Choice
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

Patients seeking information on osteoporosis will appreciate this book for its straightforward style. Packed with images, the text covers basic bone physiology, bone assessment, pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical treatments and preventatives for osteoporosis, and the effects of common medical problems on bone health. In her introduction, Schneider (formerly, Univ. of California, San Diego; cofounder, 4BoneHealth.org) states that she wants readers to feel that they are "having a friendly chat," and this is a perfect description of how the book is written. The conversational style makes it an easy and fun read for patients, but some may feel that this informality detracts from the book's value for undergraduate research use. Other features, including the index and chapter references that cite articles from professional journals, make the book more student-friendly. Chapters conclude with a bulleted summary, and one can read each of the book's six parts independently. The book provides lay readers a helpful, simplified introduction to osteoporosis and its treatment. It may also be useful for entry-level health sciences students as well as nonscience students who are researching and writing papers about health-related topics. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-level undergraduates. S. L. Knight-Davis Eastern Illinois University

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

As its title suggests, this book covers the waterfront when it comes to bone health. Written by a well-known bone researcher and medical doctor, with a foreword by ex-astronaut Sally Ride (one of her former patients), it looks at everything anyone would need to know about osteoporosis. It's as reader-friendly as a medical-advice book can be, with each chapter ending with a bullet-pointed summary called The Bare Bones. Schneider looks at such topics as bone-density scans, calcium, vitamin D, existing medicine, drugs in development, and fall prevention (stay off ladders! and turn on the lights!). The guide includes plenty of surprises. For example, the class of antidepressants that includes Prozac is associated with an increase in the risk of fractures and with lower bone density. And type 1 diabetics, including Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor, also have low bone mass and an increased risk for adult osteoporosis and fractures. Women concerned with their bone health will want to thumb through this book before, during, and after their visits to their doctor.--Springen, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

We may think of osteoporosis as a disease of old age, but this volume challenges that notion. Instead, medical researcher Schneider tells readers that osteoporosis is a childhood disease that manifests later in life. With this in mind, she gives medical advice related to bone health for the whole family. Readers who are intimidated by the length of this comprehensive book may appreciate the "Bare Bones" summaries that conclude each chapter, a final chapter that recaps fitness and nutrition tips by age range, and appendixes that define medical terms and other information. Schneider is open to complementary and alternative medicine, but she acknowledges a dearth of scientific evidence about the efficacy of these remedies. Nonetheless, she provides what information is available about the results of several natural remedies and techniques, including vibration therapy, tai chi, and yoga. She focuses on the latest research and encourages readers to stay current with the website for her nonprofit organization (4BoneHealth.org). Verdict This is a solid choice for consumers looking for an overview of osteoporosis, or for public libraries looking to update their collections.-Mindy Rhiger, Mackin Educational Resources, Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.