Bodyclock: The Effects of Time on Human Health

This health-care manual discusses growth and development from childhood to old age, examining the illnesses and health risks associated with each life stage and discussing ways to maintain and achieve optimal fitness

YA-- Opening with a "Lifespan Health Chart" that briefly describes normal developmental milestones, Hughes continues with a more comprehensive but still brief overview of the various body systems. Photographs, charts, and diagrams illustrate the text, which is broken into short, logical sections. The explanations of female times of fertility and of birth control methods are carefully scientific in approach; also useful to young adults will be the descriptions of self-examination for breast lumps and testicular cancer. The section on "How Children Grow" will both reassure developing minds and provide them with information on nutrition and exercise, while the section on "How Adults Age" will provide an introduction to those processes. A chapter on "Abnormal Regeneration" describes cancer in simple and general terms, explaining how it grows and spreads; the concluding chapters deal with both viral and bacterial infections and the human body's healing mechanisms. A good book to balance Our Bodies , Ourselves (S. & S., 1976), as it gives information on both sexes' general health and development, Body Clock is a must-read for thinking young adults.
- Dorcas Hand, formerly at Episcopal High School, Bellaire, TX
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.