The Second Opinion

Dr. Thea Sperelakis, diagnosed as a teen with Asperger's syndrome, has always been an outsider. She has a brilliant medical mind, and a remarkable recall of details, but her difficulty in dealing with hidden agendas and interpersonal conflicts have led her to leave the complex, money-driven dynamics of the hospital, and to embrace working with the poor, embattled patients of Doctors Without Borders. Her father, Petros, is one of the most celebrated internal medicine specialists in the world, and the founder of the cutting-edge Sperelakis Center for Diagnostic Medicine at Boston's sprawling, powerful Beaumont Clinic. Thea's rewarding life in Africa is turned upside-down when Petros is severely injured by a hit-and-run driver. He is in the Beaumont ICU, in a deep coma. No one thinks he will survive. Thea must return home. Two of Petros' other children, both physicians, battle Thea and her eccentric brother, Dimitri, by demanding that treatment for their father be withheld. As Thea uncovers the facts surrounding the disaster, it seems more and more to be no accident. Petros, himself, is the only witness. Who would want him dead? The answers are trapped in his brain . . . until he looks at Thea and begins slowly to blink a terrifying message. In The Second Opinion, Michael Palmer has created a cat-and-mouse game where one woman must confront a conspiracy of doctors to uncover an evil practice that touches every single person who ever has a medical test. With sympathetic characters and twists and betrayals that come from the most unlikely places, The Second Opinion will make you question...everything.

A unique insider's view of today's complex and often contentious world of medicine Anxious about the prognosis, lost in a blur of technical jargon, and fatigued from worry or pain, people who are ill are easily overwhelmed by treatment choices. Told through eight gripping clinical dramas, Second Opinions reveals the forces at play in making critical medical decisions. Dr. Jerome Groopman illuminates the world of medicine where knowledge is imperfect, no therapy is without risks, and no outcome is fully predictable. He portrays moments of astute diagnosis and misguided perception, of lifesaving triumphs and shattering failures. These real-life lessons prepare us to navigate the uncertain terrain of illness, and enable us to balance intuition and information, and thereby make the best possible decisions about our health and future.

Most people would agree that we aren't taught much about 'wellness.' And while there seems to be an increased awareness related to 'fitness, ' more often than not we only think about 'health' or doctors when we're sick. What's left in the middle of those two extremes is a life-long struggle to stay healthy and productive in a world of mixed medical messages. For the first time, Dr. Radha Gopalan, gifted heart transplant Cardiologist, Acupuncturist and Yoga Teacher, clears up the confusion around health, wellness, and illness. And he does it in a way that will change the way you think about yourself--and medicine--forever. Dr. Gopalan merges his education and experience in both Eastern and Western medicine to look at health and wellness from a unique and powerful perspective and delivers not only concepts and philosophies that can change the way you think about health and wellness, but assesses the most common medical conditions that impact our world--from cancer and diabetes to heart disease, obesity, and chronic illnesses. In Second Opinion, Dr. Gopalan will explain: - how Eastern and Western medicine can work together for optimum health and wellness ? - how you can influence the outcome of your health--and disease ? - how the five levels of the H-I Triangle shape your personality, reactions, health, and ?happiness ? - how insurance and finances are affecting your healthcare ? - why some people who eat healthy, exercise, and lead a healthy lifestyle still have a heart ?attack ? - how being healthy has more to do with who you must be than what you must do ?

Taking an intersectional approach to the study of health and illness, Second Opinion introduces students to the field through an accessible yet authoritative overview of key theories, debates, and research findings. Written in a clear, straightforward style, with contributions from bothCanadian and international scholars, this comprehensive volume examines a wide range of topics including racialization, disability, aging, the environment, Aboriginal health, and the political economy of the health industry. Themes such as the social determinants of health, health inequalities,intersectionality, and the roles of both structure and agency in creating and maintaining the status quo are integrated throughout. The array of pedagogical features fosters engagement with the material, while providing study support and suggestions for further learning. New content and examples -on maternal mortality rates, the latest in sociological theory, health care inequalities in Canada, obesity, appearance norms, healthy aging, physician-assisted death, drug costs in Canada and the world, and integrated health care - encourage students to think critically about health-care practicesand policies in Canada within a global health perspective. Thoroughly revised and up-to-date, with a new visual program to appeal to visual learners and a new chart on the inside cover that details the coverage of social determinants throughout the text, the second Canadian edition of Second Opinion ensures that students of health sociology have everythingthey need to understand this complex discipline, right at their fingertips.

With his question-and-answer format, John McDougall leads the readers to an understanding of an approach to their health that puts them in charge of their own health and/or treatment.

In this first book to bring both establishment and dissenting views of the AIDS crisis into one volume, Gary Null unravels the halftruths that many argue have marred the study of this disease from the start. In clear, jargon-free prose, the book offers an unbiased, unflinching discussion of all sides of each issue. AIDS: A Second Opinion argues that the AIDS drama has exposed problematic issues having to do with the functioning of U.S. medical institutions. Null explores a new type of health care, grounded in patients' own choices and dispositions, that poses a challenge to the top-down, expert-controlled medical systems favored by the establishment. Drawing from Null's many years of study of alternative, traditional, and orthodox medicine as well as from interviews with many long-term survivors, the book dissects the claims of the AZT and drug-cocktail approach to treating AIDS and offers a trilogy of treatment strategies based on wide views of how to enhance the immune system and improve overall functioning.

The Patient's Playbook will change the way you manage your health and your family's health, from finding the right doctor to coordinating the best medical care. An expertly informed guide to the steps that everyone should take--even before illness strikes. The Patient's Playbook is a compelling narrative of personal stories that impart lessons and illuminate strategies for better, and even life-saving, medical decision-making. With clarity and as a call to action, Michelson presents the most effective approach to getting the best from a broken system: sourcing excellent doctors, choosing the right treatment protocols in the "no mistake zone," researching with precision, and structuring the ideal support team. Leslie D. Michelson has devoted his life's work to helping people access the best quality medical care--serving as an expert navigator for hundreds of clients. As the former head of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the CEO of Private Health Management he has dedicated his life's work to helping individuals find the courage and confidence to get what they need in a challenging health system.

Drug addicts and desperate drunks, battered wives and suicidal burglars, elderly Alzheimer's sufferers and teenage stabbing victims all pass through Theodore Dalrymple's surgery - and he uses the experience of treating them to examine life for those unfortunate enough to live at the bottom end of society. He writes with a combination of dry humour, compassion and, occasionally, anger - mostly at the inhuman bureaucracy of the system, which works against the doctors and nurses as they try to help their patients.