A Life in Public Health

From his time as a Truman appointee on the Health Needs of the Nation to his tenure as Dean of UCLAís School of Public Health, Dr. Lester Breslow has been a force behind the most important public health developments of the last century. With his trademark humor and conviction, Breslow recounts his participation in the fieldís ground swell from the study of communicable disease to the current control of chronic illnesses. He reveals the story behind his Human Population Laboratoryís ìseven healthy habitsî (sleep right, eat right, donít smoke, donít drink too much, exercise, keep your weight down, eat breakfast) that Americans now know as doctrine.

Breslow tells what it took to garner the Surgeon Generalís cigarette warning, the current high tax on tobacco sales, and todayís air pollution emission standards. He shows how a sometimes reticent medical establishment has come to understand that living conditions and behaviors are more important to longevity than the treatment of disease itself. This behind-the-scenes expose is fascinating reading for medical and public health students, educators, and policy makers alike.