Praise for Health and Disease: A Reader include: An extremely useful book - covering a wide variety of health-related topics from several perspectives...makes available many of the research findings, ideas and analyses that influence current thinking and debates in the field of health and disease. - The British Journal of Medical Psychology . Health and disease have become major subjects for investigation, comment and debate. Health and Disease: A Reader is an interdisciplinary collection of articles which reflect the varied and sometimes controversial perspectives within these debates. Drawn from a wide range of sources, including the biomedical and social sciences, history, literature and lay accounts, these articles address all aspects of health and disease. Health and Disease: A Reader is the third edition of a best-selling and widely used textbook. It is revised and updated, with a range of new articles. It has a unique collection of articles, including extracts from 'classic' texts, specially commissioned articles and many articles which are often unavailable elsewhere. It is grouped into seven key areas, with editorial introductions which provide a context and guide to the main themes, the articles and their authors.It is the reader for Open University course U205 Health and Disease. It is specifically designed with the needs of students and teachers in mind. It is an essential teaching tool and resource. Health and Disease: A Reader will be essential reading for all students and teachers of health studies, nursing, medicine, social policy, social work and sociology. It will also be of interest to researchers in the natural and social sciences, health care professionals, policy makers and analysts, and anyone interested in health, disease and health care.