Seven statements, written to be read carefully and completely to avoid misunderstanding and confusion over content in the recommended books. They apply to the whole volume, and individual chapters carry additional cautions specific to their subject, which are more detailed and should not be skipped on the assumption that these cover them. The reason for stating them here rather than only at the point of use is that a reader encountering a caution inside a chapter about a subject they came for may read it as boilerplate. Read together, at the front, they describe something more specific: the boundary of what a book can do. Everything in this volume is a description of other people's work. None of it knows anything about the reader.
This is not medical advice
Nothing in this volume diagnoses, prescribes or treats, and reading it establishes no relationship with a clinician. The books described here are books. Decisions about a particular body belong with a physician, a registered dietitian or another qualified professional who knows that body and its history. If something in this volume seems to describe your own symptoms, take it to a clinician rather than acting on it.
Inclusion is not endorsement
Books appear in this collection for several reasons, and being correct is only one of them. Some are included because they were influential, some because they are the origin of an idea a reader will meet everywhere, and some because they are wrong in a way that is instructive. Where that is the case the entry says so plainly. A reader who treats the list as a set of recommendations to be followed uncritically will be misled by it.
Evidence changes, and this volume will date
Health research moves, and some of what is described here as current will be revised or overturned. The final chapter lists positions that were once stated confidently by credible people and have since been abandoned, and says directly that present certainties will join them. Publication dates and edition information are given so that a reader can judge how much a title may have aged, and the collection is maintained and reissued.
Some symptoms require care, not reading
A number of the presentations discussed in this volume are emergencies. Chest pain or pressure, particularly with exertion. Loss of bowel or bladder control, or numbness in the area that would contact a saddle. Sudden severe headache or visual disturbance. Bleeding in pregnancy or reduced fetal movement. New severe pain after trauma. Thoughts of ending your life, which warrant help the same day from an emergency service, a crisis line or a person you trust. None of these is a reason to consult a book. Individual chapters give fuller lists for their own subjects.
Prescription medicines are not supplements
Several compounds discussed in this volume, particularly in the chapters on longevity and on men's health, are prescription medications being used off-label for indications no regulator has approved. Taking them without medical supervision is unsupervised drug use rather than a lifestyle choice. Supplements interact with prescribed drugs, and some marketed for health affect clotting, blood glucose or liver function. Nothing here is a reason to start, stop or alter a prescribed treatment.
Tracking is not safe for everyone
Self-monitoring of food, weight and exercise is among the best-supported behavior change techniques described in this volume, and it is also a documented risk for people with disordered eating or a history of it, in whom detailed tracking can deepen the disorder rather than assist recovery. If that applies to you, discuss tracking with a clinician before beginning it. The National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline can direct a reader to support. Some users of tracking devices also report increased anxiety about the numbers they produce.
Commercial interests are disclosed, not judged
Many authors in this field sell programs, supplements, certifications, equipment or clinical services connected to the arguments their books make. Where that is so, the entry says so. This is disclosure rather than accusation: the people who develop methods are frequently the people best placed to explain them, and the presence of a commercial interest does not make a book wrong. It is information a reader deciding whether to spend money is entitled to have.
Source: the printed volume, pages 27–28. Reproduced from the printed volume.