Ancient Healing for Modern Women: Traditional Chinese Medicine for All Phases of a Woman's Life
Author: Xiolan Zhao
One of Canada's most trusted and beloved health practitioners introduces American women to the wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine and the time-tested practices that have helped optimize physical and emotional health for centuries.
Since establishing her practice in Canada twelve years ago, Dr. Xiaolan Zhao has treated thousands of women suffering from fatigue, PMS, infertility, depression, cancer, menopausal symptoms and other gynecological disorders — health problems that are all too common in the West but less so in China, where traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been an integral part of women's lives for thousands of years. As a physician originally trained in Western medicine who later took up the practice of TCM, Dr. Zhao has seen how effective the Chinese approach is for her patients, and her book will help American women incorporate its wisdom and practices in our lives.
Sharing stories from her own life and the lives of her patients, Dr. Zhao shows that we have nothing to reject about our feminine selves, and explains how we can develop new relationships with our bodies and our emotions. There is so much every woman can do in terms of ongoing and preventative self-care to improve her health and vitality and prevent illness. By making simple changes in diet, exercise routine, sex life and the way we deal with stress and our emotions, we can profoundly improve our health now and into the future.
Publishers Weekly
In this introduction to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Zhao poetically evokes naturalistic imagery to celebrate women's life stages: menstruation (Heavenly Water), breast health (Lotus Blossoms), sexuality (Clouds and Rain), pregnancy (Ripening the Fruit), postpartum (Golden Month) and menopause (Second Spring). TCM, she says, empowers a woman with self-awareness, providing the means to access her own healing power. Raised in China during the Cultural Revolution, Zhao encountered folk medicine on the farm to which she was relocated. When she later studied medicine in her homeland, her training emphasized physical illness and symptoms. After emigrating to Canada and opening her own clinic, she noted that many women patients struggled with mental, emotional and spiritual imbalances that affected their health. With TCM-acupuncture, herbs, diet, stress relief and rest, massage-Zhao says, women can remedy imbalances on all levels and avoid more serious illness, surgery and prescription medication. Her recommendations alternate with heartfelt personal stories. While she discusses the Taoist basis of TCM and the concepts of qi and yin and yang, the book functions more as an appetizer. Still, Zhao's warmth and gentle touch will likely entice readers to seek a TCM practitioner for further guidance. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In her first book for an American audience, Toronto-based Zhao explains for women the principles and benefits of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A good many concepts are discussed, from the three levels of energy (Jing, Qi, and Shen) to the five basic phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). What's important, Zhao says, is the restoration of harmony in the body through certain elements-only then can optimum health result. The author (who earned a degree in traditional medicine in her native China) shares personal stories and patient vignettes of each stage of a woman's life using TCM terms and examines them through the lens of TCM. For each stage, recipes and exercises for helping to balance Qi are provided. While it was probably not in the scope of the book to explain TCM concepts and terms in detail, suggestions of sources for further study would have been helpful. Laurie Steelsmith's Natural Choices for Women's Health: How the Secrets of Natural and Chinese Medicine Can Create a Lifetime of Wellness provides more substance. However, Zhao's book is recommended for public and consumer health libraries with large collections in alternative medicine.-Beth Hill, Univ. of Idaho Lib., Moscow Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
New interesting book: Everything You Need to Know to Feel Go or Why Christians Get Sick
The Mold Survival Guide: For Your Home and for Your Health
Author: Jeffrey C May
The image was shocking: a couple wearing protective suits and masks in their own home! The accompanying USA Weekend story documented the mold-related headaches, fatigue, and respiratory problems that forced Melinda Ballard and Ron Allison to abandon their dream house, leaving all their possessions behind. Another family was so terrified that they had their mold-filled house torn down.
Mold growth threatens property managers and builders, as well as home owners and renters. Legal settlements in some mold cases have reached the millions, and home insurance rates are skyrocketing. Some people argue that mold concerns are exaggerated; others are convinced that mold growth is destroying their health.
In The Mold Survival Guide, a prominent indoor air quality professional teams up with a writing specialist to describe mold, to explain where and why it flourishes in homes, and to offer advice on how to eradicate mold while minimizing health risks. The book includes a chapter by two physicians who explain how exposure to mold can affect health.
With clear scientific explanations and expert advice, The Mold Survival Guide is a valuable resource for anyone worried about a common household problem that can have serious consequences.
Library Journal
A problem facing homeowners everywhere, mold can form in basements, attics, living rooms, bedrooms, walls, ceilings, floors, and heating and cooling systems, both inside and outside of the house. The resulting discoloration and musty odor can not only lower property values and destroy a home's ambience but also cause serious illness, allergy, and headaches. May, a certified indoor air-quality professional (see his excellent book on indoor allergens, My House Is Killing Me!), and wife Connie explain what molds are, why and where they grow, and how to rid our living spaces of these dangerous fungal microorganisms. The authors furnish clear explanations, examples from actual situations, and valuable advice gleaned from May's 15 years' experience. A guest chapter by two physicians reveals how prolonged exposure to molds affects our health. A storehouse of knowledge presented in a readable style, this will appeal to homeowners, apartment dwellers, and real estate agents alike.-Irwin Weintraub, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., New York Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Table of Contents:
| Preface | ||
| Acknowledgments | ||
| Pt. I | The world of mold | 1 |
| 1 | The indispensable kingdom of fungi | 3 |
| 2 | Watering mold and spreading spores | 14 |
| 3 | How mold affects our health | 31 |
| 4 | Mold wages battle : then and now | 42 |
| Pt. II | The search for mold | 61 |
| 5 | What lurks below | 65 |
| 6 | Mold in the mechanicals | 84 |
| 7 | The spaces we live in | 106 |
| 8 | The spaces we don't live in | 132 |
| 9 | Testing for mold | 154 |
| Pt. III | The cleanup | 167 |
| 10 | Small-scale cleanup jobs | 169 |
| 11 | Professional remediation | 188 |
| Conclusion | 199 | |
| Resource guide | 201 | |
| Index | 207 |
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