cover image HEALTHY WOMEN, HEALTHY LIVES: A Guide to Preventing Disease from the Landmark Nurses' Health Study

HEALTHY WOMEN, HEALTHY LIVES: A Guide to Preventing Disease from the Landmark Nurses' Health Study

. Simon & Schuster, $26 (576pp) ISBN 978-0-684-85519-6

Harvard Medical School has conducted a landmark 25-year study of women's health. The Nurses' Health Study closely examined the habits of over 225,000 women, yielding insight into heart disease, breast and ovarian cancer, diabetes and other serious illnesses and making it the largest study to date on the effects of behavior and lifestyle on women's health. This reference guide summarizes the study's results. Not surprisingly, given its source's broad scope, the book contains an enormous amount of material. Its brief first section explains the guidelines for the study and defines important terms such as "risk." The second section—probably the one with the broadest appeal—deals with specific illnesses, including heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer. For each type of disease, statistical information is followed by a discussion of risk factors and first-person commentary from a doctor. For example, Dr. Celeste Robb-Nicholson says, "When it comes to telling patients how to avoid lung cancer, the advice I offer is simple: if you smoke, quit." The last section of the book includes discussions on changing behavior in order to lose weight—stop smoking, start exercising—and reduce the risk of contracting various diseases. While this section contains some information that will be familiar to readers, it is the most practical and should be helpful to women ready to make lifestyle changes. This is a reference book women should be reading throughout their lives. (July)

Forecast:Edited by Harvard Medical School faculty members (all of whom also work at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital), this book bears an imprimatur of scientific authority, and is likely to impress, and to sell well to, health-conscious women.