Fall books preview: health & medicine, part one

Fall 2015 very largeWe’re excited about the books we’ll be publishing this fall—and pleased to share this series of “Fall Books Preview” blog posts! Be sure to check out the online edition of JHUP’s entire Fall 2015 catalog, and remember that promo code “HDPD” gets you a 30% discount on pre-pub orders. Today we offer the first of two posts highlighting our forthcoming books in health and medicine:


millerFinding Your Emotional Balance: A Guide for Women
Merry Noel Miller, MD

Women are twice as likely as men to become depressed. While they seek help for mental disorders more often than men, they also seek to help others, trying to keep everyone happy while taking care of parents, spouses, and children. Sometimes, doing it all is doing too much. Dr. Merry Noel Miller offers women of all ages advice for coping with life’s challenges while increasing its joys. Drawing on her three decades of experience as a psychiatrist specializing in women’s mental health—as well as her own personal struggles with depression and grief—she explains the special vulnerabilities and strengths of women during adolescence, the childbearing years, menopause, and late in life.

“Miller combines clinical insights with her own personal experiences to provide a practical, well-written, and interesting guide for women. This is the only book of which I am aware that tackles the subject of psychiatric disorders and symptoms across the lifespan for a general audience. I will recommend it to my patients.”—Jennifer L. Payne, MD, Women’s Mood Disorders Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital

Available in December


callahanThe Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Babys First Year
Alice Callahan, PhD

In this friendly guide through the science of infancy, Science of Mom blogger and PhD scientist Alice Callahan explains how non-scientist mothers can learn the difference between hype and evidence. Readers of Alice’s blog have come to trust her balanced approach, which explains the science that lies behind headlines. The Science of Mom is a fascinating, eye-opening, and extremely informative exploration of the topics that generate discussion and debate in the media and among parents. From breastfeeding to vaccines to sleep, Alice’s advice will help you make smart choices so that you can relax and enjoy your baby.

“Finally, someone has brought some science—and some sense—to the mommy wars. Should be required reading for all new (and old) parents.”—Emily Oster, Brown University, author of Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong—And What You Really Need to Know

“Alice Callahan has written a breakthrough book, combining the compassion, warmth, and angst of a mother with the measured reasoning of a scientist. She helps parents not only understand how science works, but how they can access that science to answer their questions. She’s found a way to access the scientist in all of us.”—Paul A. Offit, MD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Available in August


raoThe Traumatized Brain: A Family Guide to Understanding Mood, Memory, and Behavior after Brain Injury
Vani Rao, MBBS, MD, and Sandeep Vaishnavi, MD, PhD
foreword by Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPH

In The Traumatized Brain, neuropsychiatrists Drs. Vani Rao and Sandeep Vaishnavi—experts in helping people heal after head trauma—explain how traumatic brain injury, whether mild, moderate, or severe, affects the brain. They advise readers on how emotional symptoms such as depression, anxiety, mania, and apathy can be treated; how behavioral symptoms such as psychosis, aggression, impulsivity, and sleep disturbances can be addressed; and how cognitive functions like attention, memory, executive functioning, and language can be improved. They also discuss headaches, seizures, vision problems, and other neurological symptoms of traumatic brain injury.

“This book will challenge and encourage the reader. Whether an interested lay person, a caretaker, a family member, or a professional in the medical, nursing, or social work fields, readers will find this pioneering book a useful guide to the complexities of traumatic brain injury.”—From the Foreword by Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, coauthor of The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons with Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life

Available in November


prasadEnding Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives
Vinayak K. Prasad, MD, MPH, and Adam S. Cifu, MD

Medical reversal happens when doctors start using a medication, procedure, or diagnostic tool without a robust evidence base—and then stop using it when it is found not to help, or even to harm, patients. Drs. Prasad and Cifu narrate fascinating stories from every corner of medicine to explore why medical reversals occur, how they are harmful, and what can be done to avoid them.

“An outstanding, genre-defining work, this book will be read by students, educators, policymakers, scientists, scholars, medical skeptics, and health-care pundits alike.”—John Henning Schumann, MD, host of Public Radio Tulsa’s Medical Matters

“An important book that frames medical reversal in a compelling way. Readers will be drawn to this clearly written account.”—David S. Jones, MD, Harvard University, author of Broken Hearts: The Tangled History of Cardiac Care

Available in November


thuvulathHepatitis C: A Complete Guide for Patients and Families
Paul J. Thuluvath, MD, FRCP

This book is a comprehensive guide to hepatitis C, which affects about 3 percent of the world’s population—3 to 4 million people in the United States alone. Some people with acute hepatitis C infection will be cured without any treatment, but when hepatitis C becomes chronic it may cause cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death. World-renowned gastroenterologist and liver specialist Dr. Paul J. Thuluvath provides detailed information about the disease and its diagnosis and management, including dramatically improved treatments that have recently emerged.

“Superior to similar guides. Incredibly thorough and well-written, the book provides novel information for patients and providers alike.”—Sammy Saab, MD, MPH, AGAF, Pfleger Liver Institute

Available in October