Chyba umieram. Panikować czy wyluzować? Twoje objawy i co robić dalej. Kompletny przewodnik

by Christopher Kelly, Marc Eisenberg

Przekrojowa, utrzymana w lekkim tonie biblia hipochondryka, którym po trosze jest każdy z nas, autorstwa dwóch lekarzy nowojorskiego Uniwersytetu Columbia, którzy omawiają dziesiątki symptomów i doradzają, kiedy wyluzować, kiedy umówić się na wizytę lekarską, a kiedy udać się na pogotowie.
Autorzy, dr Christopher Kelly i dr Marc Eisenberg, obaj są kardiologami ze szpitala klinicznego przy Uniwersytecie Columbia, a przy tym to lekarze o licznych osiągnięciach i specjaliści w dziedzinie zdrowia. W swojej praktyce leczą osoby w każdym wieku i o różnych przypadłościach, jednakże przekonali się, że najczęstsze pytanie, jakie zadają pacjenci, brzmi: „Czy ja umieram?!”

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Medical, Science, Medicine, Self Help, Adult

422 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2018

About the author

Christopher Rehbeck Kelly, M.D., M.S., is a cardiologist at North Carolina Heart and Vascular / UNC Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC.

He received his medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he was valedictorian, and his master of science degree from the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. He served as intern, resident, chief resident, and fellow at Columbia University Medical Center.

His academic work has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine and other leading medical journals. He has also written about medicine for The Washington Post and Men's Health.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Healthcare is expensive. So when a new and unexpected symptom crops up, we’d all like to know beforehand if it’s really necessary to go to the doctor. This humorous and easy to read home reference book spells out for you which symptoms you can relax about and which ones you need to take seriously.

The contents aren’t exhaustive but do cover common symptoms from head to toe like a sore throat, back pain, blood in your urine, and swollen feet. After a brief introduction of each medical symptom, specific instances are given with advice on whether you should take a chill pill, make an appointment, or get to the emergency room. If the advice is to chill or make an appointment, there’s even a few tips sprinkled in to help alleviate those bothersome symptoms in the meantime.

I found this to be a handy and easy to use book that reassured me in a few short paragraphs. It’s way too easy to check your symptoms on the internet and after a few clicks you find yourself seemingly only one click away from death! The worst case scenarios online always seem to precisely describe your symptoms, but this book keeps you grounded in reality as well as saving you time, trouble, and expense. This is a great book to have on hand especially for those after hours symptoms that we all experience at some point in our lives.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I was intrigued by the title after spotting the book due to it's bright red colour. Once I started reading, I simply could not put it down - and, no, I am not a hypochondriac!
Essentially, it is an interesting reference book if you are suffering ill-health or even chronic problems, but it can also put your mind at ease for various common ailments without searching the Internet and getting conflicting results. After all, these are doctors and they ought to know.
And if you thought, this was just another 'dry' stipulation of symptoms and what to do about them, think again. These authors have found a way of making their writing lighthearted but also insistent where it/they need to be. They even manage to dissolve some 'but that's how I heard and learned it was' myths which is most encouraging. Quite frankly, I do hope they will expand and make this a series, I for one will be certain to read more!

[Marika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you tend to be a hypochondriac? Do you have medical questions that you're too embarrassed to ask? If so, then this is the book for you. Each chapter is broken up by the part of the body with chapter one being Head and Neck, then drills down from headaches to sore throats. Each symptom is fully explained in a light hearted manner and informs readers on when to take their symptoms seriously.

I read an advance copy and was not compensated.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

You would think this would not be a good book to read for someone with hypochondriac tendencies (like myself), but actually it’s oddly comforting. It puts a lot into perspective. It’s not going to cover every single weird thing, but if you have health anxiety and different random symptoms, this is worth having as a reference to save you Googling at 2am and convincing yourself you have some rare cancer.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource instead of turning to Dr. Google. The humor in the book will set you at ease, even if your symptoms are something you should see a doctor about sooner rather than later.

[Pam Ostdahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to have as a reference before you go to the doctor.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written in layman terms. A great book to keep on a hypochondriac's shelf.

[Klaudia_p · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jakiś czas temu obudziłam się o 3 rano czując się fatalnie. Mogłam zrobić wiele rzeczy, ale zaczęłam czytać tę książkę (Tytuł, o ironio, "Chyba umieram" był bardzo adekwatny do sytuacji, a właściwie do mojego samopoczucia). Teoretycznie ta lektura powinna mi popsuć, już i tak złe, samopoczucie, a przynajmniej przysporzyć ataku paniki. Wcale tak się nie stało. To świetna książka, napisana w sposób przystępny, śmiały i zabawny, ale z szacunkiem do (potencjalnego) chorego i nie bez pewnej dozy ostrożności.

[Ponoćna Biblioteka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volim ovu knjigu i volim sve ljude koji su učestvovali u njenom stvaranju!

Prije nego što uzmete ovu knjigu u ruke ili je dodate na listu čitanja, važno je da znate da ovo nisu priče niti prikazi slučajeva.A još važnije ovo nije ni puko nabrajanje simptoma ili redanje bolesti. Ovo je po meni medicinski priručnik koji je must have svake kuće i svake biblioteke. Zašto? Prvo zato što su je napisala dva vrhunska doktora i specijalista- možete pročitati dio njihove biografe na kraju knjige. A kada čitam ovakve "medicinske knjige" to mi je među najbitnijim stvarima. Drugo, znamo da ovakvi stručnjaci imaju širok asortiman stručnih pojmova i definicija iz medicinske terminologije s kojim mogu da nas bombarduju. No, nema mjesta strahu i panici, jer ova knjiga je toliko dozirana, isplanirana u svaku tačku i zarez i objašnjavanje je stručno, ali svedeno i dozirano da i laici u medicini ili oni koji i nisu na tom polju bez problema mogu da shvate o čemu se govori i šta je važno. Treće, ne nećete drhati od straha tokom čitanja ove knjige( dobro možda malo, ako nađate baš neki veliki simptom kod sebe iz rubrike- smjesta u urgentni centar, ali nadajmo se da do toga neće doći) naprotiv, smijat ćete se nekim forama koje su ubacili kako bi opustili čitaoce. Četvrto- struktura knjige mi je odlična. Krenuli su po sistemima i nekim uopštenim simptomima, tako da imamo od glave, do nogu, od grla, želuca do spolnih organa, kože, kose i sve to odlično poredano, dodadno najbitnije, ali i najhitnije i kada trebamo da "dramimo", a kada da se opustimo i priznamo da smo samo drama queen. Peto- volim ljude koji su predani svom poslu, koji su uspjeli u životu svojim radom, znanjem i trudom i doprinose zajednici, dijele svoje znanje i svim tim čine ovaj ludi svijet boljim mjesto. A u ovoj knjizi je takvih ljudi mnogi. Balila sam na njihove biografije i postignuća.(ok znam da ima i dijela mojih neostvarenih želja i da zato mi je sve to woow, ali fakat volim kad neko uspije u životu, radi ono što voli i uspješno prenosi na druge i svim tim može nekome pomoći i spasiti/učiniti mi boljim život, woow) I zadnje, ali ono najbitnije- ne treba vam google kada vas nešto boli, treba vam ova knjiga i mislim da se nema više šta dodati.

[Eva B.]

> Gets to the section about bruises and bleeding
> One of them is about mysterious bruises or ones you don't remember getting
> "You should schedule an appointment with a doctor" category of pre-existing conditions
> One of them is being double-jointed
> I go to read why that may be
> It's Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome again

[Gerrie]

This book is great for the medically anxious. It feels a lot better than just randomly googling stuff and trying to read every result that comes up, as it'll probably differ from the result you read before that one. It's not meant to be a pocket doctor, despite it being written by TWO doctors; American medicine trains doctors to practice healthcare defensively with a "CYA" standpoint, so of course a lot of the advice at the end of the day is to "go to the doctor." lol.

I found it humorously written. I did sit down and read it like a novel, but it's definitely more of a reference book to be opened when something is needed. The organization of the material is intuitive: the ailments are divided by the respective human body system they impact, and then scenarios are categorized based on how severe the symptoms present.

