A simple question, "How Healthy Is Your Doctor?," launches this insightful book into an examination of who's ultimately responsible for our health, challenging the common assumptions that it's up to our doctors, our healthcare system, our circumstances, or our genes. Dr. Kathryn Collins, a seasoned emergency medicine practitioner with a keen eye toward prevention, explains in a clear and compelling fashion why our health is mostly up to us-the choices we make, the way we live our lives, and the actions we take every day to either support, or undermine, our chance at lasting health. Collins also explains why our current health-care paradigm is out of date. By treating the manifestations of disease instead of preventing it or resolving its underlying causes, we're adding to the economic burden of health care without making real inroads toward improving people's health. The book is written in an accessible, conversational style and includes chapters on what most doctors don't know about achieving optimal health, and why; how our health-care system has been set up to find and to manage disease, and why it costs so much; how our behaviors and our fast-food culture are destroying our health, and what we can do about it; who else besides our doctors can help us find better health; and which simple diet and lifestyle habits best protect us against cancer and chronic disease. The author weaves her thirty years' experience on the front lines of emergency medical care with new information from the evolving science and practice of lifestyle and health medicine to create a fascinating book for anyone who's eager to understand more about where their health comes from and what they can do to stack the odds in their favor for a long and healthy life.
Dr. Kathryn Collins is a graduate of the Stanford University School of Medicine and was trained in emergency medicine at Denver Health Medical Center, becoming board certified in 1986. She is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and was selected by the Consumers' Research Council of America for inclusion in the "Guide to America's Top Emergency Medicine Physicians" in 2009. Dr. Collins has served as a medical volunteer in several developing countries and has also nurtured a lifelong passion for prevention, wellness, and health. In 1983, she co-authored the book, The Outdoor Woman's Guide to Sports, Fitness and Nutrition and was recently trained in the emerging field of lifestyle medicine. She now devotes her time to advocating for and participating in healthy lifestyles in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Cabarete, Dominican Republic. You can visit her website at www.drkathryncollins.com.
