Review by A Carman -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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A Carman
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Review by A Carman -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
[Following is a volunteer review of "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks" by Morton E Tavel, MD.]
3 out of 4 stars
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With recent advances in technology, we have endless resources at our fingertips, including increasing information about health and wellness. The millennial generation is seeing a rise in health ailments, such as Type 2 Diabetes, Dementia, Obesity, and Cancer. Medical scientists are racing to find "the cure" for each of these diseases. Diet plans are "sprouting up" at every turn; but what really works? How are we to learn what is legitimate, what is misguided, and what is foolhardy?
In 2015, Dr. Morton E. Tavel, MD wrote a book called "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician's Advice." This book is an inclusive "health and wellness" guide. The author has organized the book into three sections. In "Tips," Dr. Tavel introduces a variety of topics related to staying healthy: exercise, dieting, foods to avoid, pain pills, and much more. In the "Myths" section, Tavel explores the "wives' tales" and misconceptions that have been disproved by scientific research. Finally, in "Tricks," Dr. Tavel exposes the countless scams of the "health industry" at large.
What did I like the most about the book? I liked how organized it was. The subdivided chapter titles could be skimmed easily. I liked how brief the chapters were. They were to the point. The author is eloquent in summarizing volumes of research into a few pages. This arouses the curiosity of the reader to "get the full scoop" from additional sources. I liked the fact that the book contains a broad spectrum of topics. There is "something in it for everyone." I liked how thorough the author was in his research. He even asserts in the introduction: "If any sources were overlooked, it was unintentional."
What did I dislike the most about this book? I disliked the excessive use of the passive voice. For a hypothetical example: "The results of the recent study were published by the American Journal of Health." This sentence would sound much "cleaner" if the writer would use the active voice. "The American Journal of Health published the results of the recent study." I would advise the author to use the active voice whenever possible to enhance readability. I also disliked the use of the Greek symbols surrounding the chapter numbers. It made those pages more confusing to look at.
The most appropriate audience for this book would be adults between the ages of 25-75 who wish to be informed about health and wellness. This book might also be helpful for college students. It is not appropriate reading for adolescents or children.
I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I could not give the book four stars because I found several editing errors throughout the book. (See below for a few examples). I gave the book three stars instead of two because, errors aside, the contents of the book are informative and interesting. I certainly will recommend this book to others.
Here are some examples of the errors I found: I found long sentences that contained lists and parenthetical statements within them. This made these sentences too confusing. For one example: Page 54 Paragraph 1, PDF format. I also found that in the PDF version of the book that I viewed, several of the subject headings were not paired directly with their corresponding paragraphs. Sometimes, the subject would appear at the bottom of one page but the corresponding paragraph was at the top of the next page. The reading would flow much easier if the headings were not disjointed from the corresponding paragraphs. Also, the list in the middle of page 52 needs to be completely reformatted. My final error example here concerns the reference section. The font size of the reference numbers is inconsistent. Some of the numbers appear larger than others. These are just a few examples of the errors I found. In all, I found forty places where I would make formatting or editing corrections.
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Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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3 out of 4 stars
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With recent advances in technology, we have endless resources at our fingertips, including increasing information about health and wellness. The millennial generation is seeing a rise in health ailments, such as Type 2 Diabetes, Dementia, Obesity, and Cancer. Medical scientists are racing to find "the cure" for each of these diseases. Diet plans are "sprouting up" at every turn; but what really works? How are we to learn what is legitimate, what is misguided, and what is foolhardy?
In 2015, Dr. Morton E. Tavel, MD wrote a book called "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician's Advice." This book is an inclusive "health and wellness" guide. The author has organized the book into three sections. In "Tips," Dr. Tavel introduces a variety of topics related to staying healthy: exercise, dieting, foods to avoid, pain pills, and much more. In the "Myths" section, Tavel explores the "wives' tales" and misconceptions that have been disproved by scientific research. Finally, in "Tricks," Dr. Tavel exposes the countless scams of the "health industry" at large.
What did I like the most about the book? I liked how organized it was. The subdivided chapter titles could be skimmed easily. I liked how brief the chapters were. They were to the point. The author is eloquent in summarizing volumes of research into a few pages. This arouses the curiosity of the reader to "get the full scoop" from additional sources. I liked the fact that the book contains a broad spectrum of topics. There is "something in it for everyone." I liked how thorough the author was in his research. He even asserts in the introduction: "If any sources were overlooked, it was unintentional."
What did I dislike the most about this book? I disliked the excessive use of the passive voice. For a hypothetical example: "The results of the recent study were published by the American Journal of Health." This sentence would sound much "cleaner" if the writer would use the active voice. "The American Journal of Health published the results of the recent study." I would advise the author to use the active voice whenever possible to enhance readability. I also disliked the use of the Greek symbols surrounding the chapter numbers. It made those pages more confusing to look at.
The most appropriate audience for this book would be adults between the ages of 25-75 who wish to be informed about health and wellness. This book might also be helpful for college students. It is not appropriate reading for adolescents or children.
I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I could not give the book four stars because I found several editing errors throughout the book. (See below for a few examples). I gave the book three stars instead of two because, errors aside, the contents of the book are informative and interesting. I certainly will recommend this book to others.
Here are some examples of the errors I found: I found long sentences that contained lists and parenthetical statements within them. This made these sentences too confusing. For one example: Page 54 Paragraph 1, PDF format. I also found that in the PDF version of the book that I viewed, several of the subject headings were not paired directly with their corresponding paragraphs. Sometimes, the subject would appear at the bottom of one page but the corresponding paragraph was at the top of the next page. The reading would flow much easier if the headings were not disjointed from the corresponding paragraphs. Also, the list in the middle of page 52 needs to be completely reformatted. My final error example here concerns the reference section. The font size of the reference numbers is inconsistent. Some of the numbers appear larger than others. These are just a few examples of the errors I found. In all, I found forty places where I would make formatting or editing corrections.
******
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like A Carman's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: The Sojourners by T. L. Hughes
