Professional's Handbook of Complementary & Alternative Medicines [Paperback]

Juan R. Avila (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0874349710 | ISBN-13: 978-0874349719 | Edition: 1st

This handbook takes a scientific, comprehensive look at complementary and alternative medicines (CAM), focusing mainly on herbal medicines. It presents the important facts on 300 of the most commonly used medicinal herbs and herbal preparations in a drug handbook format. This information should help health care professionals evaluate claims made by herbal medicine advocates.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Although written for healthcare professionals by two professors of pharmacokinetics, this handy little compendium to botanical medicine has a legitimate place in consumer collections where users expect to find standard pharmacopeias. Easy to use and fully referenced, this handbook lists some 300 herbal remedies; each entry includes generic and common trade names, actions, dosage, adverse reactions, contradictions and precautions, and more. Special logos, like "Alert symbol," "Research findings," "Folklore," etc., enhance the reference's appeal.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 762 pages
• Publisher: Springhouse Corporation; 1st edition (January 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874349710
• ISBN-13: 978-0874349719
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,955,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Professional Reference, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Professional's Handbook of Complementary & Alternative Medicines (Paperback)

This is a one of a kind! The well-researched and in-depth science used makes it extremely handy when posed with questions about the most obscure alternative medicines. Dosing, drug interactions, side effects, and sources are all listed. Very handy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of my most used texts: an essential, a gem, November 16, 2005

By 

B. Stein (Adelaide Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional's Handbook of Complementary & Alternative Medicines (Paperback)

In day to day practice I probably refer to this book as much as many others combined: in our oncology centre about 40-60% of patients are using some form of alternative medicine.

This book is better than the others I own (Mills phytotherapy, the german commission E monographs, Yang Chinese herbal medicines).

This book is not intended as a prescription guide, but it is superb for evaluating a given preparation. It provides a quick summary of over 300 compounds: an introduction covering forms, components, actions and reported uses as well as standard dosing. This is followed by adverse reactions, interactions and precautions together with a commentary. This is where this little book stands out.

My only disappointment with the book has been when the compound of interest does not appear within its covers: a lot is crammed into 800 odd pages though. However each edition has increased its coverage (so should you upgrade your edition: yes!!).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for health care professionals!, December 29, 2006

By 

Family doc - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional's Handbook of Complementary & Alternative Medicines (Paperback)

This is the most useful herbal I have come across. I am a primary care doctor and many of my patients have questions regarding "alternative medicines". This book lists hundreds of herbs! Each listing includes common trade names and forms, source, chemical components, actions, reported uses, dosage, adverse reactions, interactions, contraindications and precautions, special considerations, and points of interest. Any scientific studies are also presented and analyzed, and there are references at the end of each listing. There are useful tables at the back of the book summarizing drug interactions, herbal agents to avoid in pregnancy, potentially unsafe plants, therapeutic monitoring guidelines, and herbal agents listed as unsafe by the FDA. I would recommend this book to my fellow physicians, pharmacists, and alternative medicine practitioners who have a special interest in herbal medicines.