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The active female. Health issues throughout the lifespan

Article in Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · July 2008

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 Book Reviews
FP Watch • Surveillance médicale
Stockley’s drug An interactive CD-ROM of

interactions. 8th this eighth edition and a per-

sonal digital assistant version of

edition; Stockley’s the pocket companion are avail-

able. MedicinesComplete pro-
drug interactions vides on-line access to Stockley’s
Drug Interactions and Stockley’s
2008 pocket Interaction Alerts (http://

companion
medicinescomplete.com/mc).
Lexi-Comp provides a
Canadianized a l t e r n a t i v e t o
EDITOR Karen Baxter Stockley’s on-line resources. It
PUBLISHER Pharmaceutical Press, analyzes potential interactions
1 Lambeth High St, London, UK SE1 7JN among a patient’s list of drugs
TELEPHONE 44 (0)20 7735 9141 (regardless of mixing trade
FAX 44 (0)20 7572 2509 names with generic names) to
WEBSITE www.pharmpress.com generate similar information
PUBLISHED 2007/1472 pp/$257.50; about the mechanism, nature
2007/576 pp/$46.50 and frequency, and seriousness
of the drug interaction, and includes suggestions for
OVERALL RATING Good how to accommodate those interactions using alter-
native, safer drug choices.
STRENGTHS Thoroughly researched, evidence-
—Dale W. Quest PhD
based, and fully referenced; rationally organized,
well-established products Dr Quest is a pharmacologist and Associate Professor at
WEAKNESSES Not Canadianized; the utility the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
and shelf-life of hard-copy drug interaction
references quickly lose their value in the face
of constantly updated electronic resources
AUDIENCE Health professionals who prescribe
and evaluate pharmacotherapy The active female.
Health issues
T throughout the lifespan
he goal of these reference books is to pro-
vide practitioners with ready access to clini-
cally relevant, evidence-based information on
proprietary drug interactions, as well as interac- EDITORS Jacalyn J. Robert-McComb,
tions between drugs and herbal products, dietary Reid Norman, Mimi Zumwalt
constituents, or environmental agents. The full-text PUBLISHER Humana Press, 999 Riverview Drive,
eighth edition provides more than 3100 detailed, Suite 208, Totowa, NJ 07512 USA
evidence-based, and clinically relevant monographs TELEPHONE 800 777-4643
about drug interactions. The pocket companion is FAX 973 256-8341
a conveniently sized quick reference, pared down WEBSITE www.springer.com/humana+press
to about 1500 monographs by omitting interactions PUBLISHED 2007/462 pp/$105.95
involving anesthetics, specialist use of multidrug
antivirals, and antineoplastic regimens. Chapter 1 of
the full-text version provides a very good introduc- OVERALL RATING Poor
tory review on the general topic of drug interactions. STRENGTHS Several teaching aids are included
Eight editions have been printed since the book was
WEAKNESSES Serious flaws in content and
first published in 1981; these print resources clearly
style; too simple for a physician audience
have a limited shelf-life, likely due to competitively
priced subscriptions to more integrated and regu- AUDIENCE Ranges from undergraduate univer-
larly updated reference materials and other elec- sity students to sports or medical professionals
tronic pocket devices.

Vol 54: july • juillet 2008 Canadian Family Physician • Le Médecin de famille canadien 1025
Book Reviews
Canada’s baby care book.
A complete guide from
birth to 12 months old
AUTHORS Jeremy Friedman, Norman Saunders
PUBLISHER Robert Rose Inc, 66 Leek Cres,
Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1H1
TELEPHONE 800 387-6192
FAX 800 450-0391
WEBSITE www.fireflybooks.com
PUBLISHED 2007/448 pp/$34.95

OVERALL RATING Very good

STRENGTHS Clearly written; thorough;
easy to navigate

T
his book consists of 29 chapters, which are divided WEAKNESSES Despite Canada being in the
into 6 parts. The first editor, Robert-McComb, title, the book always lists the American
wrote 14 of these chapters. Each chapter starts information first (the US food guide,
with a set of learning objectives and finishes with ques- nonmetric units of measure, etc)
tions and answers. The book includes a CD-ROM with a
AUDIENCE New or expecting parents and
PowerPoint presentation for each chapter.
Unfortunately, this book has serious substantive
caregivers
flaws. Despite its title, it is really about female pathology

T
through the lifespan. For example, the concept of “body here are many guidebooks geared toward a
image” is defined solely in terms of “disturbance” and baby’s first year. This book stands out in large
“distortions.” Most of the 17 chapters have terms such as part because of the lovely photographs, many
dysfunction or abnormal in their titles. The last 12 chap- of which are of the contributing authors’ children and
ters do, however, discuss the active female more posi- patients. The pictures add enormously to the informa-
tively and focus on recommendations and guidelines for tion. The authors are pediatricians at the Hospital for
nutrition and exercise. Sick Children in Toronto, Ont. Many of the contributing
Another major problem, particularly for a professional authors are young mothers.
audience, is that the book is too elementary. Perhaps The book has chapters on child development, feeding,
some physicians will gain new wisdom but most won’t. sleeping, child safety, and illness. There is a Frequently
Stylistic problems abound. The book reads like a com- Asked Questions section at the end of each chapter,
pendium, as if the authors started with the PowerPoint which provides unbiased information about things not
presentations and converted them into a book instead of covered in the body of the text. This section is informa-
vice versa. The chapters are divided and sub- tive and offers a fair perspective
divided into multiple levels, resulting in awk- on issues that are sometimes con-
wardly numbered sections, some of which tentious for parents, such as cir-
are very short. Moreover, the items in the lists cumcision, adoption, and breast
begin with numbers in brackets while itali- versus bottle feeding.
cized numbers in brackets indicate the refer- The book lists good refer-
ences, all in the same font; this is confusing ences and helpful websites
at best. (eg, the Motherisk site at www.
Unfortunately, I am unable to recommend motherisk.org). A table of contents
The Active Female to Canadian Family Physician at the beginning of each chapter
readers as a useful tool for enhancing knowl- and an excellent index at the back
edge or practice. make finding information especially
—Baukje (Bo) Miedema RN MA PhD easy. The book also includes an
author’s diary entries, which I do
Dr Miedema is Director of Research at the not think add to the book.
Dalhousie University Family Medicine Teaching The chapter “Caring for Your
Unit in Fredericton, NB. Sick Baby” is excellent. It has an

1026 Canadian Family Physician • Le Médecin de famille canadien Vol 54: july • juillet 2008

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