Review by David Nash -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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David Nash
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Review by David Nash -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
[Following is a volunteer review of "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks" by Morton E Tavel, MD.]
3 out of 4 stars
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3 out of 4 stars
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
A Physician’s Advice
By Morton E. Tavel
The book contains an additional subtitle, “Health information to liberate us from “Snake Oil”
This was a very informative and authoritative work. It is divided into two major sections, Tips and Myths. While not a medical tome, the book is not a “casual read”. The wording of many sentences is convoluted. Some sentences can be an entire paragraph in length. Medical terminology abounds. However, Dr. Tavel does try to make the material accessible to the reader who maintains focus. He states his conclusions and he backs it with carefully researched papers.
One thing I greatly appreciated was the chapter headings, which made clear what the topic of each chapter was about. It should have meant that the chapter headings could be used to quickly scan for articles of interest. Unfortunately, this did not prove to be the case in my copy. I will go into the reasons in more detail at the bottom of the review.
The Tips section contains much of what is currently known in the medical community about the relationship between diet, aging, and disease. The benefits and drawbacks of different foods, drinks, exercise, and sleep are all covered.
Conclusions are based upon recent reliable research and are carefully documented in the back so the reader can follow up if they wish. The conclusions are also carefully qualified. There is a clear separation between what is currently known and what may, or may not, be proven true in the future.
The Myths section is a bit more vitriolic. Dr. Tavel has little tolerance for “alternative” forms of medicine and he makes a strong case for why people should actively avoid it. He cites study after study which refutes commonly accepted medical myths and tries to substitute rational arguments and medical research results for why the assertions are false. He does become a bit sarcastic in his treatment of some alternative practices, but in general, those comments tend to be at the end of chapters after a clear description of the issues has been presented.
There is a great deal here to be considered, from TV doctors, to ads from large pharmaceutical companies. He ranges around grabbing many cherished beliefs and impales them with current medical research.
The book certainly made me think a great deal and while I tend to side with the doctor on almost every issue I’m going to leave the arguments to the reader.
I would easily give the book four stars for its content. Unfortunately, I cannot because of the formatting. Spelling and grammar was never an issue (although paragraph long sentences, even if grammatically correct, should be revised.)
I received the PDF version of the book and I found it to be far from appealing. The cover design was a simple statement of title followed by the author’s name and the publishing company. Tom Rodriguez is promineetly credited for the design, which I apparently never saw. (Unless he considers a black title on a white background a “cover design.”)
Chapter headings were marred by graphic symbols in front and behind the words. The copyright page carried into the first chapter page because the format for the title was too large. This occureed in several other places. At various points throughout the book I encountered editorial corrections. Words lined out and retyped, numbered lists that were not evenly indented, and, in some cases, colored red indicating they were replaced.
But perhaps the worst offence was the bookmarks section which appeared to have a dozens of jump points for citations before the actual chapters. Even worse the chapters were simply listed as “Chapter 1”, omitting the text that would have made searching the document easy. The Table of Contents did list the Chapters, but the topics had no links - just a page number. The reader has to scroll through the document looking for a page instead of simply clicking on the relevant chapter and going there directly.
Finally, for some reason I was unable to properly set any bookmarks of my own. If I went to the middle of a chapter and clicked, I would get a link to the start of the chapter, not where I actually stopped reading.
It is entirely possible that these issues do not exist in the Kindle edition. I hope not. However, I review on what I see, and what I see in this case is poor formatting on a truly worthwhile book. So, sadly, three out of four stars.
******
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
View: on Bookshelves
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
3 out of 4 stars
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
A Physician’s Advice
By Morton E. Tavel
The book contains an additional subtitle, “Health information to liberate us from “Snake Oil”
This was a very informative and authoritative work. It is divided into two major sections, Tips and Myths. While not a medical tome, the book is not a “casual read”. The wording of many sentences is convoluted. Some sentences can be an entire paragraph in length. Medical terminology abounds. However, Dr. Tavel does try to make the material accessible to the reader who maintains focus. He states his conclusions and he backs it with carefully researched papers.
One thing I greatly appreciated was the chapter headings, which made clear what the topic of each chapter was about. It should have meant that the chapter headings could be used to quickly scan for articles of interest. Unfortunately, this did not prove to be the case in my copy. I will go into the reasons in more detail at the bottom of the review.
The Tips section contains much of what is currently known in the medical community about the relationship between diet, aging, and disease. The benefits and drawbacks of different foods, drinks, exercise, and sleep are all covered.
Conclusions are based upon recent reliable research and are carefully documented in the back so the reader can follow up if they wish. The conclusions are also carefully qualified. There is a clear separation between what is currently known and what may, or may not, be proven true in the future.
The Myths section is a bit more vitriolic. Dr. Tavel has little tolerance for “alternative” forms of medicine and he makes a strong case for why people should actively avoid it. He cites study after study which refutes commonly accepted medical myths and tries to substitute rational arguments and medical research results for why the assertions are false. He does become a bit sarcastic in his treatment of some alternative practices, but in general, those comments tend to be at the end of chapters after a clear description of the issues has been presented.
There is a great deal here to be considered, from TV doctors, to ads from large pharmaceutical companies. He ranges around grabbing many cherished beliefs and impales them with current medical research.
The book certainly made me think a great deal and while I tend to side with the doctor on almost every issue I’m going to leave the arguments to the reader.
I would easily give the book four stars for its content. Unfortunately, I cannot because of the formatting. Spelling and grammar was never an issue (although paragraph long sentences, even if grammatically correct, should be revised.)
I received the PDF version of the book and I found it to be far from appealing. The cover design was a simple statement of title followed by the author’s name and the publishing company. Tom Rodriguez is promineetly credited for the design, which I apparently never saw. (Unless he considers a black title on a white background a “cover design.”)
Chapter headings were marred by graphic symbols in front and behind the words. The copyright page carried into the first chapter page because the format for the title was too large. This occureed in several other places. At various points throughout the book I encountered editorial corrections. Words lined out and retyped, numbered lists that were not evenly indented, and, in some cases, colored red indicating they were replaced.
But perhaps the worst offence was the bookmarks section which appeared to have a dozens of jump points for citations before the actual chapters. Even worse the chapters were simply listed as “Chapter 1”, omitting the text that would have made searching the document easy. The Table of Contents did list the Chapters, but the topics had no links - just a page number. The reader has to scroll through the document looking for a page instead of simply clicking on the relevant chapter and going there directly.
Finally, for some reason I was unable to properly set any bookmarks of my own. If I went to the middle of a chapter and clicked, I would get a link to the start of the chapter, not where I actually stopped reading.
It is entirely possible that these issues do not exist in the Kindle edition. I hope not. However, I review on what I see, and what I see in this case is poor formatting on a truly worthwhile book. So, sadly, three out of four stars.
******
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
View: on Bookshelves
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