Excerpt: 'Mayo Clinic's Book of Home Remedies'

Home remedies for the common cold from the Mayo Clinic.

ByABC News via logo
October 14, 2010, 10:09 AM

Oct. 15, 2010— -- The Mayo Clinic is the largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. It recently was named one of the top hospitals of 2010 by US News & World Report.

Mayo Clinic doctors from every specialty work together to care for patients, united by one philosophy: "The needs of the patient come first."

Now, the Mayo Clinic has released a book designed to keep you out of the hospital.

"The Mayo Clinic's Book of Home Remedies" shows you how to treat illness and injury on your own until you are able to see your doctor. This book can help you nip an illness in the bud, keep your condition from getting worse and avoid costly medical bills. It also tells you when it's time to put down the chicken soup, and get to the office of a medical professional.

Read an excerpt of the book below, and head to the "GMA" Library for more good reads.

The idea for Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies came from many discussions with Mayo Clinic physicians, nurses, health educators and other health care providers about the questions and concerns they hear most frequently from visitors to Mayo. In other words, what are the main reasons why people go to a doctor?

Our goal was to develop a simple resource that could guide your health decisions, Offer easy remedies to treat many of your problems and possibly reduce the need for a visit to a clinic or emergency room. The result is a book filled with reliable, practical information on more than 120 of the most common medical conditions and issues related to good health.

Today, greater responsibility has been placed on each of us to stay healthy and prevent illness. This has been triggered, in no small part, by the rising costs of health care and by growing concern over public health issues as diverse as obesity, diabetes, influenza and food safety.