Beth Ann Ditkoff

As a physician, I am used to answering medical questions from my patients. However, friends and family also like to ask me health questions, ranging from serious topics like brain tumors to trivial ones like ingrown toenails. My two daughters, Andrea and Julia, also like to query me about medical matters. One day, my husband, Charlie Ditkoff, heard the girls ask me, "Why don't your eyelashes grow?" It is a basic questions, but one for which most people don't know the answer. As I explained to the girls about the cycle of hair growth, it gave my husband and idea. Why not write a book about everyday medical questions? Andrea and Julia would compile the questions, and I could provide the answers. Within days, Andrea and Julia had come up with dozens of questions--involving human body trivia (How many bones are in the body?), gross scientific facts (Why do we have boogers?), urban myths (Will you go blind if you sit too close to the TV?), and basic medical facts (Why do some people have innie belly buttons and others have outies?). In a little more than a month, we had more than 150 questions to answer! This book is intended for children and parents to address the everyday medical questions that come up frequently in day-to-day life. Beth Ann Zarkin Ditkoff, MD