From autism to allergies, ADHD to long Covid, more people are being labelled with medical conditions than ever before. But can a diagnosis do us more harm than good?

The boundaries between sickness and health are being redrawn. Mental health categories are shifting and expanding all the time, radically altering what we consider to be 'normal'. Genetic tests can now detect pathologies decades before people experience symptoms, and sometimes before they're even born. And increased health screening draws more and more people into believing they are unwell.

An accurate diagnosis can bring greater understanding and of course improved treatment. But many diagnoses aren't as definitive as we think. And in some cases they risk turning healthy people into patients.

Drawing on the stories of real people, as well as decades of clinical practice and the latest medical research, Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan overturns long held assumptions and reframes how we think about illness and health.

Child Health for All offers a comprehensive, up-to date and accessible introduction to population child health for undergraduate and postgraduate students of various health science disciplines.

The text addresses a broad scope of content, including environmental- policy and law-, health system-, clinical-, family-, and community aspects of public health, and offers effective strategies for the promotion, protection and improvement of children’s health. Engaging with current global plans and strategies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Survive, Thrive and Transform strategy, the text discusses strategies for the promotive, preventive and service delivery aspects of healthcare. The work addresses the multiple dimensions and determinants of health, covering all stages of the child's life course from pre-conception to late adolescence, and considers responses to the health needs of children by the health and associated social sectors.

Presenting a critical appraisal of issues and challenges common to many low- and middle-income contexts, and drawing in detail on South African conditions and influences, policy and regulatory frameworks, health services infrastructure and health system considerations, the text has wide application to the realities of the southern African and similar regions.

Lessons from COVID-19: Impact on Healthcare Systems and Technology uncovers the impact that COVID-19 has made on healthcare and technology industries. State-of-the-art case studies, empirical research, and new trends in technology-mediated solution are discussed to help inform and guide readers in understanding the effects that the COVID-19 outbreak has had across healthcare and technology industries. The book discusses challenges to identify vaccines, changes in legislation on clinical trials and re-purposing of licensed drugs, effects on primary healthcare, best practices adopted by different countries to control the pandemic, and different effects on patients within diverse age groups and comorbidities. In addition, the book covers technology-mediated solutions and infrastructures applied, digital transformations, modeling techniques, statistical projections, and the benefits and use of cloud computing and artificial intelligence. This is a valuable resource for healthcare professionals, medical doctors, researchers and graduate students from both biomedical and technological fields who are interested in learning more about the use of new technologies to fight a pandemic.

Novel AI and Data Science Advancements for Sustainability in the Era of COVID-19 discusses how the role of recent technologies applied to health settings can help fight virus outbreaks. Moreover, it provides guidelines on how governments and institutions should prepare and quickly respond to drastic situations using technology to support their communities in order to maintain life and functional as efficiently as possible. The book discusses topics such as AI-driven histopathology analysis for COVID-19 diagnosis, bioinformatics for subtype rational drug design, deep learning-based treatment evaluation and outcome prediction, sensor informatics for monitoring infected patients, and machine learning for tracking and prediction models. In addition, the book presents AI solutions for hospital management during an epidemic or pandemic, along with real-world solutions and case studies of successful measures to support different types of communities. This is a valuable source for medical informaticians, bioinformaticians, clinicians and other healthcare workers and researchers who are interested in learning more on how recently developed technologies can help us fight and minimize the effects of global pandemics.

This book is a collective work draws on the perspective of social sciences, mobilizing perspectives from the sociology of science, the history of psychiatry, medical ethnography and public policy analysis. This initiative, which has no precedent in social sciences, is surrounded by an original, if not apparently paradoxical statement: considering that the deployment of these processes, strictly formal and depersonalized, is justified in becoming the rule in a society known as "individuals".

