Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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72 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice intro for patients, January 19, 2007
I agree with the previous reviewer that this book is a bit simplistic and does not go into great detail, but it is meant to be an overview of "alternative" and complementary treatments for the average health care consumer. As a physician, I would not recommend this book for providers, but I think it's a great starting point for patients, and I would not hesitate recommending it to my own patients. The idea is to give the reader a quick summary of the CAM (complementary/alternative medicine) treatment involved, a helpful "traffic light" system that indicates whether the authors think the treatment might be beneficial (green), unknown/might be useful/use caution (yellow), or unsafe (red), based on the best scientific evidence available. There is a quick blurb on "What the research says" for each CAM treatment, and this is where I wish there was a bit more information--perhaps a list of studies that the motivated patient can look up himself. As a provider, I am interested in the studies from which the authors are drawing their conclusions--perhaps a book from the Mayo clinic experts with this kind of information specifically for providers can be made available someday.
There is a lot of conventional medicine in this book as well, some good sections on diet, exercise, and lifestyle, and a section on "what makes a good study". I don't find the presentation to be patronizing; rather, it is appropriate for the broad range of educational backgrounds of the audience for which it is intended. I think the photos and layout are pleasing to the eye.
I found the sections on energy therapies (reiki, healing touch, acupuncture) and "other approaches" (ie, naturopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine) to be a little too lenient ("yellow lights" were given to most of these); most of these treatments need more research, and it should be stressed in the chapters that they should not be undertaken IN PLACE OF conventional treatments, but perhaps as adjuncts. In another chapter, spirituality and prayer is discussed, and although this is given a green light, it really should be stressed that prayer alone will not cure illnesses such as meningitis or diabetes, as some religious groups would have us believe. Of course, it can be used as a useful integrative practice for some patients.
A strong chapter on quackery and how to spot it should always be included in any book on CAM, in my opinion. Since it is not really addressed in this book, I would recommend my patients to also read Dr. Stephen Barrett's Quackwatch internet site, which is free, and which does not mince words when it comes to criticisms of CAM, studies involving CAM, and even the NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
I believe that the search for "alternative" treatments has picked up recently because conventional doctors, due to decreasing insurance reimbursements and increased demand to see greater numbers of patients, are not able to spend enough time with their patients, and really LISTEN to them. Doctors are no longer able to afford to open their own practices and become part of a community, where their patients are their neighbors and friends. More and more we see doctors jumping around the country in order to find the states with the lowest malpractice insurance rates, the best call schedules, the highest salaries. Patients are searching for someone they can trust, who will listen to their concerns and offer support. Many times a massage therapist or reiki provider has the time to provide this, whereas a doctor does not. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of "quack" CAM providers who take advantage of this as well, and they have a large stake in the continued support of their practices by the public and the government. It is up to conventional medical practitioners, who should demand as much scientific evidence to support CAM treatments as conventional treatments, to help patients sort the wheat from the chaff, and I think this book is a good starting point for opening the lines of communication.
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
not enough depth, and possibly wrong sometimes, January 21, 2007
I think money and politics and the threat of lawsuits sometimes affects the how researchers present a therapy or drug as either safe or not. It seems they tend more to the safe side than not, at least that what it seems like. The book has a lot of nice pretty pictures, and for those who are rushed for time and don't want to take an indepth look at a particular drug or treatment, then I suppose this book is adequate. Although there are a lot of websites out there, imo, that have just as good information if not better. I was suprised that Soy was given a green light given the nature that high amounts of soy does contain a chemical in it that might be considered by some to not be beneficial. Definately a good book for some. But for the serious alternative medicine researcher, there is no substitute for reading as much as you can from just about every source you can.
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35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Too Basic For Nearly Everyone, January 19, 2007
Although this book offers an overview of a wide field of various medicinal approaches, its promise simply isn't met: Items are given either a green, yellow, or red light with little or no meaningful discussion; alternative therapies are discussed so briefly as to make their discussion unworthy of the time spent in locating them; most of the book is big pictures and little words, setting a patronizing tone that persists throughout the volume.
There are many, many more useful books than this one out there. As much poor writing as there is, most books that cover any given medical area are going to offer more than this volume by virtue of offering at least some depth. This book simply offers none.
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