Medical Books for Health Consumers

[Books: Medical Reference Books]

There are many fine consumer-oriented medical references available. One of the best sites from which to purchase these references is Stanford Bookstore -- Palo Alto. Also see the MIU published self-help books, How to Help When You Feel Helpless and Take Charge of Your Health.

MIU Recommendations

For the truly inquisitive health consumer, MIU has found a number of standard medical references to be very useful. All of the books identified in this section can be found in the Stanford Bookstore-- Palo Alto.

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. The purpose of the Merck Manual is, "to provide useful clinical information to practicing physicians, medical students, interns, residents, and other health care professionals". The Merck Manual is updated approximately every five years. It is an extraordinary reference written by over 290 authors. It is unlikely that there is another general medical reference that presents so much detail in such a cogent fashion. For the motivated health consumer, it can be a rewarding challenge to use and an excellent resource. To get the most out of the Merck Manual, one of the fine medical dictionaries is a must.
Medical dictionaries. These dictionaries are among the best:
- Stedman's Medical Dictionary
- Dorland's Medical Dictionary
Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) Generics. The PDR is "the information standard for prescription drugs". The PDR Generics provides a comprehensive overview of the physician's therapeutic alternatives and costs of the treatment. For each drug, the following topics are covered: description, clinical pharmacology, indications and usage, contraindications, warnings, precautions, adverse reactions, overdosage, dosage and administration.
The MedMaster series. For those who are even more curious and motivated, there is an exceptionally well-done series aimed at medical students and other health care professionals. It has also been affectionately called the "Made Ridiculously Simple Series". Each book in the series provides the basic conceptual background that allows the reader to understand the proper functioning and disease mechanisms involved with that subject.