Hammersmith Press Limited – förlag

Sarah Russell aims to fill the gap in the patient pathway where there is little knowledge about rehabilitation and the benefits of exercise after abdominal surgery. Her research, based on a survey of 2700 patients, showed that people become less active and lose confidence after a cancer diagnosis, but being more active can in fact have disproportionately positive effects, with the power to rebuild confidence and self-esteem when most needed. There is also overwhelming evidence that exercise is one of the most effective ways to manage the side effects of cancer treatment but what is safe and appropriate? Based on her research and long experience of working with stoma patients and others who have experienced abdominal surgery, Sarah sets out step by step what will help to regain fitness and with it a sense of wellbeing. This is a key part of the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative and therefore of increasing topicality as survival rates for cancer increase.

'To be a good doctor you have to be a compassionate chameleon, a shape shifter - a shaman. Even if your adaptation to your patients' world happens at an unconscious level you should always work within their system of ideas, never against it...' So writes Cecil Helman after 27 years as a family practitioner in the suburbs of North London interlaced with training and research as a medical anthropologist, comparing a wide variety of health systems. This unique combination of frontline health worker and detached academic informs the many stories that make up this fascinating book. It also informs the author's shared insights into what these stories can teach us about ourselves and our own attitudes to health and illness, whether we are deliverers or recipients of health care.With humour and gentle humaneness, Helman's colourful stories take the reader on a journey from apartheid South Africa, where he did his initial training, to the London of the early 1970s, where for a short time he foreswore medicine to become an anthropologist and poet; from ship's doctor on a Mediterranean cruise to family practitioner in London; from observer of curative trance dances in the favelas of Brazil to consulting with sangomas in South Africa. While trained in the Western tradition and with many years of practice in that system, Helman's anthropological insight leads him to view illness in a wider personal, social and cosmic context, considering elements beyond the purely physical, as do shamans and other traditional doctors. In pleading for this age-old holistic approach, he celebrates family medicine which 'in its quiet and unassuming way, and every day of the week, is still at the very frontline of human suffering'.

Thyroid problems affect an estimated one in three of the adult population, yet they are difficult to diagnose on the basis of blood tests and often go undiagnosed for many year. This is the second, greatly updated and revised, edition of Dr Durrant-Peatfield's practical guide to recognizing the signs and symptoms of thyroid disease and to treating the problem with diet and natural supplements, in conjunction with modern western drugs and surgery when really necessary.

Despite the current emphasis on 'healthy eating' obesity has been increasing at an alarming rate, especially in children, and chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are reaching epidemic levels. Barry Groves tells us that this is because 'healthy eating' is anything but that; it is far too high in carbohydrates, especially refined carbs, and far too low in fats. Unlike carbohydrates, or proteins, fats do not compromise our insulin levels. They keep our metabolism functioning at a healthily high level and they stop us getting hungry too quickly. And they do not raise our cholesterol levels. Based on years of research, and personal experience, this book tells us how to change our diets and what the benefits of doing so will be. Practical and clearly explained, you cannot read this book without realising it is time to change.

This collection of poems by doctor and acclaimed poet, Glenn Colquhoun, is based on his experiences in medical practice, where doctors are often described - or accused of - 'playing God' but where outward confidence hides a constant battle with uncertainty.

Every day we make decisions about our health - some big and some small. What we eat, how we live and even where we live can affect our health. But how can we be sure that the advice we are given about these important matters is right for us? This book will provide you with the right tools for assessing health advice.

In this controversial, evidence-based account of how and why the health-care establishment has got the concept of 'healthy eating' so wrong, Barry Groves shows us how to take charge of our own health and lives, in contravention of what the health-care industry would have us believe and do.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalitis, (CFS/ME) affects approximately 180,000 people in the UK. In addition to persistent and abnormal tiredness, sufferers commonly experience muscle pain, headaches, sleep disturbance and loss of concentration as well as a huge range of other symptoms. At its worst it can be completely disabling and yet it is still poorly understood and often regarded as purely psychological. This makes it doubly difficult for sufferers and their carers to cope with. This practical manual comes from a nationally recognized centre for the condition and is jointly written by health professionals and their patients. They give straightforward and specific expert advice, accompanied by real life stories, on managing different aspects of everyday life that can affect energy and they show how to put this advice into practice. They understand the way fatigue affects concentration and therefore break their guidance into easy-to-follow steps that can be worked through at the reader's own pace. Unlike other available books, this does not cover causes, symptoms or the controversy around whether the condition is 'real'. It is purely about how to get better.It is for patients who have been diagnosed with CFS/ME and for their carers. It is also highly relevant to health professionals wanting to provide their patients with self-help strategies that are compatible with the current evidence base. Anyone suffering ongoing, abnormal fatigue will likewise find it a 'must read'.