MedWeed

An authoritative, yet accessible, introduction to essential key methods used in the statistical analysis of data in the health sciences

Applied Biostatistics for the Health Sciences successfully introduces readers to the basic ideas and modeling approaches used in biostatistics through both step-by-step explanations and the use of data from the latest research in the field. By focusing on the correct use and interpretation of statistics rather than computation, this book covers a wide range of modern statistical methods without requiring a high level of mathematical preparation.

The book promotes a primary emphasis on the correct usage, interpretation, and conceptual ideas associated with each presented concept. The author begins with a discussion of basic biostatistical methods used to describe sample data arising in biomedical or health-related studies. Subsequent chapters explore numerous modeling approaches used with biomedical and health care data, including simple and multiple regression, logistic regression, experimental design, and survival analysis, Combined with a focus on the importance of constructing and implementing well-designed sampling plans, the book outlines the importance of assessing the quality of observed data, collecting quality data, and using confidence intervals in conjunction with hypothesis and significance tests.

Composed of extensively class-tested material, the book contains numerous pedagogical features that assist readers with a complete understanding of the presented concepts.  Key  formulae, procedures, and definitions are highlighted in enclosed boxes, and a glossary at the end of each chapter reviews key terminology and ideas. Worked-out examples and exercises illustrate important concepts and the proper use of statistical methods using MINITAB^® output, and the examples in each section showcase the relevance of the discussed topics in modern research. A related Web site houses all of the data related to the book’s case studies and exercises.

Applied Biostatistics for the Health Sciences is an excellent introductory book for health science and biostatistics courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a valuable resource for practitioners and professionals in the fields of pharmacy, biochemistry, nursing, health care informatics, and the applied health sciences.

It is widely accepted that most psychiatric disorders are associated with cognitive impairment and that neuropsychological approaches can help unravel the mechanisms underlying brain function and help us develop a better understanding of these disorders. In this book, a panel of the world's leading experts describe the development of neuropsychological approaches to the investigation, description, measurement and management of a wide range of mental illnesses. Part One explains the rationale for examining neuropsychological processes within clinical disorders, leading into Part Two summarizing and critiquing the methodological approaches to study. Part Three covers each of the major psychiatric disorders and provides a summary of the neuropsychological findings for each condition. The final section brings together the perspectives of neuroscientists, psychiatrists and philosophers. Essential reading for all those studying the healthy as well as the disordered brain, The Neuropsychology of Mental Illness will appeal to specialists from the fields of mental health, psychology, clinical neuroscience and philosophy.

Amazon Exclusive: John Irving Reviews Cutting for Stone

John Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times--winning once, in 1980, for the novel The World According to Garp. In 1992, Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules--a film with seven Academy Award nominations. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Cutting for Stone:

That Abraham Verghese is a doctor and a writer is already established; the miracle of this novel is how organically the two are entwined. I’ve not read a novel wherein medicine, the practice of it, is made as germane to the storytelling process, to the overall narrative, as the author manages to make it happen here. The medical detail is stunning, but it never overwhelms the humane and narrative aspects of this moving and ambitious novel. This is a first-person narration where the first-person voice appears to disappear, but never entirely; only in the beginning are we aware that the voice addressing us is speaking from the womb! And what terrific characters--even the most minor players are given a full history. There is also a sense of great foreboding; by the midpoint of the story, one dreads what will further befall these characters. The foreshadowing is present in the chapter titles, too--‘The School of Suffering’ not least among them! Cutting for Stone is a remarkable achievement.--John Irving

(Photo © Maki Galimberti)

Do marijuana users cut back on consumption when the price rises? To what degree is marijuana consumption related to drinking and tobacco usage? What would happen if marijuana were legalised and taxed in the same way as alcohol and tobacco? Is marijuana priced in a similar way to other goods? Economics and Marijuana deals with these and other questions by drawing on a rich set of data concerning the consumption and pricing of marijuana in Australia, a country where the drug has been decriminalised in some, but not all, states. The book applies the economic approach to drugs to analyse consumption, pricing and the economics of legalising the use of marijuana. The result is a fascinating analysis of this widely used, but little understood illicit drug that provides much needed information and policy advice for a wide range of readers, including economists, policy makers and health professionals.

Religion (and spirituality) is very much alive and shapes the cultural values and aspirations of psychiatrist and patient alike, as does the choice of not identifying with a particular faith.  Patients bring their beliefs and convictions into the doctor-patient relationship.  The challenge for mental health professionals, whatever their own world view, is to develop and refine their vocabularies such that they truly understand what is communicated to them by their patients. Religion and Psychiatry provides psychiatrists with a framework for this understanding and highlights the importance of religion and spirituality in mental well-being. 

This book aims to inform and explain, as well as to be thought provoking and even controversial.  Patiently and thoroughly, the authors consider why and how, when and where religion (and spirituality) are at stake in the life of psychiatric patients.  The interface between psychiatry and religion is explored at different levels, varying from daily clinical practice to conceptual fieldwork.  The book covers phenomenology, epidemiology, research data, explanatory models and theories.  It also reviews the development of DSM V and its awareness of the importance of religion and spirituality in mental health.

What can religious traditions learn from each other to assist the patient? Religion and Psychiatry discusses this, as well as the neurological basis of religious experiences.  It describes training programmes that successfully incorporate aspects of religion and demonstrates how different religious and spiritual traditions can be brought together to improve psychiatric training and daily practice.

• Describes the relationship of the main world religions with psychiatry
• Considers training, policy and service delivery
• Provides powerful support for more effective partnerships between psychiatry and religion in day to day clinical care

This is the first time that so many psychiatrists, psychologists and theologians from all parts of the world and from so many different religious and spiritual backgrounds have worked together to produce a book like this one. In that sense, it truly is a World Psychiatric Association publication.

Religion and Psychiatry is recommended reading for residents in psychiatry, postgraduates in theology, psychology and psychology of religion, researchers in psychiatric epidemiology and trans-cultural psychiatry, as well as professionals in theology, psychiatry and psychology of religion