Includes bibliographical references and index.

Taking charge of your health -- Stress : the constant challenge -- Psychological health -- Intimate relationships and communication -- Sexuality, pregnancy, and childbirth -- Contraception and abortion -- The use and abuse of psychoactive drugs -- Alcohol and tobacco -- Nutrition basics -- Exercise for health and fitness -- Weight management -- Cardiovascular disease and cancer -- Immunity and infection -- The challenge of aging -- Conventional and complementary medicine : skills for the health care consumer -- Personal safety : protecting yourself from unintentional injuries and violence -- Environmental health.

It's a textbook, which means that the price is inflated atrociously high. This text is meant for introductory courses and for that purpose it is tolerable. Nevertheless, it is long-winded, dull and poorly written. Also, because it is meant to be used for an introductory overview course, most of the material will most likely be used during lectures. The truth is, this book was the "required reading" for a course I took. Our Professor was most likely required to assign a textbook and she picked this one, and never assigned us to read any of it. I read parts before exams in order to try to fill in any gaps from our lectures, but this book is a waste of time and money if not necessary for carrying out assignments.