At least one of every four people in America has had some experience with addiction--either personally or through a family member. Addiction and its consequences cost billions of dollars each year in direct medical costs, lost productivity, accidents, crime, and corruption. Yet as a disease, addiction is still largely misunderstood.

Starting with the question -what is addiction?- Elizabeth Connell Henderson takes the reader through the many facets of this disorder. She examines the effects of addictive substances on the brain and reviews each of the major classes of substances. In the...

For decades, while other cancers grabbed the headlines, colorectal cancer was quietly ignored. The lifetime risk of colorectal cancer in the general population is 2.5 to 5 percent. This means that twenty-five to fifty out of one thousand people will be stricken by this disease. Although data show that in America colorectal cancer incidence and mortality have been waning in recent decades, cancers of the colon and rectum still cause approximately 56,000 deaths annually. About 140,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.

It is plainly evident that colon cancer constitutes a large portion...

What measures can parents and advocates take to insure that people who have mental retardation live full, rewarding lives from infancy to old age?

Understanding Mental Retardation explores a diverse group of disorders from their biological roots to the everyday challenges faced by this special population and their families. With parents and those who care for people who have mental retardation in mind, Patricia Ainsworth and Pamela C. Baker write in a style that is at once accessible, informative, and sympathetic to the concerns of those affected.

The authors provide practical...