The Merck Manual of Health & Aging: The Comprehensive Guide to the Changes and Challenges of Aging-For Older Adults and Those Who Care for and about Them - Softcover

Merck & Co Inc

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345482743 ISBN 13: 9780345482747

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2005

Synopsis

"A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR ANYONE WHO SEEKS A HEALTHIER OLD AGE FOR THEMSELVES OR THEIR LOVED ONES."
-William D. Novelli, CEO, AARP

If aging were an open book, it would be The Merck Manual of Health & Aging. From one of the most trusted names in medical reference comes an accessible, all-inclusive guide for older adults that shares what measures to take to optimize the aging process, prevent disease, and improve your overall health. This comprehensive book also explains the health care system and the disorders seniors are most likely to experience. Inside you'll discover clear, authoritative information on

- preventive medical care and good nutrition
- common medical disorders in older adults
- strategies for coping with disease
- steps for finding the best in medical care
- how to communicate with health care practitioners
- the role of alternative and complementary medicine
- the benefits and risks of medical tests
- the challenges of caregiving and rehabilitation
- how the body ages
- safe, easy-to-follow cardio exercises
- the social, legal, and ethical issues of aging

Also featuring candid essays by seniors who share their insights and personal experiences on growing older, The Merck Manual of Health & Aging is an essential home reference for making your later years truly golden.

About this title

Review:

With their Manual of Health and Aging, Merck Pharmaceuticals, who produce the bone-fortifying Fosomax and the arthritis drug Vioxx, have edited a clear and comprehensive reference for older adults. Dr Mark Beers begins with the age-old questions: when does a person become old and why does the body change? The remainder of this guide is divided into preventive and active care for self and others. The list of topics is a virtual everything you want to know about ageing: nutritional needs, finding a doctor, understanding tests, surgery and rehabilitation, and long-term care. More than one hundred specific medical conditions including fractures, constipation, tinnitus, dental disease and dementia are explained and cross referenced with useful details. Although a clinical explanatory model prevails, non-traditional methods such as acupuncture and homeopathy receive honourable mentions. The guide takes an unflinching look at sexuality, end-of-life decisions, and mistreatment of elderly adults. Other practical chapters are devoted to driving dilemmas and navigating the Byzantine financing of health care. This information is punctuated with essays from older adults--including a cheeky Max Sendak cartoon. The essays, along with charts, photos and illustrations help to lessen the book's encyclopaedic tone. Many older adults and the people who care for them will welcome the well-organised format and richly detailed information of this guide. --Barbara Mackoff, Amazon.com

Review:

"A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR ANYONE WHO SEEKS A HEALTHIER OLD AGE FOR THEMSELVES OR THEIR LOVED ONES."
-William D. Novelli, CEO, AARP

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0345482743
• ISBN 13: 9780345482747
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 992