Warren writer's book explains medical terms

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

WARREN

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Dr. Joseph Ciabattoni

It was a portent of things to come when Warren native Dr. Joseph Ciabattoni and a school buddy, inspired by Sputnik, the Russian artificial satellite, built a three-foot rocket and tried to launch it.

“We wore white lab coats like mad scientists and went to a large, open field, where we ignited the rocket, which was wired to a car battery,” Dr. Ciabattoni said. He made the solid fuel; his friend built the rocket.

Upon ignition, it exploded and never got off the ground.

“Needless to say, we were very disappointed, and that was my last experience as a rocket scientist,” he said.

His interest in chemistry, however, did not disintegrate with the ill-fated rocket, and Dr. Ciabattoni went on, after graduating in 1958 from St. Mary High School (now John F. Kennedy High School), to become a college chemistry professor and researcher.

Later in life, wanting to do “something more personally rewarding,” he was accepted at Yale University, where he received a medical degree in 1976.

After retiring from his medical practice in 2007, Dr. Ciabattoni, who lives in Rhode Island, turned to writing and produced a medical reference book for laymen, “Doctor C’s Medical Guide: What You Need to Know.”

The book, a two-year project released in 2009, is a self-described “practical guide, designed to provide health-care information on common diseases, their prevention, symptoms, and treatment in layman’s terms.”

With increasing numbers of prescription medications becoming available over the counter, making self-treatment more accessible, Dr. Ciabattoni’s easy-to-read and understand 475-page book is a resource for information about ailments, conditions, prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

“The book will improve your basic understanding of diseases and enable you to ask appropriate questions when you see your doctor,” he said.

Dr. Ciabattoni, 69, was born and raised in Warren, growing up on Colonial and Hazelwood streets. He was the youngest of three sons of Luigi and Pasqualina Ciabattoni, both now deceased, who came to the United States from Italy at very young ages.

His brothers, Virgil, 78, and Louis, 77, live in the Cortland area, and are retired from Copperweld.

He and his wife, Susan D., live in Jamestown, R.I. His son, Joseph C., also lives in Rhode Island.

Dr. Ciabattoni graduated from John Carroll University in Cleveland in 1962 with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry, and received a doctorate in organic chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. He taught organic chemistry at Brown University from 1965 to 1973, and after being awarded a Senior Fulbright-Hays Scholarship at the University of Padova, Italy, he went to Yale.

He was a resident in internal medicine at Rhode Island Hospital from 1976 to 1979 and had a practice in North Providence, R.I., until his retirement.

Dr. Ciabattoni’s book can be purchased online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, and it also can be ordered pre-paid at Barnes & Noble Booksellers book stores.