of the first. Written for the layperson, articles are clear, comprehensive and detailed. There are excellent charts and illustrations to further make the material more understandable. Almost every conceivable medical condition is covered, with additional chapters that highlight women's, men's and children's health issues; specific information is also provided on the aging body. According to the editors, the content has been expanded to cover medical treatments or advances that have occurred since 1997, when the first edition was published. The editors have included new drug options for HIV-positive patients, as well as a section on herbal supplements and their possible interactions with prescribed medications. Although the emphasis is on traditional medicine, there is an objective article on complementary and alternative medicine. Two appendices-"Drug Names: Generic and Trade" and "Resources for Help and Information"-will be particularly helpful to medical consumers. In addition, advice is given on preventative measures, such as the value of exercise and proper nutrition. An excellent resource for any home.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The Merck Manual, now in its seventeenth edition, has been a standard medical reference source for over 100 years. The first home edition, published in 1997 and translated into 12 languages, was a welcome addition to consumer health reference collections. Just as librarians begin to worry about its age, Merck has released a second home edition. The editors have completely revised and rewritten the manual, adding a great deal of new material in the process. All of the editors, contributors, and editorial board members are physicians or academics with doctorates.

The format of the book has not changed. A detailed table of contents lists 25 sections divided into chapters. The first, "Fundamentals," explains basic anatomy and physiology, the aging process, fitness, communicating with health professionals, and legal and ethical issues. The others cover specific organs, systems, diseases and disorders, drugs, and first aid. The sections dealing with organs and systems begin with the biology of the system and then explain the symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of diseases that may affect it. There are color diagrams of relevant anatomy as well as an eight-page insert of anatomical charts. This new edition has added material on violence against women, sexual dysfunction, chromosomal and genetic abnormalities in children, and travel health. The drug section now includes information about medicinal herbs and nutraceuticals and their interactions with other drugs. A new section called "Special Subjects" covers medical decision making, surgery, complementary and alternative medicine, amyloidosis, familial Mediterranean fever, and diseases of unknown origin. A series of appendixes contains information on weights and measures, common tests, generic and trade names of drugs, and resources for referrals.

Although it has fewer, less colorful illustrations than the American College of Physicians Complete Home Medical Guide (DK, 1999) and lacks the flow charts of The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide (Simon & Schuster, 1999), The Merck Manual of Medical Information continues to provide the most current, detailed medical information in a format and language that lay readers will understand at a reasonable price. Libraries owning the 1997 edition will want to update and the others will want to add this excellent resource to their consumer health reference collections. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1900 pages
• Publisher: Merck; 2 edition (April 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911910352
• ISBN-13: 978-0911910353
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,863 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Comprehensive Health Guide for Wide Audience, June 3, 2003

By	Dan Sherman (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent guide to health and wellness written for lay people and quite comprehensive in its coverage. This second edition (first comes from 1997) adds about adds 35 chapters and 400 pages to the first edition, with updates throughout the book (e.g., on various drug therapies). It is very well-organized, primarily as 300 plus chpaters written around body systems (e.g.. digestive disorders) or topical areas (children's health, preventative medicine). The book has many short sub-sections within chapters (typically 5 to 10 pages) that cover specific topics (skin cancer, glaucoma, family planning) that can readily be found in the table of contents. The book is extremely well written with a very detailed index that makes it easy to find information on specific topic. One nice feature of this book is that it is printed to be about the size of a college dictionary (though with larger print than most dictionaries). It also includes an excellent appendix listing other resources for information by topic, with organizations listed out with their mail addresses and web sites.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unparalleled Masterpiece - ALMOST PERFECT!, December 2, 2004

By	roeslan1969 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews

Compared to other medical references available in the market such as American Medical Assoc, Harvard's, Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic or British Medical Assoc medical / family health guides, etc. the Merck's Manual is definitely the best and the most complete & informative. With contributions from around 300 medical experts, no other guide comes close to it in terms of quality, readibility and relevance. However, this 1940-page awesome piece of work can yet be further improved. That's why I'm not giving it a full 5-STAR rating.

One feature that can be added to this Medical Manual are a series of FLOW CHARTS with cross-referencing for the readers to "diagnose" their symptoms, complications etc. Doesn't have to be too many - probably around 100 symptom charts would do. These decision diagrams would be quicker and easier to use than the Index. The ones found in British MA Family Doctor Home Advisor and Harvard's Family Health Guide are very good examples.

Secondly, the editors should use the METRIC SYSTEM for measurement units e.g. temperature in Celsius (with Fahrenheit in brackets), weight in kilograms, metres (or centimetres) for height, etc. so that everybody around the world can enjoy reading those knowledge-packed pages without having to convert and carry a calculator every time.

Thirdly, some COLOUR CODINGS (or thumb index) should be helpful for easier referencing since the book contains over 300 chapters. At least, we don't have to refer to the Appendix or Content Page too often. If colour codings are too expensive, shades of grey, light red (as in the diagrams) etc. should still be acceptable.

Fourthly, the middle coloured-pages section of the book (8-page colour inset) showing the various systems of the body should be placed with the flow charts (as suggested above) so that it can give an EXCELLENT OVERVIEW of the body's anatomy, physiology and related diseases and complications.

Lastly, the Index is not that exhaustive. Not all relevant pages are listed e.g. an important page on "thalassemia" (page 994) has been missed out. And entries for common symptoms like "sneezing" cannot be found. May be a REPRINT with CORRECTIONS is advisable.

P/S. A slightly THICKER PAPER would do justice to this book...

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Merck Manual, February 12, 2004

By	J. Lindner (Gem Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a comprehensive book, detailing nearly every type of ailment known to mankind. Those who judge just one small portion of it (who may or may not have medical degrees to support their opinions) do the work an injustice by focusing on the narrow instead of the entire range of the book.

This book is full of detail that the average person can comprehend. At times the book does seem a bit rigid in that certain ailments can only occur in specific parts of the body. Case in point, my wife was diagnosed with a ganglion cyst on her ankle, an uncommon location, but according to the book, such cysts are limited to the wrist.

But this does not detract from the overall usefullness of this book as a standard reference. Of course, no book should be the sole source of medical evaluation and doctors must be consulted as the needs arise.