A standard blood test indicates how well the kidneys and liver are functioning, the potential for heart disease, and a host of other vital health markers. Unfortunately, most of us cannot decipher these results ourselves, nor can we even formulate the right questions to ask about them—or we couldn’t until now. In Your Blood Never Lies, best-selling author James LaValle clears up the mystery surrounding blood test results. In simple language, he explains all of the information found on these forms, making it understandable and accessible. This means that you can look at the results yourself and know the significance of each marker. Dr. LaValle even recommends the most effective conventional and complementary treatments for dealing with any problematic findings. Rounding out the book are the names of test markers that should be requested for a more complete physical picture. A blood test can reveal so much about your body, but only if you can interpret the results. Your Blood Never Lies provides the up-to-date information you need to take control of your health.

It’s no secret that the Black community tops the list of groups afflicted by hypertension, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, and cancer. What the statistics do not show is the pain, misery, and despair that these conditions create—not only for the individual but also for family and friends. As an African-American doctor, Dr. Richard Walker has studied these conditions among his patients for many years. Now, in Black Health Matters, Dr. Walker offers a number of commonsense ways to prevent, manage, and possibly eliminate these killers, turning the tide of African-American health. In this unique book, Dr. Walker follows the health and healthcare journey of African captives into slavery and describes what they had to do to survive nutritionally and culturally, ultimately resulting in the chronic ill health and early death now pervasive in Black communities. Most important, Dr. Walker explains how African Americans can turn their health around by understanding and incorporating better nutrition, nutritional supplements, exercise, and regular healthcare checkups into their lives. Each chapter explains a different health problem common to the Black community—including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, hypertension, sickle cell disease, and more—and offers concrete ways in which that condition can be avoided or better managed, often through simple changes that can be easily made by the individual. Tips are included for locating and communicating with affordable healthcare professionals. A highly practical and easy-to-use guide, Black Health Matters is an important first step towards achieving a healthier, longer life for millions of people.

No one is ever prepared for a stroke. It just happens, and when it does, the results can be life altering. From difficulties with communication to weakness, numbness, and cognitive difficulties, a stroke can have a wide range of consequences. For most people affected by a stroke, a flood of questions come afterward: How did this happen? What do we do next? What are our options? How long will recovery take? Am I at risk for another stroke? To answer these questions and so many others, stroke specialist Dr. Amytis Towfighi and best-selling health writer and stroke survivor Laura Stevens have written What You Must Know About Strokes. Written in plain English, this useful guide offers all the information stroke survivors and their loved ones need to know in order to ask the right questions and make informed decisions. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 explains what a stroke is and which risk factors increase the odds of having a stroke. It also includes information on identifying the early signs of a stroke and what to do when they appear. Part 2 looks at the immediate care given to stroke survivors as they are brought into a hospital setting. Part 3 details the most common rehabilitation treatments given to stroke patients to help them regain their ability to carry out their daily activities, mobility, speech, and cognition. These include occupational, physical, and speech therapies. It also discusses a number of complementary and alternative treatments that may be helpful. Part 4 offers important suggestions on lifestyle and nutrition to help patients avoid another stroke. Part 5 provides a look at life after a stroke and the issues stroke survivors may face. It offers practical and easy-to-follow advice on moving forward. The book also offers a section of resources, listing services and agencies that provide answers and assistance to stroke patients and their families. The many challenges of dealing with a stroke are great—for patients as well as their loved ones. The road back is not always easy. Understanding what is happening and what treatment options are available is crucial. The information contained in this book can greatly benefit anyone dealing with the aftermath of a stroke and make all the difference in the world.

The health benefits of marijuana are now getting a good deal of attention. Yet hemp—a close relative of marijuana—is actually a far richer source of CBD, the compound responsible for effectively treating dozens of disorders, and contains very little THC, the substance responsible for marijuana’s highs. Sounds like growing and using hemp is a win-win situation, right? Not quite, because the US government, which holds the patent for CBD specifically because of its healing abilities, has unfairly classified hemp as a Class 1 drug, thereby banning people in the United States from growing it commercially. If you find this confusing, you’re not alone. That’s why best-selling author Earl Mindell has written Healing with Hemp CBD Oil, a straightforward book that will first help you understand what’s going on with hemp oil in the United States, and then teach you how to use this valuable natural remedy to improve your health. The book begins by looking at the important role the hemp plant has played in both Eastern and Western societies as a source for paper, textiles, rope, and so much more. This is followed by a discussion of the science behind CBD’s medical benefits. The author then provides a consumer’s guide to buying hemp products—especially its oil and its CBD supplements—and offers an eye-opening examination of hemp’s legal status in the United States, from the 1900s to now. Finally, based on up-to-date studies, Dr. Mindell presents an A-to-Z guide to the many uses of hemp oil and CBD for various health conditions, from arthritis to depression to heart disease. Although the United States has given CBD-rich hemp a problematic legal status, fortunately, this product—sourced from other countries—is readily available. Healing with Hemp CBD Oil guides you in using this all-natural substance as a safe, side effect-free remedy.

This unusual coming of age story is set in Tehran, right before and after the 1979 revolution, which replaced the Shah’s westernized regime with the rule of Moslem fundamentalists. The story’s narrator is a 12-year-old boy with an overactive imagination, who is in love with all things American and is surrounded by tight-knit web of eccentric relatives. In his chaotic world, street dogs give profound advice; otherworldly jins co-exist with humans; and an ancient culture lives side by side with the daily rhythms of American pop songs and sitcoms. Despite its exotic milieu, the characters and events of the book will seem strangely familiar to all of us who have lived through the difficult process of growing up. This may be an Iranian family, but readers everywhere will be able to identify with the narrator's rivalries with his brother, the summertimecar trips, the painful pangs of first love, disastrous dinner parties at home, and the dark shadows that death casts on daily life. The book also gives readers a colorful account of living through a difficult political climate through the eyes of a young boy; a perspective beyond what appears on TV news and daily headlines, and an interesting comment on the role of American pop culture in a Third World country.

“In no other book will you find such a comprehensive discussion of the key factors that should be driving our food choices.” J. Morris Hicks, author of Healthy Eating, Healthy World “This is an absolute must read for anyone who is concerned about the environment, suffering of animals and human and non-human health.” Anteneh Roba, MD, Founder of the International Fund for Africa The ethical wasteland of Big Business, Big Medicine, Power Politics, and Advertising has manufactured a diet that is the root cause of so many diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, as well as a broad range of common ailments. It has also created an industry that kills over 70 billion land animals every year. Too few of us realize how our food choices actually contribute to the climate change we are now experiencing worldwide. Recognizing and understanding the impact of our food choices is the first important step in reversing habits that damage the body, heart, and soul. How to Eat Right and Save the Planet cuts through the hype and nutritional confusion that surround us by first showing how they hide the truth. It then explains how the food that we eat can be a massive force for good in creating personal, social, and environmental health. The author not only provides vital nutritional facts based on the latest dietary and medical research, but also explains in plain English how our diet impacts social justice and environmental sustainability. How to Eat Right and Save the Planet offers a complete guide to creating a healthy and earth friendly diet for you and your family. With this book in hand, you will understand that each of us can take back control of our health, our family’s health, and, to a great degree, the health of this planet—and it can all begin with our next meal.