The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting through the Hype about Your Health - Hardcover

Davis, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520249186 ISBN 13: 9780520249189

Publisher: University of California Press, 2008

Synopsis

It happens every day: we pick up a newspaper or magazine or turn on the television and are bombarded with urgent advice about how to stay healthy. Lose weight! Lower your cholesterol! Early detection saves lives! Sunscreen prevents cancer! But in many cases, pronouncements we rarely think to question turn out to be half-truths that are being pushed by various individuals or groups to advance their own agendas. The Healthy Skeptic explores who these health promoters are―from journalists and celebrities to industry-funded groups and consumer activists―what their motives are, and how they are spinning us in ways we often don't realize.

This treasure trove of little-known facts, written by a seasoned health reporter, provides invaluable tips, tools, and resources to help readers think more critically about what they're being told. Becoming a healthy skeptic is vital, Davis argues, because following the right advice can have a profound impact on overall health and longevity.

IN TEN ENTERTAINING CHAPTERS, ROBERT J. DAVIS DISCUSSES:

* Diets and why they don't work

* Dietary supplements

* The campaign to reduce cholesterol

* Celebrity exhortations to "get tested"

* Sunscreen and its promoters' claims

* The antichemical activists

About this title

About the Author

Robert J. Davis is an award-winning medical journalist whose work has appeared on CNN, PBS, WebMD, and in the Wall Street Journal. He holds a master's degree in public health from Emory University and a PhD in health policy from Brandeis University. A sought-after speaker on health and the media, he also teaches at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health.

From the Back Cover

“We are inundated with health information that unnecessarily frightens us and is often just plain wrong. Here at last is a guide through the maze. The Healthy Skeptic is a must-read companion that will help you learn what is truly worth pursuing in the interest of better health and what should be ignored.”―Dr. Dean Edell, radio host and author of Eat, Drink, & Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts Are Wrong

“Superb. This important book addresses what people can do to protect themselves from the commercial misdirection of our health care system.”―Dr. John Abramson, author of Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine

From the Inside Flap

We are inundated with health information that unnecessarily frightens us and is often just plain wrong. Here at last is a guide through the maze. The Healthy Skeptic is a must-read companion that will help you learn what is truly worth pursuing in the interest of better health and what should be ignored. Dr. Dean Edell, radio host and author of Eat, Drink, & Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts Are Wrong

Superb. This important book addresses what people can do to protect themselves from the commercial misdirection of our health care system. Dr. John Abramson, author of Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine

Reviews

*Starred Review* Award-winning medical journalist Davis has some radical and revolutionary notions when it comes to making decisions about one’s health. His advice—don’t believe everything you read, and don’t fall for false claims made by celebrity shills—calls in question the glut of books, articles, and endorsements that clog media outlets. By taking some most-dearly-held beliefs, such as that blueberries prevent Alzheimer’s, cholesterol will kill you, slimming down is always good for you, and sunscreen prevents skin cancer, and deconstructing how such myths originated and are sold—sold being the operative word here—he demonstrates ways the average person can avoid following what is at best useless and at worst potentially harmful advice. He writes in an unpatronizing, reader-friendly style that simplifies the process of divining what is true science out of the hype too often vended by morning newsmagazine shows via paid (it says in fine print) celebrity spokespersons. He suggests that following the money will pretty reliably expose fraud; start with as simple a question as, Who gains from hyping this product/procedure/intervention? Davis’ handy little reference work belongs where everyone can access it. --Donna Chavez

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520249186
• ISBN 13: 9780520249189
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 254