Review by SteffK -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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SteffK
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- Latest Review: Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E Tavel, MD
Review by SteffK -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
[Following is a volunteer review of "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks" by Morton E Tavel, MD.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Health Tips, Tricks and Myths by Morton E. Tavel aims to provide a sound perspective on inaccurate medical advice, misconceptions, and fraudulent information. Written by a retired internist/cardiologist, the author aims to provide a physician’s perspective on these topics and dives into a wide variety of subjects ranging from dieting pills through bottled water to detoxing.
This book is split into three sections: Tips (addressing health and wellness), Myths (diving into common misconceptions) and Tricks (giving advice on how to spot fraudulent information). I really liked this way of sub-dividing the information, as it easily allows the reader to jump into the sections they are interested in. Each chapter is pretty self-contained, which makes it easy to dip in and out of. Some chapters also contain a “Conclusion” section, which is very useful if someone wants to read the takeaway message without reading the entire chapter. Unfortunately, the "Conclusion" section is not implemented consistently and only appears in some parts of the book.
Dr. Tavel addresses a wealth of information in Health Tips, Tricks, and Myths, which clearly involved a massive amount of research. Pretty much every health myth and old wives’ tale that I can think of is included. Dr. Tavel does not beat around the bush, takes these topics head-on and lays out the evidence supporting or refuting these claims. Especially in the first section of the book, Dr. Tavel provides a lot of useful practical advice to the reader on a number of points, for example which foods we should eat less of or whether fish with a high mercury content is safe to consume.
One of the major downfalls of this book for me is the editing. As I read it, I spotted a whopping 86 punctuation errors, 15 errors in sentence structure, 11 spelling mistakes/word errors, and eight formatting errors (giving the author the benefit of doubt in multiple places). If Dr. Tavel does not have an editor, he sorely needs one; if he does, he needs to find a new one! In addition, I feel that the writing style used in this book is not well suited to the intended audience (which I am assuming is people without a science/medical background and with limited knowledge of the subject matter). While Dr. Tavel manages to steer clear of medical jargon and adequately explains it where he cannot, the book is rife with convoluted sentences and statements that border on condescending. As a consequence, I fear that some readers who might have been interested in the subject matter would be put off.
From a slightly more technical point of view, Dr. Tavel unfortunately only provides references for a select number of claims he makes. If an unconvinced reader wanted to consult the evidence on “Adolescents who attend schools near fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese” or “In 2009, almost 50 percent of all bottled water came from municipal water supplies,” they would be unable to do so. This unfortunately undermines the author’s credibility, as readers are expected to take his claims at face value. In chapter 60, Dr. Tavel writes: “A series of letters following a name does not automatically confer one’s right to claim anything.” Even though I think that many things Dr. Tavel says are perfectly sensible, I believe he should have applied this rule to himself as well and appropriately supported all his claims with literature evidence.
Overall, I would give Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E. Tavel a rating of 2 out of 4 stars. It is well researched and contains a lot of useful information and I truly wanted to like it, but the editing and writing style sorely let it down in my opinion. You might enjoy this book if you already have an interest in the topics addressed (and presumably already know a good deal of the information contained therein anyway).
******
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Health Tips, Tricks and Myths by Morton E. Tavel aims to provide a sound perspective on inaccurate medical advice, misconceptions, and fraudulent information. Written by a retired internist/cardiologist, the author aims to provide a physician’s perspective on these topics and dives into a wide variety of subjects ranging from dieting pills through bottled water to detoxing.
This book is split into three sections: Tips (addressing health and wellness), Myths (diving into common misconceptions) and Tricks (giving advice on how to spot fraudulent information). I really liked this way of sub-dividing the information, as it easily allows the reader to jump into the sections they are interested in. Each chapter is pretty self-contained, which makes it easy to dip in and out of. Some chapters also contain a “Conclusion” section, which is very useful if someone wants to read the takeaway message without reading the entire chapter. Unfortunately, the "Conclusion" section is not implemented consistently and only appears in some parts of the book.
Dr. Tavel addresses a wealth of information in Health Tips, Tricks, and Myths, which clearly involved a massive amount of research. Pretty much every health myth and old wives’ tale that I can think of is included. Dr. Tavel does not beat around the bush, takes these topics head-on and lays out the evidence supporting or refuting these claims. Especially in the first section of the book, Dr. Tavel provides a lot of useful practical advice to the reader on a number of points, for example which foods we should eat less of or whether fish with a high mercury content is safe to consume.
One of the major downfalls of this book for me is the editing. As I read it, I spotted a whopping 86 punctuation errors, 15 errors in sentence structure, 11 spelling mistakes/word errors, and eight formatting errors (giving the author the benefit of doubt in multiple places). If Dr. Tavel does not have an editor, he sorely needs one; if he does, he needs to find a new one! In addition, I feel that the writing style used in this book is not well suited to the intended audience (which I am assuming is people without a science/medical background and with limited knowledge of the subject matter). While Dr. Tavel manages to steer clear of medical jargon and adequately explains it where he cannot, the book is rife with convoluted sentences and statements that border on condescending. As a consequence, I fear that some readers who might have been interested in the subject matter would be put off.
From a slightly more technical point of view, Dr. Tavel unfortunately only provides references for a select number of claims he makes. If an unconvinced reader wanted to consult the evidence on “Adolescents who attend schools near fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese” or “In 2009, almost 50 percent of all bottled water came from municipal water supplies,” they would be unable to do so. This unfortunately undermines the author’s credibility, as readers are expected to take his claims at face value. In chapter 60, Dr. Tavel writes: “A series of letters following a name does not automatically confer one’s right to claim anything.” Even though I think that many things Dr. Tavel says are perfectly sensible, I believe he should have applied this rule to himself as well and appropriately supported all his claims with literature evidence.
Overall, I would give Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E. Tavel a rating of 2 out of 4 stars. It is well researched and contains a lot of useful information and I truly wanted to like it, but the editing and writing style sorely let it down in my opinion. You might enjoy this book if you already have an interest in the topics addressed (and presumably already know a good deal of the information contained therein anyway).
******
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like SteffK's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E Tavel, MD
