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Hype : A doctor's guide to medical myths, exaggerated claims, and bad advice -- how to tell what's real and what's not  Cover Image Book Book

Hype : A doctor's guide to medical myths, exaggerated claims, and bad advice -- how to tell what's real and what's not

Shapiro, Nina 1947- (author.). Loberg, Kristin, (author.).

Summary: "An engaging and informative look at the real science behind our most common beliefs and assumptions in the health sphere. There is a lot of misinformation thrown around these days, especially online. Headlines tell us to do this, not that -- all in the name of living longer, better, thinner, younger. In Hype, Dr. Nina Shapiro distinguishes between the falsehoods and the evidence-backed truth. In her work at Harvard and UCLA, with more than twenty years of experience in both clinical and academic medicine, she helps patients make important health decisions everyday. She’s bringing those lessons to life here with a blend of science and personal stories to discuss her dramatic new definition of 'a healthy life.' Hype covers everything from exercise to supplements, diets to detoxes, alternative medicine to vaccines, and medical testing to media coverage. Shapiro tackles popular misconceptions such as toxic sugar and the importance of drinking eight glasses of water a day. She provides simple solutions anyone can implement, such as worrying less about buying products labeled organic or natural, and more about skipping vaccines, buying into weight-loss fads, and thinking you can treat cancer through diet alone. This book is as much for single individuals in the prime of their lives as it is for parents with young children and the elderly. Hype provides answers to many of our most pressing questions, such as: Are online doctor ratings valuable and what conditions can you diagnose online? What’s the link between snoring and ADHD? What does 'Doctor Recommended' and 'Clinically Proven' mean? Do 'superfoods' really exist? Which vitamins can increase your risk for cancer? Do vaccines introduce toxins into the body? What’s the best anti-aging trick of the day that’s not hype? Can logging 'ten thousand steps a day' really have an impact on your health? Never has there been a greater need for this reassuring and scientifically backed reality check." -- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781250149305 (hardcover) :
  • Physical Description: regular print
    xvii, 284 pages ; 22 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2018.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note: Worrywarts and fearmongers: the dangers of magical or misinformed thinking -- A site to behold: the Wild West of internet medicine: how to Yelp your doctor, check your symptoms, and Google if you're dying -- Risky business: what ebola and your car have in common: how to put risk into perspective -- Turf wars: an important lesson in correlations: how to understand cause, link, and association -- Get me off your f*cking mailing list: a study worthy of your attention: how to make sense of medical research jargon -- Tipping the scale on a balanced diet: you are not always what you eat: how to filter out the noise on juicing, going gluten-free, detoxing, and GMOs -- Fat-free sugar, organic cookies, and "fresh" produce: a walk through the supermarket: how to read a label -- The true cost of being fortified: supplements, powders, and potions: how to remain vital without vitamins -- Raise your glass: water, water, everywhere: how to be smart without drinking smart water -- Putting the C back in CAM: complementary alternative medicine: how to stay natural while taking your medicine -- Take a shot: the perils of losing the herd: how vaccines save the community, the home, and your health -- Testing, testing, one, two, three: from the outside looking in: how to determine when to get checked, X-rayed, swabbed, or poked -- When 50 is the new 40: drinking from the fountain of youth: how to age gracefully, without really trying -- Hyped exercise: climb every mountain: when walking beats running -- Don't believe the hype: is it all hype?
Subject: Medical misconceptions
Medicine, Popular

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  • 0 of 0 copies available at Bowen Island Public Library.

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  • Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2018 April #1
    In this common-sense guide, UCLA surgeon Shapiro and coauthor Loberg answer such health questions as whether vaccines cause autism (no) and why gluten-free diets can lead to higher levels of arsenic in the body (rice flour naturally contains the chemical). Shapiro wants patients to do the right thing by getting inoculations (as she and her family have) to ward off diseases like HPV and chicken pox, but she also reassures parents that they can lighten up when it comes to panicking about a little sugar. Each chapter ends with a helpful "hype alert" box that summarizes key points, such as "More men die with prostate cancer than of prostate cancer" and "You are exposed to more aluminum and formaldehyde in nature through air, food, and drink than what you'll get in a vaccine." Money-saving tips include passing on the bottled water, which costs 2,000 times as much as tap (chemicals in the plastic may leach into the beverage, too). Complete with an index, this is an extremely useful, easy-to-read handbook. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
  • Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2018 February #3

    Surgeon Shapiro (Take a Deep Breath) sets out to clear up medical misperceptions in this feisty, fact-filled diatribe (even the acknowledgment page complains that "hype abounds and needs to be bashed"). She tackles such questions as how to put risk into perspective (readers should worry more about eclairs than Ebola), how to understand the causation/correlation distinction, and how to make sense of medical jargon, with the overall aim of turning patients into savvy consumers and perceptive judges of information. Shapiro argues for accuracy on such topics as the efficacy of vaccinations (she comes down hard on the "antivaxx" movement) and shares research on the utility of vitamins (the main outcome of which, she claims, is "very expensive pee and poop"), drinking eight glasses of water per day ("follow the money" to the multibillion-dollar bottled-water industry), and juicing (skip the blender and just eat fruits and veggies). Her skeptical, no-nonsense approach and probing assessment of fact versus fiction make for lively reading that is likely to help readers make better health and medical choices. (May)

    Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly.

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