A unique insider's view of today's complex and often contentious world of medicine Anxious about the prognosis, lost in a blur of technical jargon, and fatigued from worry or pain, people who are ill are easily overwhelmed by treatment choices. Told through eight gripping clinical dramas, Second Opinions reveals the forces at play in making critical medical decisions. Dr. Jerome Groopman illuminates the world of medicine where knowledge is imperfect, no therapy is without risks, and no outcome is fully predictable. He portrays moments of astute diagnosis and misguided perception, of lifesaving triumphs and shattering failures. These real-life lessons prepare us to navigate the uncertain terrain of illness, and enable us to balance intuition and information, and thereby make the best possible decisions about our health and future.

Possessing a brilliant mind for medicine in spite of her inability to comprehend the dynamics of traditional medicine, Asperger's patient and doctor Thea Sperelakis is baffled when her siblings refuse care to their hit-and-run victim father.

Most people would agree that we aren't taught much about 'wellness.' And while there seems to be an increased awareness related to 'fitness, ' more often than not we only think about 'health' or doctors when we're sick. What's left in the middle of those two extremes is a life-long struggle to stay healthy and productive in a world of mixed medical messages. For the first time, Dr. Radha Gopalan, gifted heart transplant Cardiologist, Acupuncturist and Yoga Teacher, clears up the confusion around health, wellness, and illness. And he does it in a way that will change the way you think about yourself--and medicine--forever. Dr. Gopalan merges his education and experience in both Eastern and Western medicine to look at health and wellness from a unique and powerful perspective and delivers not only concepts and philosophies that can change the way you think about health and wellness, but assesses the most common medical conditions that impact our world--from cancer and diabetes to heart disease, obesity, and chronic illnesses. In Second Opinion, Dr. Gopalan will explain: - how Eastern and Western medicine can work together for optimum health and wellness ? - how you can influence the outcome of your health--and disease ? - how the five levels of the H-I Triangle shape your personality, reactions, health, and ?happiness ? - how insurance and finances are affecting your healthcare ? - why some people who eat healthy, exercise, and lead a healthy lifestyle still have a heart ?attack ? - how being healthy has more to do with who you must be than what you must do ?

Taking an intersectional approach to the study of health and illness, Second Opinion introduces students to the field through an accessible yet authoritative overview of key theories, debates, and research findings. Written in a clear, straightforward style, with contributions from bothCanadian and international scholars, this comprehensive volume examines a wide range of topics including racialization, disability, aging, the environment, Aboriginal health, and the political economy of the health industry. Themes such as the social determinants of health, health inequalities,intersectionality, and the roles of both structure and agency in creating and maintaining the status quo are integrated throughout. The array of pedagogical features fosters engagement with the material, while providing study support and suggestions for further learning. New content and examples -on maternal mortality rates, the latest in sociological theory, health care inequalities in Canada, obesity, appearance norms, healthy aging, physician-assisted death, drug costs in Canada and the world, and integrated health care - encourage students to think critically about health-care practicesand policies in Canada within a global health perspective. Thoroughly revised and up-to-date, with a new visual program to appeal to visual learners and a new chart on the inside cover that details the coverage of social determinants throughout the text, the second Canadian edition of Second Opinion ensures that students of health sociology have everythingthey need to understand this complex discipline, right at their fingertips.

In this first book to bring both establishment and dissenting views of the AIDS crisis into one volume, Gary Null unravels the halftruths that many argue have marred the study of this disease from the start. In clear, jargon-free prose, the book offers an unbiased, unflinching discussion of all sides of each issue. AIDS: A Second Opinion argues that the AIDS drama has exposed problematic issues having to do with the functioning of U.S. medical institutions. Null explores a new type of health care, grounded in patients' own choices and dispositions, that poses a challenge to the top-down, expert-controlled medical systems favored by the establishment. Drawing from Null's many years of study of alternative, traditional, and orthodox medicine as well as from interviews with many long-term survivors, the book dissects the claims of the AZT and drug-cocktail approach to treating AIDS and offers a trilogy of treatment strategies based on wide views of how to enhance the immune system and improve overall functioning.

With his question-and-answer format, John McDougall leads the readers to an understanding of an approach to their health that puts them in charge of their own health and/or treatment.

With health reform enacted by the Congress and signed by the President, the subject matter of The Treatment Trap is a compelling component in the national debate. Taking advantage of Rosemary Gibson's knowledge gleaned from extended experience in the field of medical care and Janardan Singh's similar knowledge but from a financial perspective, the authors explore the most neglected issue in American medicine today: the overuse of medical care, including needless surgery and other invasive procedures, out-of-control x-ray imaging, profligate testing, and other wasteful practices that have become routine among too many American doctors. Their combined reporting and analysis concentrates on the human aspects of this disturbing trend in health care, with personal experiences that reflect poorly on hospitals as well as physicians. They show how money spent for questionable and even useless care is diverting major funds that could be better used to treat patients who are genuinely sick and sometimes cannot afford the extravagant charges of the American health-care system. Their suggestions for reforming the delivery of health care, and their cautions to individual consumers about how to deal with situations they may encounter, make The Treatment Trap essential reading for medical care consumers, health-care professionals, and policymakers alike.