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Maurice Cauchi: Health Issues Today – Medical, Societal and Bioethical, Malta University Press, 2012, 284 pp. €15

The greater the progress that has been made in the field of medicine in the past 50 years, the more the medical profession has identified issues that have posed challenges not only to itself but to society in general, giving rise to considerable debate and often concern.

These issues are often addressed in medical and scientific journals which are not readily available to a lay public but which still are important to those of us who are concerned about the future well-being of mankind.

Health Issues Today – medical, societal and bioethical addresses this difficulty. The author himself, Prof. Maurice Cauchi, acknowledges that his target audience is the lay public and the book’s style and presentation readily lend themselves to achieving this aim.

Although the subject matter is very wide and would normally be covered in medical encyclopedias and textbooks, this book very succinctly describes issues which have largely developed with the recent advances in medicine, in a very readable, easy to follow manner – a book that even those with only a basic scientific background can enjoy and benefit from.

Having said that, I believe medical people – and anyone who has worked in any of the disciplines of public health – will find the book absorbing. As a public health doctor with over 45 years experience in the field I found the book filled gaps in my knowledge and clarified some issues that were confusing.

The book is divided in two sections. The first deals with emerging medical issues, mostly but not exclusively in the past 50 years while the second deals with bioethical issues and the problems that new advances in medicine have uncovered.

The book covers common medical topics such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, kidney disease but also medicine of the future and genetic disorders. Basic concepts such as who we are and what makes us unique individuals, are addressed.

The book discusses the effects of parental age on children. At a time when people are deciding to have children at an older age while they set themselves up in a more stable financial position, this is of particular importance.

In the causes of disease section, the topics covered are varied – from novel viruses to the effects of a pinch of salt, as well as the association of social status and tendency to disease.

At a time when our occupations are becoming more sedentary and our children spend most of their time in front of television and computers playing games, the need to be aware of the health effects of obesity is paramount. Alcohol consumption, drink driving and binge drinking are additional social issues that deserve attention and are addressed in this book.

In a chapter on “medicine and the consumer”, the insidious problems associated with biomarkets and advertising health benefits (sometimes non-existent) for commercial aims are discussed in an easy-to-follow description.

The book’s second section deals with bioethical issues such as the merits of transplantation, in-vitro fertilisation and stem cell research which will continue to provide fodder for the doctor, the scientist and the ethicist for many years to come.

Cauchi has held posts as a clinical associate professor at Monash and Melbourne universities and was appointed Professor of Pathology at the University of Malta between 1992 and 2003. It is refreshing to see a doctor of his calibre finding time to share his vast knowledge.

Dr Psaila-Savona is a public health and occupational health doctor based in Perth, Australia.