This third edition of Gershwin and Halpern's classic text, Bronchial Asthma, has been completely rewritten and expanded to include, from a variety of disciplines, the latest techniques and developments in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of asthma. With its new patient-oriented chapters on living with asthma, the book will empower the internist, the family practitioner, and the specialist in their struggle to reverse the current trend of increasing asthma mortality and to improve the quality of life of their patients and their families. The editors have selected authoritative contributors to Bronchial Asthma, organizing it into four comprehensive parts: I. Definitions and Host Responses to Bronchospasm defines asthma by analyzing its epidemiology, pathogenesis, and genetic roots, and illuminates the roles of mast cells and eosinophils. Chapters also cover the use of the pulmonary function laboratory and the differential diagnosis of asthma in children and adults. II. Patient Management introduces the latest thinking and techniques about treatment and management of patients, including allergic evaluation, radiological treatment, the role of immunotherapy, the differential management of status asthmaticus, the management of pregnant asthmatics, and an evaluation of unconventional therapies. III. Special Clinical Problems explores respiratory tract infections, the roles of anti-inflammatory agents, food additives, air pollution, aspergillosis, and occupational asthma. Four new chapters analyze exercise-induced asthma, asthma's relationship with chronic sinus disease, and the cross-cultural treatment of asthma in Europe and Japan. IV. Living with Asthma, an entirely new section, examines asthma in school children, athletes and asthma, legal issues for asthmatics, the psychology of asthma, and the use of prospective disease management.

Essential oils, known for their healing properties as far back as ancient Mesopotamia and Babylonia, have reached their zenith in Madagascar, says Dr. Georges M. Halpern, author of The Healing Trail: Essential Oils of Madagascar. This interesting, informative, and clearly written new book is well-documented, with entertaining historical stories sprinkled throughout, including how eighteenth-century botanists succeeded in making this land a garden for botanical study. Madagascar, the planet's fourth largest island, has long been famous for the individuality of its flora and fauna, and for the essential oils that many consider the best in the world. This book explains why and tells us what makes these oils so potent and effective. It details their use in aromatherapy, a healing method almost as old as medicine itself, and their many benefits to the perfume, cosmetic, and food industries; it describes the successful efforts of villagers to create a sustainable economy around them without having to cut down the rainforest, and offers practical advice for people wishing to visit this lushly beautiful island, "the naturalist's promised land." Dr. Halpern gives the history and the chemical and botanical makeup of eight essential oils (for example, tropical basil, cinnamon leaf and bark, geranium leaf, ginger, and vanilla) and tells how they are best used to promote physical and emotional health. We learn where they are grown on the island, how they are cultivated, what studies are being conducted, and what scientists believe might be future uses for them.

The Healing Trail: Essential Oils of Madagascar is an essential resource for learning how the unique aspects of this island have coalescedto create superior essential oils like no others on earth, and how these oils can be put to use for maximum benefit.

While almost all mushrooms share beneficial properties which heighten the immune system, the chapters of this book are dedicated to mushrooms that are the most promising possibilities for healing a variety of illnesses, including reishi (for liver disorders), cordyceps sinesis (anti-ageing), maitake (cancer), and hericum erinaceud (Alzheimer's Disease), among others. Mushrooms have been found in human culture for thousands of years. They have been used as a medicine since the very beginning, but in the past fifty years several major advancements in medicine have come from mushroom and other fungi, including the most famous of all, penicillin. This book explores mushroom history, as well as their possible uses in the future.

Although the mechanisms and triggers that stimulate and are responsible for the natural history ofasthma are steadily being more clearly defined, uncertainties still surround both the genetic basis and the etiologyofone of the most common syndromes in the world. In fact, it is ofconsider- able concern and interest that the incidence of asthma today appears to be rising. These statistical increments may only reflect an increasing awareness of the disease, or its earlier and more sophisticated diagnosis. More important, however, asthma mortality appears to be increasing. This increase has occurred despite the continuing expansion of a diag- nostic and management information base, and the developmentofnovel andevermoreeffective therapeutic modalities. Severalexplanations have been offered for this increase in mortality, including that it may result from a statistical artifact [based on a change in the coding criteria for asthma from the International ClassificationofDiseases Version 8(ICD- 8) to ICD-9], worsened pollution, delays in seeking medical help, behav- ioral changes, deficits in the asthma education of both patients and primary careproviders, toxicity ofbeta-agonists, and noncompliance with instructions for the proper use of medications. It should also be empha- sized that the increases in both incidence and mortality may be a reflec- tion of accumulating body burdens of environmental toxicants and of increased oxidativedamage. There has clearly beenadegradation ofenvi- ronmental quality. And although considerableattention has been focused on this possibility in both the scientific and lay press, more research in this area is definitely needed.

"Authentic Sensual Living" is your guide to experiencing life through all of your senses. As you read this book, you will master your ability to "feel." The two most important principles illustrated are: The quality of your life is measured in moments of living, not years of life. You can experience each moment of your life through all your senses, often on multiple levels at the very same time. "Authentic Sensual Living" takes a "storytelling" approach; sharing many examples from the author's diverse life and from the experiences of others, allowing you to reflect on your own view of the world and then provides a platform to design your own authentic sensual living plan.

"Authentic Sensual Living" is your guide to experiencing life through all of your senses. As you read this book, you will master your ability to "feel." The two most important principles illustrated are: The quality of your life is measured in moments of living, not years of life. You can experience each moment of your life through all your senses, often on multiple levels at the very same time. "Authentic Sensual Living" takes a "storytelling" approach; sharing many examples from the author's diverse life and from the experiences of others, allowing you to reflect on your own view of the world and then provides a platform to design your own authentic sensual living plan.