The Health/Medicine Shelf

Being Well with Chronic Illness
Kat Hill, author
Nancy Peate, author
Hatherleigh Press
c/o The Hatherleigh Foundation
62545 State Highway 10, Hobart, NY 13788
www.hatherleighpress.com
9781578269471, $17.99, PB, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Being-Well-Finding-Resilience-Chronic/dp/1578269474

Synopsis: More than 40% of the US population are affected by chronic diseas= es. "Being Well with Chronic Illness: A Guide to Joy & Resilience with Your=
Diagnosis" is a guide book for every single one of those people suffering = with chronic illness and wanting to live full lives characterized by joy, r= esilience, and wellness.

Receiving a diagnosis of terminal illness is a turning point in a person's = life where everything they've ever known is suddenly turned on its head. Ne= gative emotions like anxiety, depression, anger and uncertainty are ever-pr= esent, while the way forward back to health and wellness seems full of twis=
ts and turns. This is because the path to wellness (and away from wellness)=
is a spiral.

"Being Well with Chronic Illness" introduces the simple, but powerful conce=
pt of the Wellness Spiral, an actionable pathway anyone can follow to turn = bad life events to opportunities for growth and wellness. The intricacies o=
f the Wellness Spiral lay out a road map to how we respond to life's harshe=
st challenges -- and how we can rise above them.

The message is that you can reclaim wellness through intention and self-dis= covery as "Being Well with Chronic Illness" charts the course for a journey=
that supports finding hope and wholeness after an unexpected diagnosis. "B= eing Well with Chronic Illness" is for anyone who is at a crossroads and wa= nts to find ways to build resilience.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, impressively informative, and thoroug= hly 'reader friendly' in both organization and presentation, "Being Well wi=
th Chronic Illness: A Guide to Joy & Resilience with Your Diagnosis" will h= ave a very special relevance and value for anyone having to deal with a chr= onic illness in themselves or a loved one. So many chronic and terminal ill= ness is the result of either genetic predisposition or environmental toxins=
that "Being Well with Chronic Illness: A Guide to Joy & Resilience with Yo=
ur Diagnosis" is especially and unreservedly recommended as a critically im= portant addition to personal, professional, community, college, and univers= ity library Health/Medicine collections and supplemental curriculum Nervous=
System Diseases studies lists in particular.

Editorial Note #1: Kat Hill (https://www.kathill.org) has a degree in Publi=
c Health, Nursing and Midwifery. She has worked as an educator and nurse, b=
ut after her diagnosis of young onset Parkinson's Disease, she has devoted = her time as an advocate for persons with chronic illnesses. She is currentl=
y an Ambassador for the Davis Phinney Foundation and sits on the patient ad= visory committee for the World Parkinson Coalition. She spoke at the World = Parkinson's Congress in Kyoto, Japan in 2019. She has a podcast, PD Lemonad=
e, that focuses on wellness and resilience.

Editorial Note #2: Nancy Peate (https://hatherleighcommunity.com/authors/na= ncy-peate) writes and speaks about wellness and how to live one's best life=
despite chronic illness. A research librarian by profession, research topi=
cs of most interest include resilience and chronic illness, particularly Pa= rkinson's disease. She has participated and volunteered for the Parkinson's=
Resources of Oregon, the Davis Phinney Foundation, and the World Parkinson=
Coalition. She spoke at the World Parkinson's Congress in Kyoto, Japan in = 2019 and hosts a monthly Parkinson's support group.

The Baby and the Biome
Meenal Lele
Avery
c/o Penguin Group (USA)
https://www.penguin.com/avery-overview
9780593421024, $26.99, HC, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Biome-Inside-Secret-Health/dp/0593421027

Synopsis: A baby's immune system develops rapidly in the first 1,000 days o=
f life, with the first six months and year being most important. With the p= ublication of "The Baby and the Biome: How the Tiny World Inside Your Child=
Holds the Secret to Their Health", by medical researcher Meenal Lele expla= ins how diet, environmental toxins, antibiotics, and even common parenting = practices can damage the delicate balance of our children's microbiomes, th= ereby increasing the risk for a host of immune diseases, including eczema, = asthma, food allergies, IBS, and more.

Lele discovered firsthand how critical our microbiomes are to our overall h= ealth when she sought to understand the root causes for her son's food alle= rgies. Drawing on her medical background and through extensive research and=
interviews with scientists and doctors, Lele discovered the simple, practi= cal steps that all parents and pregnant moms can take to help foster a heal= thy and protective microbiome in their baby. "The Baby and the Biome" will = empower parents to protect and safeguard their children's health for years =
to come.