Now for the bad: despite its publication in 2019, it is pretty dated in its views on bioessentialist sex and gender. The chapters in question are called "lady parts" and "gentleman parts." Okay, boomer. It's such a shame because transgender health could be SUCH a cool chapter to add to this book too. Gender inclusivity aside, it just seems such a disservice to present information like this. In the "lady parts" section, it talks about breast lumps and cancer, but like men can also get breast cancer?

Ultimately not bad, but I'm sure someone will write a better version in a couple of years, if it doesn't already exist.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Every word appears to be written by knowledgeable people who want you to be knowledgeable, as well. I took copious notes that I expect to refer to and share with others. Further, I will be reviewing all of the suggested additional reading. Bravo!

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2019 POP Sugar Challenge - A book with a question in the title

[Laura L Ayala · Rating 5 out of 5]

very informative

I. Or rowed this book from a library but I suggest buying it and keeping it in your personal library. It covers a wide range of issues.

[Alison Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious - actually loled at one point.

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one book I am seriously considering buying! The format of the chapters, the index, and the appendix are very helpful in finding the information you need to figure out whether you need to "calm down" or "get to your doctor" now! I found answers to several of my questions, and see how this could be useful as an on-going medical guide.

[May Ling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great resource for sending your kids or ex-husband off on their on. A true hypochondriac or someone who reads for fun in the area of health might feel underwhelmed.

I received this book as a gift for being on a show. I think there is a lot of great overview information here. That said, because I'm health, diet, and fitness buff, I personally learned very little from this book.

Some Real Strengths - The organization is really fantastic. They do actually cover what is likely not important, what warrants a trip to the ER and what you should just address with an office visit to the DR. For a place like NYC, that's great. If I was in my 20s I would have been really stoked to have this on my shelf rather than freak out and call my parents.

The Weaknesses - The issue has to do with the depth of what might make someone freak out and the descriptions of what it might possibly be. For example, the areas on belly and bathroom trouble both talk to red feces. The only food they mention is beets. However, there are many foods other than beets that will also make you have red colored stool. Similar issue with black poo. A book like "What's your poo telling you" tries to go through nearly all of them. I know you can't include everything, but in this case, the list isn't massively long. You could even put it in the appendix. Similarly, as a traveler, I am always now looking out for a host of really travel related illness. Hep A, super common when traveling outside the US or in this massive salad culture that has cropped up, isn't even noted in the sections that talk about jaundice, pee or fatigue. Perhaps their audience is US based only, but I think it's crazy it isn't noted. As a result, most of the advice in these areas on fatigue, jaundice, and pee are kind of age related or someone damages a specific part of your body related.

Also, because it's trying to address dying more in the immediate, it doesn't quite go into the things that people often don't catch that take a bit more time. Food allergies (except shell fish) aren't really addressed so much. Example: Celiac disease or allergy to alcohol (enzyme deficiency, not alcoholism) is not fully addressed, but a lot of people aren't diagnosed until the symptoms build to a boiling point. It might be because this presents more in Asian minorities than it does in Non-asian minorities. Similarly, there are all sorts of pains that people often ignore relate to fractured small bones or broken bones (hand, foot, etc), that aren't going to kill you, but likely you should either make an appointment or go to the ER for. As a recreational endurance athlete, I've seen people do nothing for awhile on these to great detriment....

Still, there are very few books of this kind and so I give it 4 stars. It accomplished the authors' mission, which is to provide something more curated than a google.

[Latitude · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was provided to me at no cost through the Ann Arbor District Library in exchange for the social contract I agreed to with my library card. I checked it out!

PROS

I am very dramatic and will convince myself I have a tumor for every symptom, and this book tells you “it’s gonna be okay”
It’s funny (most of the time)
It’s informative without being too Sciency

CONS

A couple instances of fatphobia (implication that fat people are unhealthy and just need to diet/exercise)
Pretty gender-y (Lady Parts and Gentleman Parts chapters, as well as “men should not lactate ever, go to an emergency room”, implication that only women are pregnant or can become pregnant).
I think these are both pretty standard Doctor Problems, I think if you’re trans you should have or can get some critical thinking to be like, well, I’m not a woman but I have this symptom that is described here, and this is how it’s affecting me and this is what I’m going to do. Trans men obviously can and should take a photo of “no men should ever lactate” and share it with their friends for a mean laugh. Fat people obviously should do they same (if they want), fat trans people should date my roommate. Sorry what was I talking about ?
Medium acknowledgement of people with chronic conditions, fairly spotty. More about diagnosing chronic conditions than “if you already have This chronic condition, you should actually…” which like, this is a pop culture medicine book, not your personal doctor, it’s not going to apply specifically to you.

