New series of books to help patients and carers through an illness, Royal Society of Medicine guides

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 03 Aug 2005 - 0:00 PST

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The Royal Society of Medicine, the UK's leading provider of continuing medical education, has teamed up with Hodder Education to publish a series of guides on some of the most common illnesses and conditions.

These definitive books are written in a step-by-step and easy to read format and will help patients and carers to understand the realities of their illness and make informed decisions about treatment and help.

The six guides are in bookstores now. They are:

The Royal Society of Medicine your guide to...

-- Alzheimer's Disease
-- Asthma
-- Back Pain
-- Breast Cancer
-- Eczema
-- Prostate Cancer

The adage the right advice is always the best medicine has never been more critical. It is estimated that the average time a patient spends on an initial consultation with a specialist is just between 20 minutes to _ hour (http://www.medicdirect.co.uk). The Royal Society of Medicine guides are written by the top expert in each field and allow the reader to gain a full understanding of the illness in their own time.

The accessible style of the books provides patients, families and their carers with invaluable support and advice to help them through an illness. The straightforward and supportive tone, clear layout and jargon-free style ensure that the illness is demystified and that the reader has all the necessary information in one place.

Original features of the series include: myth/fact boxes, key terms and question and answer sections. The guides support the reader every step of the way and cover the entire patient journey, from diagnosis and symptoms to tests and treatment. It includes a section on who the patient/carer might meet in the NHS and their respective role in their treatment.

The Royal Society of Medicine guides reflect a real need for information and advice that provides sufferers with all the right information in one place:

-- There are over 5.2 million people in the UK with asthma. (Asthma UK)

-- Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting around 400,000 people in the UK. (Alzheimer's Society)

-- 49 per cent of the adult population in the U.K. report low back pain lasting for at least 24 hours at some time during the year. (Back Care charity)

-- For women, the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 9. (Cancer Research UK)

-- In the UK about 1 in 12 of the adult population suffers from Eczema (National Eczema Society)

-- Prostate Cancer afflicts over 27,000 men every year in the UK (Prostate Cancer Charity)

Each Royal Society of Medicine guidebook is endorsed by the relevant charity with 50p donation for every copy sold*. The charities are: The Alzheimer's Society, Asthma UK, Back Care, The National Eczema Society, The Prostate Cancer Charity.

The guides are now available from all good bookstores or
http://www.rsmpress.co.uk/hodder.htm

For more information contact:
Rania Wannous, Media Office, The Royal Society of Medicine
Tel: 020 7290 2904
Email: rania.wannous@rsm.ac.uk
rsm.ac.uk