Product Description

The Best Alternative Medicine is the only book available today that both evaluates the major areas of alternative medicine and addresses how they can be used to treat specific conditions. Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier explains such popular therapies as mind/body medicine, herbal and homeopathic remedies, spiritual healing, and traditional Chinese systems, discussing their effectiveness, the ailments each is most appropriate for, and how they can help prevent illness. In the second part of the book, which is organized alphabetically, he draws on the latest National Institute of Health (NIH)-sponsored research to present clear recommendations for the prevention and treatment of health concerns ranging from acne to menopause to ulcers.

Combining valuable guidance about alternative treatments with definitive health advice, The Best Alternative Medicine will be the standard reference for the increasing number of people integrating alternative medicine into their personal and organizational heath-care programs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1068323 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-05
• Released on: 2002-03-05
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.25 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From Amazon.com
Complementary and alternative medicine, which ranges from acupuncture and chiropractic care to more esoteric disciplines such as Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, was a $14 billion industry by the year 2000. As the public's interest in health practices outside the purview of conventional medicine has increased, so has the controversy about the efficacy of such methods. But while conventional doctors criticize the absence of conclusive clinical evidence for most alternative therapies, there is nevertheless a growing number of people who suffer from chronic illnesses and, frustrated by the usual medical route, are willing to try new modalities. In The Best Alternative Medicine, Dr. Kenneth Pelletier of the Stanford School of Medicine addresses the debate head-on with the goal of providing an authoritative consumer reference guide that focuses on the existing body of clinical research (funded in large part by the National Institutes of Health) and the safest applications of the 12 most common practices. Pelletier, who is also the director of the National Institutes of Health's Complementary and Alternative Medicine Program and the author of Sound Mind, Sound Body: A New Model for Lifelong Health, evaluates those approaches mentioned above as well as mind-body medicine, supplements, Western herbal medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, and the healing applications of spirituality from three perspectives: what works, what doesn't work, and what is "in the works." He then presents an A to Z of health conditions--from AIDS and arthritis to osteoporosis and varicose veins--with bulleted points referencing the beneficial alternative therapies. While Pelletier is clearly an advocate of complementary and alternative medicine, he takes a discerning position and carefully cuts through the jargon and unsubstantiated claims to present an unbiased, evidence-based resource that will be invaluable to people considering a new approach to their health care. --Rebecca Wright

From Publishers Weekly
Pelletier (Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer) examines the most popular alternative therapies being used today--from homeopathy and Western herbal medicine to traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda--with an eye toward integrating them with traditional medicine. A clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and director of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Program, Pelletier notes that while many forms of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) are not recognized by the medical community, consumer interest in them has risen dramatically. If, as Pelletier concludes, optimal health stems from attention to all aspects of life--physical, psychological, spiritual and environmental--then CAM therapies, which take all of these aspects into account, will become even more common. Far from suggesting that traditional medicine be bypassed, Pelletier emphasizes that CAM can increase its effectiveness at a relatively low cost. He cites numerous studies in which CAM has fostered the healing process, as well as other studies that either have negated certain claims for alternatives or proved inconclusive. In the second section of the book, Pelletier discusses how CAM can be used for specific conditions such as cancer, heart disease, AIDS and depression. This forward-looking book will be useful to those seeking to address all aspects of their well-being. BOMC, QPB, One Spirit alternate. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Pelletier, clinical associate professor of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, is not a newcomer to alternative medicine. His best seller, Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer, first published in 1977, remains in print, and he continues to be a leading researcher on the topic. His latest work explains alternative and complementary medicine including commonly used treatment modalities and 75 medical conditions and correlating therapies. What sets Pelletier's work apart in this genre are cited studies and references. The selected bibliography alone is more than 50 pages long. However, since specific treatment recommendations are absent, readers will need to extrapolate exactly what it is they need to do for their condition. Yet, this is the most authoritative work on the topic to date and deserves a place in all but the smallest consumer health collections.AValeria Long, Amberg Health Sciences Lib., Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.