Customer Reviews

Prescription Alternatives : Hundreds of Safe, Natural, Prescription-Free Remedies to Restore & Maintain Your Health

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Purchasing Prescription Alternatives, Second Edition, by Earl L. Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D. and Virginia Hopkins, M.A., may just be the best investment you can make in your health.
Drug companies spend more than a billion dollars each year on advertising. They sponsor talks in medical schools, providing free meals and medical supplies to students. They also fund most of the medical research going on today and keep doctors' offices supplied with "free" samples. Between drug companies and the pressures put doctors by HMO's, it's no wonder that most people who go to see a doctor walk away with a prescription to be filled.
Sometimes those prescriptions are essential, particularly in the cases of sudden, acute illnesses. But often they do more harm than good. Mindell and Hopkins's goal is to "teach you how to be a knowledgeable and conservative drug user, who knows how to ask the right questions and get the necessary information to stay healthy."
They explain that nearly one million people are "injured" by drugs every year, and "at least 11 million people are abusing prescription drugs." They caution that having FDA approval doesn't mean a drug is safe, reminding readers that "those FDA-approved drugs are killing at least 140,000 people a year, just in hospitals."
The bulk of the book is a detailed listing of hundreds of drugs prescribed every day, including those for heart disease, digestive disorders, asthma and allergies, pain relief, diabetes, insomnia, prostate problems, osteoporosis, eye diseases, and herpes. They also include antibiotics, antifungals, and synthetic hormones.
Mindell and Hopkins start with a description of the disease or ailment and its causes and effects on the body. They then explain how it could be prevented in the first place, making their book useful also for people who are currently healthy. Following that is a list of the drugs that can be prescribed, using both the brand names and generic names. An explanation of how each drug works in the body comes next, along with information on side effects. They then discuss all the interactions each drug has with other drugs, with nutritional supplements, and food. Lastly, they provide information on natural alternatives.
"You absolutely cannot count on the FDA, the drug company, your physician or your pharmacist to keep you safe from dangerous drugs and their interactions," say Mindell and Hopkins. Prescription Alternatives will give readers all the information they need to make wise choices about which, if any, drug is best for them, as well as helping them avoid the adverse consequences that can result from simple human error in obtaining and using prescription drugs.

This is an easy to read book on natural alternatives to over the counter and prescription drugs. Particular attention is paid to the hazards of drug interaction which can lead to poor health. (The "cure" being worse than the disease.....). The book is well organized, with a good index. Drugs are profiled by type, covering the gamut from NSAIDS to Narcotics. Each drug is discussed. The author tells you: what the drug does in your body, what conditions it is prescribe for, side effects, when you should NOT take the drug, and interactions with other drugs and food. If you must take a drug, the author offers information on supplements that balance out or minimize the potential damage to your body. And of course, the natural alternative to taking pharmaceuticals - specific, herbs, vitamins and minerals, and diet, are given. The author does sermonize from time to time, but this is a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent book.

Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins have each written extensively about alternative health and nutrition. They teamed up for Prescription Alternatives, "a tool for easily and immediately accessing information about how the drugs you are taking affect your body, the steps you can take to counteract these imbalances and what alternative treatments are available."

They start with a description of how we've become a nation of pill-poppers and present drug statistics, such as "140,000 Americans die each year" from adverse drug effects and that "at least 11 million people are abusing prescription drugs." They also explain the unrelenting pressures put on medical doctors by the drug companies, medical schools, and state medical boards. Mindell and Hopkins include lists of factors than can affect drug levels, and explain how to prevent common problems with prescription drug use. They offer hints on how to prepare for surgery and decrease your chances of having an adverse drug reaction while hospitalized. They also explain how to read the drug inserts that come with prescriptions and include a glossary of common medical terms.

The bulk of the book is devoted to extensive details about the most-often prescribed drugs. They discuss a dozen kinds of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, herpes, and osteoporosis. They list the drugs usually prescribed for each condition, then present detailed information about each drug, including what the drug is supposed to do, possible side effects, interactions with other drugs, interactions with foods, what imbalances in the body may result, and what nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, should be added to the diet while taking the drug. Each section concludes with natural alternatives to the drugs and tips for helping your body heal itself. They also explain how the body systems work and how lifestyle changes can help prevent many diseases.

All their explanations are in easy-to-understand layman's terms.

The authors say that "when you start taking any type of drug, you are heading down a long road full of potentially dangerous drug interactions and side effects." Prescription Alternatives is a scenic byway that will help readers avoid that long road.

This book will probably become a BEST SELLER, just like the VITAMIN BIBLE and all of Dr. Mindell's other nutrition books. This book is well written and offers the most updated nutritional products on the market. Well researched. I use Dr. Mindell's formulated nutritional products distributed thru Freelife, and this book answers questions I've had but never asked. Everything he discusses in his book has been well researched and he always lists his references. EXCELLENT

Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins have provided one of the most important books of the CENTURY. So many of us listen to our doctors and take the prescriptions offered without THINKING. It is time for pill-poppers to wake up to the motives of the pharmaceutical companies, and to the very dangerous risks we take when we pop a prescription pill without investigating its long term effects.

