Consumer Health Booklets from The Science Inside Series
Seven plain language booklets about the science behind common chronic illnesses — such as asthma and allergies, diabetes, and hypertension — were made available in print and online through The Healthy People Library Project. These booklets focus on the science behind the diseases, their causes, possible cures, treatments, promising research, and other pertinent issues. These booklets should appeal to people who have not had the opportunity to study the scientific basis for their illnesses, and can help them better understand the advice they receive in consumer-oriented materials.
The Science Inside: Asthma and Allergies
This booklet explains what asthma and allergies are, how they are related, who suffers most from them, how they are prevented, and how they are treated. It also discusses the current research being conducted on these conditions, as well as the important role volunteers play in clinical trials.
The Science Inside: Diabetes
This booklet summarizes what health professionals know about type 2 diabetes — what it is, who is at risk for it, how it can be prevented, and how it is treated. It describes how researchers study the disease and what individuals can do to help reduce the rising number of diabetes cases now affecting millions of children and adults around the country.
The Science Inside: Obesity
The obesity booklet discusses the importance of good health habits such as eating right and exercising. It talks about how the body takes in energy and what it does with excess energy it doesn’t use up. Other topics that are covered include the health problems obesity contributes to, as well as how to prevent and treat obesity.
The Science Inside: Having Healthy Babies
This booklet summarizes what health professionals know about healthy babies and mothers. It shows women how to avoid or reduce the health risks of pregnancy, provides information about the development of healthy infants and toddlers, and outlines the steps of pregnancy from conception to labor and delivery to postnatal care. Having Healthy Babies directs readers to more sources of information and to the latest scientific research.
The Science Inside: High Blood Pressure
This booklet explains what health professionals know about high blood pressure or hypertension, one of the leading causes of heart disease and stroke. It shows how to prevent high blood pressure, as well as how to care for yourself if you have been diagnosed with the disease.
The Science Inside: HIV and AIDS
This booklet helps to explain what doctors and scientists know about the HIV and AIDS epidemic. It summarizes what HIV and AIDS are and what happens when HIV becomes AIDS, including the health problems that can result. The e-book explains how the diseases are spread, what groups suffer most from them, how they may be prevented, how they are treated, and what the latest research reveals.
The Science Inside: Your Health
This booklet on biomedical research talks about how far health and scientific research has come in the last 150 years, making diseases like malaria and measles much less threatening than they once were. It discusses the role science-based research has played in combatting disease and the challenges society faces in continuing that fight. It also goes into detail about clinical trials and the role volunteers play in them.