Book Review: Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide

This book review is part of a series that covers the topic of Alternative Medicine. The Official Guide to Alternative Medicine is Dr. Z, Peter Zeischegg. nAlternative Medicine consists of the therapeutic and preventative health care practices that do not involve drugs, but rather herbal and mental variations of medical treatment. Dr. Z has identified Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide by Burton Goldberg, John W. Anderson, and Larry Trivieri as a valuable resource for people interested in Alternative Medicine and it is avaialble through nAmazon.com and Barnes and Noble.nnAmazon.comnThe Definitive Guide is known as the Bible of alternative medicine. You may very well want to use a dictionary stand for this hefty tome; it weighs in at more than 1,000 pages. Nearly 400 doctors (M.D.s, Ph.D.s, naturopaths, Doctors of Oriental Medicine, and osteopaths) contribute their cutting-edge knowledge, and the list of names is impressive. You'll find words of advice from Joseph Pizzorno, the president of Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington; C. Norman Shealy, the cofounder of the American Holistic Medical Association; Nobel laureate Linus Pauling; Deepak Chopra; and Joan Borysenko, author and director of the Mind-Body Health Sciences in Boulder, Colorado. After an intriguing, optimistic look at "The Future of Medicine," the book is divided into two sections. The first profiles 43 alternative therapies--acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, qigong, hyperthermia, and yoga among them--including their development, how they work, proven uses, and controversial or yet-to-be-proven uses, along with contact information for organizations. The second section covers 105 topics such as headaches, mental health, and allergies, along with the alternative therapies that are most likely to help alleviate pain and encourage healing. This guide is easy enough to understand to make it perfect for home reference, while it would also make a fine resource for health care providers interesting in learning more about alternative medicine.nn