Medicine. Good? Bad?

Char loaned me a book that took me far out of what I normally read (and I'm glad she did): Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, Dr. Lisa M. Schwartz, and Dr. Steven Woloshin. It will certainly make you think! Just how many tests are really needed? How, and why (and who) created this need for so many? Lots of food for thought here.

Looking for other books that would fit here, I found I Feel Better With a Frog in My Throat: History's Strangest Cures, by Carlyn Beccia. For things like a cough, cold, fever, headache and more, several old cures are proposed and the reader is asked to pick the ones that helped. The answers might surprise you!

For more myths of medicine there's Don't Cross Your Eyes ... They'll Get Stuck That Way and 75 Other Health Myths Debunked, by Dr. Aaron E. Carroll and Dr. Rachel C. Vreeman. I thought the entries here were nicely balanced, in some cases there's not a definitive answer and the authors are willing to say so. I enjoyed their humor, too. :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog