Amazon.com Health advice seems to shift on a monthly basis. One month vitamin megadoses are the key to longevity; the next month they're suspected of triggering some fatal conditions. The New York Times Book of Health includes dozens of articles， dating back to 1993， that show these changes in scientific thought. Don't expect to find basic how-to information here; for the most part， only the aspects of health and fitness that were newsworthy--the moderate- vs. strenuous-exercise debate， for example--are included. Still， this makes for a nice compilation of what science knows about us in the late 1990s and how the newspaper of record has covered it. From Library Journal Surely what we don't need is a consumer health book that consists of a compilation of popular news reports on the "latest" findings in medical research?or do we? In the introduction， New York Times health reporter Brody explains that the book's aim is to clarify what's behind the confusing and sometimes contradictory health findings. Having been made aware that disagreement among experts is neither unusual nor necessarily undesirable， readers are then able to read the following articles without undue impatience or insistence on definitive answers. The articles， contributed by Brody and other Times writers from January 1993 to mid-1996， cover many of the health debates and preoccupations of our time， from weight loss， nutrition， and exercise to heart disease and cancer prevention. Each chapter presents differing viewpoints and gives as much scrutiny to study design as study results. Perhaps a few concluding paragraphs might have served to reinforce the message in the introduction， but that is a minor flaw. Overall， a worthy addition to most consumer health collections.-?Kay Hogan， Univ. of Alabama at BirminghamCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews