Nutritional Diseases

School Library Journal

ea. vol: charts. diags. illus. photogs. bibliog. glossary. index. (First Bks.). CIP. Watts. 1987. PLB $9.90. Gr 6 Up These four titles offer much information. Environmental Diseases first defines internal (genetic) and exter nal (experimental) environments as well as illness (the presence of toxins or stress). Anderson then discusses the body's defense mechanisms for coping with illness and general sources of dis ease. Later chapters list specific toxic chemicals with descriptions of how each causes disease and damage to humans. Nutritional Diseases begins with a basic overview of nutrition before discussing starvation, protein and vitamin deficien cies, diabetes, osteoporosis, arterioscle rosis, phenylketonuria, anorexia, bulim ia, and obesity. Drug-Related Diseases stresses the detrimental effects of drugs on physical, sexual, intellectual, and emotional growth (and therefore how much more serious drug abuse is for young people than for adults). Hughes categorizes drugs (stimulants, depres sants, narcotics, and hallucinogens), dis cusses common problems (dependency, withdrawal, overdose, habituation and denial), and includes separate chapters for each drug group with specific infor mation on the long and short term effects of each drug. Communicable Diseases discusses causes, disease classification, defense mechanisms, diagnosis, immu nization, and drug therapy. Also includ ed are chapters on common diseases (cold, flu, etc.), childhood diseases, deadly diseases, and sexually transmit ted diseases (including AIDS). There is some necessary overlapping of informa tion among titles, but it has been kept to a minimum. Illustrations are mostly black- and-white photos with a few diagrams and illustrations interspersed. Kath ryn Weisman, Willowbrook School, Glenview, Ill.