The Merck Manual of Health & Aging - Hardcover

Beers MD, Mark H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0911910360 ISBN 13: 9780911910360

Publisher: Merck Manuals, 2005

Synopsis

As more and more of the population live to old age, The Merck Manual to Health & Aging targets the growing need for a useful source of information about later life. With explanations of how the body ages, preventative medical care and good nutrition, common disorders in older adults and how to cope with disease, the book seeks to cover what other books on aging do not.

Large type size and written in everyday language

Two-colour design

66 chapters organised into four sections

Easy-to-follow cross-referencing symbols within the text

Helpful tables, graphs, and illustrations that further explain the text

Table of commonly used trade name drugs and their generic equivalents

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

From the Paperback edition.

Edition details

• Publisher: Merck Manuals
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0911910360
• ISBN 13: 9780911910360
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 992