New Merck Manual Offers Compendium Of Remedies At Your Fingertips

We trust our doctors to give us accurate health information but simple treatments for today's common conditions were not always common sense in 1899. Dr. Richard Pasternak, VP and Head of Global Scientific Affairs & Scientific Leadership for Merck, stopped by to talk about the unusual remedies of yesteryear and the new 2009 Merck Manual: Home Health Handbook.

In the original 1899 version of the book, Dr. Pasternak said, there were strange ways to treat certain medical disorders. For instance, tobacco was used to cure asthma; a cold bath to cure obesity; laxatives to cure chicken pox; cocaine to cure sexual exhaustion; and electricity to cure nausea. Oh, how times and health information have changed over the past 110 years! The new Merck Manual offers updated remedies from 300 doctors at your fingertips.

The Merck Manual: Home Health Handbook is available in bookstores now. For more information, visit www.merckbooks.com.