A medical error occurs when a healthcare provider chooses an improper method of care, or inappropriately executes a correct method of care. Medical errors result in death and disability. More often than not, the medical error results from a system failure, a lack of coordination amongst those responsible for delivering patient care. The Institute of Medicine estimates between 44,000 to 98,000 deaths per year result from medical errors.

The immune system is a complicated mechanism whose principle actors are organs, cells, chemicals and a vast collection of proteins tuned by billions of years of evolution to work in a harmonious manner for the good of the whole. Its purpose is to keep us alive in a world where visible and invisible predators intending to usurp our bodies attack us on a daily basis. By virtue of an amazing communication network, millions of cells gather, exchange information, become activated and respond to bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses preventing them from causing infection. A malfunctioning immune system, when immune cells attack "self," results in numerous auto-immune diseases, the "God only knows" diseases of sixty years ago.

There is danger in delaying the evaluation of an unexplained medical symptom. The author lists thirty-four such symptoms, describes them in detail, lists the possible diagnoses the symptoms may represent, their urgency, and the consequences of delay in diagnosis. Procrastination is the thief of time and results in many preventable deaths. Hopefully, the book will stimulate patients to a more prompt appraisal of an unexplained symptom.

"Trim Healthy Mama is more than a nutrition book, although you'll be armed with knowledge that will revolutionize your life. It is more than a recipe book, although you will find hundreds of quick and tasty recipes to satisfy your family and trim your waistline at the same time. Serene and Pearl coach you all the way through to freedom from food restriction and excess pounds. They go far beyond food and talk exercise, how to balance your hormones, and how to keep the fire alive in your marriage relationship." --from book description, Amazon.com.

This book describes how bad habits contribute to ill health. The habits the author refers to that so negatively impact patients by leading to significant illness and mortality, include the following: --Alcohol abuse --Tobacco abuse --Obesity --Poor dietary habits --Excessive stress The impact of the above on all parts of the human body are described in detail. Exercise, on the other hand, is a habit that can help negate or delay the negative consequences of the first five if practiced continuously and faithfully.

Cancer, the second leading killer after heart disease, has plagued mankind for centuries. This book outlines its past history and primitive therapy, discusses the breakthrough advances in understanding the cellular mechanisms, the current therapeutic approaches and future hopes for cures. Never a single entity amenable to a specific, generalized cure for all, cancer represents a different disease in each individual requiring targeted therapy directed against the specific cellular change causing the cancer.

The author has taken his previously published medical ebooks and incorporated them into a single book: ALL THINGS MEDICAL, which includes the following topics: * The Prevention of Medical Errors * The Complete Medical Examination including The Medical History, Physical Examination and Laboratory Data * Case Reports * Risk Factor Analysis and Health Screening * Summary and Patient Responsibility * Symptoms Never to Ignore * The Perfect Prescription * Hormones, Nerves, and Stress * Man the Barricades: the Story of the Immune System * Cancer: Past, Present, and Future Medical Resources This book is for patients and students of the health professions, with the hope that they will be better prepared to handle the rapid changes and challenges affecting health care as it transitions into the future.

Physicians are not always successful establishing a diagnosis. An eighteen-year-old girl develops bizarre symptoms puzzling one doctor after another. The family watches in helpless despair as the young lady goes downhill rapidly. This is a book of fiction based on actual cases reported in the medical literature. Will anyone save this patient--or can she be saved?

Are you contemplating a career in the medical field; an M.D., D.O., Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant? If so, let a former practicing physician guide you through his own career from incubation through fruition, through the good and the bad. Let him describe for you forty years of primary care medical practice through a period of breath-taking advance and change as medical care transitions into the future. The need is greater than ever and will require more than a few good men and women. The author encourages you to join this group, but only if prepared to work hard and understand that true satisfaction resides in what you can do for others. Sheldon Cohen M.D. FACP