Best public health books of 2024

Looking back at books published in 2024, Harvard Public Health shared their list of best public health books published in 2024. These 12 titles include biographies, industry exposes, and titles on disease and mental health. Have you read any from this list? 

 

• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haid
•  The Art and Science of Connection by Kasley Killam
•  Blood by Jen Gunter
•  But What Will People Say? by Sahaj Kaur Kohli
•  The Cancer Factory by Jim Morris
•  The Connection Cure by Julia Hotz
•  Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare by Nora Kenworthy
• Life Under Pressure by Anna S. Mueller and Seth Abrutyn 
• Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton 
• Profiles in Mental Health Courage by Patrick J. Kennedy and Stephen Fried
• Rebel Health by Susannah Fox
• On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service by Anthony Fauci

 

 

 

Thriving in the Midst of Change with Dr Bob McGrath: WHSLA Web Conference 23 Summary

Dr. Bob McGrath, a noted psychologist, specializing in mind/body wellness at UW Madison Health Services was our keynote speaker for the WHSLA Web Conference 2023.

Dr. McGrath started his talk by asking: What's most important in our lives?

• Relationships & Connections
• Doing for others - Those who help others are happier.
• Commit to BE with those you feel close to in a media-free zone

Here are some of Dr. McGrath's tried and true tips for dealing with stress:

• Breathing is the best way to chill out.  He recommended 4-7-8 breathing.
• Gratitude - Be Thankful - Keep a gratitude journal - Send a thank you note.
• Mindfulness - Be in the moment - Be present and non-judgmental.
• Meditate - Loving Kindness Meditation
• Take care of your body - Drink enough water; Eat better; No soda; 
• Get a good night's sleep - No caffeine after 2 pm - Limit blue light (screen time) before bed
• Move  - Take a brisk walk for 15-20 min. a day.
• Laugh
• Get out in Nature

My own conclusion from the talk was that a dog would be the best companion for mind-body wellness, because they provide non-judgmental companionship, daily reason to exercise and get out in nature, and laughter.

If you want to read more, Dr. McGrath recommends the following books:

The Village Effect by Susan Pinker

The Good Life by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz

Into the Magic Shop by James Doty, MD

Mindfulness is Better than Chocolate by David Michie

Book review: Papyrus : The Invention Of Books In The Ancient World by Irene Vallejo

 Thank you to Robert Koehler for this book review of Papyrus : The Invention Of Books In The Ancient World by Irene Vallejo.

Song of the Cell: Siddhartha Mukherjee's latest book

Looking for something to read over the holidays?  Siddhartha Mukherjee has a new book ...

 

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human, by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Mukherjee is an eminent oncologist and the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the best-selling The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene. His newest book is an expansive study of the cell—the common denominator of all life—and its dizzying range of types and functions. He studies neurons, the cells involved in reproduction, and rampant cancers, and gestures toward a future in which cell engineering could eradicate diseases and transform medicine. Cells are anything but simple structures; rather, they’re sinuous ecosystems, and they come together at a dazzling scale in the body. Blood, for example, is “a cosmos of cells. The restless ones: red blood cells … The healers: tiny platelets … The defenders, the discerners: B cells that make antibody missiles; T cells, door-to-door wanderers that can detect even the whiff of an invader.” Using that twirling prose, he braids history with science; we meet pivotal figures such as the quirky Dutch autodidact Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (who first glimpsed what he called “animalcules” through his microscope) and contemporary Nobel laureates ensconced in their labs, testing gene-editing technologies. Understanding the cell is the key to an age of personalized medicine, Mukherjee argues: Are we ready to embrace it?

Blurb from Seven Books that Will Make You Smarter, The Atlantic.

Find this book on Amazon. 

Books are...

Back in spring, I took a class on library materials for children.  That's where I first encountered the work of of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, who explained the importance of books as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors.  I just came across this comic by Grant Snider that expands even further on what books can be to their readers.  Check out Incidental Comics for more of his work.