Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide

The first health guide for the era of managed care is also the only one that will never go out of date. www.health.harvard.edu/fhg offers page and index searches for updated information on every entry. Today we all have a better chance of living a longer, healthier life than ever before -- but only if we know how to utilize the advances in medicine science has given us. Whether you depend on traditional fee-for-service health care or some form of managed care, you must make health decisions in partnership with doctors...doctors with whom you may only spend a few minutes. How can you sort out the confusing, often contradictory health information that is bombarding you daily and communicate clearly and effectively with your doctor? How can you gain access to the best care and evaluate the care you are getting? The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide answers these essential questions and many more. The first health guide written specifically to empower readers in the era of managed care, it is the culmination of 200 years of clinical care, health education, and medical research -- bringing you the expertise of more than 7,000 health professionals from some of the nation's most esteemed hospitals and research centers. In this book, they have gathered the most authoritative, comprehensive, easy-to-understand, up-to-the-minute information about the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease in every stage of life to help you:

• Make the most of the time you spend with your doctor.
• Decide when and if you need to see a doctor.
• Avoid dangerous drug interactions.
• Explore alternative treatments safely.
• Choose wisely among treatment options.
• Access emergency and other important information easily.
• Learn the most effective ways to prevent disease.
• Consult with the most renowned doctors in America, including Herbert Benson, T. Berry Brazelton, Robert Coles, and Richard Ferber.
• Receive the most current information from our Web site, which gives you free online updates.

Harvard Medical School consists of world-renowned affiliated hospitals, clinics, and research foundations, which include:
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center • Brigham and Women's Hospital* • Cambridge Hospital • Center for Blood Research • Children's Hospital* • Dana Farber Cancer Institute • Harvard Pilgrim Health Care • Joslin Diabetes Center* • Judge Baker Children's Center • Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary • Massachusetts General Hospital* • Massachusetts Mental Health Center • McLean Hospital • Mount Auburn Hospital • Schepens Eye Research Institute • Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital • VA Boston Healthcare System (*CONSISTENTLY RANKED AMONG THE 10 BEST HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES) Throughout its history, Harvard's doctors have made important medical breakthroughs, including: the discovery of anesthesia • the birth of brain surgery • the first human organ transplantation (Nobel Prize) • the discovery of the polio virus (Nobel Prize) • the discovery of vitamin B12 as the cure for pernicious anemia (Nobel Prize) • the discovery of how the human eye sees (Nobel Prize) • the discovery of the aspirin-a-day prevention strategy for heart disease

Medical Editor Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Senior Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and Editor in Chief of Harvard Health Publications.