cover image The 35-Plus Good Health Guide for Women: The Prime of Life Program for Women Over 35

The 35-Plus Good Health Guide for Women: The Prime of Life Program for Women Over 35

Jean Perry Spodnik. HarperCollins Publishers, $19.95 (388pp) ISBN 978-0-06-016111-8

Spodnik ( The 35-Plus Diet for Women ), head clinical dietitian at Kaiser Permanente in Cleveland, and Kaiser internist Cogan have collaborated frequently in the high-tech rabbit's warren of hospital wards. In company with writer Houston, they work in equally fine harmony here. ``Good health,'' they argue, ``is not a matter of extreme beliefs and practices, but of good sense . . . and a standard of reasonableness.'' The book opens by providing guidance in selecting a physician and explaining the content of a competent medical check-up, and goes on to cover, sensibly and rationally, topics from weight control and skin care through strategies for staving off such disorders as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and heart and circulatory disease, rightly pointing out that choices made in the ``middle'' years can crucially affect the later ones. Body systems and organs--bones, joints, the nervous system--are all discussed, as are subjects sexual and reproductive, from menstrual difficulties to post-35 pregnancy. Women of any age will benefit from the basic information offered in this excellent handbook. (Aug.)