The Intellectual Devotional Health: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Digest a Daily Dose of Wellness Wisdom (The Intellectual Devotional Series) - Hardcover

Kidder, David S.; Oppenheim, Noah D.; Young MD, Bruce K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1605299499 ISBN 13: 9781605299495

Publisher: Rodale Books, 2009

Synopsis

In this fourth installment of the New York Times best-selling Intellectual Devotional series, authors Noah Oppenheim and David Kidder have partnered with Bruce K. Young, MD, to offer a year's worth of medical knowledge and wellness wisdom. Each daily dose in this infectious volume offers insight into the mysterious terrain of the human body and the factors that impact its constitution.

Drawn from seven diverse categories, including lifestyle and preventive medicine; the mind; medical milestones; drugs and alternative treatments; sexuality and reproduction; diseases and ailments; and children and adolescents, these 365 entries are as informative as they are functional. From aspirin to the x-ray, headaches to Hippocrates, Viagra to influenza, The Intellectual Devotional: Health will revive the mind and rejuvenate the body. Sure to please devoted intellectuals and newcomers alike, this timely volume sheds new light on an endlessly fascinating subject: ourselves.

About this title

About the Author:

David S. Kidder is an entrepreneur with a wide range of technology and marketing expertise. Kidder and his companies have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Fast Company. Kidder is a graduate of Rochester Institute of
Technology and was a recipient of ID magazine's International Design Award. He lives in Westchester, New York, with his wife, Johanna, and son.

Noah D. Oppenheim, a senior producer of NBC's Today show, has extensive experience in television and print journalism. He has produced and reported for Scarborough Country and Hardball with Chris Matthews, and his writing has appeared in Esquire, the Wall Street Journal, Men's Health, and the Weekly Standard. He resides in New York City.

Bruce K. Young, MD., is internationally known as a leader and innovator in obstetrics and gynecology. He developed the first obstetrical intensive care unit and founded the Division of Maternal and Fetal Medicine at NYU Medical Center. He is the Silverman Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU Medical School and is listed among America's Top Doctors and in New York magazine's Best Doctors 2008.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

MONDAY, DAY 1 CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Apgar Score

Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) defied all odds to become a pioneering female physician. In spite of the financial hardships of the Great Depression, Apgar was one of the first women to graduate from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. She went on to become an anesthesiologist and the school's first female professor. In 1952, she developed the Apgar score, a quick evaluation of a newborn's condition during the first critical minutes after birth. This scale has saved countless lives and is still used today.

Doctors and nurses perform the screening at 1 and 5 minutes after an infant's birth. They evaluate five vital signs--skin color, heart rate, reflexes, muscle tone, and breathing--on a scale of 0 to 2, then add up the ratings for a total ranging from 0 to 10. (Medical students often remember these signs using the mnemonic APGAR: appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration.) If the score is 7 or above, the baby is deemed in stable condition. But if it's lower, physicians and nurses will reevaluate every 5 minutes until 20 minutes have passed or until two consecutive scores of 7 or higher are recorded.

If the infant has a score of 6 or lower, some resuscitation is needed, which may involve suctioning the airway and administering oxygen. Sometimes this is because of a heart or lung condition, or another medical issue. A newborn with a score of 0 to 3 requires immediate resuscitation, usually with assisted breathing. But an initial low score may be harmless: Some babies, especially those born after a high-risk pregnancy, Caesarean section, or complicated delivery, may just take a little longer to adjust to life outside the womb. Experts say that the Apgar test isn't a predictor of a child's long-term health, unless after 20 minutes the score remains 0 to 3.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

1. At age 50, Virginia Apgar embarked on a second career. She earned a master's degree in public health and became an executive for the March of Dimes.

2. About 10 percent of newborns require medical intervention.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rodale Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1605299499
• ISBN 13: 9781605299495
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384