Surgery and pharmaceuticals are not the only effective procedures we have to improve our health. The natural human tendency to care for fellow humans, to support them with social networks, has proven to be a powerful treatment as well. As a result, the areas of application for social support intervention have expanded dramatically during the past 20 years. As these areas have expanded, so too has the literature on the theory and measurement of social support. Yet, the literature has focussed on very particular areas. Investigators in the social sciences have mainly focused on the protection...

Eight years ago, four psychologists with varying backgrounds but a common in terest in the impact of environmental stress on behavior and health met to plan a study of the effects of aircraft noise on children. The impetus for the study was an article in the Los Angeles Times about architectural interventions that were planned for several noise-impacted schools under the air corridor of Los Angeles Interna tional Airport. These interventions created an opportunity to study the same chil dren during noise exposure and then later after the exposure had been attenuated. The study was designed to...

During the days before World War II, two young boys-one Jewish, one German-play football on the same team, little knowing that their paths will cross again on a war-torn battlefield. Max Tepper-The son of Jewish immigrants. Max becomes the target of anti-Semitism at a very young age. Hopeful for a better future, he enrolls in the university, eager to become a physician like his father. But at the outbreak of World War II, things change. Max becomes a partisan fighter and devotes his life to the destruction of Nazism. Erich Baeumler-Personifying Hitler's dream of the perfect German,...

Adolf Hitler has assumed power in Germany. A brilliant theoretical and experimental German physicist has clandestinely discovered the secret of nuclear energy and the nuclear bomb. No other physicist has come close to this realization. The German physicist is prepared to deliver this secret to his Fuehrer and assure him control of the world. Who is this physicist? How can he be stopped? The intelligence services of two countries combine in an effort to disrupt the physicist's efforts. There is one chance. Time is of the essence. What is there about the physicist's past that can be utilized to...

One Friday night in Chicago, two friends leave their neighborhood bar, each heading home in a separate direction. Phillip Matt never makes it. When he stops to assist a man who appears to be in need of help, the crazed assailant stabs Matt in the heart.

In another part of town, George Gilmer is experiencing some troubling problems of his own. The talented young carpenter's behavior drastically changes after several bouts of severe abdominal pains, and he begins displaying symptoms such as paranoia, forgetfulness, and violent mood swings. When both men wind up at the same hospital on that...

."He was struck by the excellent condition of some of the buildings in spite of their age. He thought of the ever increasing frailty of the building's occupants who would all soon die of neglect and starvation brought about by man's inhumanity to man. Old memories of his family and friends from his youth surfaced. He saw himself as a child running down these very streets. He had no regrets except for the fact that he would not live to see the eventual destruction of the evil that had so altered their lives and threatened their very existence. But he knew he would know nevertheless. He lived a...

."the breathing difficulty continued, and he couldn't get up. It seemed as if he was being held down. He felt a sense of panic. But at the same time he felt as if he was drifting into a deeper state of sleep. For a short time he fought these conflicting sensations, but eventually he surrendered to the latter feeling. "

"Ben Marzan"-Searching for meaning in his life, Marzan studies with The Imam and converts to a radical sect of Islam. He's the perfect candidate for a terrorist-American-born, assimilated, and eager to embrace "jihad." "Anatoly Shenko"-A disaffected Russian scientist working in Siberia, Shenko is one of the world's top experts on biological warfare. But his wife and son are in ill health and he's in desperate need of money. "Abdul Saidadov"-A former Chechen rebel, Saidadov aligns himself with al-Qaeda in hopes of spreading the message of Allah throughout the world. Marzan, Shenko, and...

Medical errors kill 98,000 patients per year in the United States. But you, the patient, can play a crucial role in preventing these mistakes by fully educating yourself about your own health. According to author and medical doctor Sheldon Cohen, the best way to secure this information is to get a comprehensive medical examination. "The Patient's Guide to the Complete Medical Examination and the Prevention of Medical Errors" is the perfect tool to help you take charge of your health as you attempt to navigate through the United States' overburdened health-care system. Filled with essential...

For your physician to give you quality medical care, you must be aware of your medical history and issues. Here's how you can help your medical provider:

Learn about your risk factors and current medical diagnoses Ask questions when you don't understand Obtain second, third, or more opinions Maintain copies of your medical records Review these records often Keep yourself educated

The medical profession is depending on you to help them keep you healthy!