The Natural Healing Companion: Using Alternative Medicines, What to Buy, How to Take, and When to Combine for Best Results [Paperback]

Deborah Wianek (Author), N.D. DEBORAH WIANCEK (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

This guide addresses the major categories of natural remedies including herbs, Chinese formulas and homeopathy. The text consists of an alphabetical encyclopaedia of ailments featuring definitions and remedies, and a section explaining healing methods.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Not every nick and scratch requires a trip to the emergency room. But even for the minor aches and pains you would handle at home, it's a good idea to have a medical reference book in your library, especially if you treat yourself with herbs, vitamins, supplements, and the like. While we're more enthusiastic about using alternative medicine than ever before, there's still so much hype surrounding many herbs and supplements that it can be tough to figure out what's helpful, what's harmful, and what's plain useless. The Natural Healing Companion, a compendium of remedies written by naturopathic physician Deborah A. Wiancek, makes choosing among them a whole lot easier.

For starters, this hefty volume contains information not just on a single category of remedies, but lists recommendations for 128 herbs, 100 homeopathic remedies, 79 Chinese medicines, and 80 vitamins, minerals, and supplements. It's this unique mix of widely used and more esoteric remedies (most books cover just one or two areas) that sets The Natural Healing Companion apart from the scores of other complementary care books on the shelves today. In addition, Wiancek goes way beyond the usual treat-it-yourself ailments. Sure, you'll find plenty of cures for colds, cuts, scrapes, and bellyaches, but among the 230 conditions listed, you'll also find information on treating and preventing ailments like Bell's palsy, Parkinson's disease, pellagra, and autoimmune thyroiditis--to name just a few--which is unusual for a self-help book.

More important, the book is well organized and easy to navigate. Search by condition or by remedy, and you'll find straightforward information on dosage, the best forms to take (tea, tincture, salve, capsule), and any cautions connected with the remedy (like avoiding when pregnant or lactating). Wiancek's coding system tells you at a glance which remedies are preferred for a given condition and which can be taken together for even better results. And because homeopathic medicines are most effective when they match the symptoms of an ailment precisely, the book contains highly detailed symptom charts to help readers pinpoint the medicine they need. And for those more conversant with the medical lingo on ER, the Chinese medicine section includes a glossary of terms that demystifies such concepts as the triple burner (the area around the heart), meridians (the body's life force or energy channels), and jing (one's "essence"). All told, this is one home health-care book you'll want to keep handy, dog-earing the pages so you can refer to it again and again. --Norine Dworkin

From the Back Cover

Natural Healing Now more than ever, people are turning to nature's cures for maximum health and well-being. In The Natural Healing Companion , naturopathic doctor Deborah A. Wiancek provides in-depth information about the four major categories of natural therapies--herbs, vitamin and mineral supplements, homeopathy, and Chinese patent formulas--plus an A-to-Z encyclopedia of diseases and conditions with suggested remedies. You'll find: Hundreds of drug-free remedies for more than 230 diseases and conditions, from abscesses and acne to varicose veins and whooping cough. You'll see which natural remedies are recommended for each, and which can be used in combination for best results. Comprehensive descriptions of 128 healing herbs; 83 vitamins, minerals, and other supplements; 102 homeopathic remedies; and 79 Chinese medicines complete with recommended uses, dosages, cautions, and much more. These natural remedies are widely available in health food stores, pharmacies, and grocery stores. Practical advice on your number one health concerns, from diet, exercise, and weight loss to choosing multivitamins and reading labels. The most comprehensive resource of its kind, The Natural Healing Companion is the first to combine so many natural therapies into a single, easy-reference volume, broadening your options for treating health problems, preventing illness, and maintaining good health.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157954245X
• ISBN-13: 978-1579542450
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Naturopathic Vitalistic Spiritistic Woo-Woo:, May 6, 2007

By 

Robert J. Cullen "'Dr. Bob Ironic'" (Bridgeport, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Natural Healing Companion: Using Alternative Medicines, What to Buy, How to Take, and When to Combine for Best Results (Paperback)

And I quote from this book: "ancient healers believed that some type of energy or life force was a necessary component of health. In ayurveda, it's called prana. In Chinese medicine, it's called qi [...] naturopaths like myself call it vis medicatrix naturae, Latin for the healing power of nature. These [vitalistic] concepts remain fundamental tenets of many of the natural practices discussed in this book. The importance of maintaining or realigning this natural energy is one reason holistic practitioners painstakingly construct a complete health profile, including an assessment of your spiritual and emotional well-being, before recommending treatments [p.003...] a homeopathic remedy acts on the vital force of the body, strengthening it or perhaps providing it with the right hints to produce healing [...] the vital force is the inner intelligence that animates each and every person. It has been referred to for thousands of years and by many different names: breath, chi, prana, life force. By stimulating one's vital force, the correct homeopathic remedy can set into motion healing that may continue for days, weeks, or even months [p.321...] qi: the energizing life force. Two major physiological manifestations of yin and yang are your blood and a nebulous concept called qi [...] which represents the life force that energizes you [...] qi inhabits your body and the bodies of all things. People have qi. Birds have qi. All animals have qi. Vegetables have qi. Rocks also possess qi. Each star in the sky has its own qi. Sand on the beach has qi. All thing, animate or inanimate, possess qi [...] as far as the body is concerned, it translates roughly into energy. Qi circulates blood and holds all of your tissues and organs into place [...] your own qi is then responsible for transporting that nourishing, revitalizing energy throughout your body [p.460...] shen means 'spirit' and encompasses emotions as well and mental functions such as memory and mental activity. Treatments are often focused on calming the spirit [p.469]." I'm still trying to figure out how, in this day and age, 2007, an entire profession (naturopathy) can get away with stating that the scientifically-ejected vitalistic and spiritistic (the doctrines of naturopathy) are science-based. The book is an excellent example of naturopathy's HPN=VMN='vital spirit force' woo-woo.