From Library Journal
With the current glut of home healthcare books on the market, it's a challenge for the lay reader to choose from among alternative and traditional therapies. This easy-to-use guide might be the solution for the confused consumer. Listed here are over 100 common health conditions, their physical and psychological symptoms, the standard medical treatment and side effects of prescribed medications, several alternative nutritional and herbal remedies, plus advice on prevention. Coverage extends from simple acne, bad breath, athlete's foot, and warts to the more complex problems of AIDS, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Lyme disease, and epilepsy. The unbiased and straightforward presentation of the facts and fads of various options allows the reader to make an educated evaluation. While Angela Smyth's The Complete Home Healer (see "Alternative Medicine Goes Mainstream," LJ 7/94, p. 51-55) lists more conditions and therapies (both traditional and alternative), there is less detailed information under each category, often only a few sentences. And Smyth's index is repetitive, duplicating the conditions that are already arranged alphabetically in the main text. Elkins's book is highly recommended as the better guide.
Valerie Vaughan, Western Massachusetts Regional Lib., Hatfield
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Valerie Vaughan, Western Massachusetts Regional Lib., Hatfield
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
