Alternative Medicine : The Definitive Guide

The 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. --Erica Jorgensen