This book has become a Health Bible for me and my friends. I tell people about it every day. If there is one thing you do for those you love, let it be to buy them this book.

Prescription Alternatives provides live-saving information. It informs us of the risks we take when we blindly accept any prescription our doctors offer. It provides us with all of the alternative choices that won't just suppress or mask a symptom but will change our health in the best and safest way possible. When are we, as a nation of consumers, going to take back the responsibility of maintaining our health? Don't take my word for it, read up on the facts for yourself. Then go out and buy a copy for every one you love! The natural food and supplement stores will love you for it!

In this terrific reference, Dr. Mindell provides more than we are led to believe from the book's title: "Prescription Alternatives"! Aside from giving us well documented natural alternatives for prescription drugs, Dr. Mindell gives us the vital information: 1) to protect ourselves against prescription drug abuse, 2) to avoid becoming an adverse drug effects (ADE) victim; 3) to live a fuller, healthier life through his "Six Principles for Optimal Health"! This well researched book, with its extensive bibliography, is a MUST HAVE book for every family seriously seeking to achieve and maintain a high standard of health! In a word: ESSENTIAL!

This book arrived very quickly and I'm very happy with it. This book is so easy to use, and contains so much information on whatever ails me and my family. It is probably one of the most useful books on health that I own, and I will refer to it often.

I am myself a victim of precription drugs . The chemical drugs used to treat one condition damaged many other organs in my whole body .I used to see Doctors as human Gods who can cure diseases.
Not anymore . And books like these help public a lot ,especially those who don't have access to internet.
Prescription drugs do not cure diseases, they only suppress the symptoms .
And it is like cutting the weeds , while the root cause still remains untouched only to grow back with more strength.
And then the docs increase the strength of the drugs and tax the ailing body all the more.
Now the body has to deal with the disease and also these harmful chemicals.
But does any Doctor agree to alternative medicine ? No simply because then we wouldn't spend $450 for a specialist appointment.
Drugs should always be the last resort - A lesson I learned at a cost.

This is a Book everyone should read if they value their Health
Once a Person uses a Drug for the Body not working properly are starting on the road to dying.
Big Pharma Wins.

I had always thought that Mindel was a credible expert. I have also respected the writings of Virginia Hopkins. So, when I saw this new book at the public library, I checked it out. I turned first to a health condition I am newly familiar with ADHD. My whole family has ADHD -- husband, kids, even the dog. What I read in this book was so ignorant, misleading, and just plain abusive, I was shocked. If the authors were that wrong about ADHD, what else did they get wrong?

I'm a gardener. I know the importance of my plants receiving adequate "nutrition" in the form of minerals and elements such as water and sunshine. Deprive them of what they need, and they are vulnerable to disease. My kids don't have ADHD because I feed them junk. They have ADHD because they got a double-load on the DNA. There IS science behind ADHD, and it explains not only HOW the medications work but also that they DO work. And they have been studied for DECADES.

Most importantly, we know what can happen when ADHD is NOT treated: unwanted pregnancy, drug abuse, suicide, dropouts, the list goes on. Telling someone with ADHD to "try harder" is like to telling someone who wears eyeglasses to throw them away and "try harder" to see. It's cruel and IGNORANT. Especially because they endorse DISCIPLINE. You can't spank or punish the ADHD out of a child. So, why do these authors feel it's okay to do that to people with ADHD? What gives them the right to publish this hogwash?

It has been the breakthrough discovery of my life to learn about ADHD and receive medical treatment for i t. Yes, it goes against what everyone expects (what *I* expected) that a pill can help someone focus, organize, be more patient with my children, manage money better, and so forth? It sounds too easy! And so, when we ignore the facts, we fall for "common sense" hucksters like Mindell who depict ADHD as a hoax. And by the way, maybe you want to buy their book.
Earl Mindel's website lists NO academic credentials. Why do people listen to him? After reading what he has to say on ADHD, I can't believe ANYTHING in this book. The "facts" about ADHD offered by Mindell and Hopkins are nothing more than superstition. They even refer to anti-psychiatry nutter Peter Breggin, who is hard up for a career, as far as I can see; that's his only claim to fame.

Examples:
Alternative to medication: Discipline

"If you're a baby boomer, you likely recall kids who were 'impulsive,' 'hyperactive' or 'inattentive' from your own childhood. Perhaps you were one yourself. We remember how those kids were dealt with, and it certainly wasn't with drugs. It was with discipline."

Alternative to medication: Time with Dad

"Peter Breggin, M.D., the expert mentioned earlier and author of several excellent books on the dangers of psychiatric drugs, has found that many children with ADHD symptoms would be more appropriately diagnosed with 'DADD,' or 'Dad Attention Deficit Disorder', caused by a lack of adequate attention from fathers or other male role models."

Other "alternatives": Protein breakfast, multivitamin, and exercise ("if all else fails and a child seems out of control, try exercise."

Sorry, but a protein breakfast, multivitamin and daily exercise are recommended by ADHD experts, too. And really, shouldn't EVERY child get exercise? AHDD or NOT? Hello!!!!!!

This "fourth edition" of this book reads like it is from 1942. What a shocking disappointment.