I enjoy Dr. G's TV show a lot but her book not as much. Her advice is mostly extremely naive. A whole bunch of people in this book died because they (or their doctors) did something stupid and you can't cure stupid. ( )

Dr. G's book on how not to end up as a visitor in her morgue. She uses case studies and actual incidents to stress how to avoid death by accident, abuse, bad decisions or plain stupidity. I found the book a little hard to warm up to because Garavaglia's voice is a litte condescending, but eventually I was interested by the case in points and by the statistics she used to explain her points. ( )

This book should actually be called: "Don't Be an Idiot and You'll Live Longer." But I'm sure Dr. G and her publishers thought HOW NOT TO DIE sounded just a little bit better!

If you watch the DR. G: MEDICAL EXAMINER show at all regularly, you'll recognize a number of the scenarios presented in the book. Even having seen them before, though, I was intrigued enough to read the whole thing.

Most of the information provided is common sense: if you don't become obese, if you don't smoke, do drugs, or drink yourself into oblivion, you're likely to live longer.

Some of the information is more abstract: that driving in a car with the windows all the way up or all the way down is safer than leaving them halfway, or that there are numerous harmful drug interactions that you've never heard of, or that you should really make sure that the prescriptions you get filled at a pharmacy are the right medications.

Overall, this is an informative (and even funny) read that, although I'm not sure could really save your life, at least makes you think and take a more active role in your healthcare. ( )

I watch so little television that I was completely unaware of “Dr. G’s” Discovery Health channel program before I began to read "How Not to Die." The book’s title, though, caught my eye and, when I read that Jan Garavaglia is a chief medical examiner in Florida who “presides over” some 1,100 autopsies every year, I was hooked. I figured there could be no one more qualified to offer advice on extending one’s life than someone like Garavaglia who is intimately familiar with the unnecessary failings of the human body.

Granted, much of what Garavaglia offers is common sense advice that we have all heard before, but the doctor’s approach of illustrating her points with shared personal and work experiences makes what she has to say memorable - if not entirely new. "How Not to Die" is divided into chapters on all of the usual suspects when it comes to causes of early death: fear of seeing a doctor, adverse reactions to prescription medicine, auto accidents, medical mistakes, obesity, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, smoking, and general accidents.

Dr. Garavaglia uses a conversational tone, one that her television fans are likely to recognize, to make her points but most chapters also include a summary table or two to restate all the main points. I used the tables both to reinforce Garavaglia’s most important thoughts and to make sure that I had not missed anything in my reading. For example, the book includes a three-page table titled “Don’t Ignore These Symptoms” listing some twenty-three symptoms for which a person should always seek medical attention, a particularly helpful table for men who tend to “tough it out” rather than see a doctor until things become even more serious for them.

Part of the fun in reading a book like "How Not to Die" comes from the surprising statistics and facts the books often include, and "How Not to Die" does not disappoint in that regard. Consider these examples:

· Between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die every year from medical errors, more than from car wrecks, AIDS or breast cancer
· Over 65% of all traffic accidents happen at or near intersections
· Heart attacks are the biggest killer of travelers and the attacks usually come during the first two days of a vacation
· Vacations generally extend a person’s life expectancy; men who take frequent vacations are 30% less likely to die of heart disease and women are 50% less likely to do so
· Heart attack victims who also suffer depression are four times more likely to die within six months of their attacks than victims not suffering from depression

"How Not to Die" is perfect for those needing a little extra motivation to get them started on the kind of lifestyle that will allow them to remain active well into their eighties and beyond. It is all pretty simple, really, and Dr. Garavaglia even makes it sound like fun.

Rated at: 3.5 ( )

Too simplified. I was also going to say that it was too preachy, but I think that was a direct result of it being too simplified. "Don't drink too much." "I don't know why anyone would try drugs." Really? I think addiction, for one example, is a bit more complicated than that, so her short paragraphs basically saying, just don't do it, seemed preachy.

I would have liked more detail about why certain actions could lead to death. She mentions a bunch of conditions that should prevent someone from riding on a high g-force amusement ride, but doesn't explain why.

On the other hand, I love reading about the mystery and following discovery about why people have died and, even though there wasn't much detail in any of her examples, they made me keep reading, hoping to read more of them.

Three stars. Doesn't need to be read cover-to-cover. Skim for the good parts. ( )