ANYHOW. I think this book is great to keep on your nightstand if you are a hypochondriac who keeps pushing themself into anxiety spirals by looking up symptoms on Google. Three point two five stars.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book addresses a lot of common ailments/symptoms, categorized into "When to Chill," "When to Make an Appointment," and "When to go to the ER," so in that sense, it's a lot less alarmist than checking your symptoms in WebMD and being told to call 911 immediately because whatever you're worried about is about to imminently kill you.

However, if you have a little sense and the ability to judiciously use reputable websites like the Mayo Clinic's or the Cleveland Clinic's, then this book is not a must-have, although it's nice to have a lot of the information contained in one place that you can read while falling asleep at night, if sickness is your thing.

I was originally thinking 3 stars, but then in the acknowledgments, one of the people the authors thanked was Dr. Oz and in the section about the authors, it turns out that one of them worked on the Dr. Oz show, which honestly calls the expertise of the entire book into question.

[Kelly Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure who the target market for this book is. Most people look stuff up on the internet these days. The sort of person who wouldn't think to look their symptoms up on the internet probably wouldn't think to buy a book about symptoms ahead of time, either. And the sort of person who lives off the grid with no internet probably either doesn't trust medical authority, or needs a far more comprehensive home medical guide than this. As best I can tell, the only people who read this are the sort of person who'll read anything that looks amusing (that would be me) and I doubt there are enough of us to really warrant killing trees to put this out in hardcover. Just sayin'.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a somewhat short, but thorough book.

Organizing by symptoms of various ailments, then by how urgent it is to seek treatment, this book is a nice guide. It's helpful for getting familiar with what symptoms are red flags and what can be put off. It's also a useful guide for when you're not sure if you should see a doctor, but know you probably should.

While the book is helpful, it's not as long as I expected, and most of the advice is to see a doctor because so many symptoms overlap. But I see how advice in this book could save someones life!

[sariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the basis on surface level medical information and a quick check on popular medical concerns, this book does very well. Information is well organized and easy to find. However, I would have appreciated more detail on some of the reasons behind which symptoms are concerns or not. Also, the book was more comedic than I expected. All of these critiques are based more on taste than the quality of the book.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be more general than I was expecting. Probably more useful as a reference - if you are feeling some kind of pain, pick this up and flip to the appropriate chapter as a starting point, but it will likely not be enough to comfort you. As a book to sit down and read through, I didn't get much enjoyment out of it.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical, reasonable, and personable reference book for a layman analyzing his/her symptoms. It is clearly organized by types of common medical issues most people experience. I appreciated both the humor as well as the authors’s decision to divide their advice for each symptom into three recognizable categories: take a chill pill, consult a doc, and get thee to emergency.

[Aurianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livre très clair et qui permet de mettre en lien nos symptômes pour nous exprimer le risque et la mesure à prendre.
Dans un monde où tous nos symptômes sont un "cancer" selon internet, avoir un livre qui reprends les différents éléments de manière simple mais en restant pointu assez pour être vrai.

[Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think you're dying? Or that your roommate is? Well, now you can double check. This is really perfect for you or the hypochondriac in your life. Not for major emergencies but at least for letting you know whether or not you need a bandaid or an ER.

[Pawel Kurzawski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chyba umieram, czyli wiele hałasu o nic.
Dosłownie. Niektóre z "chorób" wymyślanych w tej książce, są wręcz kuriozalne.
Ostatni gwóźdź do trumny dla hipohondryków. Jeśli jesteś jednym z nich - lepiej tego nie czytaj, bo zejdziesz w trakcie lektury.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, dare I say fun book to flip through for a self-diagnosed (slight) hypochondriac and a recovering Dr. Google-er. Very general but still informative enough for the average person.

[Nancy Higgs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. Common issues are discussed and questions of are the issues worthy of medical intervention, further watch or simply nothing. Written with medical knowledge and humor, it can be a quick read.

[Emma Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

much more of a reference book thana “sit down and read” book