The Common Symptom Guide, Sixth Edition by John Wasson, Robert Pantell, Harold Sox, B. Timothy Walsh, B. Walsh

Product Details

Synopsis

Instantly diagnose 100 of the most commonly seen symptoms in adults and children!

"This is a book of lists to help inexperienced healthcare providers hone their skill at progressing from symptoms to a differential diagnosis to treatment decisions. This is a necessary step in a student's development and this book goes a long way in assisting in this process. 3 Stars."—Doody's Review Service

The Common Symptom Guide is the most trusted and easy-to-use reference for quickly and accurately evaluating and treating patients based on presenting symptoms. The Guide includes lists of pertinent questions, physical findings, and differential diagnosis for more than 100 of the most common adult and pediatric symptoms so you can instantly diagnose and treat the complaint.

Turn to The Common Symptom Guide for important guidelines on:

•Patient and family history

• Physical examination

• Diagnostic considerations

• Medications

• Environmental history

Plus...

•Outstanding indexing and cross-referencing to help you quickly arrive at a diagnosis

•Increased number of evidence-based medicine references

• Updated medical information throughout

• More references to key websites

• Additional information on the author's website (www.howsyourhealth.org) that provides valuable patient education material

Annotation

The book contains predominantly black-and-white illustrations, with some color illustrations.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Vincent F Carr, DO, MSA, FACC, FACP (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences)
Description:This abbreviated approach to connecting symptoms with possible diagnoses includes very little discussion of physiology and tends to dilute the information a bit too much to be of value to trained medical personnel. The book was first published in 1975 and the most recent edition appeared in 2002.
Purpose:This is a book of lists to help inexperienced healthcare providers hone their skill at progressing from symptoms to a differential diagnosis to treatment decisions. This is a necessary step in a student's development and this book goes a long way in assisting in this process.
Audience:It is intended primarily for new practitioners. The authors suggest that it may help practitioners reduce needless diagnostic and therapeutic measures in arriving at a diagnosis, and this is a worthy endeavor.
Features:The book lists 100 common symptoms which could be encountered in everyday primary care and suggests areas of further exploration to develop a possible diagnosis. This edition suggests a website to help patients clarify their symptoms and track age-related preventive strategies. The glossary could be quite useful for beginners as well. One of the shortcomings of this book is that it does not go into enough depth on the symptoms that would be important for therapeutic decision-making. One example is in the asthma section, where I would expect a discussion of how to differentiate severity, such as intermittent or the varying degrees of persistent asthma.
Assessment:This is a useful book for beginningpractitioners and perhaps has some utility for lay persons who want help in clarifying their symptoms. The suggested website is a nice patient education tool and is a good addition to the book.

Biography

John H. Wasson, M.D., Professor of Community and Family Medicine and Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire. He holds the Herman O. West Chair in Geriatrics.

B. Timothy Walsh, M.D., W&J Ruane Professor of Pediatric Psychopharmacology in the Department of Psychiatry at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, and Director of the Division of Clinical Therapeutics at New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Harold C. Sox, Jr., M.D., M.A.C.P., Editor, Annals of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Robert Pantell, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics, University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.

Mary C. LaBrecque, B.S.N., Instructor in Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire.