The Checklist

December 1, 2006
Alvarez, the senior medical contributor for Fox News, presents a unique handbook of diseases and health risks within chronological "decades." Each chapter incorporates relevant, age-related precautions with an accompanying short checklist of recommended medical tests. Alvarez's somewhat chatty, engaging, and encouraging approach works in addressing most of the normal range of age-appropriate health concerns (e.g., prenatal development and migraines in the twenties; urinary diseases in the thirties). Violence, safety, environmental, workplace, and alternative medicine issues are given little or no coverage. Complex medical terms are often not defined in context; a glossary is not included. A somewhat helpful appendix briefly describes common medical tests that are mentioned at the end of chapters; an index would have been useful. The unannotated alphabetical resource list is virtually useless. Although intended as a preventive guide for the whole family, conditions are unevenly covered. While no similar handbooks are currently available, "The Checklist" is recommended with reservations only for medium to large public libraries as well as consumer health collections.Janice Flahiff, Univ. of Toledo Health Science Campus Lib.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.