Product Description

This is a single source for accurate and unbiased information on the many complementary and alternative medicines that can help manage some MS symptoms and promote general health. Readers will be able to: * find unconventional options for therapy; * learn of potentially dangerous interactions between alternative therapies and medical treatments; * identify therapies that are effective, low risk, and inexpensive; * recognize ineffective, dangerous, or costly alternative therapies. A section on Integrating Conventional and Unconventional Medicine links specific symptoms to potentially useful alternative therapies: If readers have, for example, spasticity or bladder problems, they can easily identify potentially useful alternative strategies. The book includes a glossary of popular supplements commonly used in MS care.Many general books deal with the general topic of alternative and complementary therapies, but most contain serious errors about their use in people with MS, and none specifically addresses the dangerous interactions that can occur between some therapies and the disease.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #652133 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 251 pages

InsideMS, Summer 2001
"Rarely does a publication address an unmet need as thoroughly as Alternative Medicine and Multiple Sclerosis."

Book Info
Univ. of Colorado, Denver. Offers information on the relevance, safety, and effectiveness of various alternative therapies not typically considered in discussions of MS management. For consumers. Softcover. DNLM: Multiple Sclerosis--therapy.

About the Author
Allen C. Bowling, M.D., Ph.D., is Associate Medical Director at The Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center, Englewood, Colorado. During the past few years he has focused specifically on CAM therapies as they apply to MS, and has lectured on this topic extensively to both patient and professional groups.

Customer Reviews

Alternative Medicine and Multiple Sclerosis by Bowling
Multiple Sclerosis is a system that impacts the immune system
and the nervous system. There is a hereditary disposition to
the disease. The main damage involves lesions of the brain and
spinal cord. The disease may relapse and remit during various
phases. The drug Betaseron may be employed for MS to decrease
relapses in both length and severity. Alternative medicinal
protocols may be employed i.e. acupuncture, exercise,
biofeedback, chiropractic and massage therapy. Acupuncture has minor risks in the thoracic region for the lung and heart.
Propolis has been found to stimulate and suppress immune function.

A new area called Psychoneuroimmunology has developed which
impacts both the nervous system and the immune system.
Chelation therapy removes plaque from the blood vessels.
Chiropractic has been known to help MS sufferers because low
back pain is reduced with gentle manipulation.

Dental amalgum implications may be present in arthritis, lupus,
Parkinson's and brain tumor. Decreases in dietary fat may assist
MS sufferers. Gamma Linoleic Acid supresses excess immune
system activity. Enzyme therapy improves both digestion and
the breakdown of complex food groups. i.e. protein
Certain exercises i.e. horseback riding improves the pelvis.
This book is an excellent supplementary reference for MS
sufferers. It will complement any formal program of
pharmaceutical medicines in place.

Definition: A linoleic acid is a liquid unsaturated fatty acid
essential in animal nutrition. The chemical composition is:

C H O
18 30 2

Better than expected
After reading some of the reviews I hestitated on buying this. I had just been diagnosed with MS. I started taking the shots (and still am) but wanted to find other things that I could do. From the reviews I thought this would be an alternative medicine bashing book but its not. It states the facts as they are and shows pros and cons, leave a lot for the reader to consider. I found this to be a well-rounded book that had good info.

An excellent starting point
To explore alternative medicine is to take a journey into aspects of healing that are outside of patentable pharmacology. The journey is easier with a map, but the map is only a starting point. When considering alternative medicine, we need to make our own decisions about approaches to health that often have not been studied in the way that patentable drugs have been studied. Even so, the journey should begin by learning what has previously been reported on the subject.

Dr. Bowling's book is a fist-rate description of the terrain of alternative medicine. Unlike other MS-specific books about alternative medicine, his is based on a review of published literature rather than on personal experience, anecdote and fancy.

Part of Dr. Bowling's accomplishment is that he has managed to catalogue a diverse and hard-to-define area. More imortantly, it describes, in succint and easy-to-understand and language, the published research that is available on about 40 different areas of alternative medicine.

Don't buy the book thinking there is a cure for MS to be found in its pages. On the other hand, if you are looking for a starting point for understanding alternative medicine, then this book is a useful resource.