Systems Evolutionary Biology: Biological Network Evolution Theory, Stochastic Evolutionary Game Strategies, and Applications to Systems Synthetic Biology discusses the evolutionary game theory and strategies of nonlinear stochastic biological networks under random genetic variations and environmental disturbances and their application to systematic synthetic biology design. The book provides more realistic stochastic biological system models to mimic the real biological systems in evolutionary process and then introduces network evolvability, stochastic evolutionary game theory and strategy based on nonlinear stochastic networks in evolution. Readers will find remarkable, revolutionary information on genetic evolutionary biology that be applied to economics, engineering and bioscience.

The UK has a deservedly strong reputation for work on understanding social inequalities in health. But there is some way to go in ensuring that research and other types of knowledge are used to reduce inequalities in child health. This revised and updated edition of an important report looks at macro public policy interventions, community interventions, and individual level interventions in a variety of settings, and for a range of populations: infancy, early years, childhood and adolescence, and those with particular needs including looked after children. It considers 'what works' in practice. There are new case studies, updated research, and reference to cost effectiveness - particularly relevant for doing the right thing in a climate of austerity. Drawing on evidence from the UK and beyond, the book presents these in an accessible form not just for those who make decisions now, but also for the students of today who are the decision makers of tomorrow.

The role of women in Iran has commonly been viewed solely through the lens of religion, symbolized by veiled females subordinated by society. In this work, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, an Iranian-American historian, aims to explain how the role of women has been central to national political debates in Iran. Spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, the book examines issues impacting women's lives under successive regimes, including hygiene campaigns that cast mothers as custodians of a healthy civilization; debates over female education, employment, and political rights; conflicts between religion and secularism; the politics of dress; and government policies on contraception and population control. Among the topics she will examine are the development of a women's movement in Iran, perhaps most publicly expressed by Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. The narrative comes up to the present, looking at reproductive rights, the spread of AIDS, and fashion since the Iranian Revolution.

Health Promotion in Midwifery explores the principles of health promotion within the practical context of midwifery. It clearly outlines and discusses the midwife's role in health promotion, making it essential reading for all student and practising midwives, as well as clinical practitioners. Emphasizing the link between theory and practice, the second edition incorporates chapters on domestic violence, sexual health, breastfeeding, and mental health promotion. Text boxes make the text accessible and user-friendly and case studies and summaries put the material in practical context. Additional readings encourage readers to further research and reflection on their own practice. Throughout the book, the importance of the role of the midwife in health promotion is emphasized. This second edition brings together contributions from a variety of experienced practitioners.

Ethical Issues in International Biomedical Research is the definitive book on the ethics of research involving human subjects in developing countries. Using 21 actual case studies, it covers the most controversial topics, including the ethics of placebo research in Africa, what benefits should be provided to the community after completion of a research trial, how to address conflicts between IRBs in developed and developing countries, and undue inducement of poor people in developing countries. Each case is accompanied by two expert commentaries, written by many of the worlds leading experts in bioethics as well as new voices with research experience in developing countries. No other volume has this scope. Students in bioethics, public and international health, and ethics will find this book particularly useful.

This book is an account of a study which provided unique information on trends in growth and respiratory health in British children over 25 years, with methodological discussion and other major findings including risk factors for impaired growth, obesity, respiratory disease and the distribution of coronary heart disease factors. The book provides information on trends in growth, height weight for height and subcutaneous arm tissue, and in respiratory health, asthma attacks and related symptoms, in children aged 5 to 11 years, from 1972 to 1994. It provides information on risk factors for impaired growth, obesity and respiratory disease, and on the distribution of risk factors for coronary heart disease in children. The contribution of the National Health and Growth Study extended to topics such as the effects of changes in welfare policy, under-diagnosis and under-treatment of asthma, nocturnal enuresis, disturbed sleep, the impact of passive smoking on the health of children, and the relation of lung function to the child's intra-uterine environment and to passive smoking. The methodological issues in relation to the conduct of the study and analysis of the data are discussed in non-technical language. Each contribution of the study is discussed in relation to current literature, which is fully referenced throughout.

CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, offers an accessible, data-packed answer to our biggest questions about Covid-19: What have we learned about this pandemic and how can we prepare for—or prevent—the next one?

As America’s favorite frontline Covid-19 health journalist, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has barely left his primetime seat in his makeshift studio basement since the pandemic began (other than to perform brain surgery). He’s had the insider of insider access to the drama’s unfolding, including exclusive conversations with the world’s top public health experts and behind-the-scenes scientists racing to find treatments and cures. And now he’s sharing what he’s learned in a book that will answer not only all our questions about what happened, but also about how our world will change in the years ahead, even once we’re back to “normal.”

Gupta argues that we need to prepare for a new era where pandemics will be more frequent, and possibly even more deadly. As the doctor who’s been holding America’s hand through the crisis with compassion, clarity, and well-earned wisdom, he gives you the unvarnished story behind the pandemic, including insights about the novel virus’s behavior, and offers practical tools to ready ourselves for what lies ahead. He answers critical questions: Can we stamp out the virus for good (and if not, how do we live with it)? Should we put our parents in a nursing home? Where should we live? What should we stockpile? What should we know before taking a trip? Does it make sense to spend more on health insurance to deal with any long-term effects? How do you decide when it’s safe to go to a public pool or schedule elective surgery? What should Covid survivors know about protecting their future health? What if you become a long-hauler with chronic health challenges stemming?

World War C will give you hope for the future along with real information that leaves you more resilient and secure.

Biotechnology in Healthcare presents up-to-date knowledge on the emerging field of biotechnology as applied to the healthcare industry. Biotechnology has revolutionized healthcare in the last two decades by developing and introducing novel diagnostics, therapeutics, and preventive measures; whether it is noncommunicable or communicable disease, primary or secondary care, or public health, it has shown its immense potential to provide a solution to the healthcare providers, physicians, and allied health care professionals. The second volume, Applications and Initiatives, contains 19 chapters focused on the applications of biotechnology related to public healthcare, hospital management, oncology, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases, regenerative medicine, IVF, clinical trials, precision food, FMGCs, PPCPs, pharmaceuticals, and smart technologies to monitor pandemic. Further, this volume also presents government initiatives and entrepreneurship challenges in healthcare biotechnology sector. This is a valuable resource for students, biotechnologists, bioinformaticians, clinicians, and members of biomedical and healthcare fields who need to understand more about the promising developments of the emerging field of biotechnology in healthcare.

This book presents current and emerging knowledge related to the exceptional situation, the aftermath of COVID-19, which has impacted all aspects of human existence. These chapters relate to current and planned research studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. The questions answered are related to how the pandemic has changed the practices of education, for better or for worse, and to whether the pandemic has triggered a paradigm shift in the future of education and thus the current practices will become a "new normal." This book gathers both national and international feedback and experiences related to teaching, learning, assessing, conducting research, and policy making in various fields of education during and post COVID-19 pandemic to provide a wholistic view to the different players in the education sector in order to have tangible data that will, hopefully, help in taking the right decisions.

Where did Temporary Sobriety Initiatives (TSIs) such as Dry January, FebFast and Ocsober, come from? And what is their role, if any, in prompting people to revisit their relationship with alcohol? These organized campaigns have flourished throughout the English-speaking world in the past decade. Collectively, they involve thousands of participants and raise substantial sums of money for medical research, as well as drug and alcohol related charities. Alcohol, Binge Sobriety and Exemplary Abstinence considers these campaigns as part of a lifestyle movement that transcends single events and even singular national contexts. It uses case studies from Australia, the USA and the UK to examine both the short history of TSIs as a response to problematic localized drinking cultures – including binge drinking – and their relationship to a much longer and transnational history of temperance activism. In taking TSIs as a case study of both embodied philanthropy and participatory health promotion, this book considers how TSIs are structured, promoted and experienced as an embodied event to create imitable, and sometimes contradictory, examples to create a public pedagogy of ‘responsible drinking’.