Critique: An invaluable and impressively informative guide for parents conc= erned with their baby's health and well being, "The Baby and the Biome: How=
the Tiny World Inside Your Child Holds the Secret to Their Health" will ha=
ve a special attraction for parents and caregivers concerned with a child d= eveloping food allergies. Exceptionally well organized and presented, "The = Baby and the Biome: How the Tiny World Inside Your Child Holds the Secret t=
o Their Health" is unreservedly recommended as an essential, core addition =
to personal, professional, community, and academic library Pediatrics, Pare= nting, and Health/Medicine collections. It should be noted for families wit=
h food allergy concerns that "The Baby and the Biome: How the Tiny World In= side Your Child Holds the Secret to Their Health" is also available in a di= gital book format (Kindle, $15.99).

Editorial Note: Meenal Lele (https://shandeeland.com/meenal-lele-52) is the=
founder and CEO of Lil Mixins, a food allergy prevention solution that is = the #1 pediatrician-recommended early-introduction product available. She i=
s the creator of the hit podcast Fixing Sick, which explores the science be= hind immune disease. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, an=
d Real Woman magazine, and radio shows across New York, New Jersey, and Pen= nsylvania. She has appeared on Good Day Philadelphia, Great Day Washington,=
"Health Watch" on Fox 5 DC, "Chasing News" on Fox, and My9 in New York, Ne=
w Jersey, and Philadelphia. She is a frequent guest on national food allerg=
y and mommy podcasts, including Idea Mix, Blossoming Mom and Baby, and Toda=
y We Tried.

Beating Insomnia
Stephen Altschuler
Sacajawea Press
9780578299082, $9.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Beating-Insomnia-No-Nonsense-Natural-Sleep/dp/057829= 9089

Insomnia is a widespread problem, and shelves of books about the subject ha=
ve already been written. What sets Stephen Altschuler's Beating Insomnia: A=
No-Nonsense Way to Natural Sleep apart from most is its review of why most=
sleep advice doesn't work, and the methods which have been proven successf= ul.

Altschuler experienced powerful chemotherapy, which saved his life but exac= ted many tolls -- among them, the inability to sleep. The cookie-cutter app= roach of many doctors towards fostering elusive sleep didn't help. In fact,=
they made matters worse. Timing is everything; but nowhere is that adage m= ore effective than in sleep patterns. Body clocks vary, body chemistry diff= ers, and this is why 'one size fits all' approaches to insomnia are more li= kely to expand the problem than solve it. And that's the ticket to success =
in Beating Insomnia, which presents a self-help program of identifying and = working with one's natural rhythms instead of a singular approach. There ar=
e many avenues towards reaching the goal of better sleep that are involved =
in this process.

Some may be surprising to readers that anticipate nighttime mantras or wind= -down routines alone. One example involves the move to improve overall life=
quality: "To shift attention away from sleep difficulties, you must find s= omething in your life to look forward to waking up to - a purpose that is e= njoyable, that fires your creative juices, that literally consumes you with=
interest and thought -- something you find so interesting that it can dist= ract you from obsessing upon insomnia."

It seems counterproductive to get all fired up about an effort to sleep, bu=
t Altschuler maintains that this and other life-changing approaches all con= tribute to better sleep by improving the quality of not just nighttime, but=
daytime routines. He defines "natural sleep" as "sleep without prescriptio=
n medications or over the counter sleep aids," and he attends to routines a=
nd measures which also are not too addictive or rigid in their deployment.

As self-help readers and insomniacs pursue the many tips to creating a more=
restful, sleep inducing environment, from outfitting a room with blackout = curtains and making sure it's cool to adopting a regular schedule that enco= urages sleep, they will find it easy to adjust these tips to suit their own=
lifestyles and approaches. And yet, the basics of these admonitions allow = for understanding the fundamental influences on reaching the goal of natura=
l sleep patterns.

Reading Beating Insomnia is like pressing the "reset" button. It allows rea= ders to better understand the roots of their individual problem and pattern=
disruptions, and to adopt the routines and processes which mitigate sleep-= reducing influences and patterns. It also helps identify and address antici= patory fears and many other underlying psychological factors that interfere=
with sleep patterns. It is best used by the self-help insomniac who would = consider and revise perceptions not just of sleep, but their lives.

Libraries looking for new approaches to self-health and beating insomnia wi=
ll find Beating Insomnia filled with examples gleaned from Altschuler's own=
experiences as well as a host of practical solutions any insomniac can rea= dily employ to address their own sleep-elusive issues. The book will help i=
ts readers fall and stay asleep. Its author's experiences offer invaluable = keys to identifying common pitfalls and overcoming them, making Beating Ins= omnia a highly recommended choice above many competing sleep aids.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promo= ting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no fund=
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for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview=
(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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