Body Signs
How to Be Your Own Diagnostic Detective
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
We all notice things about our body that are annoying, weird, perplexing or downright embarrassing. Our hair may suddenly become lifeless, or our nails brittle. We might feel like we are seeing stars. These are body signs. If we learn how to decode them, they can tell us a lot about the state of our health . . .
These medical messages are not merely random occurrences. Rather, they are sent by our bodies to warn us that something may be out of kilter. Body Signs is about how our bodies communicate our internal health status through external signs — and reveals the connection between these outward signs and the inner workings of our bodies.
From head to toe, Body Signs will help you tune into what your body is telling you and read the signals. Based on the very latest scientific research and expert opinions of leading physicians, this is a fascinating and essential reference book for anyone interested in their health.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite today's sophisticated diagnostic tools, doctors still rely on the same powers of observation they've used for hundreds of years, parsing visual and olfactory clues for information about their patients' health. In their latest collaboration (after 2005's The Unoffical Guide to Getting Pregnant), medical sociologist Liebmann-Smith and medical journalist Egan, with help from a panel of experts, discuss a huge list of garden variety symptoms like dry skin, persistent coughs, embarrassing flatulence and strange body odors, none of which are necessarily worrying, but which may indicate something more serious afoot. For example, dry eyes are easily treated with lubricants, but may signal an adverse reaction to medication or the onset of autoimmune disease; likewise, scaly red patches on the skin may signal relatively benign, squamous-cell skin cancer, but dark spots resembling moles can indicate life-threatening melanomas. Though they do not deal with children's diseases or obvious call-the-doctor-now signs like high fever and vomiting, this volume is otherwise quite thorough and packed with information, a handy and entertaining resource that fulfills its mission "to alert you, warn you, and maybe even scare you into going to the doctor... and save you the time, expense and anxiety of going" when one isn't needed.