Alternative Medicine: The Christian Handbook, Updated and Expanded (Paperback)

by Donal O'Mathuna (Author), Walt Larimore MD (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Easy to use, this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Alternative Medicine keeps pace with the latest findings and developments in alternative medicine. Here is the most comprehensive, current, well-balanced, and trustworthy information available from both a scientific and a biblical perspective.

From the Back Cover
The most complete resource of its kind on alternative medicine
• Herbal remedies, dietary supplements, and alternative therapies
Their specific uses
Which ones really work (and which ones don’t)
What to watch out for
• Christian versus non-Christian approaches to holistic health
• Clinically proven treatments versus unproven or quack treatments
• Truths and fallacies about supernatural healing
• Ancient medical lore: the historical, cultural, and scientific facts
• And much, much more

Alternative Medicine is the first comprehensive guidebook to nontraditional medicine written from a distinctively Christian perspective. Keeping pace with the latest developments and research in alternative medicine, this thoroughly revised edition combines the most current information with an easy-to-use format. University lecturer and researcher Dónal O’Mathúna, PhD, and national medical authority Walt Larimore, MD, provide detailed and balanced answers to your most pressing questions about alternative medicine—and to other questions you wouldn’t have thought to ask.

Also includes
Two alphabetical reference sections:
Alternative therapies
Herbal remedies, vitamins, and dietary supplements
A description of each therapy and remedy, an analysis of claims, results of actual studies, cautions, recommendations, and further resources
Handy cross-references linking health problems with various alternative therapies and herbal remedies reviewed in the book

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; 1 Exp Upd edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310269997
• ISBN-13: 978-0310269991
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #174,299 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Updated Book still great!, October 21, 2008

By	Robert P. Vogt - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The ambitious project by Doctors O'Mathuna and Larimore that I read in
2001 exceeded my expectations. Their updated version keeps the same high
standards.
Starting with overviews and definitions of alternative and conventional
medicine, they acknowledge the limitations of both types of medicine and
explore some follies perpetrated over the centuries in the names of both
orthodoxy and alternatives. They then move on to discuss Christian
principles of health. Their definition of holistic health does not
narrowly view it as the pursuit of physical health solely, but as part of
the means to a successful life that includes physical, emotional, social
and spiritual aspects. They also offer well-researched biblical
explanations for illness and suffering. Lastly, they offer advice on how
to pursue good health. I found all of their listed suggestions to be very
reasonable. It is hard to argue with advocates of preventative health care
visits, exercise and balanced diets.
The authors' spiritual analysis of each therapy, measuring each against a
bible-based standard, sets this book apart from others. Such information
is important because of the current trend to equate some health behaviors
with spiritual maturity, or to presume that "anything that works must be
good (or from God)." O'Mathuna and Larimore carefully look at each
treatment or supplement to evaluate possible spiritual implications, using
as much of the original source materials in each area as possible. They
also present both the overt and covert spiritual worldviews of the
therapies' practitioners. Some of these are incompatible with biblical
truth, and Christians must steer clear of them. However, both authors also
acknowledge that sometimes one's choice of health behaviors (e.g. dietary
choices) comes down to a personal conviction and not a biblical command.
Before diving into their evaluation of each specific therapy, they present
how they objectively evaluate them to determine effectiveness and safety.
Their concise primer on the scientific method and statistics is helpful
for any reader unskilled in critically evaluating the medical literature.
They briefly discuss their statistical methods, why and how the methods
originated, and then freely acknowledge the limitations and weaknesses
statistical methods have and their need for continued refinements.
If you are looking for a sweeping condemnation of all alternative
medicine, you will be disappointed (and shame on you anyway). They clearly
state when there is good evidence for the effectiveness of alternative
therapies, even if it ruffles the feathers of some conventionalists.
Conversely, they are willing to sternly warn of the ineffectiveness,
wastefulness, and potential dangers of therapies that do not meet their
objective standards. They base their reviews on the best international
literature available. This use of international literature is particularly
important given that many of the best studies available, and in some cases
the only studies done, were not performed in the United States or
published in English-based journals.
The book's major section succinctly evaluates 56 herbal remedies, vitamins
and dietary supplements. The `medicinal herbs' reviewed include ones
familiar and foreign to me, such as: aloe, ephedra, milk thistle,
pennyroyal, vitamin C, and zinc. They neither trample on nor trumpet any
given supplement, but apply consistent standards and report their results.
O'Mathuna and Larimore's research helps patients and practitioners alike
to avoid alternative therapies that are medically dangerous, drains to
their pocketbooks, and in some cases, spiritually worrisome. On the other
hand, for modalities or supplements of proven value, they inform the
reader as to what specific condition(s) they treat and how to determine
how much active element an herbal or vitamin product contains.
This is an excellent, readable resource for health practitioners and
patients alike. Alternative medicines and therapies are used by up to 40
percent of patients. Most patients and practitioners alike are woefully
uneducated about the data that supports or disapproves the efficacy of
these non-conventional approaches. Similarly, most Christians are unaware
of the spiritual significance the practitioners of some of these therapies
ascribe to them, with possible attendant dangers. In my opinion, neither
the giver nor the receiver of health care can afford to be without this
valuable reference.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very helpful, July 19, 2008

By	R. Ridley "Robert Ridley, MD" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found the historical background of such common alternatives as homeopathy and chiropractic to be interesting reading. There are detailed guidelines to help differentiate proven products from those that are questionable or downright dangerous. Clear explanations are provided as to why products may or may not work, based on a four-level evidence rating system.
There are 322 pages that rate most of the popular alternative therapies, herbs, vitamins, and dietary supplements. This represents the bulk of the authors material and the part of the book that I will be referring to time and again if I have questions on Ginko and Ginseng or Wild Yam and Willow Bark.

Then at the back of the book is a list that summarizes the effectiveness of various alternative choices on certain common conditions such as allergies, arthritis, anxiety, etc. This volume is going to occupy a prominent place in my shelf of ready sources of information.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars update is even better than the original, July 17, 2008

By	Dwight Bain "Counselor-Coach-Communicator" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

End the confusion; finally an easy to use MD analysis of alternative medicine


I always wondered if vitamins really helped improve health and mood. Thankfully, now I know due to the exhaustive work of Larimore and Mathuna in their updated version of "Alternative Medicine-the Christian Handbook".

It is amazingly simple to use, and covers every topic imaginable. (The section on diets was especially interesting with lots of useful sidebars). It presents both sides of the issues in a very readable fashion from a sound medical perspective. If you want to end the confusion about which alternative medicine techniques really work, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this practical reference guide.

Dwight Bain, Nationally Certified Counselor and Certified Life Coach, Orlando, FL