The Merck Manual of Medical Information: Second Home Edition (Merck Manual of Medical Information, Home Ed.)

real laymen terms. easy to understand. not as detailed as i expected, but got me on the right track for information. highly recommended for beginning medical or non-medical home use.

What a great reference. I had the first edition but this second addition includes more information. Easy to read, find and understand.

This is a book every home should have. We've used it for years and just gave copies to two of our daughters.

The Merck Manual you sent me was a gift to my sister, who just graduated from nursing school. She loves it, and knows she will use it often in her nursing career. Thank you! jeanne

The Home Edition of the Merck Manual (the Merck Manual is used by medical professionals) gives you the newest (look at the year of the edition) detailed and specific medical info with causes/ symptoms/ diagnoses/ prevention+treatment. For treatment, the Merck Manual generally tells you what a doctor might or should do and what tests could and should be done and what kind of drugs might be used, but it generally does not tell you how to treat yourself with home remedies. But it tells you a lot of things doctors don't want or forget to tell you (like the duration or the outlook of certain diseases or side effects of drugs or accuracy of tests). If you are paranoid, you do not want to read a Merck Manual (you might identify yourself or others with all kinds of diseases).