More than ever, women are taking charge of their own health. No longer content to "let the doctor decide," they are demanding a say in picking the therapy or procedure that's best for them. Indeed, American women are envied around the world because they have so much control over their bodies.With this newfound control comes the responsibility to be a truly informed partner in making important medical decisions. This means keeping abreast of new scientific developments and knowing what questions to ask or where to find the answers - no easy task given the sometimes overwhelming and often conflicting flood of medical information available through the media and other sources.With this in mind, the editors of Good Housekeeping have created the Illustrated Guide to Women's Health, a timely and thorough text compiled by a team of medical experts. These highly respected specialists represent the spectrum of women's health concerns from internal medicine, endocrinology, rheumatology, breast surgery, and plastic and reconstructive surgery to psychiatry, occupational medicine, nutrition, and exercise physiology. Unlike general health books that concentrate heavily on male health issues, this book focuses solely on a woman's body, her medical needs, and the social issues she faces from adolescence to old age.Like other books on women's health, it provides sound information and advice about pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation, menopause, and other facets of gynecologic health. But unlike most other books for women, it also addresses such topics as heart disease, occupational health hazards, stress management, and physical fitness - facets of health that are just as critical to women as to men.There's also a full-color atlas of the female body and its various systems as well as an illustrated encyclopedia covering scores of disorders, diagnostic procedures, and treatments. Throughout, the text is written in clear, understandable language, supported by illustrations that make even the most complex material easily understandable. Above all, its tone is straightforward, non-political, and objective.Regardless of which roles you fill as a woman - wife, mother, daughter, caregiver, employee - we think you'll agree that The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Guide to Women's Health is the one indispensable book designed to make you an informed partner in your own health care. Read Less