Ford Library

Campbell, T. Colin. The China study : the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted and the startling implications for diet, weight loss and long-term health. BenBella Books, 2005.

Fulkerson, Lee (writer/director). Forks over knives. Monica Beach Media & Virgil Films. 2011.

At least once every month, I learn about a Fuqua faculty or staff member who has been diagnosed with cancer.  Many others are survivors – thanks to Duke Univ. Medical Center.  And any student who lives long enough runs the risk of this disease, which some people are calling an epidemic.

Staff member and cancer survivor Mia Ketchum recommended two resources for the Ford Library’s health management collection – the video Forks over Knives and the book, The China Study* by Dr. Colin and Thomas Campbell.

The book and the video cover the same topic — the connection between diet and chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes,  and cancer.  They also review the work of scientists and conclude that a whole foods, plant based diet can prevent these diseases.  Furthermore, they provide evidence that this diet can repair damage to cells, reversing the course of disease and restoring one to full health.

In discussing the link between food and health, these scientists recommend that patients eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains, avoiding animal based foods including meat, fish, milk, cheese and eggs.  The ideal diet is a vegan diet, composed of whole unprocessed foods, based on plants.  The authors are convinced that scientific evidence about diet has been tainted by financial support for scientific research in nutrition made by the dairy and meat industries.

As a cross check, this reviewer contacted the nutritionist at Duke Radiation Oncology and discovered that Duke is also recommending that their patients eat more plants and fewer animal based foods, although they stop short of recommending a vegan regimen.

Not everyone will be motivated to adopt a vegan regimen, yet those interested in maintaining a healthy diet would find this book or video illuminating.

* The China Study is also available as an audiobook.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Weintraub, Arlene. Selling the fountain of youth : how the anti-aging industry made a disease out of getting old, and made billions. Basic Books, 2010.

If taking hormones were dangerous, then all 20 year olds would have cancer. So goes one of the arguments made by promoters of anti-aging clinics in a new book by Bloomberg BusinessWeek science journalist, Arlene Weintraub. To turn back the clock, consumers in this industry devote their whole paychecks to treatments, and follow medical advice dispensed by Hollywood star Suzanne Somers. When their family MD’s balked about prescribing hormones that cause cancer, patients took their business to the new anti-aging clinics instead.

From its humble beginnings in the 1990’s to today’s $88 billion industry, author Weintraub takes the reader through the gamut of hopeful treatments, including injections with HGH and Botox, and the more natural dietary supplements, such as elixirs made from acai berries and resveratrol pills, distilled from red wine. She also discusses the battles between big pharmaceutical companies and independent compounding pharmacists, highlighting the problems in non-regulated drug products. She covers the lies and scams.

Weintraub states that anti-aging doctors are acting in good faith to help their patients. But she cautions that sometimes doctors are wrong. Anti-aging treatments have not been scientifically tested in double-blind studies. They may be ineffective or worse, causing harm to the patient. And now for the truly bad news – the only proven route to maintaining a youthful body involves exercise. Frequent workouts, while maintaining a healthy weight, is the only regimen that actually works to keep us young.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Reid, T. R. The healing of America : a global quest for better, cheaper, and fairer health care. Penguin Press, 2009.

Washington Post correspondent T. R. Reid took his injured shoulder to doctors around the world to see how their health care systems would treat his shoulder pain. His American orthopedist recommended that his shoulder be replaced with a man-made titanium device. The orthopedist in France recommended physical therapy to strengthen the muscular system in his shoulder. In India, he received herbal medicines and full-body massages with sesame oil, with surprisingly good results.

The purpose of Reid’s quest was to find out why health care in other free market economies have better outcomes at a lower cost than in the U.S. On basic measures of health systems performance: coverage, quality, cost control and choice, the U.S. is far behind other countries. Reid concludes that in the U.S., the cost is higher due to the complexity of our health care system and the way American health insurance is managed. U.S. private health insurance has the highest administrative costs of any health care payer in the world.

Reid presents several health care models, including the Bismarck model used in Germany, Japan and France; the Beverage model used in the UK, Italy and Spain; and the national health insurance model in Canada. These countries combine universal coverage and government regulation with entrepreneurialism and respect for private markets to produce high-quality, low-cost health care for all.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.
All rights reserved.

Ford Library welcomes our students participating in the HSM Bootcamp Program this week at Fuqua. Below we’ve listed 10 leading new book titles that are part of our Health Sector Management Collection here at the Library.

Please visit us and check out any of these new titles to get a head start on managing the business of health care.

Click on a book title to see if it’s available, and to place a request in our online catalog.

• Fortenberry, John L. Health care marketing : tools and techniques
  Ford Library | Stacks | RA410.56 .F675 2010
• Christensen, Clayton M. The innovator’s prescription : a disruptive solution for health care.
  Ford Library | Stacks | RA971 .C56 2009
• Berry, Leonard L. Management lessons from Mayo Clinic : inside one of the world’s most admired service organizations.
  Ford Library | Stacks | RA982.M6 B36 2008
• Graban, Mark. Lean hospitals : improving quality, patient safety, and employee satisfaction
  Ford Library | Stacks | RA971 .G64 2009 (more…)